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"THE ENTAir.," ETC., ETC., ETC. 0* ti «0 Tliolr potistanoy in tortiiro and in doath,— 'I'lieso on 'I'niditiun'H iDngnn Ktill livp, ilip^o (hall nil History's liouost page bo pictured ))rlt$lit To latoHt timo.s. Gll.VHAMK'3 SABBAtrr. GLASGOW: DUNN & WRIGHT, 176 BUCHANAN STREET, AND STIRLING ROAD. OLASOOW: DUNN AN' I) WRiailT, rillNTKIlS. RING AN GILHAIZE: OR, THE TIMES OF THE COVENANTERS. CHAPTER T. , It is a thing past nil contesting, tlmt, ill tlio Ileforniation, tlicrc was a8j)irit of far greater carnality among the clianipions of the cause, than among tlioso wlio in later times so cou- ragciously, under tlie Lord, upheld tlie unspotted banners of the Cove- nant. This I speak of from the re- nu'i!ibraiice of many aged persons, wlio tither themselves bore a part in that war with the worshippers of the lienst and his Image, or who had lioard their fathers tell of the lieart and nn"nd wherewith it was carried on, and could thence, Avith the lielps of their own knowledge, discern the spiritual and hallowed difference, llut, as I intend mainly to bear vii ncss to tliose passages of tlio Jatc bloody perseciition in which I was myself both a soldier and a sufferer, it will not become me to brag of our motives and intents, as higher and liolit-r than those of the great elder AVortiiies of " the Congregation." At the same time it is needful that I sl.juld rehearse as much of what liappened in the troubles of the IJe- forniation, as, in its effects and in- fluences, worked upon flic issues of my own life. For my father's father was out in the raids of that tem- pestuous season, and it was by him, and from the stories lie was wont to tell of what the (lovernment did, when drunken with the .sorceries of the gorgeous liomau harlot, and rampag- ing with the wrath of Moloch and of lielial, it trami)led on the liearts and thought to devour the souls of tho subjects, that I first was taught to feel, know, and understacd tho divine right of resistance. IIo was come of a stock of bcin burghers in Lithgow ; but his father having a profitable traffic in saddle- irons and bridlo-rings among the gallants of the court, and being more- over a man who took little heed of the truths of religion, he continued with his wife in the delusions of the papistical idolatry till the last, by which my grandfather's young soul was put in great jeopardy. For the monkei of that time were eager to pet into their clutches such men-children as appeared to be gifted with any peculiar gift, in order to rear them for stoops and posts to sustain their Uabylon, in tho tower and structure whereof many rents and cracks wero daily kithing. Tiie Dominican friars, who had a rich howf in the town, seeing that my grandfather was a shrewd and sharp child, of a comely complexion, and possessing a studious observance, were fain to wile him into their power ; 1)ut 'iC was happily preserved from all their snares and devices, in a manner that shows how wonderfully the Lord worketh out the purposes of His will, by ways and means of which no man cau fathom the depths of the mysterieo, rjNflAN OTLTTATZK. r>i-si(k'.s iiis trallio in tlio polLshcd garniture of lior.se-j.'oar, my f,'ran(l- fatlior's father was also a farrier, and enjoyel a far-spread repiito for liis pkiil in tiie maladies of horses: by wiiicli, and as lie dwelt near the palace-yett, on the south side of the street, foment tiie grand foun- tain-well. Ills sniiildy was the common liauiit of the serving-men belonging to tiie nol^les frequenting the court, and as often as any new comers to the palace were observed in the town, some of the r.ionks and friars be- longing to the different convents were sure to come to the smiddy to converse with their grooms and to hear the news, which were all of the controversies raging between the priesthood and the people. My grandfather was then alittleboy, but he thirsted to hear tlieir conver- sations ; and many a time, as he was •wont to tell, has his very heart been raspet to the quick by tlie cruel com- ments in which those cormorants of idolatry indul;;ed themselves, with respi'ct to the brave spirit of the Re- formers ; and he rejoiced when any retainers of the Protestant lords quar- relled with them, and dealt baek to them as hard names as tiio odious epithets with which the hot-fed friars reviled the pious challengers of the pa])al iniquities. Thus it was, in the green years of his childhood, that the same sanctified ppirit was poured out upon him, which rou.sed so many of the true and faithful to resist and re- pel thi- attempt to quench the re- lighted lamps of the Gospel, preparing his young courage to engage in those great first trials and strong tasks of the Lord. « 'J'he tidings and the bickerings to which he was a hearkener in the smidily. he was in the practice of relating to his companions, by which it came to i)as.i that, it might in a manner be said, all the boys ia the town were leagued in sj^int winlu thA lleformers, and the eousequemot* »*re not long of ripening. In those days tJjere Tras a f <ocii*h: saint, one St Michael, that -mm hd<l in wonderful love and aidocatiiiQiiiii h-j all the ranks and hierardiMa ol th& ecclesiastical locust then in littiii;woiw ; indeed, for that niatt<T, ther atanriiSwei to him power and dominion cir^j sEw? whole town, lauding and ■wc»rf.Lii|f.fi.ciii3f him as their special god aaj'B jiiri>- tector.. i»nd upon a certaiiiu k1i;t of the year they were wont la muijti* a great pageant and revel in Lwei^ihit of this supposed saint, and to co7j>-; ijtth from their cloisters witii banntu*, an*! with censers burning incense. ■riaio<miamg and singing paternosters m jfimae of this their Dagon. walking m f>v^O"^a~ sion from kirk to kiik. as iJ i1i*t wrtere celebrating the triuuipl; ■of *jnie mighty conqueror. This annual aViomi' .ric'iu ksj>|)*'m- ing to take jdace '' -rtJj jifi..?r thif martyrdom of tlr true KMmn ibkI gospel preacher ' / George Wiifi-iajft, and .vhile kirk nd quire w^ne' v*- sounding, to 1' great iudigiu^irftjoi icf all Christiar with lamentJiTO'V«» for the well-er. I- vjd death of iftn." ifTrniel Cardinal ''. aton, his niv<in.r>iia; p«T- serutor. '. ." monks and fria-^ ip<;iwijT*e*l but littU iiomage as they ]i;.-"i(BaJl(' no^ triump'ii ig, though the Ktre'i* «ri*re^ as ust' li, filled with the iDult .jtivU* to see ill Sir fine show. 31>^ ^jfi-psr!^ how.'ver, no molestatif.u doc ico-n;- teiiM-t, till they were jiast-irjg nfo? Ijvrl of Angus' house, on the outti'Sie sfciir of which my grandfather. tbihIj nxme two or three score of otib*T imiinxo'^v'n.t children, was standing; taA <^Ti-?n there they might, i>erha|iK. lia«if B)»*en suffered to go by scaitijif s^. "i-Tiit for an accident that befel Hji 1.. ■ :<-TfA a banner, on which wjit dejiicUniiii irjl.M- phemous type of the Holy CiLotic in the shape and lineaments ■Mf * icijaLj- doo. EINUAN GILHAIZE. It clmnccd tliat tlio Learor of this Lla/on of iniquity was a particular fat monk, of an arroj: nt nature, with the crimson complexiuii of surfeit and constipation, who, for many causes and reasons, was held in greater aver- sion than all the rest, especially by the boys, who never lost an oppor- tunity of making' hini a scoff and a ficorn ; and it so fell out, as ho was coming proudly along, turning his Ijubyloinsh banner to pleasure the •women at the windows, to whom he keiit nodding and winking as lie j)assed, that his foot slii)ped, and down he fell as it were with a gludder, nt which all the .lioughtless innocents on the Earl of Angus' st<air set up a loud shout of triumphant laughter, and from less to more began to hoot and yell at the wh'de pageant, and to iielt some of the performers with un- savoury missiles. This, by those inordinate ministers of oppression, was deemed a horrible sacrilege, and the parents of all the poor children were obligated to give them up to punishment, of which none suffered more than did nij' grand- father : v.ho was not only persecuted with stripes till ids loins were black and blue, but cast into a dungeon in the IJlaekfriars' den, wdiero for three days and three nigiits he was allowed no sustenance but gnawed crusts and foul water. The stripes and terrors of tlie oppressor are, however, the seeds which Providence sows in its mercy to grow into the means that shall work his own overthrow. 'J'he persecutions which from that day the monkswaged,in theirconclaves of sloth and sosherie, against the chil- dren of the town, denouncing them to their parents as worms of the great serpent and heirs of perdition, only served to make their young spirits burn fiercer. As their joints hardened and their sinews were knit, their hearts grew manful, aud yearned, as my grandfather said, with the zealous longings of a righteous revenge, to sweep them a\vay from the land tia with a whirlwind. After enduring for several years great allliction in his father's house, from his mother, a termagant woman, who was entirely under the dominion of her confessor, my grandfather en- tered into a paction with two other young lads to quit their homes for ever, and to enter the service of some of those pious noblemen who were then active in procuring adherents to the Protestant cause, as set forth in the first Covenant. Accordingly, one morning in the spring of 1 ;"),')«, they bade adieu to their fathers' doors, and set forward on foot towards Edin- burgh. *' Wo had light hearts," said my grandfather, "for our trust was in Heaven ; we had girded ourselves for a holy enterprise, and the confidence of our souls broke forth into songs of battle, the melodious breathings of that unison of spirit which is alone known to the soldiers of the great Captain of Salvation." About noon they arrived at the Cross of Edinburgh, where they found a crowd assembled round the Liickeubooths, waiting for the break- ing up of the States, which were then deliberating anent the proposal from the l''rench king, tluit the Prince Dolphin, his son, should marry our young queen, the fair and faulty Mary, whoso doleful captivity and woeful end scarcely expiated the sins and sorrows that she caused to her ill- used and poor misgoverned native realm of Scotland. While they were standing in this crowd, my grandfatlier happened to see one Icener Cunningham, a servant in tiie household of the Earl of Glen- cairn, and having some acquaintance of the nmn before at Litligow. he went towards him, and after souio RINGAN GILHAIZE. common tiilk, told on what errand he and liis two companions had come to Edinburj,'h. It was in coiisrqiionco ngfL'ed between tliem, tliat tliis Icener shouhl speak to ills Master concern- ing tliem ; the wliich he did as soon na my Lord eamo out from the Par- liament; and tlio Earl was so well pleased with the looks of the tlirec yonng men, that he retained them for his service on the spot, and they were conducted by Icener Cunningham home to his Lordship's lodgings in St Mary's A\'ynd. Tims was my grandfather enlisted into the cause of the Lords of the Congregation ; and iu tlie service of that great cliumpion of the Ileforma- tion, the renowned, valiant, and pious Earl of (ilencairn, lie saw many of those thiug.s, the recital of which kindled my young mind to flame up with no less ardour than in's against tlie cruel attempt that Avas made, in our own day and generation, to load the neck of Scotland with the grievous chains of prelatic tyranny. The Earl of Glencaim, liaving mucli to do with the other Lords of tlic Congregation, did not come to his lodging till late in tlio afternoon ; when, as soon as he had passed into liis privy chamber, lie sent for his tliree new men, and entered into sonic conversation with tliem concerning what the people at Lithgow said and thought ot the (iucon-dowager's go- vernment, and the ]iroc(!edings at that time afoot on behalf of tlic re- formed religion. But my grandfather jealoused tliat in this he was less swayed by the expectation of gather- ing knowledge from them, than by a wish to inspect their discretion and. capacities ; for, after conversing with them for the space of half an hour, or thereby, he dismissed tliem cour- teously from his presence, without intimating that he had any special service for them to perform. One evening as the Earl sat alone at supper, he ordered my grandfather to bo brought again befort- liim. and desired him to be cup-bearer for that night. In this situation, as Jiiy gran<l- fitiier stood holding (he ciialice and flagon at his left elbow, the Earl, iis was his wonted custom witli such of the household as he, from time to time, so honoured, entered into famil- iar conversation with him ; and when the servitude and homages of the supper were over, and the servants Avere removing tlio plate and trencii- crs, he signified, by a look and a whisper, that ho Avished him to lin- ger in the room till after tliey Averc gone. " Gilhaize," said he, Avhen the serving-men had retired, and they Avere by themselves, " I am well con- tent Avith your ])ru(lenee, and there- fore, before you are known to belong to my train, I Avould send you on a confidential errand, for which you must bo ready to set forth this very night." INIy grandfather made no reply in Avords to this mark of trust, but boAved his head, in token of his obed- ience to the commands of the Earl. "I need not tell you," resumed his mjister, " that, among the friends of the reformed cause, there are some for policy, and many for gain ; and that our adversaries, knoAving this, leave no device or stratagem untried to soAv sedition among the Lords and Leaders of the Congregation. This very day the Earl of Argyle has re- ceived a mealy-mouthed letter from that dissolute papist, the Archbishop of St Andrews, entreating him, Avith many sAveet Avords, concerning the ancient friendship subsisting between their families, to banish from his pro- tection that good and pious proselyte, Doughis, liis chaplain ; evidently pre- suming, from the easy temper of the aged Earl, that he may be wrought RINfiAN GTLHATZE. one Iht iml liat ikI- Mul IH .of to nil. ICIl tllO I its cli- (l a lin- vero into coinpliiince. Hut Arj^ylo is ftn lioneHt ninn, nnd is tliJH ni^lit to rc- tnrn, by the AiclibiBhon'a mcsspn^er and kinHrnan, Sir David Hamilton, n fitting,' and ])ro]ior reply. It is not liowcvtT to 1)0 tlionylit, tliiit this at- tempt to tamper witli Arpylo is tiio sole trial wliich the treacherous priest is .".t tliis time making to breed dis- trust nnd dissension among us, though as yet wo have heard of none other. Is'ow, Gillwiize, what I wish you to do, and I think you can do it well, is to throw yourself in Sir David's way, and, by hook or crook, get with liim to St Andrews, nnd there try by all expedient means to gain a knowledge of what the Archbisliop is at this time f>lotting — for plotting wc are assured mm this symptom he is — and it is needful to the cause of C'lirist that his wiles should be circumvented." In saying these words the Earl rose, and, taking a key from his belt, opened a coffer that stood in the corner of the room, and took out two pieces of gold, which he delivered to my grand- father, to bear the expenses of his journey. "I give you, (lilhaizo," said ho, " no farther instructions ; for, unless I am mistaken in my man, you lack no better guide tiian your own dis- cernment. So God be with you, and His blessing prosper the undertak- ing." Aly grandfather was much moved at being so trusted, and doubted in liis own breast if he was qualified for the duty which his master had thus put upon him. Nevertheless he took heart from the Earl's confidence, and, without saying anything either to his two companions or to Teener Cun- ningham, he immediately, on jjarting from hit inaster, left the house, leav- ing his absence to be accounted for to the servants according to his lord's pleasure. Having been several times on er- rands of his father in Edinburgh bo- fore, he was not ill-acquainted with the tov.r , nncl the moon being up, ho had .iHfulty in finding his way to Ilahby Hridle's. a noted stabler's at the foot of Leith Wynd nigh the mouth of the North Loch, where gallants and other travellers of gentle condition commonly put up their liorses. There he thought it was likely Sir David Hamilton had stabled his steed, and he divined that, by going thither, he would learn whether that knight had set forward to Fife, or when he was expected so to do ; the which movement, he alw.ays said, was nothing short of an instinct from Heaven ; for just on entering the stabler's yard, a groom came shouting to the hostler to get Sir David Hamil- ton's horses saddled outright, ns his master was coming. Thus, without the exposure of any inquiry, he gained the tidings that ho wanted, and with whatspeecl he could put into his heels, he went forward to the pier of Leith, where he found a bark, with many passengers on board, ready to set sail for Kirkcaldy, wait- ing only for the arrival of Sir David, to whom, as the Archbishop's kins- man, the boatmen were fain to pre- tend a great outward respect ; but many a bitter ban, my grandfather said, they gave him for taigling them so long, while wind tind tide both served, — all which was proof and evi- dence how much the hearts of the conmion people were then alienated from the papistical churchmen. Sir David having arrived, and his horses being taken aboard, the bark set sail, and about daybreak next morning she came to anchor at Kirk- caldy. During the voyage, my grand- father, who was of a mild and comely aspect, observed that the knight was more affable towards him than to the lave of the passengers, the most part of whom were coopers going to Dun- RINOAN GILHAIZE. dco to prepare for the summer fishing. Among them was ouo Patrick (iiril- 'wood, the deacon of the craft, a mout comical character, <o vogio of his honours and dignities in tlio town council, that ho could not get the knight told often enough what a load nboon the burden ho had in keei)ing a' things douce and in right regulation amang the bailies. But Sir David, fivahed at his clatter, and to be quit of him, came across tlio vessel, and be- gan to talk t'- >.iy grandfatlier, al- thougii, by his -ipparel, he was no moot companion for ouo of a knight's '.'.'gree. it happened that Sir David was pleased with his conversation, which was not to be wondered at ; for in his old age, when I knew him, he was a man of a most enticing mildness of manner, and withal so discreet in his sentences, that he could not be heard without begetting respect for his ob- servance and judgment. So out of the vanity of that vogio tod of tlio town council, was a means thus made by rrovideuce to further the ends and objects of the Reformation, in so far as my grandfather was concerned ; for the knight took a liking to liim, and being told, as it was expedient to give a reason for )iis journey to St Andrews, that he was going thither to work as a farrier. Sir David promised him not only his own countenance, but to commend him to the Arch- bishop. There was at that time iu Kirk- caldy one Tobit Balmuto, a horse- setter, of whom my grandfather had some knowledge by report. Tliis Tobit being much resorted to by the courtiers going to and coming from Falkland, and well known to tlieir serving-men, who were wont to speak of hiiu in the smiddy at Lithgow as a zealous Reformer — chiefly, as the pro- digals amon? them used to jeer and say, because the priests and friars, iu their journeyings atween St Andrews and Ldinburgh, took the use of hia bea.U3 without paying for them, giving him only their feckless benisous iu« stead of white money. To this man my grandfather ro- so1v(h1 to apply for a horse, and such a one, if possible, as would be able to carry him as fast as Sir David Hamilton's. Accordingly, on getting to the land, he inquired for Tobit Rahnuto, and several of his striplings and liostlers being on the shore, hav- ing, on seeing the bark arrive, come down to look out for travelleis that might want horses, he was conducted by one of them to their employer, whom he found an elderly man, of tho corpulent order, sitting in an elbow- ciiair by tho fireside, toasting an oaten bannock on a pair of tor- mentors, with a blue puddock-stool bonnet on his head, and his grey hoso undrawn up, whereby his Ivairy legs were bare, showing a power and girth such as my grandfather had seen few like before, testifying to Avhat had been the deadly strength of their possessor in his younger years, llo was thought to have been a relative of tiie Roswells of Ralmuto. When he had made known his want to Tobit, and that he was in a manner obligated to be at St Andrews as soon as Sir David Hamilton, tho horse-setter withdrew the bannock from before the ribs, and seeing it somewhat scowthert and blackent on the one cheek, he took it off the tor- mentors, and scraped it with them, and blew away the brown burning, be- fore he made any response ; then lio turned round to my grandfather, and looking at him with the tail of his eye, from aneath his broad bonnet, said, — " Then ye'ro no in the service of his Grace, my Lord^the Archbishop? and yet, frien', I thi'ik na ye're just a peer to Sir Davie J'u; you need to PIXOAN 0ILIIAI2E. t'ttlo lit co|iiiij,' witli lii.s braw inaro, ykolp-tlic-diil), wliilk Ist'lt to him iiiy- fid' ; but iiuVr a bawboo liac I yet han'lt't o' tlie in'ice ; liowscvir lliat's neither 'htc nor tlierc, a day of reckon- ing will (01110 at last." ISIy ^'rainlfatlior assured Tobit 15al- niuto it was indeed very true he was not in the service of the Archbisiiop, and that ho would not have been so instant about pettinj,' to St Andreva with the knijfht had he not a dn id and fear that Sir David was the brirer of BOHiething tliat might be sore news to the flock o' Christ, and he was fain to be there ns soon as him, to speak in time of what he jealoused, that ;iny of those in t.ie town, who stood within the reverence of the Archbishop's aversion, on account of their reiij.'ion, nught Ret an inkling, and provide for themselves. " If that's your errand," said the liorse-set'er, " ye s'all hae the swiftest foot in my aught to help you on, and I redde yju no to sjiare the spur, for I'm troubled to think ye n^ay be owrc late — Satan, or they lie upon him, has been heating his cauldrons yonder for a brewing, and the Archbishop's tlirang providing the malt. Naefjxrther pane than yesterday, auld worthy IN.r Slill of Lunan, being discovered hid- den in a kiln at Dysart, was ta'en, they say, in a cart, like a malefactor, .by twa uncircumcised loons, servitors to his Grace, and it's thought it will go hard wi' him, on account of his great godliness ; so mak what haste ye dow, and the Lord put mettle in the beast that bears you." With that Tobit IJalmuto ordered the lad who brought my grandfather to the house to saddle a horse that he called Spunkie ; and in a trice lie Avas mounted and on tlie road after Sir David, whom he overtook notwith- standing the spirit of his mare, Skelp- the-dub, before he had cleared the town of ratlihead, and, they travelled onward at a brisk trot together, tho knight becoming more and more jdeased with his companion, in so much, that by tho time they had reached Cupar, where they stopped to corn, he lamented that a young man of his parts should think of following the slavery of a farrier's life, when ho ight rise to trusts and fortune in the Imurc of some of the great men of tho titne, kindly offering to procure for him, on their arrival at St Andrews, the favour and ]iatronago of hi.s kins- man, the Archbishop. It was the afternoon, when my grandfather and Sir David Hamilton came in sight of St Andrews, and tho day being loun and bright, the sky clear, and the sea calm, he told mo that, when he miw the many lofty spires and towers and glittering pinnacles of the town rising before him, ho verily thought he was approaching the city of Jerusalem, so grand and glorious was the apparition which they made in tho sunshine, and he approached the barricaded gate with a strange movement of awe and wonder rushing through the depths of his spirit. They, however, entered not into tho city at that time, but, i)assing along the wall leftward, came to a road which led to the gate of the eastlo where tho Archbishop then dwelt ; and as they were approaching towards it, Sir David pointed out tho window where Cardinal Beaton sat in tho pomp of his scarlet and fine linen to witness the heretic Wishart, as tho knight called that holy mau, burnt for his sins and abominations. My grandfather, on hearing this, drew his bridle in, and falling behind Sir David, raised his cap in reverenco and in sorrow at the thought of pass- ing over the ground that had been so hallowed by martynloin. But he said nothing, for ho knew that his thoughts were full of offence to those who were wrapt in the errors and delusions of 10 KINGAN GILHAIZE. popery like Sir David Hamilton ; and, moreover, ho liad thanked the Lord thrice in the course of their journey for the favour wiiicli it liad pleased llini he should find in the sijjht of the kinsman of so great an adversary to tlie truth as was the Arcldjishop of St Andrews, whose treasons and treach- eried aj^ainst the Church of Christ ho was then travelling to discover and waylay. On reaching tlic castle-yott they alighted; my grandfather sptinging lightly fron\ the saddle, took hold of Sir David's mare by the bridle-rings, while the knight wont forward, and Avliispered sonietliing concerning his Grace to a stalwart, liard-favoured, grey-haired man-at-arms, that stood warder of the port leaiiiug on his sword, the blade of wliilk could not be shorter than an ell. What answer lie got was brief, tlie ancient warrior pointing at the same time with his right hand towards a certain part of the city, and giving a Belial smile of eignificance ; whereupon Sir David turned round without going into the court of t!ie castle, and bidding my grandfatlier give the man tlio beasts and follow, Avhich he did, they walked together under the town wall towards the east, till they came to a narrow sallyport in the ramj^art, wherewith the priory and cathedral had of old been fenced about with turrets and bastions of great strentrth against the laAvless kerns of the Highlands, and especially the ship? of tlie English, who have in all ages boon of a nature gleg and glad to nudi and molest the sea- liarbour towns of Scotland. On coming to the sallyport. Sir David chapped witli his win"]) twice, and presently from within a wicket was opened in the door.s, ribbed with iron BtMincIiers on the outside, and a man witli the sound of corpulency in his voice, looked through and inquired what they wanted. Seeing, however, wiio it was that had knocked, he fortlnvith drew the bar and allowed them to enter, which was into a plea- sant policy adorned with joncpiils and jelly -ilowers, and all manner of bloom- ing and odoriferous plants, mosi vo- luptuous to the smell and ravishing to behold, the scents and friigraneies whereof smote my grandfather for a time, as he snid, with the very anguish of delight. But, on looking behind to see who had given them admittance, he was astounded when, instead of an armed and mailed soldier, ns he had thought the drumly-voiced sentinel there placed was, he saw a large, el- derly monk, sitting on a bench with a broken pasty smoking on a platter beside him, and a Rotterdam grey- beard jug standing by, no doubt plen- ished with cordial drink. Sir David held no pnrlance with the feeding frijir. but going straight up the walk to the door of a lodging, to the which this was the parterre and garden, he laid his haml on the sneek, and opening it, bade my grandfather come in. They then went along the tranco towards an open room, and on enter- ing it they met a fair damsel ni the garb of a handmaid, to whom the knight spoke in such a manner as made it evident to my grandfather that the pair were on a familiar footing. By her ho was informed that the Archbishop was in the inner chamber at dinner with her unstress, upon which he de- sired my grandfather to sit down, while he went ben to his (Jrace. The room wliei'o my grandfather took hi-* seat was parted from the inner ehand)er, in which the Arcli- bi.shop and his partner were at their festivities, by an nrnis partition, so that he could licar idl that ])as-cd within, and the first Avords his (irace said on his kinsnmn going ben wci. — "Aweel, Davie, and what says that auld doddard Argylo, will ho RINGAN GILHAIZE. n is manifost in and cojiscioiice for .1 liic'laiid bicld y\'i' otLur BCiul mc tlio apostate to mak' a bcn- fire ? " " Ho lias sent your Grace a letter," replied Sir David, " wherein he told me he had expounded the reasons and causes of his protecting Douglas, hoping your Grace will approve the Banic." " Approve heresy and reprobacy ! " exclaimed the Archbishop ; " but gi'c me the letter, and sit ye down, Davie. — Mistress Kilspinnie, my dauty, fill him a cup of wine, the malvesie, to Eut gmeddani in his jnarrow : he'll no e the waur o't, after his gallanting at Enbro. — Stay ! what's this ? the auld man's been at school since him and me hae swappit pajier. !My word, Argyle, thou's got a tongue in thy pen neb ! but this was ne'er in- dited by him ; the cloven foot of the heretical Carmelite every line, llonoui truly I — braw Avords sehore, that bigs his folks' gear ! " Be composed, your sweet Grace, nnd dinna be so fashed," cried a silver tongucd madam, the which my grand- father afterwards found, as 1 shall have to rehearse, was his companion the ]Mrs Kilspinnie — " what does he say?" " Say ! why that Douglas p""""hcs against idolatry, and he remit:^ o my conscience forsooth, gif that be heresy — and he preaches against frivolity and immorality too — was ever sic varlet terms written in ony noble- man's letter afordlthis apostate's time — and he refers that to my conscience likewise ! " "A faggot to his liody would be ower gude for him,'' cried !Mrs Kil- spinnie. " Ho preaches against hypocrisy,'' said his Grace, "the which he alt-o refers to my conscience — conseience again ! IJae, Davie, tak thir clishma- cliivcrs to Andrew Oliphant. It'll be spunk to his zeal. Wc maun strike our adversaric-s wi' terror, and if we canna wile them back to the fold, we'll e'en s<rt the dogs on them. — Kind Mistress KiLspinnie, help me fiae the stoup o' sherrifs, for I canna but say that this scalded heart 1 hae gotten frae that auld shavling-gabbit hielander haspatmein a waefu'i)light, and I stand in need, my lambie, o' a' your winsome comforting." At which word.^ Sir David came forth the chamber with the letter in hie hand; but seeiii'j my grandfather, whom it would seem he had forgot- ten, he went euddenly back and said to his Grace — " Pleajse you, my Lord, I hao brought with me a young man of a good capacity and a ripe understand- ing, that I would commend to your Graces service. He is here in the outer room waiting your Grace's pleasure." " Davie Hamilton," replied the Archbishop, "ve sometimes lack dis- cretion — what for did je bring a stranger into thii? house — knoAving, as ye ought to do. that I ne'er come hither but when I'm o' a sickly frame, and in need o' solace and repose ? Howsevcr, since the lad's there, bid him come ben.'' Upon this. Sir Daviilcame out and beckoned my grandfather to go in ; and when he went forward, he saw none in that inner chaniber but his Grace and the Mrs Kilspinnie, with whom he was sitting on a settee, before a wili garriished table, Avhereon was divers f?ii\-er tlagons, canisters of comfits, and goblets of the crystal of Venetia. He looked Jsharp at my grand- father, perusing liim from head t*^ foot, who put on for the occasion a face of modtfityand revertiice, but ho was none daunted, for all his eyes were awake, and he took such a cognition of his Grace as he never afterwards 12 RINGAN GILHAIZTi!. forgot. Incloecl, I have often heard liim say, that he saw more of the niau in tlie brief space of tliat interview, than of otliers in many intromissions, and he used to depict him to me as a hale black-avise^l carl, of an o'ersca look, with a long dark beard inclining to grey ; his abundant hair, flowing down from liis cowl, was also clouded and streaked with the kitiiings of the cranreucli of age — there Avas, liow- ever, a youthy and luscious twinkling in his eyes, that showed how little the passage of three and fifty winters had changed the grovelling tendency of liis nature. 'J'he better to observe and converse with my grandfather, ho threw himself bacjk in his seat, as- suming a free-and-easy posture which afforded his visitor an opportunity of scanning closely his proportions; while Mrs Kils[iiimio, unseen by his papistical highness, was all the time attentively watching my grand- father, who, as I have said, was a comely and well - favoured young man. After some few questions as to his name and parentngo, the prelate said he would give him his livery, being then anxious, on account of the signs of the times, to fortify his household with stout and valiant youngsters ; and bidding him draw near and to kneel down, he laid his hand on his head, and mumbled a benedicite ; the whicli my grandfather said, was as tlic Bmell of rottenness to his spirit, the old cccletifistic being then living in open sin with his guilty favourite, for Rucli w.as this Mrs. Kilspinnie, her husband, a creditable man, being tlien living, and one of tlie bailies of Crail. Isov is it to be debated, tliat the scene was such as ouglit not to have been seen in a Christian land ; but in those days the blasphemous Erogeny of the Roman harlot were old witli tlie audacious sinfulness of their parent, and set little store i>y the fear of God, or the contempt of man. It was a sore trial and a strug- gle in the bosom of my grandfather that day, to think of making a sliow of Iiomage and service towards the mitred I5elial and high priest of the abominations wherewith tlic realm was polluted, and when he rose from under his paw, he shuddered, and felt as if he had received the foul erls of perdition from the Evil One. iMany a bitter tear he long after shed iu secret for the hypocrisy of that hour, the guilt of which was never sweet- ened to his conscience, even by the thought that he maybe thereby helped to further the great redemption of his native land, iu the blessed cleansing of the Reformation. CHAPTER II. Siu David IIamii.tox conducted my grandfather back through the garden and the sallyjjort to tlie castle, where he made him acquainted with his (i race's seneschal, by whom he was most hospitably entertained Avhen the knight had left them together, receiv- ing from him a cup of hippocras, and a plentiful repast, the like of wliich, for the savouriness of the viands, was seldom seen out of the howfs of the monks. 'ihe seneschal was called by name Leonard Meldrum, and was a most douce and composed character, mcU strif'ken in years, and though en- grained with the errors of papistry, aa was natural for one bred and cherished in the house of the speaking horn of the Tx'ast, for such the high priest of St Andrews was well likened to, ho was nevertheless a man of a hiunane heart and great tenderness of con- sc'i'iice. 'J"ho while my grandfather was sitting with hin. at the board, ho RINGAN aiLHAIZE. 18 lamented tlmt the Cliurcli, so he ile- noniinatcd tlie papal abomination, was so far gone with the spirit of punishment and of cruelty, as rather to shock men's minds into schism and rebellion, than to allure them back into worship and reverence, and to a repentance of their heresies. A strain of discourse which my grandfatlier so little expected to hear within the gates and precincts of the guilty castle of St Andrews, that it made him for a time distrust the sincerity of the old man, and he was very guarded in what he himself answered thereto. Leonard Meldrum was, however, honest in his way, and rehearsed many things which had been done within his own knowledge against the Reformers, that, as he said, human nature could not abide, nor the just and merciful Heavens well pardon. Thus, from less to more, my grandfather and he fell into frank communion, and he gave him such an account of the bloody Cardinal Beaton, as was most awful to hear, saying, that his then present master, with all his faults and prodigalities, was a saint of purity comjjared to that rampag'ous cardinal, tlie wiiich to hear, my grandfather thinking of ■what he had seen in the lodging of Madam Kilspinnie, was seized Avith such a horror thereat, that he could i>artake no more of the repast before lim ; and he was likewise moved into a great awe and wonder of sjtirit, that the Lord should thus, in tlie very chief sanctuary of papistry in all Scot- land, be alienating the affections of the servants from their master, pre- paring the way, as it were, for an utter desertion and desolation to ensue. 'J'iiey afterwards talked of tlie latter end of that great martyr, Mr George Wishart, and the seneschal informed him of several things con- cerning the same, that were most edifying, though sorrowful to hear. " lie was," said he, "placed under my care, and methinks I sliall ever see him before me, so meek, so holy, and so goodly was his aspect. lie was of tall stature, black haired, long bearded, of a graceful carriage, elegant, courteous, and ready to teach. In his apparel he was most comely, and in his diet of an abstemious temperance. On the morning of his execution, when I gave him notice that he was not to be allowed to Lave the sacra- ment, he smiled with a holiness of resignation that almost melted me to weep. I then invited him to partake of my breakfast, which he accepted wit;, cheerfulness, saying — " ' I will do it very willingly, and so much the rathe i\ because I perceive you to be a good Christian, and a man fearing God.' " 1 then ordered in the breakfast, and he said — " ' I beseech you, for the love you bear to our Saviour, to be silent a little while, till I have made a short exhortation, and blessed this bread we are to eat.' " He then spoke about the space of half-an-hour of our Saviour's death and passion, exhorting me, and those who were present with me, to mutual love and holiness of life ; and giving thanks, brake the bread, distributing a part to those about him ; then taking a cup, he bade us remember that Christ's blood was shed to wash away our sins, and, tasting it himself, ho handed it to me, and I likewise \rM-- took of it : then he concluded with another prayer, at the end of which he said, ' I will neither drink nor eat any more in this world,' and lie fortii- with entered into an inner chamber wiiere his bed was, leaving us filled with admiration and sorrow, and our eyes flowing with tears." To this the seneschal added, "I fear, I fear, v/e are soon to liavo another scene of the same sort, for to- 14 HINGAN GILHAIZE, morrow tlie Bishops of Murray, .iikI lU'echin, and Caithness, with other diffnitarics, are summoned to tlie cathedral, to sit on judguient on the atfed priest of Ijunau, that was brought liither from Dysart yestereen, and from the ho.id the newfangled heresies are making, there's little doubt that the poor auld man will be made an example. Ah ! M'oes me ! far better would it bo an they would make an example of the like of the Earls of Argyle and Glencairn, by whom the reprobates are so encouraged." "And is this Mill," inquired my grandfather with diffidence, for his heart was so stung with what he heard, that ho could scarcely feign the necessary hypocrisy which the peril lie stood in required — " Is this Mill in the castle V " " Sorry am I to say it," replied the Eonesclial, " and under my keeping ; but 1 darena show him the pity tliat I would fain do to his grey hairs and aged limbs. Some of the monks of the priory arc with him just now, trying to get him to recant his errors, with the promise of a beiu provision for the remainder of his days in the abbey of Dunferadine, the whilk I hope our bic^ised Lady will put it into his heart to accept." " I trust," said my grandfather in the core of his bosom, " tliat the Lord will fortify him to resist tiio tcmi)tatioH." This, however, the seneschal heard not, for ii was ejaculated inwardly, and ho subjoined — " When the monks go away, I will take you in to see him, for truly ho is a i^ight far more moving to com[)a.ssiou than (h'spleasurc, whatsoever his sins and lieresies may be." In tiiis manner, for the space of more tlian an hour, did my grand- fatiier hold converse and communion with liconard Meldrum, in wiiom he waj often heard to Bay, there was more of the leaven of a RanctKied nature, than in the disposition of many zealous and professing Chris- tians. When the two sliavlings that had been afllicting blaster Mill with the of- fer of the wages of Satan were dep.ar- ted from the castle, the seneschal rose, and bidding my grandfather to como after him, they went out of the room, and traversing a narrow dark passago with many windings, came to the foot of a turnpike stair which led up into tiio sea tower, so called because it stood farthermost of all the castle in the sea, and in the chamber thereof they found Master Mill alone, sitting at the window, with his ancient and shrivelled lean hand resting on the sole and supporting his chin, as he looked through the iron stainchers abroad on the ocean that was sleeping in a blessed tranquillity around, all glowing and golden with the schimmer of the set- ting sun, "How fares it with you?" eaid the seneschal with a kindly accent ; whereu])on the old man, who had not heard them enter, being tranced in his own holy meditations, turned round, and my grandfather said ho felt liimself, when he beheld ills coun- tenance, so .smitten vith awe nnd ad- miration, that he could not for s'^"i'> time advance irstep. " Come in, JNIaster IMeldrum, and sit ye down by me ! " said tiie godly man. " Draw near unto mo, for I am a thought hard of hearing. The Lord has of late, by steeking tlie doors and windows of my cai'tldy tabernacle, been admonisliing mo that the gloam- ing is con.., and tUe hour of rest can- not be far off." His voice, said my grandfather, was as tlie sound of a mournful melody, but his countonanco was brightened with a solemn joyfulness. lie was of a pale and spiritualcomplexion ; his eyes beamed as it were with a living light, RINGAN GILHAIZE. 16 and often glanced thoughts of heavenly iniagiiiing.s, even as he sat in silence. He was tlien fourscore and two years old ; but liis a|)[)earauce was more aged, for his life had been full of suifering and poverty; and his vener- able hands and skinny arms were heart-melting evidences of his ineffec- tual power to struggle much longer in the warfare of this world. lu sooth, he was a chosen wheat-ear, ripened and ready for the garnels of salva- tion. " I have brought, Master Mill," said the seneschal, " a discreet youth to sec you, not out of a vaiu curiosity, for he sorrows with an exceeding grief that such an aged person should be brought into a state of so groat jeopardy; but I hope, !Mastcr Mill, it will go well with you yet, and that ye'll repent and accept the boon that 1 hae heard was to be proffered." To these words the aged saint mad'i no reply for the space of about a minute ; at the end of which he raised his hands, and casting his eyes heavenward exclaimed — "I thank thee, O Lord, for the days of sore trial, and want, and hun- ger, and thirst, and destitution, which thou hast been pleased to bestow upon me, for by them have I, even iio','' as I stand on the threshold of life, been enabled, through thy merciful lieart- enings, to set at nought the tempta- tions wherewith I have been tempted." And, turning to the seneschal, he added mildly, " But I am bound to you, Master Meldrum, in great obli- gations, for I know that, in the hoi)e you have now expressed, there is the spirit of much cliaritableness, albeit you discern not the deadly malady tliat the sin of compliance would bring to my poor soul. No, Sir, it would na be worth my while now, for world's pain, to read a recajitation. And blessed be God, it's ao in my power to yield, so deeply are the truths of his laws engraven upon the tablet of my heart." I'liey tiien fell into more general discourse, and while they were sjicak- ing, a halberdier came into the room with a paper, whereby the prisoner was summoned to apj)ear in the ca- tliedral next day by ten o'clock, to answer divers matteis of heresy and schism laid to his charge ; and the man having delivered the summons, said to the seneschal, that he was ordered by Sir Andrew Oliphant, to bid him refrain from visiting the prisoner, and to retire to his own lodging. The seneschal to this command said nothing, but rose, and my grand- father likewise rose. Fain would he have knelt down to beg the blessing of the martyr, but the worthy Master INIeldi'um signified to him with a look to coni .. j once away ; and when they Avere returned back into his chamber where the repast had been served, he told him, that there was a danger of falling under the evil thoughts of OlipliantjWere he to be seen evidencing anything like respect towards prison- ers accused of the great and heinous sin of heresy. The next day was like a cried fair in St Andrews. All the country from ayont Cupar, and many reformed and godly persons, even from Dundee and Perth, were gathered into the city to hear the trial of JNIastcr Walter Mill. Iho streets were filled with horses, and men with whips in their hands; and spurs at their heels, and there was a great going to and fro among the multitude ; but, in its niun- bers, the congregation of the people was in no other complexion either like a fair or a tryst. Every visage was darkened with douro thoughts ; none spoke cheerfully aloud ; but there was whispering and muttering, and ever and anon the auld men wore seen wagging their heads in sorrow, 16 RINGAN GTLHAIZE. wliilo the younp; or'wd often " Shame! shume ! " luul \v'itli vehoinont gestures clave the air with tlieir right liands, grasping their whips and staffs witii the vigour of indignation. At last tlie big bell of the cathe- dral began to jow, at the doleful sound of which there was, for the space of two or three minutes, a silence and pause in tlio multitude, as if they had boon struck witli panic and consterna- tion ; for till then there was a hope among them that the persecutors would relent ; but the din of the bell was as the signal of death and despair, and the people were soon awakened from their astonishment by the cry that "the bis'nops are coming;" whereat there was a groat rush towards the gates of the cluirch, which was presently filled, l^^aving only a passage lip the middle f.isle. In the quire a table was spread with a purple velvet cloth, and at the upper end, before i'.o higli place of the mass, was a stool of state for ti>e Archbishop ; on each side stood chairs for tlie Bishops of iSlurray, Urecliin, and Caithness and his other suffra- gans, summoned to sit in judgment with him. jMy grandfather, armed and wear- ing the Archbishop's livery, was with those that guarded the way for the cruel prelates, and by tlio pressure of the tlirong in convoying tlicm into their place, ho was driven within the screen of the quire, and saw and heard all that passed. "When tliey had taken their seats, !Master Mill was brought before them from tile prior's chamber, whither ho had been secretly conducted early in the morning, to the end that his great age might not be seen of the people to worit on tlieir compassion. Bat, notwitlistanding the forethought of tliis device, when ho came in, his white hair, and liis saintly look, and his feeble tottering steps, softened every heart ; even the very legate of anti- christ", the Archbishop himself, my grandfather said, was evidently moved, and for a season looked at the poor infirm old m.an as he would iiavo spared him, and a murmur of univer- sfil commiseration ran through tho church. On being taken to the bottom of the table, and placed foment tho Archbishop, Master Mill knelt down and prayed for support, in a voice so firm, and clear, and eloquent, that all present were surprised ; for it rung to the farthest corner of that great edifice, and smote the hearts of hia oppressors as with the dread of a menacing oracle. Sir Andrew Oliphant, who acted a3 clerk and chancellor on the occasion, began to fret as he heard him thus strengthened of the liOrd, and cried, peevishly — " Sir Walter ^lill, get up and answer, for you keep my lords hero too long." lie, however, heeded not this com- mand, but continued undisturbed till lie had finished his devotion, when ho rose and said — " I am bound to obey God more than man, and I serve a mightier Tjord than yours. You call me Sir Walter, but I am only AValter. Too long was I one of tho Pope's knights : but now say what you have to say." Oliphant was somewhat cowed by this bold reply, and ho bowed down, and turning over his papers, read a portion of one of them to himself, and then raising his head, said — " What thiukest thou of priests' marriage ? " The old man looked bravely towards the bishops, and answered with an intrepid voice — " I esteem marriage a blessed bond, ordained by God, approved by Christ, and made free to all sorts of men ; but you abhor it, and in the meantime UIXGAN GILHAIZE. 17 take other men's wives .and daughters ; you vow cliastity, and keep it not." My grandfather at these words looked unawares towards the Arch- bishop, tiiinking of what he had seen in the lodging of Mrs Kilspinnie ; and their eyes chancing to meet, his Grace turned his liead suddenly away as if he had been rebuked. Divers other questions were then put by Oliphant, toucliing the sacra- ments, tiie idolatry of the mass, and transubstantiation, with other points concerning bishops, and pilgrimages, and the worshipping of God in un- consecratcd places; to all which Master Mill answered in so brave a manner, contrary to the papists, that even Oli- phant himself often looked reproved and confounded. At last the choler of that sharp weapon of persecution began to rise, and he said to him sternly — " If you will not recant, I will pro- nounce sentence (jgainst you." " I know," replied Master Mill, with an apostolic constancy and fortitude, "I know that I must die once ; and there- fore, as Christ said to Judas, AVhat thou doest do quickly. You shall know that I will not recant the truth ; for I am corn and not chaff. I will neither be blown away by the wind, nor burst with the flail, but will abide both." At these brave words a sough of admiration sounded through the chxirch, but, instead of deterring the prelates from proceeding with their wicked purpose, it only served to harden their hearts and to rouse their anger ; for when tiicy had conferred a few minutes apart, Oliphant was ordered to condemn him to the fire, and to deliver him over to the temporal magistrates to see execution done. No sooner was the sentence known, than a cry like a howl of wrath rose from all the people, and the provost of the town, who waa present with the bailies, hastily quitted the church and fled, abhorring the task, and fear- ful lest it would be put upon him to see it done, he being also bailie of the archbishop's regalities. When the sentence was pro- nounced, the session of the court was adjourned, and the bishops, aa they were guarded back to the castle, heard many a malison from the multitude, who were ravenous against them. The aged martyr being led back to the prior's chamber, was, under cloud of night, taken to the castle ; but my grandfather saw no more of him, nor of Master Meldrum, the seneschal ; for there was a great fear mong the bishop's men that the multitude would rise and attempt a rescue ; and my grandfather, not being inclined to go so far with his disguise as to fight against that cause, took oc- casion, in the dusk of the evening, to slip out of the castle, and to hide himself in the town, being reisolved, after what he had witnessed, no longer to abide, even as a spy, in a service which his soul loathed. All the night long there was a great commotion in the streets, and lights in many houses, and a sound of lamen- tation mingled with rage. The noise was as if some dreadful work was going on. There was no shouting, nor any sound of men united to- gether, but a deep and hoarse murmur rose at times from the people, like the sound of the bandless waves of the sea when they are driven by the strong impulses of the tempest. The spirit of the times was indeed upon them, and it was manifest to my grandfather, that there wanted that night but the voice of a captain to bid them hurl their wrath and ven- geance against the towers and strong- holds of the oppressors. At the dawn of day the garrison of the castle came forth, and on the spot where the martyrdom of Mr B IS EINCxAN GILHATZE. George Wishart liad been accom- plished, a stake was driven into the ground, and faggots and barrels of tar were placed around it, piled up almost as high as a man ; in the middle, next to the stake, a place was left for the sufferer. But when all things were prepared, no rope could be had — no one in all the town would give or sell a cord to help the sacritice of iniquity, nor would any of the magistrates come forth to see the execution done, so it was thougiit for :r time that the liungry cruelty of the persecutors would be disappointed of its banquet. One Somervilii*, however, who was officer of the Archbishop's guard, be- tliought himself, in tliis extremity, of the ropes wher"witli his master's pavilion was fastened, and he went and took the same ; and then his men brought forth the aged martyr, at the eight of whom the multitude set up a dreadful imprecation, the roar and growling groan of which was as if a thousand furious tigresses had been robbed of their young. Many of Somerville's halberdiers looked cowed, and their faoes were aghast witii terror ; and some oried, compassionately, aa they saw the bles-sed old man brouglit, with his hands tied behind him, to the Btakc, " Recint, recant !" The monks and friars of the differ- ent monasteries, who were all tliere assembled around, took up the word, and bitterly taunting him, cried like- wise, *' Recant, recant an<l save thyself!" He, however, replied to them with an awful austerity — " I marvel at your rage, ye hypo- crites, who do 80 cruelly pursue the servants of (iod. As for me, I ain now fourscore and two years old, and by course of nature cannot live long ; but liuixhed.s shall rise out of my ashes who sli.-ill scatter you, ye perse- cutors of God's people." Sir Andrew Oliphant, who was tliat day the busiest h\<:h jrksit <-)( the horrible sacrifice, at iIh f<; wi^rds pushed him forward into ii>e n^ist! of the faggots and fuel aT-onu'J i? •; *t;ike. IJut, nothing moved by iLi*- r mi-r-'e- less indignity, the miulyr ] • 1 l t''>r a moment at the jiile villi l .1.'! a- ance full of cheerful r^-^:.: ■■ a, amd tlien requested i>enLiiK--j'.'jj Hi* aay a few words to the pef>]i]e- "You have spoken toa maeh/' cried Oliphant, " and tbe i>ii3i;.of a are exceedingly displeased wTtii wluitt yoa have .said." liut the multitude eicliuaiwrj. •'• Let him be heard ! let Lim Fj>t;iik wBia* he pleases ! — speak, and la^m met Oli- phant." At which he lootf'l tf>ward3 them and said — " Dear friends, the CKmt irhj I suffer' this day is not for aauj imurne hv 1 to my charge, though 1 *tijL'0'wI,}dge my.self a miserable smnw. Iotii qbIt for the defence of the truli* fd Jesns Christ, as set forth«iii tiii« OM and New Testaments."' lie then began to prar. xjsxi while his eyes were shut, two of ScoDerTille's men threw a cord with a rraiiiiEms-Ioop round his body, and bouiKi Mm to the stake. 'J'he fire was tbeii km«ifcd. and at the sight of the smoke tHirt- naiiiMtude uttered a shriek of angnida. aD.«i many ran away, tmable to bear mut tonger the sight of that wofnl mragedy. Among others, my grjuLiMjitter alao ran, nor halted till he 'vas tamat to a place under the rocks on Hut south side of the town, where Ixe wmlri see nothing before him but ni-i lonely desert of the calm jmi eoondlesa ocean. Alany a time did my rr-»it4father, in hi.s old age. when jilJ nRiiiss he spoke were but rcmeml:>Tan>W!». try to tell what pas.sed in his bowoim; whih? he was sitting alone, utid*ir(i8iK0Hw cliffy rock.s, gazing on the silent Bsu-'i mnooent sea, thinking of that dneai'Shd! work, more hideous than tiK! iMwors of RINGAN GILHAIZE. 19 winds and waves, with which blinded men, in the lusts of their idolatry, were then blackening the ethereal face of heaven ; but he was ever unable to proceed for the struggloa of his spirit and the gushing of his tears. Verily it was an awful thing to see that patriarchal man overcome by the re- collections of his youth ; and the manner in which ho spoke of the papistical cruelties was as the pouring of the energy of a new life into the very soul, instigating thoughts and resolutions of an implacable enmity against those ruthless adversaries to the hopes and redemption of the world, insomuch that, while yet a child, I was often worked upon by what he said, and felt my young heart so kindled with the live coals of his godly enthusiasm, that he himself has stopped in the eloquence of his dis- coursCi wondering at my fervour. Then ho would lay his hand upon my head, and say, the Lord had not gifted me with such zeal without hav- ing a task in store for my riper years. His vfordi of prophecy, as shall here- after appear, have greatly and wonder- fully come to pass. But it is meet that for a season I should rehearse what ensued to him, for his story ja full of solemnities and strange acci- dents. Having rested some time on the sea-shore, he rose and walked along the toilsome shingle, scarcely noting which way ho went, — his thoughts being busy with the martyrdom he had witnessed, flushing one moment with a glorious indignation, and faint- ing the next with despondent reflec- tions on his own friendless state. For he looked upon himself as adrift on the tidi'S of the world, believing that his patron, the Earl of Glencairn, would to a surety condemn his lack of fortitude in not enduring the servi- tude of the Archbishop, after having been in so miraculous a mauuer ac- cepted into it, even as if Providence had made him a special instrument to achieve the discoveries which the Lords of the Congregation had then so much at heart. And while he was walking along in this fluctuating mood, he came suddenly upon a man who was sitting, as he had so shortly before been himself, sad and solitary, gazing on the sea. The stranger, on'Iiear- ing him approach, rose hastily, and was moving quickly away; but my grandfather called to him to stop and not to be afraid, for he would harm no one. " I thought," said the melancholy man, " that all his Grace's retainers were at the execution of the heretic." There was something in the way in which he uttered the latter clause of the sell tence that seemed to my grand- father as if he would have made use of better and fitter words, and there- fore, to encourage him into confidence, ho replied — " I belong not to his Grace." " How is it then that you wear his livery, and that I saw you with Sir David Hamilton enter the garden of that misguided woman ? " He could proceed no farther, for his heart swelled, and his utterance was for a while stifled, he being no other than the misfortunate Bailie of Crail, whose wife it was that my grandfather had seen as before nar- rated. She had been beguiled awa^ from him and her five babies, their children, by the temptations of a Dominican, who by habit and repute, was pandarus to his Grace, and the poor man had come to try if it was possible to wile her back. My grandfather was melted with sorrow to see his great affection for the unworthy woman, calling to mind the scene which ho had previously wit- nessed — and he reasoned with him on the great folly of vexing bis spirit for a person so far lost to all sham e 90 RINCrAN GTLHAIZR. nnd given over to iniquity. But still the good man of Cniil avouIcI not bo persuaded, but used many earnest entreaties that my grandfather would assist him to sec his wife, in order tliat he might remonstrate with her on the eternal perils in which she had placed her precious soul. My grandfather, though much moved by the importunity of that weak honest man, nevertheless with- stood his entreaties, telling him that he was minded to depart forthwith from St Andrews, and make the best of his way back to Edinburgh, and so could embark in no scheme whatever. Discoursing on that subject in this manner, they strayed into the fielus, and being wrapt up in their conver- sation, they heeded not which way they went, till turning suddenly round the corner of an orchard, they saw the castle full before them, about half a mile off, and a dim white vapour mounting at times from the spot, still surrounded by many spectators, where the fires of martyrdom had burnt so fiercely. Shuddering and filled with dread, my grandfather turned away, and seeing several countrymen passing he enquired if all was over. " Yes," said they, '* and the soldiers are slockening the ashes ; but a' the waters of the ocean -sea will never quench in Scotland the flame that was kindled yonder this day." The which words they said with a proud look, thinking my grandfather by his arms and gabardine, belonged to the Archbishop's household, — ^but the words were as manna to his religious soul, and he gave inward praise and thanks that the self -same tragical means which had been devised to terrify the Reformers, was thus, through the mysterious wisdom of Providence, made more emboldening than courageous wine to fortify their hearts for the great work that was before them. Nothing, however, farther passed ; but, clianging the course of their walk, niy grandfather and the sorrow- ful Master Kilspinnie, for so the poor man of Crail was called, went back, and entering the bow at the Shoegate, passed on towards a vint- ner's that dwelt opposite to the con- vent of the Blackfriars ; for the day was by this time far advanced, and they both felt themselves in nee' of some refreshment. While they were sitting together in the vintner's apartment, a stiipling came several times into the room, and looked hard at my grandfather, and then went away without speaking. This was divers times repeated, and ut List it was so remarkable, that even Master Kilspinnie took notice of him, observing that he seemed as if he had something very particular to communicate if an opportunity served, offering at the same time to withdraw, to leave the room clear for the youth to tell his errand. My grandfather's curiosity was, by this strange and new adventure to him, so awakened, that he thought what his companion proposed a dis- creet thing; so the honest bailie of Crail withdrew himself, and going into the street, left my grandfather alone. No sooner waa he gone out of the house than the stripling, who liad been sorning about the door, again came in, and coming close up to my grandfather's ear, said with a sig- nificance not to be misconstrued, that if he would follow him he would tiike him to free quarters, wiiere he would be more kindly entertained. My grandfather, though naturally of a quiet temperament, wjis neverthe- less a bold and brave youth, and there was something in the mystery of this message, for such he rightly deemed it, that made him fain to see the end thereof. So ho called in the vintner's HINGAN GILHATZE. 21 wife and jiaid her the lawin', telling her to say to the friend who had been witli him, when he cnnic back, that he would soon return. The vintner's wife was a buxom and jolly dame, and before takinp up the money, she pave a pawkie look at the stripling, and as my grandfather and lie were going out at the door, she hit the gilly a bilf on the back, Scaying it was a ne'er-do-weel trade he hafl ta'en up, and that he was na blate to wile awa' her customers, — crying after him, " I redde ye warn your madam, that gin she sends you here again, I'll may be let his (Jrace ken that she needs to be lookit after." However, the graceless gilly but laughed at the vintner's wife, winked as he patted the side of his nose with his fore-finger, which testified that he held her vows of vengeance in very little reverence ; and then he went on, my grandfather following. They walked up the street till they came to the priory yett, when, turning down a wynd to the left, he led my grandfather along between two dykes, till they were come to a house that stood by itself within a fair garden. But instead of going to the door in an honest manner, he bade him stop, and going forward he whistled shrilly, and then flung three stones against a butt, that was standing at the corner of the house on a gauntress to kep rain water from the spouting image of a stone puddock that vomited what was gathered from the roof in the roues, — and soon after an upper casement was opened, and a damsel looked forth ; she, however, said nothing to the stripling, but she made certain figns which he understood, and then she drew in her head, shut- ting the casement softly, and he came back to my grandfather, to whom he said it was not commodious at that time for him to be received into the house, but if he would como back iu the evening, at eight o'clock, all things would be ready for his reception. To this suggestion my grandfatheJ made no scruple to assent, but pro- mised to be tiiere ; and ho bargained with the lad to come for him, giving him at the same time three placks for a largess. He then returned to tho vintner's, where he found the Crail man sitting waiting for him ; — and tho vintner's wife, when she saw him so soon back, jeered him, and would fain have been jocular, which he often after thought as most unbeconn'ng, considering the dreadful martyrdom of a godly man that had been dono that day in the town ; but at the timo he was not eo over strait-laced as to take offence at what she said ; indeed, as he used to say, sins were not so heinous in those papistical days as tliev afterwards became, when men lost faith in penance, and found out the perils of purchased pardoiis. CHAPTER III. My grandfather liaving, as I havo told, a compassion for the silly affec- tion wherewith the honest man of Crail still regarded his faithless wife, told him the circumstantials of his adventure with the stripling; with- out, however, letting wot he had discovered that the invitation was from her ; the which was the case, for the damsel who looked out at tho window was no other than the person he had seen in her lodging when he went thither with Sir l)avid Hamil- ton, — and he proposed to the discon- solate husband that he should be his frienof in the adventure ; meaning thereby to convince the unhappy man, by the evidence of his o-^'n eyes and ears, that her relationship with the Antichrist was a blessed riddance to him and his family. At first Master lulspinuie had no 22 HINGAN GILHAIZE. zest for any such frolic, for so it Bccmed to liiin, and he began to think my grandfatlier's horror at tlio mar- tyrdom of tlio aged saint but a long faced liyiiocrisy; nevertlielcss ho was wrought upon to conseiiL; and they sat plotting and contriving in wliat manner they should act their several parts, my grandfatlier pretending great fear and apprehension at the thoughts of himself, a stranger, going alone into a neighbourhood where there were sic strange forerunners and signs of danger. At last he pro- posed that they should go together and spy about the precincts of the place, and try to discover if there was no other entrance or outgate to the house than the way by which the stripling conducted him, though well he remembered the sallyj-ort, where the fat friar kept watch, eating the pasty. Accordingly they went forth from the vintner's, and my grandfatlier, as if he knew not the way, led his compan- ion round between the priory and the sea, till they came near the aforesaid sallyport, when, mounting upon a stone, ho affected to discover that the house of the madam stood in the gar- den within and that the sallyport could be no less than a back yet*; thereto. While they were speaking concern- ing the same, my grandfather observed the wicket open in the gate, and guess- ing therefrom that it was one spying to forewarn somebody within who wanted tocomeoutunremarked, he made a sign to his companion, ar,a they both threw themselves flat on the ground, and birsled down the rocks to conceal themselves. Presently the gate was opened, and then out came the fat friar, and looked east and west, hold- ing the door in his hand ; and anon out came his Grace the Antichrist, hirpling with his staff in his hand, tot he was lame with that monkish malady called the gout. ITie friar then drew c: tiio yett to, and walked on towards the castle, with his (Jraco I'mning on hid arm. In the meantime tne ])oor man of Crail was grinding the teeth of liis rage at the sigiit of tiie cause of liis sorrow, and my grandfather iiad a sore struggle to keep him down, and prevent him from running wud and furious at the two sacerdotal reprobates, for no lightlier could they 'bo called. Thus, without any disclosure on my grandfather's part, did Master Kilspinnio come to jealouse that the person who had trysted him was no other than his own faithleee wife, and ho smote his forehead and wept bitterly, to think how she was become so dreadless in sin. But he vowed to ut her to shame ; so it was covenanted etwecn them, that in the dusk of the evening the afflic'.ed husband slunild post himself near to whore they t.ien stood, and that when my grandfather was admitted by the other entrance to the house, ho sliould devise some reason for walking forth into the garden, and while there admit Master Kilspinnie. Accordingly, betimes my grand- father was ready, and the stripling, as had been bargained, came for him to the vintner's, and conducted him to the house, vrhere, after giving the sig- nals before enumerated, the damsel came to the door and gave him admit- tance, leading him straight to the inner chamber before described, where her mistress was sitting on an elegant couch, with the table spread for a banquet. She received my grandfather with many fond protestations, and filled him a cup of hot malvesie, while her handmaid brought in divers savoury dishes ; but he, though a valiant young man, was not at his ease, and ho thought of the poor husband and the five babies that she had forsaken for the company of the papist high- PJNGAN GILHAIZE. owards w^ oil 10 poor teeth auso of lor liiul down, tip wiul erdotal lid they priorft, iiinl it was u saerrd s])ell and n rcstraiiiiiif,' f,Miici!. Still he partook n little of the rich repast whieh iiad been j)r( piiied, and foi^'ucd po lonp a falwe jiliiiHancc, that ho almost beeauio jiItaHeil in reality. 'I'lie danio, how- over, was iier.sclf at times fearful, and seemeil to listen if there was any knockinf,' at tiie door, telllnj? my grandlather that his (Jraco was to bo back after ho had supped at tiie castle. "I thon^dit," said she, "to have had yon here wiien ho was at the burn- ing,' of the, iierotic, but my pilly could not find you amonp Iho troopers till it was owro lato ; for when he broufj;ht you my Lord had como to rest him- self after the execution. Ihit I was so nettled to bo so baulked, that I acted my.self into an anger till I got him away, not however without a threat of being troubled with iiim again." Scarcely had ^ladam said this, when my grandfather started up and feigned to bo in great terror, begging her to let him hide himself in the garden till his (Jraco was come and gone. To this, with all her blandishments, thehaiiless woman mad(! many obstacles ; but he was fortified of the Lord with the thoughts of lu.r injured children, and would not be defeated, but insisted on scogging himself in the garden till the Archbishop was sent away, the hour of his coming being then near at hand. Seeing him thus peremptory, ]\Iadam Kilspinuio was obligated to conform ; so he was permitted to go into the garden, and no sooner was he there than he wont to the sallyport and admitted her husband ; — and well it was that ho had been so steadfast in his purpose ; for scarcely were they moved from tlie yett into a honey- suckle bower hard by, when they heard it again ofien, and in cnme his Grace with his corpulent attendant, who took his scat on the bench before spoken of, to watch, while bis master went into the house. Tho good Hnilie of Crail breatlied thickly, and ho took my grandfather by tho hand, M.s whole frame trein^ bling with a jjassion of grief and rage. In tho laj(.so of some four or live minutes, the young damsel came out of the house, and by tho glimpse of n light from a window as she passed, they saw she had a tankard of smoking drink in her hand, with which sho went to tho friar; and my grand- father and his companion taking ad- vantage of this, slipped out of their hiding-place and stole softly into tho house, and reached tho outer chamber that was parted from ^ladam's ban- quet bower by the arras partition. There they stopped to listen, and heard her complaining in a most dolorous manner of great heart-sick- ness, ever and anon begging the de- luded ])rehitc Hamilton to taste tho feast she had prepared for him, in tho hope of being able to share it with hinj. To which his Grace as often i-eplied, with great condolence and sympathy, how very grieved ho was to find her in that sad and sore estate, with many other fond cajoleries, most painful to my grandfather to hear from a man so far advanced in years, and who, by reason of the reverence of his oUico, ought to have had his tongue schooled to terms of piety and temperance. 'I'hc poor husband meanwhile said nothing, but my grandfather heard his heart panting audibly, and three or four times he was oi)ligated to brush away his hand, for having no arms himself, the IJailie clutched at the hilt of his sword, and would have drawn it from the scabbard. The Antichrist seeing his friend in such groat malady as she so well feigued, he at last, to her very earnest suj)plications, consented to leave her, and kissed her as he came away ; Init her husband broke in upon them with the rage of a hungry lion, and seizing 24 RINGAN GILHATZE. his Grace by the cuff of the neck, swung him away with such vehemence, that he fell into the corner of the room like a sack of duds. As for JNIadam, she uttered a wild cry, and threw herself back on the couch where she was sitting, and seemed as if she liad swooned, having no other device ready to avoid the iipbraidings and just reproaches of her spouse. But she was soon roused from that fraudulent dwam by my grandfatiier, who, seizing a flagon of wine, dashed it upon her face. Mrs Kilspinnie uttered a frightful screech, and, starting up, attempted to run out of the room, but her hus- band caught her by the arm, and my grandfather was empowered, by a signal grant of great presence of mind to think that the noise might cause alarm, whereupon lie sprung instanter to the door that led into the garden, just as the damsel was coming uji, and the fr.t friar hobbling as fast as he could behind her, — and he had but time to say to her, as it was with an inspii'ation, to keep all quiet in the garden, and he would make his escape by the other door. 81ie, on hearing this, ran back to stop tlie seneschal, and my grandfather closed and bolted fast that back door, going forthwith to the one by which he had been himself admitted, and which, having opened wide to the wall, he returned to the scene of commotion. In the meantime, the prelatic dragon had hastily risen upon his legs, and, red with a dreadful wrath, raged as if he would have devoured her Imsband. In sooth, to do his Grace justice, he lacked not tlie spirit of a courageous gentleman, and he could not, my grandfather often said, have borne himself more proudly and valiantly had he been a belted knight, bred in camps and fields of war, so that a discreet retreat and evasion of the house was the best course they could take. But Master Kilspinnie fain would have continued his biting taunts to his wife, who was enact- ing a most tragical extravagance of affliction and terror ; my grandfather, however, suddenly cut him short, crying, " Come, come, no more of this ; an alarm is given, and we must save ourselves." With th^c he seized him firmly by the arm, and in a man- ner harled him out of the house, and into the lane between the djkes, along which they ran with nimble heels. On reaching the Showgate they slackened their speed, still, however, walking as fast as they could till tlicy came near the port, when they again drew in the bridle of their haste, going through among the guards that were loitering around the door of the wardroom, and passed out into the fields as if they had been indifferent persons. On escaping the gate, they fell in with divers persons going along the road, who, by their discourse, were returning home to Cupar, and they walked leisurely with them till they came to a cross-road, where my grand- father, giving Master Kils2)innie a nudge, turned down the one that went to the left, followed by him, and it happened to be the road to Dysart and Crail. " This will ne'er do," said Master Kilspinnie, " they will pursue us this gait." Upon hearing this reasonable ap- prehension, my grandfather stopped and conferred with himself, and received on that spot a blessed ex- perience and foretaste of the jirotec- tion wherewith, to a great age, he wag all his days protected. For it was in a manner revealed to him, that ho should throw away the garbardine and sword which he had received in the castle, and thereby appear in his .simple craftsman's garb, and that they should turn back and cross the Cupar road, niNGAN OILIIAIZE. i25 tliey their and yo along the other, which led to the i)undue waterside ferry. This he told to his fearful companion, and likewise, that as often as they fell in with or heard anybody coming up, the bailie should hasten on before, or den himself among the brackens by the road-side, to the end that it might appear they Avere not two persons in company together. But they had not long crossed the Cu|)ar road, and travelled the one leading to the ferry, when they heard the whirlwind sound of horsemen coming after them, at which the honest man of Crail darted aside, and lay flat on his grouff ayont a bramble bush, while my grandfather began to lilt as blithely as he could, "The Bonny Jiass of Livingston," and the spring was ever after to him as a hymn of thanksgiving ; but the Avords he then sang was an auld ranting godless and graceless ditty of the grooms and serving men that sorncd about his father's smiddy, — and the closer that tiie horsemen camo he was strength- ened to sing the louder and the cli.arer. " Saw ye twa fellows ganging this gait?" cried the foremost of the pursuers, pulling up. " What like were they ? " said my grandfather in a simple manner. '• Anc of them was o' his Grace's guard," replied the man, " but the other, ill tak me gin I ken what l.e was like, but he's the bailie or provost of a burrough'a town, and should by rights hae a big belly." To this my grandfather answered briskly, " Nae sic twa hae past me ; but as I was coming along whistling, thinking o'naething, twa sturdy loons, ane o' them no unlike the hempics of iiie castle, ran skirring along, and I hae a thought that they took the road to Crail or Dysart." " That was my thought too," cried the horseman, as he turned his beast, and the rest that were with him doing the same, biddsiig my grandfather good night, away they scampered back ; by which a blessed deliverancij was there wrought to him and hig companion, on that spot, in that night. As soon as the horsemen had gone by. Bailie KiLtpinnie came from his hiding-jlace. and both he and my grandfather proved that no bird-lime was on their feet till they got to the ferry- house at the water-side, where they found two boats taking pas- sengers on board, one for Dundee and the other for Penh. Here my grand- father s great gift of foreknowledge was again proven, for he proposed that they fihouM bargain with the skipper of the Dundee boat to take them to that town, and pay him like tlie other passengers at once, in an open manner : bat that, as the night was cloudy and dark, they should go cannily aboanl the boat for Perth, as it were in mistake, and feign not to discover their error till they were far up the river, when then they should proceed to the town, letting wot, that by the return of the tide they would go in the morning by the Perth boat to Dundee, with which Master Kil- spinnie was well acquainted, he having had many times, in the way of his traffic as a plaiding merchant, cause to use the same, and thereby knew it went twice a-wetk. and that the morrow was one of the days : — all this they were enabled to do with such fortitude and decorum, that no one aboard the Perth boat could have divined that they were not honest men, in great trouble of mind at dis- covering they had come into the wrong boat But nothing showed more that Providence had a band in all this than what ensued, for all the passengers in the boat had been at St Andrews to hear the trial and eee the martyrdom, 26 RINGAN GTLHAIZE. aud they were sliarp and velicini'ut not only in tlioir condemnation of the mitred Anticlirist, but yrieved with a sincere sorrow, that none of the nobles of Scotland would stand forth in their ancient bravery, to resist and overthrow a race of ojiprcssors more grievous than the Southrons that trode on the neck of their fatiiers in the hero-stirring times of the Wallace wight and King Robert the Bruce. Truly, there was a spirit of unison and indignation in the company on board that boat, every one thirsting with a lioly ardour to avenge the cruelties of which the papistical priesthood were daily growing more and more crouse in the perpetration ; — and tliey made the shores ring with the olden song of— " O for my nin king, quo' guiio Wallnco, Tlie rifililfu' Uiiic of fair Scotlan'; — lietween me niul my sovcroifrn dcnr I tiiiiik 1 see some ill secil s:nvii " It was the grey of the morning before they reached Perth ; and as Boon as they were put on the land, the bailie took my grandfather with him to the house of one Sawiiers lluthven, a blaidtet-weavcr, with whom he had dealings, a staid and discreet man, who, when he had sup- plied them with breakfast, exhorted them not to tarry in the town, tlien a place that had fallen under the suspicion of the clergy, the lordly monks of Scoonc taking great power and authority, in desi)ite of the magis- trates, against all that fell under their evil tliought.s ancnt heresy. And ho counselled them not to proceed, as my grandfather had proposed, straight on to Edinliiu'gh by the Queensferry, but to hasten up the country to Crieff, and thence take the road to Stirling. In this there was much prudence ; but Hiiilie Kiispinnie was in sore tribula- tion on account of his children, whom he had left at his home in ( 'rail, fear- ing that the talons of Antichrist would lay hold of them, and keep them aa hostages till he was given up to suffer for what he had done, none doubting that Baal, for so he ni<'knained the prelatic Hamilton, Avould impute lo him the mipardonable sin of heresy and schism, and leave no stone un- turned to bring him to the stake. But Sawuers Ruthven CDinforted him Avith the assurance that his Grace would not venture to act in that manner, for it was known that jMrs Kiispinnie then lived at St Andrews near his castle. Nevertheless, the poor man w.as in sore aflliction ; and, as lie and my grandfather travelled towards Crieff, many a bitter prayer did his vexed spirit pour forth in its grief, that the right arm of the Lord uiight soon be manifested against the Roman locust that consumed the land, and made its corruption naught in the nostrils of Heaven. Thus was it manifest, that there was nuich of the ire of a selfish re- venge mixt up with the rage which was at that time kindled in so tm- quenchable a manner against the IJeast and its worshippers ; f(ir in the history of the honest man of Crail there was a great similitude to other foul and worse things whieh tin; Ro- man idolaters seemed to reirard among their pestiferous immunities, ancl counted themselves free to do without dread of any earthly retribution. ]My grandfather and his companion hastened on in their journey ; but in- stead of going to Stirling they crossed the river at Alloa, and so passed by tho water-side way to Kdinburgh, where, on entering tho AVest I'ort, they separated. The bailie, who was a fearful man, and in constant dread and terror of being burned as a heretic for having broke in upon tho aeelnsiou of his unhappy wifa and the carnal- minded jirimate of St Andrews, Ment to a cousin of his own, a dealer in serge aud temming in the Lawn- market, with whom he concealed UINGAN GILHAIZE. 27 himself for some weeks ; but my grandfather proceeded straiglit to- wards the lodging of tlie Enrl of Gleucairn, to recount to his lordship the whole passages of what he had been concerned in, from the night that he departed from his presence. It was by this time the mirkest of the gloaming, for they had purposely tarried on their journey tiiat they might enter Edinburgh at dusk. Tlie shops of the traders were shut, for in those days there was such a resort of soruers aad lawless men among the trains of the nobles and gentry, that it was not safe for honest merchants to keep their shops open after nightfall. Nevertheless the streets were not darkened, for there were then many begging-boxes, with images of the saints, and cruisies burning afore them, in divers parts of the High-street and corners of the wynds, insomuch that it was easy, as I have heard my grand- father tell, to see and know any one passing in the light thereof. And in- deed what befell himself was proof of it ; for as he was coming tlirough St Giles' kirk-yard, which is now the rarliamentclose, and through which at that time there was a style and path for pn-^sengers, a young man, whom he had observed following him, came close up just as he reached a begging image of tlie Virgin IMary with its lamp, that stood on a pillar at the south-east corner of the cathedral, and touching him on the left shoulder at that spot, made hin!i"ck ror.:^cl '" such a manner tliat the light of the Virgin's lamp fell full on liis face. " Dinna bo frighted," said the stranger, " I ken you, and I'm in Lord (Jloncairn's service ; but follow me and way notliing." i\Iy grandfather wps not a little startledby this salutation ; he however made no observe but replied, *' Goon then." So the stranger went forward, and after various turnings and windings, led him down into the Cowgate, v.nd up a close on tlie south side thereof, and then to a dark timber stair, that was i-o frail and creaking, and narrow, that his guide bade him haul himself up with the help of a rope that hung down dangling for that purpose. AVlien they had raised themselves to the stair-head, the stranger opened a door, and they went together into a small and lonesome chamber, in the chimla-nook of which an old iron cruisie was burning with a winkingand wizard light. " I hae brought you here," said his conductor, " for secrecy ; for my Lord disna want that ye should be seen about his lodging. I'm ane of three that hae been lang seeking you ; and, as a token that ye're no deceived, I was bade to tell you, that before part- ing from my Lord he gi'ed you two pieces of gold out of his coder in the chamber where he supped." Jly grandfather thought this very like a proof that he had been so in- formed by the Earl himself ; but, hap])ening to remark that he sat with his back to tlie light, and kept his face hidden in the sliadow of the darkness, Providence put it into his head to jealouse that he mi<.dit nevertheless be a spy, one perhaps that had been trus- ted in like manner as he had himself been trusted, and who had afterwards sold himself to the perdition of the ad- versaries' cause ; he was accordingly on his guard ; but replied witii seeming frankness, tliat it was very true he had received two pieces of gold from the Earl at his departure. " Tlien," said tiie young man, " by that token ye may know that I am in the private service of tiie Earl, wiio, for reasons best known to himsel', liath willed tliat you should tell me, that I may report tlie same secretly to him, what es^onage you have made." My grandfather was perplexed by 28 RINGAN GILHATZE. this speech, but distrust having crept into his thoughts, instead of replying with a full recital of all his adventures he briefly said, that he had indeed effected nothing, for his soul was sickened by the woeful martyrdom of the godly Master Mill to so great a disease that he could not endure to abide in St Andrews, and therefore he had come back. " But you liave been long on the way — how is that? — it is now many days since the burning," replied the stranger. '' You say truly," was my grand- father's answer, " for I came round by Perth ; but I tarrie<l at no place longer tlian was needful to repair and refresh nature." " Perth was a wide bout gait to take frae St Andrews to come to Edinburgh ; I marvel how you went KO fir OrStray," said the young man curiously. "In sooth it was; bat being sorely demented with the tragical end of the godly old man," replied my grandfatlier, "and seeing that I could do tlie Earl no manner of service, I wist not well what course to take ; so after meickle tribulation of thought, and great uncertainty of purpose, I e'en resolved to come hither." Little more passed: the young man rose and said to my grandfather, he feared tlie Earl would be so little content with him, tiiat he had bettei not go near him, but seek some other master. And when they had de- scended tlie stair, and were come into the street, lie advised him to go to the house of a certain Widow Rijipet, that let dry lodgings in the (irass- ]M ;trk(.>t, and roost there for that night, 'riu' which my grandfather in a man- ner signllic J he would do, and so they parted. Tile stranger at first walked soberly away ; but he had not goiti many paces when ho suddenly turned into a closs leading up to the High Street, and my grandfather heard the patter- ing of his feet rimning as swiftly aa possible, which confirmed to him what he suspected ; and so, instead of going towards the Widow Rippet's house, ho turned back and went straight on to St Mary's Wynd, where the E u-l's lodging was, and knockinjj at the yett, was speedily admitted, and conducted instanter to my Lord's presence, whom he found alone, read- ing many papers which lay on a table before him. Gilh said the Earl, " how laize, >^...^ ....^ ^..w, is this ? why have you come back ? and wherefore is it that I have hoard no tidings from you ? " Whereupon my grandfather recoun- ted to him all the circumstantials which I have rehearsed, from the hour of his departure from Edinburgh up till the very time when he tlien stood in hia master's presence. The Earl made no inroad on his narrative while he was telling it, but his countenance often changed and he was much moved at different passages — sometimes with sorrow and sometimes Avith anger ; and he laughed vehemently at the mishap which had befallen the grand adversary of the Congregation and hia concubine. The adventure, however, with the unknown varlet in the street appeared to make his Lordship very thoughtful, and no less than thrice did lie question my grandfather, if he had indeed given but those barren an- swers which Ihavoalready recited; to all which he received the most solemn as- severations^ that no more was said. Ilis Lordship then sat some time cogi- tating, with his hands resting on hia thighs, his brows bent, and his lips pursed as with sharp thoughi. At last he said — " Gilhaize, you have done better in this than I ought to have e;cpected of one so young and unpractised. The favour you won with Sir David Ilamil- RINGAN GILHAIZE. ton was no more tlian I tlionglit your looks and manners would beget, iiut you are not only well-favoured but well-fortuned ; and had you not found yourself worthily bound to your duty, I doubt not you might have prospered in the Archbishop's household. The affair with Madam Kilspinnie was a thing I reckoned not of; yet therein you have proved yourself not only a very Joseph, but so ripe in wit be- yond your years, that your merits de- serve more commendation than I can tafford to give, for 1 have not sutlicient to bestow on the singular prudence and discernment wherew'th you have parried the treacherous thrusts of that Judas Iscariot, Winterton, for so I doubt not is the traitor who waylaid you. He was once in my service, and is now in the Queen Regent's. In sending off my men on errands simi- lar to yours, I was wont to give them two pieces of gold, and this the false loon has gathered to be a custom, from others as well as by his own knowledge, and he has made it the key to open the breasts of my servants. To know this, however, is a great dis- covery. But, Gilhaiz.e, not to waste words, you have your master's confi- dence. Go therefore, I pray yon, with all speed to the Widow Itippet's, and do as Winterton bade you, and ns chance may require. In the morning come again hither ; for I have this night many weighty affairs, and you have shown yourself possessed of a discerning spirit, that may, in these times of peril and perjury, help the great cause of all good Scotchmen." In saying these most acceptable words, he clapped my grandfather on the shoulder, and encouraged him to be as true-hearted as he was sharp- witted, and he could not fail to ear*^ both treasure and trusts. So my grandfather left him, and went to the Widow llippet's in the Grassmarket ; and around licr kitchen firo he found some four or five discarded knaves that wore bargaining with her for beds, or for leave to sleep by the hearth. And he had not been long seated among them when his heart was grieved with pain to see Winterton come in, and behind him the two simple lads of Lithgow that had left their homes with him, whom, it appeared, the varlet had seduced from the Earl of Glencairn's service, and inveigled into the Earl of Seaton's, a rampant papist, by the same wiles wherewith ho thought he had likewise made a con- quest of my grandfather, whom they had ;dl come together to see ; for the two Lithgow lads, like reynard the fox when he had lost his tail, were eager that he too should make himself like them. He feigned, however, great weariness, and indeed his heart was heavy to see such skill of wickedness in so young a man as ho. saw in Winterton. So, after partaking with them of some spiced ale, wliicli Win- terton brought from the Salutation tavern opposite the gallows-stone, he declared himself overcome with sleep, and i^er force thereof obligated to go to bed. But when they were gone, and he had retired to his sorry couch, no sleep came to his eyelids, but only hot and salt tears ; lor he thought tliat he had been in a measure con- cerned in bringing away the two thoughless lads from their homes, and he saw that they were not tempered > to resist the temptations of the world, but would soon fall away from tlieir religioua integrity, and become rudo and godless roisters, like the wuddy worthies that paid half price for leave to sleep on the widow's hearth. CHAPTER IV. At the first blink of the grey eye of the morning niy grandfather rose, and, quitting the house of the Widow Rip- pet, went straight to the Earl'slodgiugs RINGAN GTLHAIZE. and waj admitted. The porter at the door told liim that tlieir inasttT, having been up all night, had but just retirod to bed ; but, while they wore speaking, the Earl's page, who slept in the an ti- chamber, called from the stair-head to inquire who it was that had come so early, and being informed thereof, he went into his master, and afterwards came again and desired my grandfather to walk up, and conducted him to his Lordship, whom he found on his counii, but not undressed, and who said to him on his entering, Avhen the page had retired — "I am glad, Gilhaize, that you Lave come thus early, for I want a trusty man to go forthwith into the west country. What I wish you to do cannot be written, but you will take this ring ; " and he took one from the little linger of his right hand, on the gem of which his cipher was graven, and gave it to my grandfather. " On showing it to Lord Boyd, whom you will find at the Dean Castle, near Kilmarnock, lie will thereby know that you are specially trusted of me. The message whereof you are the bearer is to this effect, — That the Lords of tiie Congregation have, by their friends in many places, received strong exhortations to step forward and oppose the headlong fury of the churchmen; and that they have in con- sequenco deemed it necessary to lose , no time in ascertaining wliat the strength of the Reformed may be, and to procure declarations for mutual defence from all who are joined in professing the true religion of Clirist. Sliould ho see meet to employ you in this matter, you will obey his orders and instructio'i.i whatsoever they may be." Tiie Earl then put his hand a- neath his pillow and drew out a small leathern purse, which he gave to my grandfather, who, in the doing of this, observed that he had Beveral other similar purses ready under his head. In taking it my grandfather was pro- ceeding to tell him what ho had ob- served at the Widow Rippet's, but his Lordship interrupted him, saying — " Such tilings are of no issue now, and your present duty is in a higher road ; theruforo make haste, and God be with you." With these words his Lordship turned himself on his couch, and composed himself to sleep ; which my grandfather, after looking on for about a minute or so, observing, camo away ; and having borrowed a frock and a trot-cozoy for the journey from one of the grooms of the hall, he went straight to Kenneth Shelty's, a noted horse-setter in those days, who lived at the West-Port, and bargained with him for the hire of a beast to Glasgow, though Glasgow was not then the nearest road to Kilmarnock ; but ho tliought it prudent to go that way in case any of the j)apistical emissaries should track his course. There was, however, a little over- sight in this which did not come to mind till he wjis some miles on the road, and that was the obligation it put him under of passing through Lith- gow, where he was so well known, and where all his kith and kin lived ; there being then no immediate route from Edinburgh to Glasgow but by Lithgow. And he debated with himself for a space of time whether he ought to pro- ceed, or turn back and go the other way, and his mind was sorely troubled with doubts and difficulties. At last he considered, that it was never deem- ed wise or fortunate to turn back in any undertjiking, and besides, having for the service of the Saviour left his fatlier's house and renounced hia pa- rents, like a bird that taketh wing and kuowcth the nest where it waabred no more— he knit up his ravelled thoughts into resolution, and, clapping spurs to his horse, rode br^ively on, RINGAN GILHAIZE. 81 lUit when he belield the towers of I the palace, and the steeples of his na- tive town, rising before him, many remembrances came rushing to his heart, and ail the vexations he had 'suffered there were lost in the sunny recollections of the morning of life, when every one was kind, and the eyes of his parents looked on him with the brightness of delight, in so much, that his soul yearned within him, and his cheeks were wetted with fast-flowing tears. Nevertheless, he overcame this thaw of his fortitude,.and went forward inthe strength of tlio liOrd, determined to swerve not in hie duty to the Earl of (ilencairn, nor in his holier fealty to a far greater ]\Iaster. But the softness that he felt in his nature, made him gird himself with a firm purpose to ride through the town witiiout stop- i:)ing. Scarcely, however had he en- tered the port, when his horse stum- bled and lost a shoe, by which he was not only constrained to stop, but to take him to his father's smiddy, which was in sight when the mischance hap- pened. On going to the door, he found, as was commoiiJy the ease, a number of firooms and flunkies of the courtiers, witli certain fnars, holding vehement discourse concerning the tidings of the time, the burden of which was, the burning of the aged Master Mill, a thing that even tlie monks durst not, for the sake of humanity, venture very strenuously to defend. Ilis father was not then within ; but one of the pren- tice lads, seeing who it was that had come witii a horse to bo shod, ran to tell liim ; and at tlie sight of mygrand- fatlier, the friars suspended their con- troversies witii the serving-men, and gatliered round him with many ques- tions, lie replied, however, to them all with few words, bidding the fore- man to make haste and shoe his horse, iioping that ho miglit thereby be off and away before his father came, But, while the man was throng with the horse's foot, both father and mo- ther came rushing in, and his motiier was weeping bitterly, and wringing her hands, chiding him as if he had •sold himself to the Evil One, and be- seeching him to stop and repent. His father, however, said little, but inquir- ed how he had been, wliat he was doing, and where he was going ; and sent the prentice lad to bring a stoup of spiced ale from a public hard by, in which he pledged him, kindly hop- ing bo would do well for himself and he would do well for his parents. I'ho which latherliness touched my grand- father more to the quick than all the loud lament and reproaches of his mo- ther ; and he replied, that he had en- tered into the service of a nobleman, and was then riding on his master's business to Glasgow ; but he mention- ed no name, nor did his father inquire. His mother, however, burst out into clamorous revilings. declaring her dread, that it was some of the apostate heretics ; and, giving vent to her pas- sion, was as one in a frenzy, or pos- sessed of a devil. The very friars were confounded at her distraction, and tried to sooth her and remove her forth the smiddy, Avhich only made her more wild, so tliatall present compnssionated my grandfather, who sat siltiit and made no answer, wearying till his horse was ready. But greatly afflicted as ho was by this trial, it was nothing to what ensued, when, after having mounted, and shaken his father by tlie hand, he galloped away to tlie West-port. Tiiere, on the outside, lie was met by two women and an old man, parents of the lads whom he had taken with iiim to Edinburgh. Having heard he was at his father's smiddy, instead of going thither, they h . come to that place, in order that they might speak with liim more apart, and free from molestatioQ, concerning iheir sons. 32 EINGAN GILHAIZE. One of the women wag <a poor widow, anl she liad no other child, nor the hope of any other bread- winner for licr old age. She, however, said nothing, but stood with the corner of her apron at her eyes, sobbing very. afflictedly, while her friends, on seeing my grandfather come out oif the port, stepped forward, and the old man caught the horse by the bridle, and said gravely — " Ye maun stop and satisfy three sorrowful parents ! What hae ye done witli your twa thoughtless com- panions ? " My grandfather's heart was as if it would have perished in his bosom ; for the company he had seen the lads with, and the talk they had held, and above all their recklessness of prin- ciple, came upon him like a withering Hash of fire. He, however, replied soberly, that he had seen tliem botii the night before, and that tliey were well in health and jocund in spirit. The mother that was standing near her husband was blithe to hear this, and reminded her gudeman, how she Lad often said, tliat when they did hear tidings of their son her words woidd be found true, for he iiad ever been all his days a brisk and valiant bairn. But the helpless widow was notcon- tent, and she came forward drying her tears, saying, " And what is my poor fatherless do-na-gudo about? I'm fearfu to be particular ; for, though he was aye kind-hearted to me, he WJis easily wised, and I doubt he'll prove a blasting or a blessing, ac- cording to the liJinds he fa's among." " I hope and pray," said my grand- father, " that he'll be protected from ficaith, and live to be a comfort to all liis friends." And, so saying, he dis- engaged his bridle with a gentle vio- lence from the old man's hold, telling them, he could not afford to stop, being timed to reach Glasgow that night. So he pricif^d ntie horse with his rowals, and t-Lcfl iwray ; but his heart, all the I'emjuan^ier &i his day's journey, was as if it IiakI been pierced with many barbed Miroiwra. and the sad voice of the poor ajmaom* widow rung in his ears like the fiaiaiKtii of aome dole- ful knell. Saving this aflair a*t Lichgow, no- thing befell him tilll fiue crime to the gates of Glasgow: W which time it was dark, and the irjunl;irKi watch set, and they questioDed him. very sharply before giving liim A(ii'Miii«»ion. For the Queen Regent was ttSusa sojourning in the castle, an<8 her inaxs and cares were greatly qiiicitswii at that time, by rumours from ulil jiiarta of the king- dom, concerning •tiM- nminider, as it was called, of M sister Mil. ifn this ac- count the French gmnunfe, which she had with her. wfre Di!i.§trTicted to bo jealous of all untimMi'iK tej. Tellers, and they being joined "jriafti -i wjinl of bur- ghers, but using omilT iilL»*ir owntongue, caused no smfU] mcilksnanion to every Scotsman that Bcnp' " a<imission after the sun was set : J;'! niie b;irgliers not being well versed am nniiilinnary practices, were of thomselvt.* tctt propugnacious in their authoriTx. nmifcing more ado tlhin even the FrenDdh-men. It hap- pened, however, liiain iik*^re wa.; among those valiant trudri'fan.d craftsmen of Glasgow one 11)Ci!Eiuu»Swon], the dea- con of the hamiDtiniEiiiin.. and he having the command of lii>c«f stationed at the gate, overheard "srkiii! wua p.Lssing with my grandfalh^T. aiml criming out of the wardroom, iinqinired his name, wliich when be litrwui^aiid that he was son to Michael (GiiillBiaiija*,. the Litligow farrier, he adviwid HiO' Bet him in. say- ing, he knew Lis ffrnifiusr wtll. and tiiat they had worked to^nlicr. when young men, in the King'* aumioary at Stirling; and he told Limu wluHre he lived, and invited him, wLeaii Ma horse was sta- bled, to come t'S -Tpper. for he was glad to see him im im father's sake' RINGAN GILHAIZE. 83 At tin's time an ancient controvorsy between tlie Arclibi.sliops of St And- rews and of Glasgow, touching their resjjective jurisdictions, liad been re- suscitated with great acrirnoi y, and in the debates concerning the same the Ghisgow people took a deep interest ; for tliey are stout-hearted and of an adventurous spirit, and cannot abide to think tiiat they or tlieir town should, in any thing of public honour, be deemed either slack or second to the foremost in tlio realm ; and none of all tlie worthy burgesses thereof thought more proudly of the superior- ity and renown of their city than did Deacon Sword. So it came to pass, as he was sitting at supper with my grandfather, that he enlarged and ex- patiated on the inordinate pretensions of the Archbisliop of St Andrews, and took occasion to diverge from the pre- late's political ambition to speak of the enormities of his ecclesiastical govern- ment, and particularly of that heinous and never-to-be-forgotten act, the burning of an aged man of fourscore and two years, whose very heresies, as the deacon mercifully said, ought rather to have been imputed to dotage, than charged as offences. My grandfather was well pleased to observe such vigour of principle and bravery of character, in one having such sway and Aveight in so great a community as to be the chief captain of the crafts who were banded with the hammermen, namely, the cartwrights, the saddlers, the masons, the cooj)ers, the mariners, and all whose work required the use of edge- tools, the hardiest and buirdliest of the trades — and he allowed himself to run in with the deacon's humour, but without letting wot either in whose service he was, or on what exploit he was bound ; sowing, however, from time to time, hints as to the need that seemed to be growing of putting a curb on the bold front wherewith the Archbishop of St Andrews, under the pretext of suppressing heresies, butted with the horns of oppression against all who stood within the rev- erence of his displeasure. Deacon Sword had himself a lean- ing to the reformed doctrines, which, with his public enmity to the chal- lenger of his own Archbishop, made him take to those hints with so great an affinity, that he vowed to God, shaking my grandfather by the hand over the table, that if some steps were not soon taken to stop such inordinate misrule, there were not wanting fiva hundred men in Glasgow, who would start forth with weapons in their grip, at the first tout of a trump, to vin- dicate the liberties of the subject, and the wholesome administration, by the temporal judges of the law against all offenders as of old. And giving scope to his ardour, he said there was then such a spirit awakened in Glasgow, that men, women, and children, thirsted to see justice executed on the churchmen, who were daily waxing more and more wroth and insatiable against every one who called their doctrines or polity in question. Thus out of the very devices, which had been devised by those about the Queen Regent to intercept the free communion of the people with one another, was the means brought about whereby a chosen emis- sary of the Congregation came to get at the emboldening knowledge of the sense of the citizens of Glasgow, with regard to the great cause which at that period troubled the minds and fears of all men. ]My grandfather was joyfully heartened by what he heard ; and before coming away from the deacon, who, with the hospitality common to his townsmen, would fain have had him to prolong their sederunt over the gardevine, he said, that if Glas- gow were as true and valiant as it H RING AN GILHAIZE. wag fcliouglit, tliero could be no doubt thiit her ileclaration for tho Ijords of tlic Confjrc'gation would work out a, ^'roiit rc'(lrL',s3 of public wrong's. For, from all liu could loam and under- stand, those high and pious noblemen had nothing more at heart than to procure for the people tlie free exer- cise of their right to worship God ac- cording to their conscienc-r, and tlie doctrines of t'le Old and New Testa- ments. But thougli, over the liquor-cup, the deacon had spoken so dreauless, and like a manly fitizen, my grand- father resolved with himself to depart betimes for Kilmarnock, in case of any change in his temper. Accor- dingly, he requested the hostler of the hostel where ho had taken his bed, to which his day's hard journey early inclined him, to have his horde in readiness before break of day. ]jut this hostel, which was called the Cross of lUiodes, happened to be situated at tho Water-port, and besides being a tavern and inn, was likewise the great ferryhou,se of tlio Clyde when tho tide was up, or the ford rendered unsafe '.y tlie tor- rents of spates and inliiid rains — the which caused it to be much frequented by the skippers and mariners of the barks that traded to France and Genoa witli the llenfrow salmon, and by all sorts of travellers, at all times, even to tho small hours < i tho mor- ning. In short it was a boisterous house, the company resorting thereto of a sort little in unison witii tho re- ligious frame of my grandfather. As soon, tliereforc, as he came from tlie deacon's, ho went to bed without taking off his clothes, in order that ho miglit be fit for tho road as he intended: and his bed bi.-ing in the public room, with sliding-doors, he drew them upon him, hoping to shut, out some of the din, and to win a Jittip repose. ]int scarcely had he laid his head on tho ])illow, wlien ho heard the voice of one entering tho room, and listening eagerly, he dis- covered tliat it was no otiier than the traitor Winlerton's, the which so amazed him witii apprehension, that ho shook as ho lay, like the Jispen leaf on tlie tree. Winterton called like n braggart for supper and hot wine, boasting ho had ridden that day from Ktliu- burgh, and that ho must bo up and across his horse by dayliglit in the morning, as he had need to bo in Kilmarnock by noon. In this, which vanity made him tell in bravado, my grandfather could not but ili^scern a kind Providence admonisliing him- self, for he had no doubt that Win- terton was in pursuit of him ; ami thankful ho was that ho had given no inkHng to any one in the hou.se as to whence he had come, and wiiere ho was going. IJutliad this tliought not at once entered his head, he would soon have had cause to think it ; for while Winterton was eating his sup- per he began to converse witli thcii host, and to enquire what travellers had crossed the river. Twice or tlirice, in as it were an offhand man- ner, he spoke of one whom he cal!ed a cousin ; but, in describing his garb, ho left no doubt in my grandfatiier's bosom that it was regarding him he seemed at once both so negligent and KO anxious. Most providential there- fore it was, that my grandfatlier had altered his dress before leaving Edin- buigl), for the marks which AVinter- ton gave of hiin were chiefly drawn from his ordinary girb, and by them their host in consequince said he had seen no such person. When Winterton had finished his repast, and was getting ids second stoiip of wine heated, he asked wh' re he was to sh-ep. To the which ques- tion the host I'eiilied, that he feared he would, like others, be obligated RINGAN GILHATZE. 85 to make a beucli by tlio fireside his coiicli, all tlie beds in the house being alivady bespoke or occupied. " Every one of tliein is double," said the man, save only one, the which is iKiid for by a youn;,' man that goes off at break i of day, ami Avho is already asleep." At this Winterton swore a dread- iful oatb, tliat he would not sleep by file fire after riding fifty miles, while there was half a bed in the house, and I oonnnanded the host to go and tell tlie young man that he must half blankets with him. iMy gramlfather knew that this could only refer to him ; so, when their host came and opened the sliding doors of the bed, he feigned himsen to be very fast asleep at the back of the bod, and only groaned in drowsi- ness when he was touched. " O, let him alane," cried Winter- ton, " I ken what it is to bo tired ; so, iis there's room enough at the stock, when I have drank my posset I'll e'en creep in beside him." My grandfather, weary as ho was, lay panting with apprehension, not doubthig that he should be speedily discovered ; but when Winterton had linished his drink, and came swag- I gering and jocose to be his bedfellow, he kept himself with his face to the wall, and snored like one who was in haste to sleep more than enough, insomuch that Winterton, when he lay down, gave him a dog with his elbow and swore at him to be quiet. His own fatigue, however, soon mastered the disturbance which my grandfather made, and he began him- self to echo the noiso in defenceless sincerity. On hearing him thus fettered by I sleep, my grandfather began to con- sider with himself what ho ought to (lo, being both afraid and perplexed he knew not wherefore ; and he was prompted by a Power that he durst {not and could not reason with, to rise and escape from the jeopardy wherein he tlien wiis. But how could this bo done ? for the house was still open, and travellers ai.d customers wore continually going and coming, 'i'ruly his situation was one of great tribu- lation, and escape therefrom a thing seemingly past hope and the unaided wisdom of man. After lying about the period of an hour in great perturbation, he began to grow more collected, and the din and resort of strangers in the house also subsided, by which he was en- abled,withhelpfrom on High, to gather his scattered thoughts, and to bind them up into the sheaves of purpose and resolution. Accordingly, when all was still, and several young men, that were sitting by the fire on ac- count of every bed being occupied, gave note, by their deep breathing, that sleep had descended upon them, and darkened their senses with her gracious and downy wings, he rose softly from the side of Winterton, and stepping over him, slipped to tlio door, which he unbarred, and tho moon shining bright, he went to tiie stable to take out his horse. It was not his intent to have done this, but to have gone up into the streets of the city, and walked the v,'alls thereof till he thought his adversary was gone; but seeing the moon so fair and clear, he determined to take Lis horse and proceed on his journey ; for the river was low and fordable, and trintled its waters with a silvery sheen in the stillness of the beautiful light. Scarcely, however, had he pulled the latch of the stable door, — even as he was just entering in, when he heard Winterton coming from the house rousing the hostler, whom he pro- fanely rated for allowing him to over- sleep himself. For, wakening just as his bedfellow rose, he thought the morning was come, and that his orders Lad been neglected. 36 RINGAN GILnAIZE. In tliia extremity my grandfatlior saw no chance of evasion. If lie went out into the moonshine he woukl to a buix'ty be discovered, and in the stable lie wouhl to a certainty be eauf^ht. But what couhl he do, and the dan<,a'r to pressinf,'? lie had liardly a choice ; however ho went into the stable, sliut tne door, and runiiiiig up to the liorses tliat were fartiiest ben, mounted into tiie liack, and hid himself among t'.ic hay. In that concealment ho was scarcely •well down, when Winterton, with an hostler that was half-asleep, came with a lantern to the door, banning the poor Icnave as if he had been cursing him Avith bell, book, and candle ; the other rubbing his eyes and declaring it was still far from morning, and saying he was sure the other traveller was not gone. To the which there was speedy evidence ; for on going towards Winterton's horse the hostler sav/ my grandfather's in its stall, and told him so. At that moment a glimpse of the lantern fell on the horse's legs, and its feet being v lite,— " Oho ! " cried "NVinterton, *' Int us look here. — Ken- neth Shelty's Ughtfoot; — the very beast; — and l.ic I been in the same hole wi' the tod and no kent it. The de'il's black collie worry me, but this is a soople trick. I did nae think the eleokit sinner had art enough to play't; — nae doubt, he's gane to hide himself in the town till I'm awa, for ho h.-is heard what I said yestreen. But I'll be up sides wi' him. The de'il a foot will I gang this morning till he comes back for his horse." And with these words he turned out of the stable with the hostler, and went back to the house, No sooner were they well gone than my grandfather came from his hiding-place, and twisting a wisp of straw round his horse's feet, that they might not dirl of make a diu oa the stones, he led it cannily out, and down to the river's brink, and there mount- ing, took the foni, and was soon frre on the (jorbals side. Hiding up the gait at a brisk trot, he passed on for a short time along the road that he had been told led to Kilmarnock ; but fo;.r- ing lio would bo followed, lie turned off at the first wynd iie 'Jiinn.' ^oon tiio right; and a blessed thii.g it was that he did so, for it led to the Keforma- tion-leavened town of I'aisley, where he arrived an hour before daylight. Winterton, little je.ilousing what had happened, went again to bed, as my grandfather afterwards learnt, and had fallen asleep. In the morning when he awoke, and was told that both man and horse were llown, ho flayed the hostler's back and legs in more than a score of places, believing he had connived at my grandfather's secret flight. ISly grandfather had never before been in the town of I'aisley, but ho had often hocard from Abercorn's serv- ing-men that were wont to sorn about his father's smiddy, of a house of jovial entertainment by the water- side, about a stone-cast from the abbey-yett, the hostess whereof was a certain canty dame called Maggy Napier, then in great rej^ute with the sh.ivelings of the abbey. Thither he directed his course, the abbey towers serving him for her sign, and the moonlight and running river were guides to her door, at the which ho was not blate in chapping. She was, however, long of giving entrance; for it happened that some nights before, the magistrates of the town had been at a carousal with the abbot and chap- ter, the papistical denomination for the seven heads and ten horns of a monastery, and when they had come away and wore going home, one of them, Bailie Pollock, a gaucy widower, was instigated by the devil and the wine he had drank to stravaig towards that a pit more awo fast 1 and kinc ing pose lawi: but bacll RINGAN GILHATZK. 87 !Mfif,'f:y XnpiorV, — .a most nnsconily tliiiif,' fur !i bailio to do, cHpccially n bailie of rai.sley ; but it waH then the (lays of jiopiHli sinfulness. And when IJailii! I'ollock went tliither, the house was full of riotous swankies, who being the waur of drink tiieniselves, had but little reverence for a magistrate in tiie same state ; so they handled liim to such a degree that lie was obliged to keep his bed and put collops to liis eyes for three days. The consequence of which was, that tlic hotisc fell under the displeasure of the Town Council, and Maggie was admonished to keep it more orderly and doucely, — tliough the fault came neither from her nor her customers, as she told my grand- father, f(jr detaining him so long, it being requisite that she should see he was in a condition of sobriety before letting him in. liut, when admitted, ho was in no spirit to enjoy her jocosity concerning Bailie Pollock's spree, so he told her that ho had come far, and had far to go, and that having heard sore tidings of a friend, ho was fain to go to bed and try if he could coujpose himself with au hour or two of sleep. IMaggie accordingly refrained from her jocularity, and began to soothe and comfort him, for she was naturally of a winsome way, and prepared a bed for him with her best sheets, the which, she said, were gi'en her in gratus gift frae the Lord Abbot, eo that he undressed himself, and enjoyed a pleasant interregnum of anxiety for more than five hours ; and when he awoke and was up, he found a break- fast worthy of the abbot himself ready, and his hostess was most courtly and kind, praising the dainties, and press- ing liim to eat. Nor, when he pro- posed to reckon with her for the lawin, would she touch the money, but made him promise, when ho came back, ho would bide another night with her, hoping he would then be la better spirits, — for she was wao to seo sae braw a gallant sae casteu down, doless, and d(j\vie. When they had settled their con- test, and my grandfather had como out to mount his beast, which a strip- ling was holding ready for him at a louj)ing-on-stane near the abbey-yett, as he was going thither, a young friar, who w.os taking a morning stroll along the pleasant banks of the Cart, approached towards him, and after looking hard at him for some time, called him by name, and took him by both the hands, which ho pressed with a brotherly affection. This friar was of Lithgow parent- age, and called Dominick Callender, and when he and my grandfather were playing-bairns, they h.id sjjent many a merry day of their suspicion- less young years together. As he grew up, being a lad of shrewd parts, and of a very staid and orderly de- portment, the monks set their snares for him, and before ho could well think for himself he was wiled into their traps, and becoming a novice, in due season professed himself a monk. But it was some time before my grandfather knew him again, for the ruddy of youth had fled his cheek, and he was pale and of a studious countenance ; and when the first sparklings of his pleasure at the sight of his old play-marrow had gone off, liis eyes saddened into thoughtfulness, and he appeared like one weighed down with care and heavy inward dule. ClIATTER V. After Dominick Callender and my grandfather had conversed some time, with many interchanges of the kindly remembrances of past pleasures, the gentle friar began to bewail his sad estate in being a professed monk, and so mournfully to de- RINGAN GILHAIZE. plore the rashness with which inex- perienced youth often takes upon Itself a yoke it can never lay clown, that the compassion of his friend was sorrowfully awakened, for he saw lie •was living a life of bitterness and grief. He heard him, however, with- out making any reply, or saying anything concerning his own lot of hazard and adventure ; for, consider- ing Dominick to be leagued with the papistical orders, he did not think him safe to be trusted, notwithstand- ing the unchanged freshness of the loving-kindness which he still seemed to bear in his heart : nor even, had he not felt this jealousy, would he have thought himself free to speak of his errand, far less to have given to any stranger aught that might have been an inkling of his noble master's zealous, but secret stirrings, for the weal of Scotland, and the cufraucliise- ment of the worshippers of the true God. When my grandfather had arrived at his horse, and prepared to mount, Dominick Callendcr said to him, if he would ride slowly for a little way he would walk by his side, adding, ♦' for may be I'll ne'er see you again — I'm a-weary of this way of life, and the signs of the times bode no good to the church, I hae a thought to go into some foreign land, where I may taste the air of a freeman, and I feel myself comforted before I quit our auld hard-favoured, but warm-lieartcd Scotland, in meeting wi' ano that re- minds me how I had once sunny mornings and summer days." This was said so much in the sin- cerity of a confiding spirit, tliat my grandfather could not refrain from observing, in answer, that lie feared Lis friar's cloak did not sit easy upon him ; which led him on to acknow- ledge that it was so. " I am speaking to you, (Jilhaize," * Rilidhe, «' with the frauk heart uf auld langsyue, and I dinna scruple to con- fess to one that I hae ofteii thought of, and Aveary't to see again, and wondered wliat had become of, that my conscience has revolted against the errors of the papacy, and that I am now upon the eve of fleeing my native land, and joining the Reformed at Geneva. And maybe I'm no or- dain'd to spend a' my life in exile ; for no man can deny that the people of Scotland are not inwardly the warm adversaries of the church. That last and cruellest deed, the sacrifice of the feckless old man of four-score and upward, has proven that the humanity of the world will no longer endure the laws and pretensions of the church; and there are few in Paisley whom the burning of auld Mill has not kindled with the spirit of resistance. ' The latter portion of these words was as joyous tidings to my grand- father, and he tightened his reins and entered into a more particular and inquisitive discourse with his com- panion, by which he gathered that the martyrdom of Master Mill had indeed caused great astonishment and wrath among the pious in and about Paisley, and not only among them, but had estranged the affections even of the more worldly from the priesthood, of Avhom it was openly said, that the sense of pity towards the commonalty of mankind was extinguished within them, and that they were all in all for themselves. IJut as they were proceeding through the town and along the road, conversing in a familiar but earnest manner on these great concerns, Dominick Callender began to inveigh against the morals of liis brethren, and to lament Jigain, in a very piteous manner, that he was decreed, by hia monastic profession, from the enjoy- ment of the dearest and tenderest emotions of man. And before they separated, it catne out that he had MNGAN GTLHAIZE. been for some tiino touched -vvitli tlio soft oiicliaiituients of love for a young maiden, (lie diui<,diter of a g'l'Utleniau of f,f(jod account in Paisley, and that her cliasto piety Avas as the precious guiii wlierewith tlie E<,'yptians of ohl Ijreserved their dead in everlasting beauty, keeping from her presence all tiiiiit of impurity, and of thoughts sullying to innocence. '' But." ho exclaimed with a sorrowful voice, " that whicli is her glory, and my admiration and praise, is converted, by the bondage of my unnatural vows, into a curse to us both. 'J'he felicity that we might have enjoyed together in wedded life is forbidclt-n to us as a great crime. But the laws of God are above the canons of the church, the voice of Nature is louder than the fulminations of the Vatican, and I have resolved to obey the one. and give ear to the other, despite the horrors tliat await on apostacy. Can you, Cilhaize, in aught assist my resolution ? " There was so nnich veliemence and the passion of grief in tliese ejaculations, tliat my grandfatlier Avist not well what to say. He told him, however, not to be rasli in what he dill, nor to disclose his intents, save only to those in whom he could con- fide ; for the times were peiilous to every one that sla''kened in reverence to the jiapaey, particularly to such as had pastured within the chosen folds of tli(! church. "Bide," said he, "till you see what issue is ordained to come from this dreadful deed whicli so sliak .th all the land, making tlie abbey towers topple and tnniMe to their oldest and difpcst foundations. 'J'ruth is awak- ened, and gone forth conquering and to conquer. It cannot be that ancient iniquities will be much longer endur- ed ; the arm of Wratli is raised against them ; the sword of Jtevenge is drawn forth from its scabbard by Justice ; and Nature ha? burst asunder the cords of the Roman harlot, and stands in her freedom, like Samson, when the Spirit of the Lord was mightily poured upon him, as he awoke from tlie lap of Delilah." The gentle friar, as my grandfather often told, stood for some time as- tounded at this speech, and then he said — '•I dreamt not, Gilhaize, that be- neath a countenance so calm and comely, the zealoiLs fires of a Avarrior's bravery could have been kindled to so vehement a beat. But I Avill vex you with no questions. Heaven is on your side, and may its redeeming prompt- ings never allow its ministers to rest, till the fetters are broken and the slaves are set free.'' AVith these words he stepped for^ ward to shake my grandfather by the hand, and bid him farewell ; but just as he came to the stirrup he halted and said — '•It is cot for nothing that the remembrance of voii has been pre- serA'ed so much brighter and dearer to me than that of all my kin. There was aye something about you, in our heedk-RS days, that often made me wonder, I coulil not tell where- fore ; and now, when I behold you in th<' prime of manhood, it fills me Avith admiration and awe, and makes me do homage to you as a master." ^luch more he added to tiie same eiTect, which the modesty of my grandfather would not alloAV him to rej.eat ; but when they had parted, and my grandfather had ridden for- ward some tvo or three miles, he re- called to mind what had passed between tLt-m. and he used to say that this discount with his early friend first ojx'ned to him a view of the grievous captivity wl. h many suffered in the monauterits ai.d convents, not- Avithstanding the loose lives imputed to their inmates ; and he saw that the 40 RINGAN GILHATZE, Reformation would be hailed by many that languished in the bondage of their vows, as a great and glorious deliverance. But still he was wont to say, even with such as these, it was overly mingled with temporal con- cernments, and that they longed for it less on account of its immortal issues, than for its worldly emancipa- tions. And as he was proceeding on his way in tliis frame of mind, and think- ing on all that he had seen and learnt from the day in which he bade adieu to his father's house, he came to a place where the road forked off in two different airts, and not knowing which to take, he stopped his horse and waited till a man drew nigh, whom he observed coming towards him. By tiiis man he was told, that the road leading leftward led to Kilmarnock and Ayr, and the other on the right to Kilwinning ; so, without saying anything, he turned his horse's head into the latter; the which he was moved to do t)y sundry causes and reasons. First, he had remarked that the chances in his journey had, in a very singular manner, led him to gain much of tha,t sort of knowledge which the Lords of the Congregation thirsted for ; and, second, he had no doubt that Winterton was in pursuit of him to Kilmarnock, for some pur- pose of frustration or circumvention, the which, though he was not able to divine, he could not but consider important, if it was, as he thought, the prime motive of that varlet's journey. But he was chiefly disposed to pre- fer the Kilwinning road, though it was several miles more of bout-gait, on account of the rich abbacy in that town ; hoping he might glean and gather some account how the clergy tliere stood affected, the mcetinc' with Dominick Callcnder havJiig af- forded him a vista of friends and auxiliaries in the enemy's camp little thought of. Besides all this, he re- flected, tliat as it was of con.«oquence lie should reach the Lord Boyd in secrecy, ho would be more likely to do so by stopping at Kilwinning, and feeing some one there to guide him to the Dean castle by moonlight. I have heard him say, iiowever, tlie speakable motives of his deviation from the straight road wore at the time far less effectual in movin^T hi;n thereto, than a something wl; . 'i h dd not tell, that with an invisi' ; .ook his horse as it were by the bridle-rings, and constrained him to go into the Kil- winning track. In the whole of this journey there was indeed a very ex- traordinary manifestation of a special providence, not only in the protection vouchsafed towards himself, but in tiie remarkable accidents and occurrences, by which he was enabled to enrich himself with the knowledge so precious at that time to those who were chosen to Avork the great work of the Gospel in Scotland. As my grandfather came in .Sight of Kilwinning, and belicld tl'C- a'.)bey with its lofty horned towers •iia pinnacles, and the sands u. ham between it and the s to him as if a huge leviai. .."• • td come up from the depths of the >• jmi and was devouring the green inland, having already consumed all the herb- age of the wide waste that lay so baro and yellow for many a mile, desert and lonely in the silent stuishine, and he ejaculated to himself, that the frugal soil of poor Scotland could ne'er have been designed to pasture such enormities. As he rode on, liis ; i.i; descended from the heights into pi' •,. ' t t-'achs, along banks feathered Avita vhc frag- rant plumage of the birch and liazel, and lie "orgot, in hearkening to the cheerlui prattle of the Garnock waters, as thivv : wirled among the pebble i by RINGAN GILHAIZE. 41 the road side, the pngeantries of that more bodily Avorship Avhich had worked oil tlic ignorance of the world to raise sucli costly monuments of the long- snffering patience of Ilccaven, while they showed how much the divine nature of the infinite God, and tlie humility of His eternal Son, had been forgotten in this land among profes- sing Christians. When he came nigh the town, he inquired for an hostel, and a stripling, the miller's son. who was throwing stones at a Hock of geese belonging to the abbey, then taking their plea- sures uninvited in his father's mill- dam, guided hira to the house of Tlu'ophilu.s Lugton, the chief vintner, horse-setter, and stabler, in the town; Avhere, on alighting, he was very kindly received ; for the gudewife was of a stirring, household nature, audThco- ])liilii,s himself, albeit douce and tem- ])erate for a publican, was a man ob- liging and liosjiitable, not only aa boeame him in his trade, but from a disinterested good-will. He was in- deed, as my grandfather came after- wards to know, really a person holden in great respect and repute by the visitors and pilgrims who resorted to the abbe", and by none more than by the worthy wives of Irvine, the most regular of his customers. For they being then in the darkness of pa])istry, were as much given to the idolatry of holidays and masses, as, thanks be and praise ! they are now to the hunting out of sound gospel preachers and sacramental occasions. Many a stoup of burned wine and spiced ale they were wont, at I'ace and Yule, and otlier pai)istical high times, to partake of togctiu'r in the house of Thcojihi- liis Lugton, happy and well content when their possets were flavoured Avith the ghostly conversation of some gawsie monk, well versed in the mysteries of reciuiems and pur- gatory. Having parted with his horse to be taken to the stable by Theophilus himself, my grandfather walked into the house, and Dame Lugton set for him an elbow chair by the chimla lug, and while she was preparing some- thing for a repast, they fell into con- versation, in the course of which she informed him that a messenger had come to the abbey that forenoon from Edinburgh, and a rumour had been bruited about soon after his arrival, that there was great cause to dread a rising among the heretics ; for, being ingrained with papistry, she so spoke of the Reformers. This news troubled my grand- father not a little, and the more he inciuiri'd concerning the tidings, the more reason he got to be alrraed, and to suspect that the bearer was Winterton, who being still in the town, and then at the abbey — hia horse was in Theophilus Lugton'a stable — he could not but think, that, in coming to Kilwinning instead of going riglit on to Kilmarnock, he had run into the lion's mouth. Ikit, see- ing it was so, and could not be helped, he put his trust in the Lord, and re- solved to swerve in no point from the straight line which he had laid down for himself. While he was eating of Dame Lugton's fare, with the relishing sauce of a keen appetite, in a manner that no one who saw him could have sup- posed he was almost sick with a sur- feit of anxieties, one James Coom, a smith, came in for a mutclikin-cap of ale, and he. .seeing a traveller, said — " Tiiir's sair news ! '1 he drouth of cauld iron will be slockened in men's blood ere we hear the end o't." '•'Deed," re]ilied my grandfather, " it's very alarming; Lucky, here, has just been telling me that there's like to be a straemash amang the Re- formers. (Surely they'll ne'er daur to rebel." 42 RINGAN GILHAIZE. " If a' tales be true, that's no to do," said the smith, blowing the froth from the cap ip which Dame Lugjtoii banded him the ale, and taking a right good-willy waught. " But what's said? " inquired my grandfather, when the smith had fetched his breath. " Naebody can wcel tell," was his \se; " a' that's come this length jj i, the sough afore the storm. WiLuin twa hours there has been a great riding liither and yon, and a lad straight frae Embro' has come to bid my Lord Abbot repair to the court ; and three chiels hae been at me frae EgHnton Castle, to get their beasts shod for a journey. My Lord there is byte and fykie ; there's a gale in his tail, said they, light where it may. Now, at ween oursels, my Lord has na the lieart of a true bairn to that aged and wdrthy grannie of the papistry, ourleddy the Virgin Mary — here's her health, poorauld deaf and dund) crea- ture — she has na, I doubt, the pith to warsle wi' the blast she auce in a day had " " Hand that heretical tongue o' thine, Jamie Coom," exclaimed Dame Lugton. " It's enougli to gar a body's hair stand on end to hear o' your familiaritii'S wi' tiie Holy Virgin. I won'er my Lord Abbot has na lang- sync tethert tliy tongue to the Kirk- door wi' a red-het nail, for sic blas- phemy. But fools are privileged, and eo's seen o' thee." " And wha made me familiar wi' her. Dame Lugton — tell me that ? " replied .James; "wnsnait my Lord liimsel, at last Marymas, when he .sent for nie to make a hoop to mend her leg that nklinterod aff as they were dressing her for the show. Eh ! litlle did I think that I was ever to hae the honour and glory of ca'ing a nailintil the timber image o' the Virgin Mary ! Ah, Lucky, ye would na hae tholed the dirl 0' the dints o' my hammer as she did. But she's a saint, and ye'll ne'er deny that ye'rc a sinner." To tliis Dame Lugton was unable to reply, and the smith, cunningly winking, dippet his head up to the lugs in the ale-cap. "But," said my grandfather, " no to speak wi' disre.^peck of things con- sidered wi' reverence, it does na seem to me that there is ouy cause to think the Reformers hae yet rebelled." " I'm sure," replied the smith, '• if they hae na, they ought, or the de'il a spunk's amang them. Isna a' the monks, frae John o' Groat's to the Border, getting ready their spits and rackses, fryingpans and branders, to cook them like capons and doos for Horney's supper? I never hear my ain bellows snoring at a gaud o' iron in the fire, but I think o' fat Father Lickladle, the abbey's head kitchener, roasting me o'er the low like a laverock in his collop-tangs ; for, as Dame Lugton there weei kens, I'm ane o" the Ket'ormed. Meh! but it's a braw tiling this Reformation. It used to cost me as muekle siller for the sin o' getting fu', no aboon three or four times in the year, as would hae kept ony honest man blithe and ree frae New'cr.sday to Ilogmanas ; but our worthy hostess has found tj her profit that I'm now ane of iier best cus- tomers. What say ye. Lucky ? " " Truly, " said Dame JjUgton, laugliing, "thou'snoan ill .swatch o' the Reformers ; and naebody need be surprised at the growth o' heresy wha thiidcs o' the dreadfu' cost the professors o't used to be at for par- dons. But maybe they'll soon find that the de'il's as hard a taxer as e'er the kirk was ; for ever since thou has refinint frae paying penance, thy weekly calks ahint the door hae been on the increase, Jamie, and no ae plack has thou mair to spare. So nuickle gude thy reforming has done thee." niNGAN GiLHAIZE. 43 the cap, " Bido awce, Lucky," cried emith, setting down the ale whicJi ho had just emptied, "bide awee, and ye'll see a change. Surely it was to be expecket, considering tlie spark in my bass, tliat the first use I would niak o' the freedom o' the Reformation would be to quench it, which 1 never was allowed to do afore ; and whenever that's done, ye'll see me a geizen't keg o' sobriety, — tak the word o' a drouthy smith for't." At this jink o' their controversy, who should come into the house, ringing ben to the hearth-stane with his iron heels and the rattling rowels o' bis spurs, but Winterton, without observing ray grandfather, who was then sitting with his back to the window-light, in the arm-chair at the chimla lug; and when he had ordered Dame Lugton to spice him a drink of her best brewing, he began to joke and jibe with the blacksmith ; the which allowing my grandfather time to compose his wits, which were in a degree startled; he saw that Ik ?ould not but be discovered, so he thought it was best to 1 ring himself out. Accordingly, in as quiet a manner as he was able to put on, he said to Winterton — " I hae a notion that we twa hae forgathered no lang sinccsyne." At the sound of these words Win- terton gave a loup, as if he had tramped on something no canny, syne a whirring sort of triumphant whistle, and then a shout, crying, "Ha, ha! tod lowrie ! hae I yirded you at last?" Kut instantcr he re- collected himscl', and giving my grandfather a significant look, as if he wished him no to be particular, he said, "I heard o' you, Gilhaize, on the road, and I was fain to hae come up wi' you, that we might hae tra- velled thegither. llowsever, I lost scent at Glasgow." And then he continued to harer with him, till the ale Avas ready, when he pressed my grandfather to taste, never letting wot how they had slept together in the same bed ; and my grandfather, on his part, was no less eiicumsjject, for he discerned that Winterton in- tended to come over him, and he was resolved to be on his guard. When Winterton had finished his drink, which ho did hastily, he pro- posed to my grandfatlier that they should take a stroll through the town ; and my grandfather being eager to throw stour in his eyes, was readily consenting thereto. ''AVcel," said the knave, when he had warily led him into the abbey kirk-yard, " I did na think ye would hae gane back to my Lord ; but i.'s a* very weel, since he has looked o'er what's past, and gi'eu you a new dark." " He's very indulgent,' replied my grandfather, " and 1 would he loath to wrang so kind a master ; " and ho looked at Winterton ; the varlet, however, never winced, but rejoined lightly. - " But I wisli you had come back to Widow Kippet's, for ye would liae spar't me a hanl ride. Scarcely had ye ta'cn the road when my Lord niindit that he had neglekit to gie you the sign, by the which ye were to make yoursel and message kent to his friends, and I was sent after to tell you." " I'm glad o' that," replied my grandfather, "what is't?" Winter- ton was a thought molested by this thrust of a question, and for the space of about a minute said nothing, till he had considered with himself, when he rejoined — " Three lads were sent off about the same time wi' you, and tlie Earl was nae quite sure, he said, whilk of you a' he had forgotten to gie the token whereby ye would be known as his men. But the sign for the Earl of 44 RIXGAN GTLHAIZE. Eglinton, to whom I guess ye Iiao been sent, by coming to Kilwinning, is no the same as for the Lord lioyd, to whom I thouglit ye had been mis- sioned ; for I hno been at the Dean Castio, and finding you not there, followed you hitlier." " I'll be jilain wi' you," said my grandfather to this dr.aughty speech. " I'm bound to the Lord I5oyd ; but coming through Paisley, when I reached the place where the twa roads branched, I took the ane that brought me here instead of the gate to Kil- marnock ; so, as soon as my beast has eaten his corn, I mean to double back to the Dean Castle." *' How, in the name of the saints and souls, did yc think, in going frae Glasgow to Kilmarnock, o' taking the road to Paisley? " " 'Deed, an' ye were acquaint, "said my grandfather, " wi' how little I knew o' the country, ye would nae Bpeir that question ; but since we hao fallen in thogither, and are baith, ye ken, in my Lord Glencairn's service, I liope ye'U no objek to ride back v;i' me to the Lord Boyd's." " Then it's no you that was sent to the Earl of Eglinton?" exclaimed Wintorton, pretending more surprise than he felt ; " and all my journey has been for naething. llowsever, I'll go back wi' you to Kilmarnock, and the sooner we gang the better." Little fartherdiscoursethen passed, for they returned to the hostel, and ordering out their horses, were soon on tlie road ; and as they trotted along, AVinterton was overly out- spoken against the papisticals, calling them all kind.^ of ill names, Jind no sparing tlie Queen Regent. But my grandfather kept a calm tongue, and made no reflections. " llowsever," said AVinterton, pulling up his bridle, and walking ins horse, as tliey were skirting the moor of Irvine, leaving the town about a mile off on the right, "you and me, (Jilhaize, that are but servants, need nao fash our heads wi' sic things. 'J'he wyte o' wars lie at the doors of kings, and the soldiers are free o' the sin o' them. But how will ye get into the presence and confidence of the Lord Boyd?" "I thought," replied my grand- father pawkily "that ye had gotten our master's token ; and I maun trust to you." " O," cried Winterton, "I got but the ane for the lad sent to Eglinton Castle." "And ha'c ye been there?" said my grandfather. Winterton didna let wot that ho heard this, but stooping over on the off side of his horse, pretended he was righting something about his stirrup- leather. ]\Iy grandfather wfis, how- ever, resolved to probe him to the quick ; so, when he was again sitting U[)riglit, he repeated the question, if he had been to Eglinton Castle. " O. ay," cried the false loon ; " I was there, but the bird was flown." "And how got he the ear of the Earl," said my grandfather, "not having the sign? " In for a penny in for a pound, was Winterton's motto, and ae lie with him was father to a race. " Luokily for him," replied he, "some of the serving-men kent him as being in Glencairn's service, so they took him to their master." My grandfather had no doubt that there Avas some truth in tliis, though lie was sure "Winterton knew little .about it; for it agreed with what.Tames ('oom, the smith, had said about the lads from Eglinton that had been at liis sniiddy to get the horses shod, and rcnuniibering the leathern purses under the Earl his master's pillow, he was persuaded that there had been a mes- senger sent to the head of the Mont- gomeries, and likewise to other lords, RINGAN GILHAIZE. 45 friends of the Congi'cpiition ; but he saw tliat AViiittTtou wont by guess, and lied at raudcnn. Still, though not affecting to notice it, nor expressing any distrust, lie could not help saying to him, that he had oonu' a long way, and after all it looked like a gowk's errand. The remark, however, only served to give Wintertou inward satisfaction, and he replied with a laugh, tliat it made little odds to him where he was sent, and that he'd as lief ride in Ayr- siiire as sorn about the causey of Kn- brongh. In this sort of talk and conference they rode on together, the o'ercome now and then of Winterton's discourse being concerning the proof my grand- fatiier carried with him, whereby the Lord Poyd would know he was one of (ilencairn's men. But, notwith- standing all his wiles and devices to howk tlie secret out of him, his drift being so clearly discerned, my grand- father was enabled to play with him till they were arrived at Kilmarnock, where Wintertou proposed to stop till he had delivered his message to the Lord lioyd at the Dean Castle. " That surely cannot be," replied my grandfather; " for ye ken, as there has been some niistak about the eign whereby I am to make myself known, ye'll ha'e to come wi' me to expound, in case of need. In trooth, now that we hae forgatherit, and as I ha'e but this ae message to a' the shire of Ayr, I would fain ha'e your company till I see t!ie upshot." Wintertou could not very easily make a refusal to this, but he hesitated and swilhered, till my grandfather urged him again ; — when seeing no help for it, and his companion, as he thought, entertaining no suspicion of him, he put on a bold face and went forward. When they had come to the Dean Castle, which stands in a pleasant green park about a mile aboon the town-head of Kilmarnock, on enter- ing the gate, my grandfather hastily alighted, and giving his horse a sharp prick of his spur as he lap off, the beast ran capering out of his hand, round the court of the castle. With tlie well-feigned voice of great anxiefy, my grandfather cried to the servants to shut the gate and keep it in ; and Wintertou alighting, ran to catch it, giving his own horse to a stripling to hold. At the same mo- ment, however, my grandfather sprung upon him, and seizing him by the throat, cried out for help to master a spy. Winterton was so confounded that he gasped, and looked round like a man dimented ; and my grandfather ordered him to be taken by the serving-men to their master, before whom, when they were all come, ho recounted the story of his adventures with the prisoner, telling his Lordship what his master, the Earl of Glen- cairn, suspected of him. To which, when Wintertou was asked what he had to say, he replied bravely, that it was all true, and he was none ashamed to be so catched, when it was done by so clever a fellow. He was then ordered by the Lord Boyd to be immured in the dungeon- room, the which may be seen to this day ; and though his captivity was afterwards somewhat relaxed, he was kept a prisoner in the castle till after the death of the Queen Dowager, and the breaking up of her two-faced councils. This ex])loit won my grandfather great favour, and he scarcely needed to show the signet-ring when he told his message from the Lords of the Congregation. 46 RINGAN GILHAIZE. CHAPTER VI. By such devices and missions, as my grandfather was engaged in for the Earl Glencairn with the Lord Boyd, a thorough understanding was con- certed among the lleformed through- out the kingdom ; and encouraged by their great strength aud numbers, which far exceeded wliat was expected, the Lords of the Congregation set themselves roundly to work, and the Protestant preachers openly published their doctrines. Soon after my grandfather had re- turned from the shire of Ayr, there was a weighty consultation held at the Earl his patron's lodging in Edin- burgh, whereat, among others pre- sent, was that pious youth, after- wards the good Regent Murray. He w^as by office and appointment then the head and lord of the priory of St Andrews ; but his soul cleaving to the Reformation and the Gospel, he laid down the use of that title, and about tljis time began to be called the Lord James Stuart. The Lords of the Congregation, feeling themselves strong in the good- ness of their cause aud the number of their adherents, resolved at this Coun- cil that they should proceed firmly but considerately to work, and seek re- dress as became true lieges, by reprc- eentation aud supplication. Accord- ingly a paper was drawn up, wherein tiiey set forth how, for conscience Bake, the Pfformed had been long afflicted witli banishment, confiscation of goods, and death in its crudest forms ; that continual fears darkened their lives, till, being no longer able to endure such calamities, they were compelled to beg a remedy against the oppressions and tyranny of tiie Estate Ecclesiastical, which had tisurped an unlimited domination over the minds of men, — the faggot and the sword being the weapons which the prelates employed to enforce llieiir ccm-lates, — plain truths that wtTf nisnH openly stilted in order to tli-aw Btia,* the suppliants wre Kiiiowf: ain<l they concluded with a dtacuumiidl nhat tiie original purity of the CiiumrLiin re- ligion should be reBi.Oii't:iil and the government so improT^d ;Jti Co aJi'ord them security in thdx jiar»DOST opin- ions, aud projierty. Sir James Calder c-if Suidilanda was the person chosen i<'.» ftitseat this memorial to the Qut-tn Utt-jy^sit ; and never, said my gi-ajjdiniiiiutir. was an agent more fitly cLosei; n.o. rapfaol I the dignity of his trust, or to jprrsi^rve the respect which, as good iijib'jii-cts, the Reformed desired to imMm."a.ia and manifest towards the anaifliKOTtry ri-gal. He was a man far ndrantptii in life ; but there was none of JJbt- imfirmitifS of age under the Teii«njilbilte titerior with which time had dloifilwfi hia ap- pearance. Of gr<:;at JLcHLioijar and a pure life, he was n'T«rHiiij.:viti by all parties, and had ;icquirtid iiD«ii renown and affection, tlirourrb Im mTiiceH to the realm and his miiuifold Tcrtufs. On a day appointed W tht Quet^n Regent, the Lords ai>d fea'Reirs of the Congregation attend-wS Smdiland.-*, each with a stately ri'mmnrt', ao- U(jly- rood House; luy graudijuBuir having leave from the EarL liat Kuater, to wait on his person om ihna (0«t?a.-i->n. It was a solemn daj ti* ahe wor- shippers of the true Gic»d. wko eanie in great multitudee t.o4ft»eiii5''sra,m;iny from distant parts, io ht jne^^tnt, nnd to hear tlie Issie of a co>; i-n-c.-i- that was to give libeiiy to lii'; .ci/B.-iinonc' 3 of all devout Scotch n^^-c;. From the house in the Lawnmiottn, where the Jjords assembled, dovm tiiO) the very yetts of the palace, iht HiiA: w.iaa.s if the street had been jiaxtid wirh faoes ; and windows over wJD.<iciW3^ soofa and linn-lieads, were clusUT.'d wTP,h women and children. All teinjuoaai earea and I businesses were that ■dsf inapended. RINGAN GILHAIZE. 47 In the accents and voices of men there Viis an awful sobriety, few epeakini; ; andAvhatwas said sounded as if every one Avaa affected with the sense of some high and everlasting interest at stake. When the Lords went down into the street, there was, for a brief in- terval, .1 stir and a murmur in the multitude, which opened to the right and left as when the waves of the Ited Sea were opened, and through the midst thereof prepared a miraculous road for the children of Israel. A deep silence succeeded, and iSandi- landsjwith his hoary head uncovered, bearing in his hand the supplication and remonstrance, walked forward, and the Lords went after also all bare-headed, and every one with them fullowed in like manner, as reveren- tially as their masters. The people, as tliey pnsacd alonir. slowdy and de- voutly, took off their caps and bonnets, and bowed their hea(ls as when the aik of the covenant of the Lord was of old brought back from the Phili- slines ; and many wej)t, and others ]iTayed aloud, and there was wonder, iind awe, and dread, mingled with thoughts of unspeakable confidence and glory. "NVhen Sandilands and those with him were conducted into the presence of tlie Queen-dowager, she was .standing under a canopy of state, surrounded by many of the nobles .•uid prelates, and by her maidens of honour. ]\Iy grandfather had not seen her before, and having often heard her suspected of double dealing, and of a superstitious zeal and affec- tion for the ]i;ijial abominations and cruelties, he had pictured to himself a loan aiul liaggard woman, with a pale and fierce countenance, and was tlicrefore greatly amazed Avhen he I'l'held a laily of a most sweet and gracious aspect, with mild dark eyes beaming with a chaste dignity, and a high and fair forehead, bright and unwrinkled with any care, and lips formed to speak soft and gentle sentences. In her apparel she wag less gay than her ladies, but neverthe- less she was more queenly. Her dress and mantle were of the richest purple Genoese unadorned with em- broidery, and round her neck she wore a ruff of fine ermine and a string of princely pearls: a small golden cross of curious graven gold dangled to her waist from a loup in the vale of her bosom. Sandilands advanced several paces before the Lords by whom he was attended, and falling on his knees, read with a loud and firm A^oice the memorial of the Keformed ; and when he had done so and was risen, the Queen received a paper that was given to her by her secretary, who stood behind her right shoulder, and also read an answer which liad been prepared, and in which she was made to deliver many comfortable assur- ances, that at the time were received a.s a great boon with much tlmnkful- ness by all the Keformed, who had too soon reason to prove the insin- cerity of those courtly flatteries. For no steps were afterwards taken to give those indulgences by law that were promised ; but the papists stir- ring themselves with great activity', and foreij^n matters and conceriis roniing in aid of their stratagems, long before a year passed the mind of the Queen and Government was fomented into hostility against the Protestants. She called into hei favour and councils the Archbishop ol St Andrews, with whom she had been at variance ; and the devout said, when tiiey heard thereof, that wlu n our Saviour was condemned, on the same day Herod and Pilate wore made friends, applying the text to this reconciliation ; and boding there- from woe to the true church. Moved by tlio hatred which liia Oraco bon; to the llcfonnerd, the (iueon cited the Protestant preachers to appear at StirHng to auswer to the charges which might tliorc bo preferred against them. My grandfather, when tin's perfidy came to a lioad, was at Finlayston- houso, in tlio sliiro of Renfrew, with the Earl, his master, who, when lie lieard of such a breach of faitli, smote the table, as he was then sitting at dinner, with his right hand, and said, "Since the false woman has done this, there is nothing for us but the banner and the blade ; " and starting from his seat he forthwith ordered horses, and, attended by my grand- father and ten armed servants, rode to Glasgow, where Sir Hugh Camp- bell of London, then sheriff of Ayr, and other worthies of the time, were assembled on business before the Lords of Justiciary ; and it was in- stanter agreed, that they should forth- with proceed to Stirling Avhere the court was, and remonstrate with the Queen. So, leaving all temporal concerns. Sir Hugh took horse, and they arrived at Stirling about the time her Highness supped, and going straight to the castle, they stood in the ante -chamber, to speak if possible with her as she passed. On entering the room to pass to her table she saw them, and looked somewhat surprised and displeased ; but without saying any thing par- ticular she desired the Earl to follow her, and Sir Hugh, unbidden, went also into the banquet room. It was seldom that she used state in her household, and on this occasion, it being a popish fast, her table was frugally spread, and only herself sat at the board. " Well, Glencairn," said she, "what has brought you hither from the west at this time ? Is the realm to be for ever tossed like the sea by this tem- pest of heresies ? Tlio royal autliority is not always to be insulted witli im- punity, and in spite of all tiieir friend-j the Protestant preachers shall be ban- ished from Scotland, aye, thougli tlieir doctrines were as sound as St Paul's." The Earl, as my grandfather heard hiui afterwards relate, replied, " Your INIajesty gave your royal promise tliat the lleformed should be protected, and they have done nothing since to cause the forfeiture of so gracious a boon : I implore your Majesty to call that sacred pledge to mind." " You lack reason, my lord," she cried, sharply ; "it becomes not sub- jects to burden their princes with pro- mises which it may be inconvenient to keep." " If these, madam, are your senti- ments," replied the Earl, proudly, " the Congregation can no longer ac- knowledge your authority, and must renounce their allegiance to your government." She had, at the moment, lifted the salt-celler to sprinkle her salad, — but she was so astonished at tlie boldness of this speech, that she dropt it from her hand, and the salt was spilt on the floor — an evil omen, which all present noted. " My Lord Glencairn," said she, thoughtfully, "I would execute my great duties honestly, but your preach- ers trouble the waters, and I know not where the ford lies that 1 may safest ride. Go ye away and try to keep your friends quiet, and I will consider calmly Avhat is best to be done for the weal of all." At these words the Earl and Sir Hugh Campbell bowed, and, retiring, went to the lodging of the Earl of Monteith, where they were mindet to pass the night ; but, when they had consulted with that nobleman, my grandfather was ordered to provide himself with a fresh horse from Mon- teith's stable, and to set out for Ediu- RINGAN GILHAIZE. 49 burgh with letters for the Lord James Stuart. " Gilhaizo," said his master as he delivered them, " I foresee we must buckle on our armour ; but the cause of the truth does not require that the first blow should come from our side. By this time John Knox, who has been long expected, may bo hourly looked for ; and as no man stands higher in tlie aversion of the papists than that brave, honest man, we shall know, by the reception ho meets with, what we ought to do." So my grandfather, putting the let- ters in his bosom, retired from the presence of the Earl, and by break of day reached the Westport, and went straight on to the Lord James Stuart's lodging in Canongate. But, though the household were astir, it was some time before he got ad- mittance ; for their master was a young man of great method in all things, and his chaplain was at the time reading the first prayers of the morning, during which the doors were shut, and no one, however urgent his business, could gain admission into that house while the inmates were doing their homage to the King of kings. As my grandfather, in the grey of the morning, was waiting in the Canongate till the worship was over in the house of the Lord James Stuart, he frequently rode up and down the street as far as the Lucken- booths and the Abbey's sanctuary siver, and his mind was at times smitten with the remorse of pity, when he saw, as the dawn advanced, the numbers of poor labouring men that came up out of the closes and gathered round the trone, abiding there to see who would come to hire them for the day. But his compassion was soon changed into a frame of thankfulness, at the boundless variety of mercies vhich are dealt out to the children of Adam, for he remarked, that, for the most part, these poor men, whoso sustenance was as precarious as that of the wild birds of tlio air, were cheerful and jocund, many of them singing and whistling as blithely as the lark, that carries the sweet incense of her melodious songs in the censer of a sinless breast to the golden gates of the morning. Hitherto he had never noted, or much considered, the complicated cares and trials wherewith the lot of man in every station is chequered and environed ; and when he heard those bondmen of hard labour, jocund after sound slumbers and light suppers, laughing contemptuously as they be- held the humiliating sight, which divers gallants and youngsters, court- iers of the court, degraded with de- bauch, made of themselves as they stumbled homeward, he thought there was surely more bliss in the cup that was earned by the constancy of health and a willing mind, than in all the possets and malvesia that the hoards of ages could procure. So he com- posed his spirit, and inwardly made a vow to the Lord, that, as soon as the mighty work of the redemption of the Gospel from the perdition of papistry was accomplished, he would retire into the lea of some pleasant green holm, and take, fnr the purpose of his life, the attainm. , t of that happy simplicity which seeks but the supply of the few wanta with which man comes so ricli from the hands of his Maker, that all changes in his natural condition of tilling the ground and herding the flocks only serve to make him poorer by increasing. While he was thus ruminating in the street, he observed two strangers coming up the Canongate. One of them had the appearance of a servant, but he was of a staider and more thoughtful aspect than belongs to men of that degree, only he bore oa 60 RINGAN GILHAIZE. his shoulder a willense, and had in his hand a small packajje wrapt in a woollen cover an<l bucklnd witli a leathern strap. The other was llic master ; and my grandfather halted his horse to look at him as he parsed, for he was evidently no conmion man nor mean personage, though in stature he was jimp the ordinary size. lie was bent more with infirmities than the load of his years. His hair and long flowing beard were very grey and venerable, like those of the ancient patriarchs who enjoyed im- mediate communion with God. But though his appearance was thus aged, and though his complexion and countenance betokened a frail tene- ment, yet the brightness of youth shone in his eyes, and they were lighted up by a spirit over which time had no power. In his steps and gait he was a little hasty and unsteady, and twice or tlirice he was obliged to pause in the steep of the street to draw his breath ; but even in this there was an affecting .ind great earnestness, a working of a liv- ing soul within, as if it panted to enter on the performance of some great and solemn hest. lie seemed to be eager and zealous like the apostle Peter, in his temper, and as dauntless as the mighty and courageous Paul. Many in the street stopped and looked after him witli reverence and marvelling as he pro- ceeded with quick and desultory steps, followed by his sedate attendant. !Nor was it surprising, for he was, indeed, one of those who, in their lives, are vast and wonderful, — special creations that are sent down from heaven, with authority attested by the glowing ini- l)ress of the signet of God on their hearts, to avenge the wrongs done to His truths and laws in the blasphemies of the earth. — It was John Knox. When he had passed, my grand- father rode back to the yett cf the Lord James Stuart's lodgings, whieli by this time was opened, and instanter, on mentioning to the porter from wlioni he had come, was admitted to his master. That great worthy was at the time sitting alone in a back chamber, which looked towards Salisbury Crags, and before him, but on tlie opposite side of the table, among divers letters and papers of business, lay a largo Bible, with br^iss clas]»8 thereon, in which it would seem, some one had been ex- pounding to him a poition of the Scriptures. Wiien mygrar him the letter fro cairn, he took it ler presented to Earl of Glen- /iii him without nmch regarding him, and broke open the seal, and began to peruse it to himself in that calm and methodical manner for which he was so famed and remarkable. Before, however, he had read above the half thereof, he gave as it were a sudden hitch, and turning round, looked my grandfather sharply in the face, and said, — '• Are you Gilhaize? " But before answer could be made, ho waved his hand graciously, point- ing to a chair, and desired him to sit down, resuming at the same time tho perusal of the letter ; and when ho had finished it, he folded it up for a moment ; but, as if recollecting him- self, he soon runkled it up in his hand and put it into the fire. " Your Lord informs me," said ho, ' ' that he has all confidence, not only in your honesty, Gilhaize, but in your discernment ; and says, that in respect to the high question anent Christ's cause, you may bo trusted to tho uttermost. Truly, for so young a man, tliis is an exceeding renown. His letter has told me what passed last night with the Queen's Highness. I am grieved to hear it ; she means well ; but her feminine fears make her hearken to counsels that may cause RINGAN GILHAIZE. Bl tho very ovils whereof bIio is nfraiil. But tlio sincerity of her fiivour to the Iluformed will soon be tried, for liitt nif^'ht John Knox nrrived, and I was Avith Jiiin ; and, strong in tho nssur- ancea of his faith, he intends to lead on to the battle. This morning he Avas minded to depart for J-'ife. — ' Our Captain, Christ .lesus,' said he, 'and Satan, His adversary, are now at open defiance ; their banners are displayed, and the trumpet is blown on both sides for assembling their armies.' As soon as it is known that he is within the kingdom, wc shall learn what we may expect, and that presently too ; for this very day tiie clergy meet in the monastery of the Greyfriars, and doubtless they will be advertised of his coming. You liad as well try if you can gain admittance among the other auditors, to hear their delibera- tions ; afterwards come again to me, and report what takes place ; by that time I shall bo advised whether to send you back to Glencairn or else- where," My grandfather, after this and some farther discourse, retired to the hall, and took breakfast with the household, where he was much edified with the douce deportment of all present, so unlike that of the coarse and graceless varlets who rioted in the houses of the other nobles. Verily, he used to say, the evidences of a reforming spirit were briglitly seen there ; and, to rule every one into a chaste sobriety of conversation, a pious clerk sate at the head of the board, and said grace before and after the meal, making it manifest how much all things about the Lord James Stuart were done in order. Having taken breakfast, and re- posed himself some time, for his long ride had mixdo him very weary, he rose, and, changing his apparel, went to the Greyfriars church, where the clergy were assembling, and elbowing iiimself gently into the heart of the leople waiting around for admis-sion, le got in with tho crowd when the doors were opened. 'I'iie matter that morning to be considered concerned the means to be taken, within the local jurisdicitiotisof thofcc there nu-t, to enforce the pro- cess of tiie summons which had been issued against the reformed preachers to appear at Stirling. Hut while they were busily con- versing and contriving how best to aid and further that iniquitous aggres- Hion of peifidious tyranny, there came in one of the brethren of the monas- tery, with a frightened look, and cried aloud, that John Knox was come, iu:d had been all night in the to%\n. /.t the news the spectators, as if moved by one spirit, gave a triumphant sliout, — the clergy were thunderstruck. — some started from their seats, uncon- scious of what they did, — others threw themselves back wliere they sat, — and all appeared as if a judgment had been pronounced upon them. In the same moment the church began to skail. — the session was adjourned, — and the people ran in all directions. Tlie cry rose everywhere, " John Knox is come ! " All the town came rushing into tlie streets, — tlie old and the young, the lordly and the lowly, were seen mingling and marvelling to- gether, — all tasks of duty, and servi- tude, and pleasure, were forsaken, — the sick-beds of the dying were de- serted, — the priests cibandoned their altars and masses, and stood pale and trembling at the doors of their churclies, — mothers set down their infants on the floors, and ran to in- quire what lind come to pass, — fune- rals were suspended, and the impioua and the guilty stood aghast, as if some dreadful apocalypse had been made, — travellers, with the bridles in their hands, lingering in profane discourse with their hosts, suddenly mounted, 52 ETNGAN GILHAIZE. and speeded into the country with the tidinfijs. At every cottage door and wayside bield, the inmates stood in clusters, silent and wondering, as horseman came following horseman, crying, "John Knox is come !" Vessels that had departed, when they heard the news, bore up to tell others that they saw afar at sea. The shepherds were called in from the hills ; — the warders on the castle, when, at the sound of many quickened feet ap- proaching, they challenged the comers, were answered, "John Knox is come !" Studious men were roused from the spells of their books ;— nuns, at their windows, looked out fearful and in- quiring, — and priests and friars were seen standing by themselves, shunned like lepers. The whole land was stirred as with the inspiration of some new element, and the hearts of the persecutors wore withered. " No tongue," often said my grand- father, " could tell the sense of that great event through all the bounds of Scotland, and the papistical domina- tors shrunk as if they had suffered in their powers and principalities, an awful and irremediable overthrow." When my grandfather left the Grey- friars, he went to the lodging of the Lord James Stuart, whom he found well instructed of all that had taken place, whicli he much marvelled at, having scarcely tarried by the wpy in going thither. " Xow, Gilhaize," said my Lord, "the ti<liugs fly like wildfire, and the Queen IJogcnt, by the spirit that has descended into the hearts of the people, will be constrained to act one way or another. Jolin Knox, as you perhaps know, staufls under tiio ban of out- lawry for conscience sake. In a little while we shall see whether he is still to be persecuted. If left free, the braird of the Lord, that begins to rise so groen over all the land, will grow in peace to a plentiful harvest. But if he is to be hunted down, there will come such a cloud and storm as never raged before in Scotland. I speak to you thus freely, tliat you may report my frank sentiments to thir noble friends and trusty gentlemen, and say to them, that I am girded for the field, if need be." lie then put a list of several well- known friends of the Ileformation ayont the frith into my grandfather's hands, adding, " I need not say that it is not fitting now to trust to paper, and therefore much will depend on yourself. The confidence that my friend the Earl your master has in you, makes me deal thus openly with you ; and I may add, that if there is deceit in you, Gilhaize, I will never again be- lieve the physiognomy of man — so go your ways ; see all these, whereso ver they may be, — and take this purse for your charges." My grandfather accepted the paper and the purse ; and reading over the paper, imprinted the names in it on his memory, and then said — " My Lord, I need not risk the possession of this paper ; but it may be necessary to give me some token by which the lords and lairds therein mentioned may have assurance that I come from you." For some time the Lord James made no reply, but stood ruminating, with the fore finger of his loft hand pressing his nether lip ; then he ob- served — " Your request is very needful ; " and taking the paper, he mentioned divers things of each of the persons named in it, which lie told iny grand- father had passed between him and them severally, when no other was present. " I5y remombering them of these things," saiil he, " thoy Avill know that you are in verity sent from me." Being thus instructed, my grand- father left the Lord James, and j)ro- HINGAN GILHAIZE. cceding forthwith to the pier of Lcith, embarked in tlic Burntisland ferry- boat — and considering with himself, that the fartliest away of those whom he was missioned to see ought to be the first informed, as the nearer had other ways and means of communion, he resolved to go forward ti such of them as dwelt in Angus and iNlearns; by which resolution lie reached Dun- dee shortly after the arrival there of tiie champion of the lleformation, John Knox. This resolution proved most wise and fortunate ; for, on landing in that town, lie found a great concourse of the lieformed from the two shires as- sembled there, and among them many of those to whom he was specially sent. Tiiey had cone to go witli their ministers before the Queen Regent's counsel at Stirling, deter- mined to avow their adherence to the doctrinis of which those pior^ men were accused. And it being furese>>n, that as tliey went forward others would join, my grandfather thought he could do no better in his mission tlian mingle with tliem, the more especially as John Knox was also to be of that great company. On the day following, they accord- ingly ail set forward towards Perth, — and they were a glorious army, mighty with the strength of tlieir great ally the Lord of tlie hosts of her -'Mi. ^o trumpet sounded in their maich, nor was the courageous drun\ heard among them, -nor the shouts of earthly soldiery, — nor the neigh of the war-horse, — nor the voice of any captain. 15ut they sang hymns of triumph, and psalms of the great things that Jehovah had of old done for his people ; and though no banner was seen th^re, nor sword on the thiglis of men of might, nor spears in the grasp of warriors, uor crested helmet, nor ought of the panoply of battle, yet tlio cyo of faith beheld more than all thes*?. for the liilis and heights of Scotland were to its dazzled vision covered that day with the mustered armies of the dreadful (lod : — the angek of his wratli in their burning chariots; the arciiangils of his omnipott-ncf. calm in their armour of storms and flaming fires, and tiie Kider on the white horse were all there. As the people with their ministers advance<l, their course was like a river, wh'ch continually groweth in strength, and tpreadtth its waters as it rolls onward to the sea. On all sides came streams of new adiu'rents to their Loly cause, insomuch that when they arrived at Perth, it was thought best tc halt there, lest the apj-roach of so gre.at a mu'ititude, though without weapons, sliould alarm the (,Jueen Regent's Goverimient. Accordingly they made a pause, and Erskiue of Dun, one of the Lord James Stuait'.s friends, taking my grandfather with him, and only two other servants, rode forward to Stir- ling, to jires'fDt to her Highness the faith and die firmness of tiie people. AVhen they arrived, tiiey found the town in consternation. Pusy were the Ijaiiies, marshalling such of the bui^esses a.s could be persuaded to take up anii*s : but all wlio joined them were fcckleav^ aged men, dealers and traffickers in commodities for tho courtiers. Proud was the provost that day, and a tvpe of the cause for which he was gathering his papistical remnants. At the sight of Dun and his three followers riding up the street to the castle, he was fain to draw out his sword and make a salu- tation : but it stnck sae dourly in tliat he was obligated to g.ir ane of the tuwn-cfr!C>?r!f hold the .scabbard, wliile lie ] pulled with such ndglit and main at the Lilt, that the blade suddenly broke off. and l>ack he stumbled, and up llew his becla, so that even my 64 RINGAN GILHATZE. grandfather was constrained, notwith- standing the solemnity of the occasion, to join in the shout of laughter that arose thereat from all present. But provosts and bailies not being men of war, should not expose themselves to such adversities. Nor was the fyke of impotent preparation within the walls of the castle better. The Queen had been ill a manner lanerly with her ladies, when the sough of tho coming multitude reached her. The French guards had not come from Glasgow, and there was none of the warlike nobles of the papistical sect at that time at Stirling. Slie had therefore reason both for dread and panic, when the news arrived that all Angus and Mearus had rebelled, for so it was at first reported. On the arrival of Dun, he was on the instant admitted to her presence ; for she was at the time in the tapes- tried chamber, surrounded by her priests and ladies, and many officers, nil consulting her according to their fears. The sight, said my grand- father, for he also went in.to tho presence, was a proof to iiim tliat the cause of the papacy was in the doath- thraws, tho judgments of all present being so evidently in a sttite of dis- comfiture and desertion. Dun going forward with the Avoiited reverences, tho Queen said to him abruptly — " Well, krskine what is thisV " Whereupon he represented to her in a sedate manner,tliat the Iicformed ministers were not treated as they had been encouraged to hope ; never- theless, to show tlieir submission to those in temporal auhority over them, they were coming, in obedience to the citation, to stand trial. '' l>ut their retinue — when have delinquents come to trial so at- tended? " she exclaimed eagerly. "The people, please your High- ness," said Dun, with a steadfastness of manner that struck every one with respect for him, — " the people hold the same opinions and believe the same doctrines as their preachers, and they fee! that the oiYence, if it bo offence, of which tho ministers are accused, lies equally against them, and therefore they have resolved to make their case a common cause." "And do they mean to daunt us from doing justice against seditious schismatics ? " cried her Highness, somewhat in anger. "They mean," replied Dun, "to let your Highness see whether it be possible to bring so many to judg- ment. Their sentiment, with one voice, is. Cursed be they that seek the effu- sion of blood, or war, or dissension. Let us possess the evangile, and none within Scotland shall be more obedient subjects. In sooth, madam, they hold themselves as guilty of the crime charged as their ministers are, and they will suffer with them." " Suffer ! call you r(>bellion suffer- ing ? " exclaimed the Queen. " Tiiey have not yet rebelled," said Dun, calmly; "they come to remonstrate with your Highness first ; for, as Christians, they are lotli to draw the sword. They have no arms with them, to the end that no one may dare to accuse them of any trea- son." " It is a perilous thing when sub- jects," said the Queen, much troubled, " declare themselves so ojK'iily against the authority of tlieir rulers." " It is a l3old thing for rulers," re- plied Dun, " to meddle with the con- sciences of their subjects." "IIow!" exclaimed the Queen, startled and indignant. " I will deal yet more ]vlaiiily with your Highness," said he firmly. " This ])retended offence, of which the Ke- formcd are accused, is not against tlio royal authority. They are good and RINGAN GILHAIZE. 55 true subjects, and, by their walk and conversation, bear testimony to the excellence and purity of those doc- trines for which they are resolved to sacrifice their lives rather than sub- mit to an earthly dictation. Their controversies pertain to things of Christ's kingdom, — it is a spiritual warfare. But the papists, conscious of their weakness in the argument, would fain see your Highness abandon that impartial justice which you were called of Heaven to administer in your great office, and to act factiously on their side, as if the cause of the Gospel could be determined by the arm of flesh." " What has brought you here ? " exclaimed the Queen, bursting into tears. " To claim the fulfilment of your royal promises," said Dun, making a lowly reverence, that by its humility took away all arrogance fr''n the boldness of the demand. "I will," said she: "I am ever willing to be just, but this rising has shaken me with apprehensions ; there- fore, I pray you, Erskine, write to your brethren ; bid them disperse ; and tell them from me, that their ministers shall neither be tried nor molested." At these words, she took the arm of one of her ladies and hastily re- tired. Dun also withdrew, and the same hour sent my grandfather back to Perth v'ith letters to the Congre- gation, to the effect of her request and assurance. That same evening the multitude broke up and returned to their respec- tive homes, rejoicing with an exceed- ing great joy at so blessed a termina- tion of their weaponless* Christian Avar. Dun, however, distrusting the influence of some of those who were of the Queen's council, and who had arrived at the castle soon after my grandfather's departure, did not re^ turn, as he had intended, next morn- ing to Perth, but resolved to wait over the day of trial ; or, at least, until the ministers were absolved from attendance on the summonses, either by proclamation or other forms of law. CHAPTER VII. John Knox, among all the ministers who remained at Perth after the Con- gregation of the Reformed had dis- persed, was the only one, my grand- father had been heard to say, that expressed no joy nor exultation at the assurances of the Queen Regent. " We shall see, we shall see," was all he said to those among them who gloried in the victory ; adding, " But if there is truth in the Word of God, it is not in the nature of the Beast to do otherwise than evil ; " and his words of discernment and of wisdom were soon verified. Krskiiie of Dun, whi!<' h* remained at Stirling, had his lyes and ears open • and in their porches he placed, for statiuols, Disi ist and Suspicion. He knew tlio fluctuating nature of woman; how every si eodiug wave of feeling wa.-iies away the deepest traces that • '< traced on the quick- sands of her unstable humours ; and the danger having passed, he jea- joused that the Qu' im Regent would forget her ternw^' 1 give herself up to the headln: iiusels of the ad- versaries, whom, from her known adherence to the Romish ritual, ho justly feared she was inclined to favour. Nor was he left long in doubt. On the evening before the day which had been appointed for the trial, no proclamation or other token v/as promulgated to appease the anxiety of the cited preachers. He, therefore, thought i4> needful to be 06 RINGAN GILHAIZE. prepared for the worst ; so, accord- ingly, he ordered his two serving-mea to have his horses in readiness forth the town in the morning, and there to abide his orders. Without giving any other about him the slightest inkling of what he had conceited, he went up betimes to the castle, having learnt that the Queen Regent was that day to iiold a council. And being a man held in great veneration by all parties, and well known to the household of the court, he obtained access to the ante- chamber after the council was met; and standing there, he was soon sur- prised by her Highness coming out, leaning on the arm of the Lord Win- toun, and seemingly much disturbed. On seeing him she was startled, and paused for a moment ; but soon col- lecting all her pride, she dropped the Lord Wintoun's arm, and walked straight through the apartment with- out noticing anyone, and holding herself aloft with an air of resolute dignity. Dun augured no good from this ; but following till the Lord Wintoun had attended her to the end of the long painted gallery, where she stopped at the door that opened to her private apartments, lie theri awaited that nobleman's return, ai)>l inquired of him if tlio process against the Protes- tant ministers had been rescinded. " No," said Wintoun, peevishly ; " the summonses have been called over and they have not appeared, either in person or by agents." " Say you so, my Ijord ! " cried Dun ; " and what is the result?" " Outhnvry, for non-appearance, ia pronounced agiiinst them," replied ^Vintoun, hauglitily, and wentstraijrlit back into the council-chamber. Dun thought it unnecessary fo in- quire farther; so, without making more ado, he iustantjr left the castle, and, going down the toTrn, went to the spot where his horses stood ready, and mounting, rode off with the tidings to Perth, grieving sorely at the gross perfidy and sad deceit which the Queen Regent had been so prac- tised on, by the heads of the papist faction, to commit. It happened on the same day, that John Knox, who remained at Perth, a wakeful warder on a post of peril, was moved by the Spirit of God to preach a sermon, in which he exposed the idolatry of the mass, and the de- pravity of image-worship. INIy grand- father was present, and he often said, that preaching was an era and epoch worthy to be held in everlasting re- membrance. It took place in the Greyfriars' church. There was an understanding among the people that it was to be there ; but many fearing the monks might attempt to prevent it, a vast concourse, chiefly men, as- sembled at the ordinary mass hour, and remained in the church till the Reformer came, so that, had the friars tried to keep him out, they could not have shut the doors. A lane was made through the midst of the crowd to admit the preacher to the pulpit ; and when ho was seen advancing, aged and feeble, and leaning on his staff, many wero moved with compassion, and doubted if it could be the wonderful man of whom every tongue spoke. Rut when he had ascended and began, he seemed to undergo a great transfiguration. His abject mien and his sickly visage became majestic and glorious. Ilia eyes lightened ; his countenance shone as with the radiance of a spirit that lilazed within ; and his voice dirled to tlie heart like vehement thunder. Sometimes he spoke to the under- standings of those who heard him, of that insane doctrine wliioh represented the mission of the Redeemer to con- sist of believing, in despite of sight, and smell; and touch, aud taste, that RINGAN GILHAIZE. 67 iu the Wafers and wine were actually the flesh and blood of a man that was crucified, with nails, driven tlirough his feet and hands, many hundred years ago. Then, rising into the con- templation of the divinity of the Saviour, he trampled under the feet of his eloquence a belief so contrary to the instincts and senses with which Infinite Wisdom has gifted his crea- tures; and bursting into ecstacy at the thought of this idolatrous inven- tion, he called on the people to look at the images and the efligies in the building around them, and believe, if they could, that such things, the handy works of carpenters and masons, were endowed with miracu- lous energies far above the faculties of man. Kindling into a still higher mood, he preached to those very images, and demanded of them, and tliose they represented, to show any liroof that they were entitled to rever- ence. " God forgive my idolatry," he exclaimed, "I forget myself — these things are but stocks and stones." Not one of all who heard him that day ever gave car again to papistry. When he had made an end, and had retired from the church, many still lingered, discoursing of his mar- vellous lecture, and among others, my grandfather. An imprudent priest belonging to the convent, little aware of the great conversion wliich had been wrought, began to prepare for the celebration of tlie mass, and a callan who was standing near, encouraged by the contempt wliicli some of those around expressed at this folly, jibed the priest, and he drove him away. The boy, however, returned, and levelling a stone at a crucifix on tiie altar, sliattored it to pieces. In an instant, as if caui^lit by a whirlwind, the wliole papistical trumpery was torn down, and dashed into fragments. Tiie cry of "Down with the idols 1" became universal : hundreds on hundreds came rushing to the spot. The ma- gistrates and the ministers came flying to beseech order and to soothe the multitude ; but a Divine ire was upon the people, who heard no voice but only the cry of " Down with the idols ! " and their answer was, " Burn, burn, and destroy ! " The monasteries of the Black and the Grey Friars were sacked and rendered desolate, and the gorgeous edifice of the Carthusian monks levelled to tlie ground. So dreadful a tumult had never before been heard of within the realm. Many of the best of the Ref*med deplored the handle it would give to the blasphemies of their foes. Even my grandfather was smitten with consternation and grief ; for he could not but think that such a terrible temporal outrage would be followed by a temporal revenge as ruthless and complete. Sober minds shuddered at the sudden and sacrilegious overthrow of such venerable structures ; and many that stood on the threshold of the house of papistical bondage, and were on the point of leaving it, re- tired in again, and barred the doors against the light, and hugged their errors as blameless compared with such enormities. To no one did the event give pleasure but to John Knox. " The work," said he, " has been done-, it is true, by the rascal multi- tude ; but when the nests are destroyed the rooks will fly away." The thing, however, most con- sidered at that time, was tlie panic which this intemperance would cause to the Queen Regent ; and my grand- father, seeing it had changed the complexion of his mission, resolved to return the same evening by the Queensferry to the liOrd James Stuart at Edinburoh. For the people no sooner cooled and came to a sense of reflection, than they discerned that 58 RINGAN GILHAIZE. they had committed a heinous offence against the laws, and, apprehending punishment, prepared to defend them- aelves. Thus, by the irresolute and pro- mise-breaking policy of the (Jncon, was the people maddened into grievous excessess, and many of tiioso who submitted quietly in the faith of her assurances, and had returned to their respective homes, considered the trumpet as sounded, and began to gird themselves for battle. It's far from my hand and intent, to write a history of the tribulations which ensued from the day of the up- roar and first outbreaking of the wrath of the people against the images of the Romish idolatry ; and therefore I shall proceed, with all expedient brevity, to relate what farther, in those sore times, fi'll under the eye of my grand- father, who, when he returned to Edinburgh, found the Lord James Stuart on the point of proceeding to the Queen Regent at Stirling, and he went with hini thither. On arriving at the castle, they found the French soldiery all collected in tlie town, and her Highness, like another fiery Rolloua, vowing to avenge the calamities that had be- falkn the idols and images of Perth ; and summoning and invoking the nobility, and every man of substance she could think of, to come with their vassals, that she might be en- abled to chastise such sacrilegious rebellion. The Lord James Stuart seeing her so bent on extremities, and knowing, by his secret intelligences, that strong powers were ready to start forward at a moment's warning, both in the West, and in Fife, Angus,andMearns, entreati'd her to listen to more mode- rate counsels than those of revenge and resentment, and rather to think of pacification than of punishment. But she was fiery with passion, and a blinded instrument in the hands of Providence to work out the deliver- ance of the land, even by the crooked policy that her papistical counsellors hurried her into. So that the Lord James, seeing she was transported beyond reason, sent my grandfather and other secret emissaries to warn the Lords and leaders of the Congre- gation,and to tell them, that her High- ness was minded to surprise Perth, as soon as she had gathered a sufTicicut array. The conduct of that great worthy was in this full of wisdom, and fore- sight, and policy. By staying with the Queen he incurred the suspicion of the Reformed, to whom he was a devoted friend ; but he gained a knowledge of the intents of their enemies, by which he was enabled to turn aside the edge of vengeance when it was meant to be most deadly. Ac- cordingly, reckless of the opinions of men, he went forward with the Queen's army towards Perth ; but before they had crossed the Water of Earn, word was brought to her High- ness, that the Earl of CUencairn, at the head of two thousand five hundred of the Reformed, was advancing from the shire of Ayr. Such were the fruits of my grand- father's mission to the Lord Boyd, and he heard likewise that the bold and free lairds of Angus and Mearus, with all their followers, had formed themselves in battle-array to defend the town. Still, however, her High- ness was resolute to go on ; for sho was instigated by her feminine anger, even as much as by the wicked counsels of the papist lords by whom sho was surrounded. But when she reached the heights that overlooked the sweet valley of the Tay, whose green and gentlo losom was then sparkling with tiio glances of warlike steel, her heart was softened, and sho called to lier the RINGAN GILHAIZE. 59 Lord James Stuart, and the young Earl of Argyle, — the old Lord, his father, had died some time prior, — and sent them to the army of the Congregation, that peace might still \)G prt'servL'd, Tliey accordingly went into the town, and sending notice to the leaders of the Reformed to appoint two of their party to confer witii them, John Knox and the Master Wiilocks were nominated. My grandfather, who attended the Lord James on this occasion, was directed by him to receive the two deputies at the door and to conduct tiiem in ; and when they came he was mucii troubled to observe the state of their minds ; for IMaster "Willocks was austere in his looks, as if resolved on quarrel, and the lleformer was agitated and angry, muttering to himself as he as- cended the stairs, making his staff often dirl on the steps. No sooner were they shown into the presence of the two lords, even before the door was shut, than John Knox began to upbraid the Lord James for having broken the covenant and fordakeu the Congregation. ^hicii to that effect, my grand- father afterwards learnt, passed ; but the Lord James pacified him with the assurance that his heart and spirit were still true to the cause, and that lie had come with Argyle to prevent, if possible, the shedding of blood ; he likewise declared both for himself and the Earl, who had hitherto always abided by the (iueen, that if she refused to listen to reasonable terms, or should break any treaty entered into, they would openly take part against her. Upon these asKur.inces a treaty was concluded, by which it was agreed, that both armies should retire jicace- ably to their respective habitations ; that the town should be made acces- sible to the Queen Regent ; that no luolestatiou should be giv(iU to those who were then in arms for the Con- gregation, and no persecutions under- taken against the Reformed, — with other covenants calculated to sootho the Congregation and allay men's fears. But no sooner was this treaty ratified, the army of the Congrega- tion dispersed, and her Highness in possession of the town, than it was manifest no vows nor obligations were binding towards the Iteretics, as tho Reformed were called. The (Queen's French guards, even when attending her into the town, fired into tho house of a known zealous Protestant and killed his son; the inhabitants were plundered and insulted with impunity, and the magistrates were dismissed to make way for men devoted to papistry. The Earl of Argyle and Lord James Stuart, filled with wrath and indignation at such open perfidy, went straight into her Highness' pre- sence without asking audience, and reproached her with deceit and crafti- ness; and having so vented their minds, instanter quitted the court and the town, and, attended by my grand- father and a few other servants, de- parted for Fife, to which John Knox had also retired after the dispersion of tho Congregation at Perth. The Lord James, in virtue of being Prior of St Andrew's, went thither attended by the Earl, and sent my grandfather to Crail, where the Reformer was then preaching, to invite him to meet them and others of the Congregation with all convenient expedition. My grandfather never having been before in Crail, and not knowing how the people there might stand affected, instead of inquiring for John Knox, bethought himself of his acquaint- ance with Bailie Kilspinnie, and so speired his way to his dwelling, little hoping, from the fearful nature of that honest man, he would find him within. But, contrary to hia expectation, Le 60 KiNCxAN GILHAIZE. was not only there, but he welcomed my grandfather as an old and very cordial friend, leading him into his house and making much of him, tel- ling him, with a voice of cheerfulness, that the day of reckoning had at last overtaken the profligate idolaters. Then he caused to be brought in before my grandfather the five pretty babies that his wife had abandoned for lier papistical admirer, the eldest of whom was but turned nine years. The thoughts of their mother's con- duct overcame their father at that moment, and the tears coming into his eyes, he sobbed aloud as he looked at them, and wept bitterly, while they flocked around, and wreathed him, as it were, with their caresses and innocent blandishments. So tender a scene melted my grandfather's spirit into sadness; and he could not remain master of himself, when the eldest, a mild and meek little maiden, s<aid to him, as if to excuse her father's sor- row. " A foul friar made my mother an ill-doer, and took her away ae night when she was just done wi' hearkening our prayers." At this juncture, a blooming and mod'.'St-eyed damsel came into the room ; but, seeing a stranger, she drew back and was going away, when the bailie, drying his eyes, said — " Come Ben, Elspa : this is the young man that ye hae heard me eae commend for his kind friendship to me, in that dotage dauner that I made in my distraction to St Andrews. This," he added, turning to my grandf.ither, " is Elspa liuet, the sister of that mi.sfortunate woman ; — to my helpless bairns she does their mother's duty." El.spa made a gentle beck as her brother-in-law was speaking, and turning round, dropt a tear on the neck of the youngest baby, as she leant down to take it up for a screen to hide her blushing face, that red- dened with the thought at seeing one who had so witnesBed laar siater'a shame. From tliat hour her imtar" had a dcfir place in my grandfalirtjr'sfc'jriom, and after the settlement c£ ttW^ Refor- mation throughout the mtaJhn. he courted her, and she becamu* fiiia wife, and in process of time my igrmdmo- ther. But of her manif oM itsi^itllt^nciea I shall have occasion to epitat more at large hereafter, for she ■was nu* orrlin- ary woman, but a Bainl ifluiQOig'hoat life, returning in a good ■iwini a^ to her Maker, almost as blamtfes? as she came from his pure LaiDdj; : and no- thing became her more in :iiii hat piety, than the part she acted towrurdJs her guilty sister. Having taken away tibe «ml<iren, she then brought in diT«r$ refresh- ments, and a flagon of posert ; feat she remained not with the luiiilla*- ajid mj grandfather while they pairt:j<ofc there- of ; so that they were lef;! lfim« to con- verse as they listed, aud niLy grand- father was glad to find, is I have already said, that the jiocr man had triumphed over his foi)d pii^f. and was reconciled to his mifiicojnniiies aa well as any father could irtll fee with so many deserted babies, mti tihree of them daughters. He likewise learnt, -witSii no less solace and satisfaction. Aais the Re- formed were strong in CtvsL and that the magistrates and the lidiaest bur- gesses had been preeeiil icoi the day before at the preacLiitr (of John Knox, and had afterwiunfij srrffered the people to demolish thi images and fill monuments ttf papLitry, without molestation or Eiai«ir;iJice ; so that the town was d{!imij<id of the pollution of idolatry, a3i>d nM -vrorship of humble and contritie JjitaartH estab- lished there, instead 'cxf aiW p^igan pageantry of masses ai>d alnaars. After the repast was fiaJK&^d, the bailie conducted my pafflj"tliither to the Louse Tvhere Jolia Ejuas then RINGAN GILHAIZE. ei lie communicated the Lord James lodged, to wliom his message from Stuart. " Tell your master," was the reply of the Ileformer, " that I will be with him, God willing ; and God is willing, for this invitation, and the state of men's minds, maketh His will mani- fest. Yea, I was minded myself to go thither; for that same city of St Andrews is the Zion of Scotland. Of old, the glad tidings of salvation were first heard there, — there, amidst the damps and the darkness of ages, the ancient Culdees, men whose memory is still fragrant for piety and parity of faith and life, supplied the oil of the lamp of the living God for a period of four hundred years, in- dependent of pope, prelate, or any human supremacy. There it was that a spark of their blessed embers was, in our own day, first blown into a flame, — and there, please God, where I, His unworthy instrument, was con- demned as a criminal for His truth's sake, shall I, in His strength, be the herald of His triumph sind great victory." When my grandfather had returned to the b.ailie's house after delivering his message to the Reformer, he spent an evening of douce but pleasant pastime with him and the modest Elspa Ruet, whoso conversation was far above her degree, and seasoned witli the sweet savour of holiness. But ever and anon, though all parties strove to eschew the subject, they be- gan to speak of her erring sister, the bailie compassionating her continu- ance in sin as a man and a Christian should, but showing no wish nor will to mind her any more as kith or kin to him or his ; a temper that my grandfather was well content to observe he had attained. Not so was that of Elspa ; but her words were few and well chosen, and they made a deep impression on my grandfather ; for she seemed fain to hide what was passing in her heart. Twice or thrice she spoke of the ties of nature, intimating that they were as a bond and obligation laid on by the Makei!, whereby kindred wero bound to stand by one another in weal or in woe, lest those who sinned should be utterly abandoned by all the world, The which tender and Christian sentiment, though it was melodious to my grandfather's spirit, pierced it with a keen pain ; for he thought of the manner in which he had left his own parents, even though it was for the blessed sake of religion, and his bosom was at the moment filled with sorrow. But, when he said how much he regretted and was yet unrepententof that step, Elspa cheered him Avith a consolation past utterance, by reminding him, that he had neither left them to want nor to sin ; that, by quitting the shelter of their wing, he had but obeyed the promptings of nature, and that if, at any time here- after, father or mother stood in need of his aid or exhortation, he could still do his duty. Without well considering what ho said, the bailie observed on this, that he was surprised to hear her say so, and yet allow her sister to remain so long unreproved in her offences. Elspa Ruet to this made no imme- diate reply, — she was indeed unable ; and my grandfather sympathized with her, for the sting had plainly pene- trated to the very marrow of her soul. At last, however, she said, — " Your reproach is just, I hae been to blame baith to Heaven and man — but the thing has na been unthought, only I kent na how to gang about the task ; and yet what gars me say sae'a but a woman's weakness, for the road's no sae laug to St Andrews, and surely iniquity does not there so abound, that no ane would help me to the donsie woman's bower. 62 RINGAN GILHAIZE. My grandfather, on hearing this, answered, that if she was indeed minded to try to rescue her sister, lie ■was ready and willing to do all with her and for her that she could desire ; but, bearing in mind the poor woman's Bad misconduct, he added, " I'm fear- ful it's yet owre soon to hope for her amendment : she'll hae to fin' tlic evil upshot of licr ungodly courses, 1 doubt, before she'll be wrought into a frame of sincere penitence." "Nevertheless," replied Elspa Ruet, " [ Avill try; it's my duty, and my sisterly love bids me no to bo slotii- f ul in the task." At which words she burst into sore and sorrowful weeping, saying, " Alas, alas ! that she should have so fallen ! — I loved her — oh ! naebody can tell how dearly — even as I loved myself. When I first saw my ain face in a looking-glass I thought it was her, and kissed it for the likeness, in pity that it didna look sae fair as it was wont to be- But it's the Lord's pleasure, and in permitting her to sink so low he has no doubt some great lesson to teach," Thus, from less to more, as they continued conversing, it was agreed that Elspa Iluet should ride on a pad ahint my grandfather next morning to St Andrews, in order to try if the thing could be to move her sister to the humiliation of contrition for her sinful life. And some small prepara- tion being needful, Elspa departed and left the bailie and my grandfather together. " But," said my grandfather to him, after she had been some time away, "is't your design to take the unfortunate woman back amang your innocent lassie bairns ? " "No," replied the bailie ; «« that's no a tiling to be now thought of; pli.'ase Providence, siio'll ne'er again darken my door; I'll no, however, allow her to want. Her mother, poor auld afHicted woman, that has ne'er refrain't from greeting since her flight, she'll tak her in ; but atween her and mo there' a divorce for ever." By daylight my grandfather had his horse at the door ; and Elspa having borrowed the provost's lady's pad over night, it was buckled on, and they were soon after on the road. It was a simny morning in June, and all things were bright, and blithe, and blooming. The spirits of youth, joy, and enjoyment, were spread abroad on the earth. The butterflies, like floating lillies, sailed from blos- som to blossom, and the gowans, the bright and beautiful eyes of the summer, shone with gladness, as Nature walked on bank and brae, in maiden pride, spreading and showing her new flowery mantle to the sun. The very airs that stirred the glitter- ing trees were soft and genial as the breath of life ; and tho leaves of the aspen seemed to lap the sunshine like the tongues of young and happy creatures that delight in their food. As my grandfather and Elspa Ruet rode along together, they partook of the universal benignity with which all things seemed that morning so graciously adorned, and their hearts were filled with the hope that their united endeavours to save her fallen sister would be blessed with success. But when they came in sight of the papal towers and gorgeous edifices of St Andrews, which then raised their proud heads, like Babel, so auda- ciously to the heavens, they both be- came silent. My grandfather's thoughts ran on what might ensue if the Archbishop were to subject him to his dominion, and he resolved, as early as possible, to make known his arrival to the Lord .fames Stuart, who, in virtue of being head of the priory, was then resident tliei'e, and to claim his protection. Accordingly he determined to rido with Elspa Ruet to the house of the RINOAN OILHATZE. 69 08 in vintner in the Shoegato, of which I have already spoken, iind to leave her under tlie care of Lucky Kilfauns, as the hostess was called, luitil he had done so. Ihxt fears and sorrows were busy with the fancy of his fair com- panion ; and it was to her a bitter thinj,', as she afterwards told liini, to think that the purpose of her errand was to entreat a beloved sister to leave a life of shame and sin, and sadly doubting if she would succeed. Being thus occupied with their re- spective cogitations, they entered the city in silence, and reached the vintner's door without having ex- changed a word for several miles. There Elspa aligiited, and being com- mended to the care of Lucky Kilfauns, wiio, though of a free outsi)oken nature, was a most creditable matron, my grandfather left her, and rode up the gait to the priory yett, where, on his arrival, he made himself known to the porter, and was admitted to the Lord Prior, as the Lord James was there papistically called. Having told his Lordship that he liad delivered his message to John Knox, and tiiat the Reformer would not fail to attend the call, ho then related partly what had happened to himself in his former sojourn at St Andrews, and how and for what end Le had brought Elspa Ruct there that day with him, entreating the Lord James to give him his livery and pro- tection, for fear of the Archbishop ; which witli many pleasing comments on his devout and prudent demeanour, that noble worthy most readily vouch- safed, and my grandfather returned to the vintner's. . '*if CHAPTER VIIL When my grandfather had returned to the vintner's, he found that Elspa had conferred with Lucky Kilfauns concerning the atllicting end and in- tent of her journey to St Andrews ; and that decent woman sympatlii.sing with her sorrow, telling her of many woful things of the name sort she had herself known, and how a cousin of her mother's, by the father's side, had been wiled. a way from her home by the abbot of Melrose, and never heard tell of for many a day, till she was discovered, in the condition of a dis- consolate nun, in a convent, far away in Nithsdale. lint the great didiculty was to get access to Marion Piuet's bower, for so, from that day, was Mrs Kilspinnie called again by her sister ; and, after no little communing, it was proposed by Lucky Kilfauns, that Elspa should go with her to the house of a certain widow Dingwall, and there for a time take up her abode, and that my grandfather, after putting on the Prior's livery, should look about liim for the gilly, his former guide, and. through him, make a tryst, to meet the unhappy woman, at the widow's house. Accordingly the mat- ter was so settled, and while Lucky Kilfauns, in a most motherly and piti- ful manner, carried Elspa Kuet to the house of the Widow Dingwall, my grandfather went back to the priory to get the cloak and arms of the Lord James' livery. When he was equipped, he then went fearless all about the town, and met with no molestation ; only he saw at times divers of the Archbisliop's men, who recollected him, and who, as ho passed, stopped and looked after hin\ and whispered to one another and u- jttered fierce words. Much he de- sired to fall in with that humane Sama- ritan, Leonard jMeldnim, the seneschal of the castle and fain would he have gone thither to inquire for him ; but, until he had served the turn of the mournful Elspa Ruet, ho would not allow any wish of his own to lead him to aught wherein there was the hazard 64 MNGAN GILHAIZE. of any trouble that might balk her pious i)ur|iose. After daunernifj from place to place, and seeing notliing of tlie stripling, ho was obligated to give twaljjcnnies to a stablcr's lad to search for him, who soon broiiglit liim to tlie vintner's, where my grandfather, j ntting on the look of a losel and rois'.er, gave him a groat, and bade him go to the madam's dwelling, and tell her that ho would be at the Widow Dingwall's in tlie evening, where he would rejoice exceedingly if she could come and meet him. The stripling so fee'd, was right glad, and made himself so familiar towards my grandfatlier, that Lucky Kilfauns observing it, the better to con- ceal their plot, feigned to be most ob- streperous, flyting at him with all her pith an bir, and chiding my grandfather, as being as scant of grace as a gaber- lunzie, or a novice of the Dominicans. However, they worked so well together, that the gilly never misdoubted either her or my grandfather, and took the errand to his mistress, from whom he soon came with a light foot and a glaikit eye, saying she would na fail to keep the ti'yst. On receiving the assurance, Lucky Kilfauns herself undertook to tell Elspa wliat had been covenanted to prepare her for the meeting. My grandfather would fain have had a milder mediatrix, for the vintner's worthy wife was wroth against the er- ring one, while her sister grieved for her unregenerate condition far more than if she had come from Crail to St Andrews only to Lay her head in the coffin. The paction between all parties being thus covenanted, and Lucky Kilfauns gone to prepare the fortitude of Elspa Iluet for the trial it was to undergo, my grandfather walked out alone to pass the time till the trysted hour. It was then late in the after- noon, and as he sauntered along he could not but observe that something was busy with the min<l8 and imagina- tions of the people. Knots of the douce and elderly 8hopk(!epers were seen standing in the streets with their heads laid together ; and as he walked towards tlie i)riory he met tlie provost between two of the bailies, witli t'lo dean of guild coming sedately, and with very great solenmity in their countenances, down the crown of the causey, heavily laden with magisterial fears. He stopped to look i\t them, and he remarked that they said very little to one another, but what they did say seemed to be words of weight ; and when any of their friends and acquain- tances happened to pass, they g.-n o them a nod that betokened muci' 5»nd. ness of heart. The cause of all tliis anxiety was not, in its effects and influence, meted only to tiie men and magistrates : tiio women partook of tlieni even to a greater degree. They were seen pass- ing from house to house, out at one door and into the next, and their faces were full of strange matters. One in particular, whom my grandfather no- ticed coming along, was often addressed with brief questions, and her responses were seemingly as awful as an oracle's. She was an aged tarlin, who, in her day had been a nurse, but having in course of time waxed old, and being then somewhat slackened in the joints of the ric,at side by a paralytic, she eked out the weakly remainder of her thread of life in visitations among the families that, in her abler years, she had tended in times of sickness. As she came toddling along, with pitty-patty steps, in a rose satin man- tle that she got as a gift, drawn close over her head, and leaning on a staff with her right hand, while in her left she carried a Flanders pig of strong ale, with a clout o'er the mouth to keep it from jawping, scarcely a door or entry mouth was she allowed to RING AN GTLHATZE. 08 sho pass, but hIic -was ohli^^utcd to stoi) and spoak, .iiiil wliat slio said appeared to bo tidiiips of no comfort. All these tiiinf,'s bred wonder nnd curiosity in the breast of my {,'rand- father, who, not beinj,' aotjiiaint with nnybody that ho saw, did not like for 8ome time to inipiire ; but at last his ditlidence andmodesty were overcome, by the appearance of a strong party of the Archbishop's armed retainers, fol- lowed by a mob of bairns aiidstriplinffs, yelliufr, and scollinfjat them with bit- ter taunts and many titles of derision ; and on inquiring; at a laddie what had caused the consternation in the town, and the passage of so many soldiers from the castle, he was told that they expected John Knox the day follow- ing, and that he Avas mindet to preach, but the Archbishop has resolved not to let him. It Wiia even so ; for the Lord tJames Stuart, who possessed a deeji and forecasting spirit, had, soon after my grandfather's arrival Avith the lie- former's answer, made the news known to try the tem])er of the inhabitants and burghers. JJut, saving this mar- velling and jircparation, nothing far- ther of a public nature took place that niglit ; so that a sliort time before the liour appointed, my grandfather went to the house of \Vidow Dingwall, where he found Klspa Jtuet sitting very disconsolate in a chamber by her- self, weei-ing bitterly and fearing greatly that all her kind endeavours jmd hund)l(! prayers would be but as water spilt on the ground. As tlie time of apijointmont drew near, Elspa Jluet was enabled to call in her wandering and anxious thoughts, and, strengthened by her duty, the blessing of the tranquil mind was shed upon her. Her tears were dried up, and her countenance shone with a serene benignity. When she was an aged withered woman, my grandfather lias been heard to say that he never remembered her appearance without marvelling at tlie spi.'cial t fl'tision of holiness and beauty which l)eameJ and brightened upon her in that try- ing hour, nor without thinking tliat ho still beheld the glory of its twilight glowing through the dark and faded clouds of her old age. They had not sat long when a tap- ping was heard at tlie widow's door, and my grandfather, starting up, re- tired into a distant corner of the room, behind a big napery press, and sat down in the obscurity of its shadow. Klspa remained in her seat beside tlio table, on which a candle was burning, and, as it stood behind the door, sho could not be seen by any coming in, till they had passed into the middle of the floor. In little more than the course of a minute, tlio voice of her sister was heard, and light footsteps on the timber stair. The door was then opened, and Marion entered. I'^lspa started from her seat. Ilie guilty and convicted creature uttered a shriek ; but in the same moment her pious sister clasped her with loviuL'-kind- ness in her arms, and bursting into tears, wept bitterly, with sore sobs, for some time on her bosom. After a short space of time, with confusion of face, iMarion disengaged herself from her sister's fond and sor- rowful embraces, and, retreating to a chair, sat down. After a long, faithful, and un- daunted effort on the part of J'Jspa to reach the sore of her sinful conscience, she saw that all her cttling was of no avail, and her heart .sank, and s!io began to weep, saying — " O, Clarion, Marion, ye w re my dear si.ster ance ; but frao this night, if ye leave me to gang again to your sins, I hope the Lord will erase the love I bear you utterly out of my heart, and leave me but the remembrance of what ye were when we were twa wee playicg lassies, clapping our young hands, and sing- m RINGAN GILHAIZE. iag for joy in the bonny spring morn- ings that will never, never come again." The guilty INIarion was touched with her sorrow, and for a moment seemed +o relent and melt, replying in softened accent — " But tell me, lippie, for ye hao na telt me yet, how did ye Icav-^e my • weans? " '• '\\'ould you like to see them ? " said Elspa, eagerly. " I would na like to gang to Crail," replied her sister, thoughtfully ; " but if " and she hesitated. "Surely, Marion," exclaimed Elspa, with indignation, " ye're no sae lost to all shame as to wish your innocent dochters to see you in the midst of your iniquities ? " Marion reddened, and sat abashed and rebuked for a sliort time in silence, and then reverting to her children, she said, somewhat humbly — " But tell me how they are — poor things ! " " They are as weel as can be hoped for," replied Elspa, moved liy her altered manner ; " but they'll lang miss tiie loss of their mother's care. (), jNIarion, how could yc quit them ! Tlio beasts that perish are kinder to tlicir young, for they nourish and jirotect them till they can do for them- selves ; but your wee I\Iay can neither yet gang Jior speak. She's your very picMire, Marion." Tiie wretched mother was unable to resist the energy of her sister's ap- peal, and, bursting into tears, we[it bitterly for some time. li^lspa, compassionating her contri- tion, rose, and, taking her kindly by tlio band, said — " Come, iSlnrion, we'll gang hamc — let us leave this gnihy city— let us tarry no longer williiii its walls — tlie cnrso of Ile;iven is darkening over it, and the storm of the hatred of its corruption is begin- ning to ligiiten : — let ua fleo from the wrath that is to come.'' "ill no gang back to Crail — I dare na gang there — every one would hand out their fingers at me — I canna gang to Crail — Eppie, dinua bid me — I'll mak away wi' mysel' before I'll gang to Crail." '•Dinna say that," replied her sister. " O, Marion, if ye felt within the humiliation of a true penitent, ye would na speak that way, but would cmiie and hide your face in your poor mother's bosom ; often, often, Marion, did she warn you no to be ta'en up wi' the pride an' bravery of a tine outside." "Ye may gang hame yoursel'," exclaimed the impenitent woman, starting from her seat ; " I'll no gang wi' you to be looket down on by every one. And what would I hae to live on wi' my mother? She's pinched enough for her ain support." " Sliame upon you, shame!" re- plied Elspa, fervently. " But the sweet Heavens, in their gracious hour of mercy, will remember the hope that led me here, and some day Avork out a blessed change. The prayers of an afHicted parent, and the cries of your desolate babies, will assun-dly bring down upon you the purifying iires of self-condemnation. Though a wicked pride at this time withholds you from submitting to the humilia- tion which is the just penalty of your offences, still the day is not far off when you Avill come begging for a morsel of bread to those that weep for your fall, and implore you to eschew tlie evil of your way." 'J'o tliese words, which were sjioken as with the vehemence of proi)hecy, till! miserable Avoman made no answer, Initpluckeil her hand shnrpjy from her sister's earnest pressure, and quitted the room with :i flash of anger. My grandfather tlien conveyed the mourn- ful Elspa back to the house of Lucky Kilfauns, and returned to the priory. The next day, Elspa Iluet, under RINGAN GILHAIZE. 67 the escorting of my grandfather, was nunded to have gone home to Crail, but the news that John Ivjiox was to preach on tlie morrow at St Andrews had Bpread far and wide. Ko niiin could tfU l)y what wonderful revtrberation the tidiiifjs had aw.-ikened the whole land. From all quarters droves of the licformed and the pious c.ime pressing to the gates of the city, like bheep to the fold and doves to the windows. The Archbishop and the priests and friars were smitten with dread and consternation ; the doom of their fortunes was evident in the dis- traction of their minds ; but the Karl of Argyle and the Lord James Stuart, at the priory, remained calm and col- lected. Foreseeing that the step they had taken would soon be visited by the wrath of the (^ueen Regent, they re- solved to , '•epare for the "-orft, and my grjmdfatl'or was ordercvl to hold himself in readiness for a journey. 'J lius was he prevented fiom going to ('rail. with Elspa Kiiet, who, with a heavy heart, went back in the evening with the man and horses that broiiglit the lleformerto the town. For .John Knox, though under tiie ban of out- lawry, was so encouraged with in- ward assurances from on High, tiiat he came openl" to the gate, and passed 111) t''*-' CTOwn . ' the causey on to the priory, in the presei cc of the Arch- bishop's guards, of all Mie people, and of the astonislied and die uayed priest- hood. As soon as the Anticnrist heard of his arrival, he gave order.'* for all his armed retainers, to the number of more than a hi.ndred men at arms, to assemble in the cloisters of tlie monas- tery of the Hlai kfriars ; for he was a man of a soldi* liy synrit. and tlumgh a loose and immoral cliurclnnan, would have made a valiant warrior; and going thither himself, he thence sent word to the Lord James Stmvrt at the priory, that if John Knox dared to preach in the cathedral, as Avaa threatened, be would order his guard to lire on him in die pulpit. My grandfather, wirh others oi the retinue of the two noblemen, had ac- companieil the Archbishop's messen- ger into the Pr:or'.s chamber, where they were eitting with John Kncx when this b'-ld challenge to the cliani- pion of Chrii>;'r cau.«e was delivered ; and it was plain that both Arj^yle and tha Ijord Jauies were daunted by it, for they well knew the fearlessness an<i the fierceness of their consecrated adversary. After the messenger had retired, and the Lord James, in a particular manner, had tacitly signified to my grandfather to remain in the room, and had taken a slip of paper, he be- gan to write thereon, while Argyle said to the Kt-fonner — " Master Kno.x, this is what we could na but c-xpect ; and though it may seem like a misdooting of our cause now to des^Lst, I'm in a swither if ye shoald tnak the attempt to preach."' The Reformer made no answer ; and the Lord James, laying down his pen, also s;iid — "My thoughts run wi' Argyle'*. considering the weaknes.s of our train and the Archbishop's preparations, with hi.s own regardless character. — I do think we should for a while rest in our intent. The Queen Kigeut has come to Falkland wi' her French force, and we are in no condi- tion to opf*o«e their entrance into the town ; beside*, your appearance in the pulpit may lead tothe.«<icrificeof youf own most preciotw life, and the lives of many others who will no doubt stand forth in your defence. Whether, thtrefure. you ought, in such a pre- dicament, totliiik of preaching, ia a thing to be well con-^tidered.' " In the strength of the Lord,'' exclaimed Johii Knox, with the voice 6d RINGAN GILHAIZE. of an apostlo, " T will preach. God is »ny witness that I novel' prcaclied in contempt of any man, nor would I •willingly injure^ any creature ; but I cannot delay my call to-morrow if I tarn not hindered by violence. As for the fear of danger that may come to ]ne, let no man be solicitous ; for my life is in the custody of lIiM whose glory I seek, and threats will not de- ter me from my duty Avhen Heaven so ofTereth the occasion. 1 desire neither the hand nor the weapon of man to defend me ; I only crave audience, Avliich, if it be denied to me hero at this time, I nmst seek where I may have it.'' The manner and confidence with which this Avas spoken silenced and rebuked the two temporal noblemen, and they offered no more remon- strance, but submitted as servants, to pave the way for this intent of his courageous piety. Accordingly, after remaining a short time, as if in expec- tation to hear what tiie Earl of Argyle might further liave to say, the Lord James Stuart took up his pen again, and when he had comitletod his writ- ing, he gave the jiaper to my grand- fatlier, — (it was a list of .some ten or twelve names,) — saying, "Make haste, Gilhaize, and let these, our friends in Angus, know the state of peril in Avhich we stand. Tell them what lias chanced ; how the gauntlet is thrown ; and that our champion has taken it up, and is prepared for the onset." ]\Ly grandfather forthwith departed on ids errand, and spared not the spur till he had delivered his message to every one wlioso nam(;s were writ- ten in the paper ; and their sculs were kiuillod and the spirit of the Lord quickened in their hearts. The roads sparkled with the feet of summoning horsemen, and tlie towns rung with the sound of warlike preparations. Ou the third day, towards the afternoon, my grandfather embarked at Dundee on his return, and was landed at the Fife waterside. There were many in the boat with him ; and it was remarked by some among them that for several days no one had Ijoeu observed to smile, and that all men seemed in the expectation of some great jvent. The weather being loun and very sultry, he travelled slowly witli those who were bound for .St Andrews, con- versing with them on the troubles of the time, and the clouds that were gathering and darkening over ]ioor Scotland ; but every one spoke from the faith of his own bosom, that the terrors of the storm would not be of long duration, — so confident were those unlettered men of the goodness of C.'iu'ist's cause in that epoch of tribulation. AVhile they were thus communing together, they came in sight of tho city, with its coronal of golden spires, and J5abylonian pride of idolatrous towers, and they halted for a moment to contemplate the gorgeous insolence with which Antichrist had there built up and invested tlie blood-stained throne of his blasphemous usur])ation. '•The walls of Jericho," said one of the travellers, " fell at tho sound l)ut of rams' horns, and shall yon l?abel withstand tho preaching of John Knox V " Scarcely had he said these words, when the glory of its magnifleeneo was wrapt witli a shroud of dust ; a dreadful peal of thunder came rolling soon after, thougii not a spark of vapour was seen in all the ether of the blue fky ; and the rumble of a dreadful destruction was then heard. My grandfather clapped s^iurs to his horse, and galloped on towards tho town. 'J'he clouds rose thicker, and filled the wliole air. Shouts and cries, as he drew near, were mingled with the crivsh of falling cdiliccs. Tlio RTNGAN GILIIAIZE. 09 earth trcmblod, and his horse stood still, roi^ardless of the rowels, as if it had seen the angel of the Lord stand- ing in his way. On all sides monks and nuns came flying from tlie town, Avringing their hands as if the horrors of tlie last judgment had surprised them in tlieir sins. The guards of the Archbishop were scattered among them like eliaflf in the swirl of the ■wind ; tlien his Grace came himself on Sir David Hamilton's fleet mare, with Sir David and divers of liis household fast following. 'J lie wrath of Heaven was behind them, and they rattled past my grandfainer like the distem- peicil phantoms that hurry through the dreams of dying men. jMy {grandfather's horse at last obeyed tlic spur, and he rode on and into tlie city, the gates of which Avcre deserted. Tliere he beheld on all sides that the Lord had indeed put the besom of destruction into the hands of the lleformers, and that not one of all the buildings which had been polluted by the j)apistry, — no, not one iiad escaped the erasing fierce- ness of its ruinous s\vee]>. 'J lie pre- sence of tlie magistrates lent the grace of authority to the zeal of the people, and all things were done in order. The idols were torn down from the altars, and deliberately broken by the children with lianuners into pieces. There was no speaking, — all was done in silence ; the noi.se of the falling churciies, the rending of the shrines, nnd the breaking of the images were the only sounds heard. lUit for all that, the zeal of not a few was, even in tlie midst of their dread solenniity, alloyed with covetousness. ISIy grand- father himself saw one of the Town Council slip the bald head, in silver, of one of tho twelve apostles into his pouch. CHAPTER IX. Thk triumph of the truth at St Andrews was followed by the vic- torious establishment, from that day thenceforward, of the Keformation in Scotland. The precautions taken by the deep forecasting mind of the Lord James Stuart, through the instru- mentality of my grandfather and others, were of inexpressible benefit to the righteous cause. It was fore- seen that the Queen llegent, who had come to Falkland, would be prompt to avenge tho discomfiture of her sect, the papists ; but the zealous friends of tho Gospel, seconding the resolu- tion of the Lords of the Congrega- tion, enabled them to set all her power at defiance. With an attendance of few more than a hundred horse, and about as many foot, the Earl of Argylc and the Lord James set out from St Andrews to frustrate, as far as the means they had concerted might, the wrathful measures which they well knew her Highness would take. But this small force was by the next morning in- creased to full three thousand fighting men ; and so ardently did the spirit of enmity and resistance against the papacy spread, that tho Queen lle- gent, when she came with her French troops and her Scottish levies, under the command of the Duke of Chatel- herault, to Cupar, found that she durst not encounter in battle the grow- ing strength of the Congregation, so she consented to a truce, and, as usual in her dissimulating policy, promised many things which she never intended to perform. l>ut the Protestants, by this time knowing that the papists never meant to kee[) their pactions with them, discovering the policy of her Highness, silently moved onward. They proceeded to P(.'rtii, and having expelled the garrison, took the town, and fired tho abbey of Scene. But as 70 RINGAN GILHATZE, my grandfather was not with them in those raitb, beinjif sent on tlie night of the great demolition at St Andrews to apprise the Earl of Gloncfvirn, iiis patron, of the extremities to which mattirs liad come there, it belongs not to tlie scope of my story to tell ■what ensued, fartlier tlian that from Perth the Congregation proceeded to Stirling, where they demolished the monasteries ; tlien they went to Lith- gow, and herret the nests of the locusts there; find proceeding bravely on, purging the realm as they went for- Avard, they arrived at Edinburgh, and constnined the Queen Regent, who was before them with her forces there, to pack up her ends and her awls, and make what speed she could with tliem to Dunbar. But foul as the capital then was, and covered with tlie leprosy of idolatry, they were not long in possession till they so medicated her with tlie searching medicaments of tiie Iveformation, tliat she was soon scrapit of idl tiie scurf and kell of her abomi- nations. 'L'herc was not an idol or an imnoe within her bounds that, in less than three days, was not beheaded like a traitor and trundled to the dogs, even with vehemence, as a thing that could be sensible of contempt. IJut as all these things are set forth at large in the chronicles of the kingdom, 1ft it suflico to say, that my grandfather continued for nearly two years after tliis time a trusted emissary among the Lords of the Congregation, in thiir many arduous labours and peril- ous correspondencies, till the Earl of Glencairn was appointed to see idola- try banished and extirpated from the West Country, — in which expedition, his Lordsliip, being minded to reward my grandfather's services in the cause of tlie Reformation, invited him to bo of his force, to which my grandfather, not jealousing the secularities of his patron's intents, joyfidly agreed, hoping to Bee tho corner-stone placed on tho great edifice of the Reforma- tion, Avhich all good and pious men began then to think near completion. Having joined the Earl's force at Glasgow, my grandfather went for- ward with it to Taisley. Before reaching that town, however, they wore met by a numerous multitude of the people, half way between it cand tho castle of Cruikstone, and at their head my grandfather was blitlicned to see his old friend, the gentle monk Dominick Callender, in a soldier's garb, and with a ruddy and embold- ened countenance, and by his side, with a sword manfully girded on hia thigh, the worthy l?ailie Pollock, whose nocturnal revels at the abbey had brought such dule to tho win- some Maggy Napier. For some reason, wliich my grand- father never well understood, there was more lenity shown to the abbey here than usual ; but the monks were rooted out — tho images given over to destruction— and tho old bones and miraculous crucifixes were either burnt or interred. Less damage, however, was done to tho buildings tlian many expected, partly through the exhortation of tlio magistrates, wlio were desirous to preserve so noble a building for a Protestant church, but chiully out of some pac- tion or covenant secretly entered into anent tho distribution of the domains and property, wherein tho liouse of Hamilton was concerned, the Duke of Chatelheraidt, the head tliereof, notwithstanding the papist- ical nature of his blood and kin, having pomo time before gone over to the cause of tho Congregation. The work of tho Reformation being thus abridged at Paisley, tho Karl of Glencairn went forward to Kilwinning, where he was less .scrup* ulous ; for liaving himself obtained a grant of the lands of tiio abbacy, ho was fain to make a clean hand o't, RINGAN GILHAIZE. 71 though at tlie tinio my grandfather kuew not of this. As soon as the army reached tlio town, the soldiers went straight on to the abbey, and entering tiie great church, even while the monks were chanting their paternosters, they be- gan to show the errand they had come on. Dreadful was the yell that ensued, when my grandfather, going up to the priest at the higli altar, and pulling him by the scarlet and fine linen of his pageantry, bade him decamp, and flung the toys and trumpery of the mass after him as he fled away in fear. Tiiig resolute act was the signal for the general demolition, and it began on all sides ; my grandfather giving a leap, caught hold of a fine effigy of the Virgin Mary by the leg to jiull it down ; but it proved to be the one which James Coom the smith had mended, for the leg came off, and my grandfatiier fell backwards, and was for a moment stunned by his fall. A band of the monks, Avho were standing trembling spectators, made an attempt, at seeing this, to raise a shout of a miracle ; but my grand- father, in the same moment recover- ing himself, siezed the Virgin's timber It's, «id flung it with violence at them, and it happened to strike one of the fattest of the flock with such a bir that it was saiil the life was driven out of him. This, however, was not the case ; for, although the monk was sorely hurt, he lived many a day after, and was obligated, in his aulil years, whi'u he was feckless, to be carried from door to door on a hand- barrow, begging his bread. The wives, I have heard tell, were kindly to him, for lie was a jocose carl ; but the weans little respected his grey Iiairs, and used to jeer him as auld Father Paternoster, for even to the last he adhered to his beads. It was thought, however, by a certain pious Protestant gentlewoman of Irvine, that before his death he got a cast of grace ; for one day, when he had been carried over to beg in that town, she gave him a luggie of kail owre het, which he stirred with the end of tho ebony crucifix at his girdle, thereby showing, as she said, a symptom that it held a lower place in his spiritual affections than if he had been as sin- cere in his errors as he let wot. Although my grandfather had sus- tained a severe bruise by his fall, ho was still enabled, after he got on iiis leg.s, to superintend the demolishment of the abbey till it was complete. But in the evening, when he took up his quarters in the house of Theophilus Lugton with Donuniek Callender, who had brought on a party of tiie Paisley lieformers, he was so stiff and sore that he thought he would be incom- petent to go over next day with tho force that the Earl missioned to herry the Carmelyto convent at Irvine. Dominick Callender had, however, among other things, learnt, in the abbey of Paisley, the salutary virtues of many herbs, and how to decoct from them their healing juices ; and he instructed Dame Lugton to prepare an efficacious medicament, that not only mitigated the anguish of the pain, but so suppled tho stiffness that my grandfather was up by break of day, and ready for tho march, a renewed man. In spenking of this, he has been heard to say, it was a thing much to be lamented, that when the regular abolition of the monasteries was de- creed, no care was taken to collect the curious knowledges and ancient tradi- tionary skill preserved tiierein, espe- cially in what pertained to the cure of maladies ; for it was his opinion — and many were of the same mind — that among the friars were numbers of potent physicians, and an art in the preparation of salves and syrups, that s 72 RING AN GILHATZE. has not been surpassed by the Icax-ninp: of the coHetros. But it is not niout that I should detain the courteous reader with sucli irrelcvaucies ; the change, however, which has taken phice in the reahn in all things per- taining to life, laws, manners, and conduct, since the extirpation of the lloiiian idolatry, is, from the per- feotest report, so wonderful, that the inluibitants can scarcely be said to be the same race of people ; f.nd, there- fore, I have tliought that such occa- sional ancestral intimations flight, though they proved neither edifying nor instructive, be yet deemed worthy of notation in tlie brief spaces which thoy hap[)en herein to occupy. Hut now. returning from this digression, I will take up again the tliread and clue of mv storj'. Tiie Eirl of Gloncairn, after the abbey of Kilwinning was sacked, went and slept at Eglinton Castle, then a stalwart square tower, environed with ,1 wall an(l moat, of a rude and un- known antiquity, standing on a gentle rising ground in the midst of a bleak and moorland domain. And his Lordship having ordered my grand- fatlicr to come to him betimes in the jnorning with twenty chosen men, the discreetest of the force, for a special service in wliich he meant to employ him, he went thither accordingly, taking with him Dominick Callencler, and twelve godly lads from Paisley, with seven others, whom he had re- marked in the marcli from Glasgow, as under tlie manifest guidance of a sedate and pious temper. "NVhen my grandfather with his company arrived at the castle yett, and he was admitted to the Earl his patron, his Lordship said to him, more as a friend than a master — " I am in the hope, Gilhaize, tliat, after this day, the toilsome and peril- ous errands on which, to the weal of Scotland and the true church, you Lave been so meritoriously missioned ever since you were retained in my service, will soon be brought to an cud, and that you will enjoy in peace the re- ward you have earned so well, that I .am better pleased in bestowing it than you can be in the receiving, liut there is yet one task which I must put upon you. Hard by to this castle, less than a mile eastward, stands a small convent of nuns, who have been for time out of mind under the protection of the Lord Eglinton's family, and he, having got a grant of tlie lands be- longing to their house, is desirous that they should bo ilitted in an ami- able manner to a certain street in Irvine, called the Kirkgatc, where a lodging is provided for tiiem. To do this kindly I have bethought myself of you, for I know iiot in all my force any one so well ciualified. Have you l)rovidod yourself with the twenty douce men that I ordered you to bring hither? " ]My grandfather told Ids Lordship that he liad done as he was ordered. '* Tlien," resumed the Earl, " tako them with you, and this mandate to the superior, and one of Eglinton's men to show you the way ; and when you have conveyed them to their lodging, come again to me." So my grandfather did as lie was directed by tlie Earl, and marched eastward with his men till he came to the convent, whicli was a humble and o)-derly house, witii a small chapel and a tower, that in after times, when all the other buildings Avere erased, was called the Stane Castle, and is known by that name even unto this day. It stood within a high wall, and a little gate, with a stone cross over the sanu\ led to the porch. Compassionating the simple and silly sisterhood within, who, by their secj^uestration from the world, were l)i;come as innocent as birds in a cage, my grivudfathor halted his men at RINGAN GILHAIZE. 73 ver ice, some distance from the yett, and goinj,' forward, rung the bell ; to the sound of wliich an aged woman an- swered, who, on being told he had brought a letter to the superior, gave him admittance, and conducted him to a little cliambcr, on the one side of Avhichwasagrating, where the superior, a short corpulent matron, thai seemed to bowl rather tlian to walk as she moved along, soon made her appear- ance within. He told her in a meek manner, and with some gentle prefacing, the purpose of his visit, and showed her tlie Earl's mandate ; to all which, for some time, she made no reply, but she was evidently much moved ; at last she gave a wild skrcigh, which brought the rest of the nuns, to the number of thirteen, all rushing into the room. Then ensued a dreadful tempest of feminine passions and griefs, intermingled with many sup- ])lications to many a saint ; but the jjowers and prerogatives of their saints Were abolished in Scotland, and they received no aid. Tliough their lamentation, as my grandfather used to .siiy, could not be recited without moving to mirth, it was ye< io full of maidenly fears and Bim])licity at the time to him, that it fioemed most tender, and he was dis- turbed at the thought of driving such fair and helpless creatures into the bad world ; but it was his duty ; — so, after sootliing tiicni as well as he coidd, and representing how unavail- ing tlieir refusal to go Avould be, the superior composed her grief, and ex- horting the nuns to be resigned to their cruel fate, which, she said, was not so grievous as tliat which many of the saints had in their day suffered, they all became calm and prepared for the removal. ISIy grandfather told them to take wilh them whatsoever they best liked iu the house ; and it waa a moving sight to see their simplicity therein. One was content with a fiower-pot ; another took a cage in which she had a lintie ; some of them half -finished patterns of embroidery. One aged sister, of a tall and spare form, brought away a flask of eye -water which she had herself distilled ; but, saving the superior, none of them thought of any of the valuables of the chapel, till my grandfather reminded tliem. that they might find the value of silver and gold hereafter, even in the spiritual-minded town of Irvine. There was one young and graceful maiden among them who seemed but little moved by the event ; and my grandfather was melted to sympathy and sorrow by the solemn serenity of her deportment, and the little heed she took of anything. Of all the nuns she was the only one who aj)peared to have nothing to care for ; and when they were ready, and came forth to the gate, instead of joining in their piteous wailings as they bade their 2)eaceful home a long and last fare- well, she walked forward alone. No sooner, however, had she passed the yett, than, on seeing the armed com- pany without, she stood still like a statue, and uttering a shrill cry, fainted away, and fell to the ground. Every one ran to her assistance ; but when her face was unveiled to give her air, Dominick Callendcr, who was standing by, caught her in his arms, and was enchanted by a fond and strange enthusiasm. She was indeed no other than the young maiden of Paisley, for whom he had found his monastic vows the heavy fetters of a bondage that made life scarcely worth possessing ; and when nIic was recovered, an interciiange of great tenderness took place between them, at wliich the superior of the convent waxed very wroth, and the other nuns were exceedingly scanda- lized. Uut Magdalene Sauchie, for 74 RINGAN GILHAIZE. so slic Viua called, heeded them not ; for, on learning that popery was put down in the land by law, slie openly declared, that she renounced Iut TOWS ; and during tlie walk to Irvine, which wa3 jimp a mile, she leant upon the arm of her lover : aJid they were soon after married, Dorainick set- tling in that town as a doctor of physic, whereby he afterwards earned both gold and reputation. liut to conclude the history of the convent, which my grandfather had in this gentle manner herret, the nuns, on reaching the foot of the Kirkgate, where the Countess of Eglintou had provided a house for them, began to weep anew with great vehemence, fearing that their holy life was at an end, and tiiat they would be tempted of men to enter into the temporalities of the married state; but the superior, on iiearing tliis mournful apprehen- sion, mounted upon the steps of the tolbooth stair, and. in the midst of a great concourse of people, she lifted her hands on high, and exclaimed, iis with the voice of a prophetess, " Fear not, my chaste and pious dochters ; for your sake and for my sake, I have an assurance at this moment from the Virgin Mary herself, that the calamity of the marriage-yoke will never be known in the Kirkgate of Irvine, but that all maidens who hereafter may enter, or be born to dwell therein, shall live a life of single blessedness.'' Which delightful prediction the nuns were so happy to hear, that they dried their tears, and chanted their Ave !Miiria, joyfully proceeding towards Iheir appointed habitation. It stood, as I have been told, on the same spot where King James the Sixth's school was afterwards erected, and endowed out of the spoils of the Cnrmelytes' nionastery, which, on the same day, was. by another division of the Earl of Glencairn's power, sacked and burnt to the ground. When my grandfjitbor ikhL ui the manner rehearsed, dipj>;»«i(fi 'of nhose sisters of simplicity in tbf Kii-kir^ite of Irvine, he returned tiack iu the afternoon to the Earl of Cirl«L'!!iirn at Eglinton Castle to rejtortwiiill hti had done; and his L >rd-hip itrnim. in a most laudatory manueT, <ioaini<ea'ieil his prudence and Biii<ruhu ru D iness of nature, mentioning io tbf Eirl and Countess of Eglinton, iib«!D pn-i'ient with him, divers of Ibf miHhi«in9 wherein he had been eajjoo-ji'ii, ex- tolling his zeal, and alKix*- .ill hia piety. And the Lady Eiriiutioii. who was a household charactar. smriiig, with great frugality, to awr^'rn'; the substance of her Lord, lir t«'*t inir her maidens from morning ^ o iiU'- i ■^j> U^nt at work, some at their- ^.-;.irnnj drums, and some at th-:.' v.;-ir,iff3, managing all within tht ciafJiie that pertained to her feuiinlDt' 3 jut; in a way most exemplary to *L* ttuiwa of her time and degree, indwid «i> Lulieg of all times and degrees. j>rca!ii*tiil my grandfather that when he -wat aiunried, she woulii give his wife fi{'ii>*niiiji<f to help the plenishing of their Vj'^iae. for the meek mannt r in wldciii ht h.id comported himself toward btir friend, the superior of the nuns. Tliifta the Earl of Glencairn said. — " Gilhaize, madam, is nc'w Ma <;wti master, and may choose a ixriifi* when it pleases himself ; for I hum cove- nanted with my friend, joixr Lfini, to let him have the mailing c4 (QiKi.irist, in excambio for certain c>f ilW tin- la of late pertaining to the iJbftiwy of Kilwinning, the which lie ii>c»w winhin the vicinage of this tatait-: xad^ (Jilhaizo, here is my wamoait tti* Bake possession." With these words ttic TLirt rnae and presented him witli a ',i.!^rT.ec for the lands, signed by Eg-laiirtni and himself, and he phook hicu l)*iMt2y by the hand, saying, that few m aill' the kingdom had better earned tSji ztier- niNaAN GILHAIZE. 78 don of their service than he had done. Thus it was that our family came to be settled in the shire of Ayr ; for after my grandfather had taken pos- session of his fee, and mindful of the vow he had made in the street of Edinburgh on that blessed morning when John Knox, the champion of the true church, arrived from Geneva, he went into the east country to espouse Eispa lluet, if he found lier thereunto inclined, which happily he soon did. For their spirits were in unison ; and from the time they first met, they had felt toward one another as if they had been acquaint in loving- kindness before, which made him sometimea say, that it was to him a proof and testimony that the souls of mankind have, perhaps, a living knowledge of each other before they are born into this world. At their marriage, it was agreed that they should take with them into the west Agnes Kilspinnie, one of the niisfortunate bailie's daughters. As for her mother, from tiie day of the overthrow and destruction of the papistry at St Andrews, she had nevcx been heard of; all the tidings her sister could gather concerning her were, that the same night she had been conveyed away by some of the Archbishop's servants, but whither no one could tell. So they came with Agnes Kilspinnie to Edinburgh ; and, for a ploy to their sober wedding, they resolved to abide there till tiie coming of Queen ]Mary from France, that they might partiike of the shows and pastimes then preparing for her reception. They, however, during the seas on of tlieir sojourn, feasted far better lhan on royal fare, in the gos- pel banquet of John Knox's sermons, of which they enjoyed the inexpres- sible beatitude three several Sabbath- days before the Queen arrived. Of the joyous preparations to greet Queen Mary withal, neither my grand- father nor grandmother were ever wont to discourse nmch at large, for they were holy-minded persons, little esteeming the pageantries of this world. But my aunt, for Agnes Kilspinnie being in progress of time married to my father's fourth brother, became sib to me in that degree, was wont to descant and enlarge on the theme with much wonderment and loquacity, describing the marvellous fabrics that were to have been hung with tapestry to hold the ladies, and the fountains that were to have spouted wine, which nobody was to be allowed to taste, the same being only for an ostentation, in order that the fact thereof might be recorded in the chronicles for after-times. And great things have I likewise heard her tell of the paraphernalia which the magistrates and town-council were getting ready. No sleep, in a sense, she used to say, did IMaccalzean of Cliftonhall, who was then provost, get for more than a fortniglit. From night to morning the sagacious bailies sat in council, exercising their sagacity to contrive devices to pleasure the Queen, and to help the custom of their own and their neighbours' shops. Busy and proud men they were, and nosmallerwere the worshi})ful deacons of tlie crafts. It was just a surprise and consternation to every body, to think how their weak backs could bear such a burden of cnrcs. No time had they for their wonted jocosity. To those who would fain have speered the news, they shook th' ir heads in a Solomon-like manner, and hastened by. And such a battle and tribula- tion as they liad with tlicir vassals, the magistrates of Leith ! who, in the most contumacious manner, insisted that their chief bailie shoidd be the first to welcome the Sovereign on the shore. This pretence was thought little short of rebellion; and the w RTNGAN GILHAIZR. provost Mild the bailies, and all the wise men that sat iu council withthcni, together witli the help of their learned assessors, continued deliberatiuff ancnt the same for hours tojjether. It wad a dreadful business that for th.o town of Edinburgh. And tlio opinions of the judges of tlic land, and tlie lords of the council, were taken, and many a device tried to overcome the up- setting, as it was called, of tlie licith magistrates ; but all was of no avail. And it wii^ thought there would ' ivo been a fi^^ht between the bail of Leith and the bailies of Edinburgh, and that blood would have been shed before this weighty question, so im- portant to the dearest interests of the commonweal of Scotland, could be determined. But, in the midst of their contention, and before their preparations were half finished, the Queen arrived in Leith Jloads ; and the news came upon them like tiie cry to the foolish virgins of the bride- groom in the street. Then they were Been flying to their respective places of abode, to dress themselves in their coats of black velvet, their doublets of crimson satiti. and their hose of tiie same colour, which they had prepared for the occas-ion. Anon they met in the council-chamber — what confusion reigned there ! Then how they Hew down the street ! Provost Maccalzean, with the silver keys iu his hand, and the eldest bailie with the crimson- velvet cod, whereon they were to be delivered to her ^lajesty, following as fast as any member of a city corpora- tion could be reasoniibly expected to do. But how the provost fell, and how the bailies and town-council tumbled over him, and how the crowd shouted at the sight, are tilings whereof to understand the greatness it is needful that the courteous reader should have heard my aunty Agnes herself rehearse the extraordinary particularities. Meanwhile the (iueeti left her gal- ley in a small boat, and the bailies of Leith had scarcely time to reach the pier before she was on shore, Alas ! it was an ill-omened landing. Few were spectators, and none cheered the solit^iry lady, who, as slie looked around and heard no loyal greeting, nor beheld any rJiow of hospitable welcome, seemed to feel as if the spirit of the laiul was sullen at her approach, and grudged at her return to the dark abodes of her ti re • aii- cestors. In all the way from Lo tli to Ilolyrood she never spoke, but the tear was in her eye and the sigh i.i her bosom ; and though her jH'Ojdo gathered when it M'as known she had landed, and began at last to shout, it was owre late to ])revent the mourn- ful forebodings, which taught her to expect but disappointments and sor- rows from subjects so torn witii their own factions as to lack even the courtesies due to their sovereign, a stranger, and the fairest lady of all her time. CHAP TEH X. Soox after Queen I^Iary's return from France, my grandfather, with his wife and Agnes Kilspiimie, came from Edinburgh and took up their resi- dence on his own free mailing of Quharist, where the Lady Eglintou Avas as good as her word in presenting to them divers articles of line na])ery, and sundry things of phaiishing both for ornament and use ; and there lie would have spent his days in blame- less tranquillity, serving the Lord, but for the new storm tiiat began to gather over the church, whereof it is needful that I should now proceed to tell ."ome of the circumstantials. No sooner had that thougiitlesg Princess — if indeed one could be so called who, though reckless of all RING AN GILHAIZE. ga.]. ronsoqiK'iicos, was yet double beyoiul the iin;ij,'iii!ition of man — no .sooner, 1 say, liiifl slic! founil liorself at home, tlian, witli all the craft ami blandish- ments of her wiiininjf airs and peerless beauty, slie did set herself to seduce the Lords of tiie ( 'on<;rej,'ation from tlie sternness wherewith tiiey had thrown down, and were determined to resist, the re.-^toratioii of the Itoman idolatry ; and villi some of them she succeeded so far tiiat the jiojiish priests were hearteni.'d. and, knowing Ii'T avowed partiality for tlieir sect, the J5east bej,'an to slioot out liis horns again, and they dared to perform the abomination of tlie mass iu different fjuariers of the king- dom. It is, no doubt, true tliat the (Jueeu's council, by proclamation, feigned to discountenance that resus- ritation of idolatry ; but tlie words of tlair edict being backed by no de- monstration of resolution, save in tlie case of a few worthy gentlemen in the shire of Ayr and in Galloway, who took up some of the oiTenders in their district and jurisdiction, the evil con- tinued to strike its roots, and to bud and flourish in its pestiferous branches. \V'lien my grandfather heard of these things, his spirit was exceedingly moved, and he got no rest in tlie night, with the warsling of troubled thoughts and pious fears. Some new call, lie foresaw, would soon be made on the Protestants, to stand forth again in the gap that the (Queen's arts had sajipcd in the bulwarks of their religious liberty, and he resolved to be ready against the hour of danger. So, taking his wife and Agnes Kil- spiniiie with him, he went in the spring to Edinburgh, and hired a loduing for them; and on tiie same niglit lie presented himself at the lodging of the Lord James Stuart, who had some time before been created Karl of Murray ; but the Earl was gone with the Queen to I.och- levcn. Sir Alexander Douglas, how- ever, the master of his Lordship's horse, was then on the eve of follow- ing him with John Knox, to wliom the Queen had sent a peremptory message, requiring his attendance ; and Sir Alexander invited my grand- father to come with them ; the which invitation he very joyfully accepted, on account of the hap[iy occasion of travelling in the sanctilied company of tliai brave worthy. Jn the journey, however, save iu the boat when they crossed the ferry, he showed but little of his precious conversation ; for the knight and the Keforiner rode on together some short distanc( before their train, earnestly discoursing, and seemingly they wished not to be overheard. Ikit when they were all seated in the ferry-bi-at, the ardour ut the preacher, which (111 no occasion would be reined in, li'd him to continue sjieaking, by which it would seem, tl at they had been conversing anent the (Queen's prejudices in matters of religion and the royal authority. '• A\'lien I last spoke with her Highness," said John Knox, '-she laid sore to my charge, that 1 had brought the people to receive a re- ligion different from what their jirinces allowed, asking sharply, if this was not contrary to the Divine command, which enjoins that subjects should obey their rulers ; so that I was obliged to contend plainly, that true religion derived its origin and authority, not from jirinces, but from God ; that princes were often most ignorant resfjecting it, and that sub- jects never could be bound to frame their religious sentiments according to the jileasure of their rulers, else the Hebrews ought to have conformed to the idolatry of Tharaoh, and Daniel and his associates to tliat of Kebuchaduezzar, and the primitivo 78 RINGAN GILHAIZE. Cliristians to that of the lloinan einjit'iors." "And vliat could her Ilij^liness answer to tliis? " 8aid Sir Alexander. '' Slie laeketli not the pift of a phrewdand leady wit," replied Master Knox ; for she nimbly rcnuarked, '■ riiat though it was as I had said, yet none of those men raised the sword iijTfiiinst their princes ; " — which enforced me to be more subtle than I was minded to have been, and to say, " tiiat nevertheless, they did resist, for those who obey not the command- ments given them, do in verity re- sist." — "Ah," cried her IIif/;hness, " but not with the sword," which was a thrust not easy to be turned aside, 80 that I was constrained to speak ouf, saying, " God, madam, had not given tliem the means and the power." Then said siie, still more eagerly, "Think you that subjects, having the power, may resist their princes ? " — And she looked with a triumphant smile, as if she had caught mo in a trap ; but 1 replied, " If princes ex- ceed their bounds, no doubt they may be resisted, even by power. For no greater honour or greater obedience is to be given to kings and princes than God has commanded to be given to father or mother. But the father may be struck with a phreuzv, in which he would slay his children ; in such a case, if the children arise, join together, apprehend the father, take the sword from him, bind his hands and keep him in prison till the phrenzy be over, think you, madam," quo' I. "that the ch.ildreii do any wrong? Even so is it with princes that should play the children of God that are subject to tliem. Their blind zeal is nothing but phrenzy, and therefore to take the power from them till they be brought to a more sober mind, is no disobedience to princes, but a just accordance to the will of God.— So 1 doubt not," con- tinued the Reformer, " I shall again have to sustain the keen encounter of her Highness' wit in some now con- troversy." This was the chief substance of what my grandfather heard pass in the boat ; and when they were again mounted, the knight and preacher set forward as before, some twenty paces or so in advance of the retinue. On reaching Kinross, Master Knox rode straight to the shore, and went off in the Queen's barge to the castle, that he might present himself to her Highness before supper, for by this time the sun was far down. In the meantime, my grandfather went to the house in Kinross where the Earl of Murray resided, and his Lordship, though albeit a grave and reserved man, received him with the familiar kindness of an old friend, and he was with him when the Reformer came back from the Queen, who had dealt very earnestly witli him to persuade the gentlemen of the west country to desist from their interruption of the popish worship. " But to this," said the Reformer to the Earl, " I was obligated, by conscience and the fear of God, to say, that if her Majesty would exert her authority in executing the laws of the laud, I would undertake for the peaceable behaviour of the Protes- tants ; but if she thouglit to evade them, there were some who would not let the papists offend with im- punity," " VVill you allow," said her High- ness, "that they should take my sword in their hands ? " "The sword of justice is God's," I replied, "and is given to princes and rulers for an end, which if they transgress, sparing the wicked and oppressing the innocent, they who in the fear of God execute judgment where God has commanded, offend not God, although kings do it not. RINGAN GILHAIZE. (9 gain IT of :'Oii- The pentleinon of tlio west, niftdam, lira jictini,' strictly ftccordiiig to law ; for the act of parliament gave power to all judges within their jurisaiction to search for and punish those wiio transgress its enactments ; " and J added, ''it shall bo profitable to j'our I\liijesty to consider what is tiio thing your Grace's 8id)ject8 look to receive iioni your Majesty, and what it is that yo ought to do unto them by mutual contract. They are bound to obey you, and that not but in (Jod ; ye are bound to keep laws to them — yo crave of them service, they crave nt' you protection and defence. Now, mailam, if you shall deny your duty unto them (which especially craves that ye punisli malefactors), can ye expect to receive full obedience of thiin ? I fear, madam, ye shall not." '* You have indeed been plain with lior Highness," said the Earl, thought- fully ; '' and what rejily made she ? " '• None,'' said the Reformer ; " her countenance changed ; she turned luT head abruptly from me, and with- out the courtesy of a good night, 8i_-niri(d with an angry waving of her hand, th;it she desired to be rid of my presence ; whereupon I immedi- ately retired and, please God, I shall, betimes in the morning, return to my duties at Edinburgii. It is with a sad heart, my lord, that I am compelled to think, and to say to you, who stand so near to her in kin and affection, that I doubt she is not oidy proud but crafty ; not only wedded to the popish faith, but averse to instruction. She neither is nor will bo of our opinion; and it is pliiin tiiat the lessons of her uncle, the Cardinal, are so deeply printed in her heart, that the substance and qu:dity will perish together. I would be glad to be deceived in this, but I fear I shall not ; never have I espied such art in one so young ; and it will need all the eyes of the Reformed to watch and ward tliat she circumvent not the strong hold in Christ, that has been but so lately restored aiul fortified in this misfortunato king- dom." Nothing farther passed that night: but the servants being called in, and the preacher having exhorted them in their duties, and prayed with even more tlian his wonted earnestness, each one retired to his chamber, and the Earl gave orders for liorses to bo ready early in the morning, to convey Master Knox back to Edinburgh. This, however, was not permitted ; for by break of day a messenger camo from the castle, desiring him not to depart until he had again spoken with her Majesty ; adding, that as she meant to land by sunrise with her falconer, she would meet him on the fields where she intended to take her pastime, and talk with him there. In the morning, all those who were in the house with the Earl of Murray and John Knox were early a-foot, and after prayers had been said, they went out to meet the Queen at her place of landing from the castle, which stands on an islet at some distance from the shore ; but, before they reach- ed the spot, she Avas already mounted on her jennet and the hawks unhood- ed, so that they were obligated to fol- low her Highness to the ground, the Reformer leaning on the Earl, who proffered him his left arm as they walked up the steep bank together from the brim of the lake. The Queen was on the upland when they drew near to the field, and on seeing them approach she came amb- ling towards them, moving in her beauty, as my grandfather often de- lighted to say, like a fair rose caressed by the soft gales of tlie summer. A smile was in her eye, and it brightened on her countenance like the beam of something more lovely than light ; the glow, as it were, of a spirit conscious 80 ETNO AN CTLHATZE. of its powei', aud whicli luid graced itscdf witli all its eiicliautinents to coiiquei' some stubborn Jieart. Even the Earl of Murray was struck with the unwonted splendour of lier tliat was ever deemed so surpassing fair ; and Jolni Knox said, witli a sigli, " The Makkr liad indeed taken graci- ous pains with tlie goodly fashion of such perishable clay." When she had come witliin a few ])aces of where they were advancing uncovered, she suddenly cneciv^d her jennet, and made him dance proudly round till she was nigh to John K'iox, where, seeming in ahirm, she feigned as if slie would have slipped from the saddle, having her hand on his .shoulder for support ; and while he, M'ith more gallantry than it was thought in him, helped her to recover her scat, she said, with a complacent look, "The Queen thanks you, Master Knox, for this upholding.'' She then inquired kindly for Jiis health, grieving she had not given orders for him to lodge in the castle ; and turning to the Earl of INIurray, she eluded iiis Lordship with a gentle- ness that was more wimu'ng than praise, why he had not come to her with Master Knox, saying, " We should then perhaps have not been BO sharp in our controversy." lint, before the Earl had time to make answer, she noticed divers gentlemen by uame, and taking off lier glove, made a most sweet salutation witii iier lily hand to the general concourse of those who had by this time gathered around. In that gracious gesture, it was plain, my grandfather said, tliat she Avas still scattering her feminine spells; for she kept her hand for some time bare, and though enjoying the plea- sure which her beautiful ])resence diffused, like a delicious warmth into the air, she was evidently self- collected, aud had something more in mind than only the triumph of hev marvellous beauty. Having tuiiied her horse's head, rhe moved liim a few paces, saying, ■'Master Knox, I would speak with you." At which he went towards her, and the rest of the spectators retired and stood aloof. They appeared for some time to bo in an easy and somewhat gay discourse on her part; but she gn'W mure aiid more earnest, till i\Ir Knox made his reverence and was coming away, when she said to him aloud, '• Well, do as you Avill, but that man is a dangerous man." Their discourse was concerning the titular Bishop of Athens, a brother of the Earl of liuntly, who had been put in nomination for a sujterintendent f)f the church in the West Country, and of whoso bad character her Highness, as it afterwards proved, had received a just account. ]5ut scarcely had the rvcform'T re- tired two steps wlien s i" calkd him bivck, and holding our to him licr Land, with which, when he approached to do his homage, slie familiaily took hold of his and held it, playing with his fingers as if she had been placing on a ring, saying, loud enough to bo heard by many on the field, — " I have one of the greatest mattens that have touched nie since I came into this realm to open to you. aud I must have your help in it." 'J'lien, still holding him earnestly by the hand, she entered into a long discourse concerning, as he afterwards told the lOarl of Murray, a difTerence subsisting between the l'".arl and Countess of Argyle. '•Her J^adyshii)," said the Queen, for my grandfather heard him re])eat what had passed, "lias not perli!ij>,s been so circumspect in every tiling as one could have wished, but her lord has dealt harshly with her." Miistcr Knox having ouco before r.VNGAN GILHAIZE. 81 of llOV ro reconciled tlic dobatos nf lliat lioiiour- able couple, told lier Iligliiies.s lie liad done BO, and that not liavinp since lioard any tliincr to the contrary, he had hoj d all thiiif^'8 Aveut well Avith them. " It is AvorfJO,"' rejdied the (ii'ieii, " than ye believe. l?nt, kind sir, do this nuicli for my sake, as oiico again to put Ihem at amity, and il the Countess behave not heiself ns she ou^dit to do, she shall iind no favour of me ; but in no wise let Arpyle know that I have requested you in lliis mat- ter." Then she returned to the sub- ject of their contest the preceding,' evcniiif,', and said, with her sweetest looks and most musical accents, ■' I j>romise to do as ye required : I shall order all offenders to be sum- moned. a?'.d you shall see that I shall mini-ter justice.'' To wiiieli he re]ilie<l. " I am as- sured tlien, madam, that you shall l)lease God, and enjoy rest and tran- tpiillity witliin your realm, which to your ^!aje.«ty is more jaoiitable than all the I'ope's power can be." And liavin;,' said this much he made his revert lice, evidently in great pleasure villi iier Highness. Afterwards, in sj-eaking to the Earl of ^lurray, as they returned to Kinro.s.s. my grandfather noted that ho enqiloyed many terms of soft courtliness, saying to her, that she wa.s a huly who migh':, he tliouglit, with a little pains, lie won to grace and godliness, cotdd she be preserved irom the taint of evil coniisellois ; so mueh had the a\ inning sorceries of her exceeding beauty and her bland- ishments worked even upon his stern honesty, and enchanted his jealousy asleep. AVhen Master Knox had, with the Earl, partakiii of some re])ast, he re- quested that he might be conveyed back to .Ediuburyh, for that it suited I not wif]j \u:-i nit'ire to remain sorn- ing about the skirts of the court ; and his Lordehip bade mv grandfather bo of his comjiany. and to bid Sir Alex- ander l>ongIa#. ti;c master of his hor>e. cIjoo-m? for Liin tl e gentlest steed in his etibi'.-. IJut it happ* nfcfl before the IJc- former vcnn uhdy to deprirr, tliat (^ueen Marv Lad finished her morn- ing piastin.c. and wi-s returnijig to her barge to (mbark for the ca.stle, which the Earl hearing, went down to the brim ' f t?.e loch to assi.'st at her euibarkiitic-n. My grandfather, with others, alisO hastened to the spot. On «.-t-injr his Lordship, she in- quired for •• her frierid," ns she then called John Knox, and signified her regret that be had lK.'en so Iht to leave her. (-xpre»*inir her surprise that one i-o infirm shccld think so soon of asicoiid jonruey: whereby the good Earl Ix'iug lumcitd to cement their ha)i]iy reconciliation, from which he aug-iired a gre-at increa.-^e of lienefita both to the rtalm and the cause of religioi;, was led to speak of his con- cern thereat akt-wise, and of his .sor- row that all bi^ own horses at Kin- ross being for the cha.<e and road, ho had none well-fitting to carry a per- son so aged, and but little used to the toil of riding. Her Ilighntsapmiled at the hidden counselling of thi.^ remark, for she was ] osscsse-d of a sharp spirit; and she said, with al<ok which told the Earl and all aYotit L> r that she discerned the pith of 1 i-S I.ord.ship's discourse, she wiiuld order rne of her own jal- frtys to lief« rthwith prepared hr him. When the E.irl returned from the shore and inftrmed Master Knox of the (Ju«n's gracion-s condescension, he made uo reply, but lowed his head in token of Li.^ fen.«e of her kin<lness; and soon after, when the palfrey was brought gaddied with the other horses 82 PJNGAN GILHAIZE, to the door, ho said, in my grand- fatlior's liearinj,', to his Lordship, " It iii.'ods, yon st'c, uiy Lord, nm.st bo so ; for wero 1 not to accept this grace, it mij^lit bo tli.oai;!it I refused from a vain bnivery of carin^f notliiiifj for liir Majesty's favour ; " and lie added, •with a suulo of jucidurity, "wliereas 1 am rit:ht wed content to receive tlie very smallest boon from so fair and blooiinnLf a lady." Nifthing of any particularity oc- curred in the course of the journey ; for the main part of Avluch ALaster Knox was thouglitful and knit up in his own cogitations, and wlien from time to time he did enter into dis- course with my grandfathei', he spoke chiefly of certain usages and customs that lie had ol)served in other lands, ai\d of thii!f;s of indifferent imjiort ; but nevcrthele;^s there was a llavour of holiness in ad he said, and my grandfather treasured many of his sweet sentences as pearls of great price. liefore the occurrence of the things spoken of in the foregoing pages, the great Earl of ( Ilencairn, my grand- father's fust and constant patron, had been dead some time ; but his son and successor, wdio knew the estimation in which he liad l)een held by his father, being then in Edinl)urgli, allowed him, in consideration thereof, the privilege of his hcdl. It suited not, however, with my grandfather's quiet and sancti- fied nature to nungle nuicli with the bniwlers that used to hover there; nevertheless, out of a resi)cct to the Earl's hosi-itahty, ho did occasionally go thither, and where, if ho heard little to edify the t'liristian lieart, he learnt divers things anent tlie (iue> n and court that made his fears and anxieties wax stronger and stronger. Jt seemed to liiui. as he often was lienrd to say, tliat there was a better knowledge of (Jiieen Mary's true eiiar- ftctcr aud secret partialitio.'j among those low varlets than among ti)eir masters ; and lier marriage being then in the parlanee of the people, ••uid mucli dread and fevir rife with tin; Trotestauts that she woidd choose a paj)ist for her husband, he was sur- l)rised to hear many of the rou-h knaves in f Jlencairn's hall speak liglitly of the respect she would have to tlio faith or spirituality of the man sho might prefer. Among those wuddy worthies he fell in with his ancient adversary Winterton, who, instead of harbouring any resentment for the trick he [ilayetl him in the Lord Boyd's castle, was rejoiced to see him again : he himself was then in the service of David Rizzio, the fiddler, Avliom the Ciueen son\e short time before had taken into her particular service. This llizzio was liy birth an Italian of very low degree ; a man of croueiied stature, and of an uncomely physiog- nomy, being yellow-skinned and blaek-haired, with a beak-nose, and little quick eyes of a free and familiar glance, but shrewd withal, and posse.'^stHl of a funny way of win- ning facetiously on the ladies, to the which his singular skill in all manner of melodious music helped not a little ; so that he had great sw.ay with them, and was then winning himself fast into the (Queen's favour, in which andntion, besides the natural instigations of his own vanity, he was spirited on by certain powerful personages of the pa- pistical faction, who soon saw tho great eflicacy it would be of to their cause, to have one who oweil his ri^e to them constantly aljout the (^ueeii, and in the depths of all her personal corresponilence with her great friends abroad. But the subtle Italian, though still true to his ]iapal breeding, l>uilt upon the (Jueen's jiartiality more th.ni on the favour of those jirond nobles, and, about the time of which I am 110 w speaking, he carried his head at IIINOAN GILHAIZE, 83 conrt np hravdy fis <Iu> Ixildrsl^ Iwron fmio)i!:st ttu'iii. Still ill this lie lind ■MS \it (lone iiotliiiii,' jivc'iitly to oiTciul. 'iiio Proti'.stant Lords, liowKver, ind-j- jiiiidciit of tlieir avorsicn to liiiii on iUTOUiit of Ilia rflijuioii, fcli, in rnni- uiDU with all the iioLility, a VLlicnioiit pifjudicc a::ain.st an alirii, one too of base blood, and tlit-y ojifiily manifes- ted tliL'ir disjiloasiire at S('iin,£: liini i-o ^'ori,a()iis and jiivunniiiii,' even in the imblic pre.-enre of the (Eileen ; but he regard"d not their anger. In ti..3 fey man's service AVintcrton then was, and my grandfather never doidited that it was for no good that ho came so often to the Earl of (ilen- cairn's, who, though not a man of the siinio weight in the realm as the old Kai'l his father, was yet held in mueh esteem, as a sincere Protestant .iid true nobleman, by all the friends of the Gospel cause ; and, in tlie sequel, wliat mv" granilfather jcalonsed was soon vrry plainly seen. For Ki/.zio learning, through Winterton's espion- ag(! and that of other emissaries, how little the people of Scotland would relish a foreign prince to be set over them, had a hand in dissuading the (^ueen from accepting any of the matches then proiiosed for her; and the better to make his own )iowerthe more sicker, he afterwards laid snares in the water to bring about a marriage with that weak youn'T prince, the Lord IFenry Darnley. l!ut it falls not Avitinn the scope of my narrative to enter into any more particulars here concern in 'jf that Italian, and the tragical doom whicli, with the (Queen's im- prudence, he brought upon himself ; f(ir, after spending some weeks in F'^dinburgh. and in visiting their friends at Crail, my grandfather re- turned with his wife and Agnes Kil- Bpinnie to (Juliarist, where he contin- ued to reside several years, but not in traiKiuillity. Hardly had they reached their home, Avhen word came of quarrels among the nobility; and though tl:o same sprung out. of secular debates, they had much of the leaven of reli- gious faction in their causes, the which greatly exas]>erated the enmity Avitli which tluy were carried on. But even in the good b'arl of ^Murray's raid, there was nothing which called on my grandfather to bear a jiart. ^,'ever- thele.^s, those fpiarrels di.- quieted his .soul, and he heard the sough of dis- contents rising afar ofT, like the roar of the bars of Ayr when they betoken a coming tempe>t. Afttr the departure of the Farl of ^lurray to France, there was a. syncope in the land, and men's minds were filled with wonder, and Mith appre- hensions to which they could give no name ; neij^hbouta distrusted one another ; the papists looked out from their secret yilaces, and were saluted with a fear that wore the sendilanco of reverence. 'I ho Queen married Darnley, and discreet men marvelled at the rashness with which the match was concluded, there being seemingly no cause for such unconiely h.'iste, nor for the lavish favours that she heaped ujion him. It was viewed with awe, as a thing done under the impulses of fraud, or fainnes-s, or fatality, is'or was their wedding-cheer cold Avheii her eager love changed into aversion. Then the spirit of the times, which had long hovered in willingness to be jileased with her intentions, began to alter its breathings, and to whisper darkly agaiu.st her. At last the mur- der of IJi/zio. a deed which, though iu the main satisfactory to the nation, was yet so foul and cruel in the per- petration that the tidings of it came like a thunder-clap over all the king- dom. The birth of I'rince James, which soon after followed, gave no joy; for about the same time a low and terrible whispering began to be heard of somo tm. 84 KING AN GILHAIZE. liidoous and universal conspiracy a,2;ainst all tlic Protestants throuu;liout Kurope. Xone ventured to say that Qneou Mary was joined with tlio con- spirators ; but many jireucliers openly prayed that slie niii^lit bo preserved from their leagues in a way that showed what they feared ; besides this suspicion, mournful tliinp;s were told of her behaviour, and the im- moralities of lier courtiers and their trains rose to such a piti'h, compared Avith the purity and plain manners of iier mother's court, that tlie whole land was vexed with anfjry thouglits, and echo (I to the rumours with dtern menaces. No one was rnoro disturbed by these things than my jiious graud- fatlier ; and tlie apprcliensions which they caused in hiui came to sucli a head at last, that his wife, becoming fearful of iiis healtli, advised him to take a journey to Edinburgh, in order that he might hear and see with his own ears and eyes ; which ho accord- ingly did, and on his arrival Avent straight to tlio Earl of (ilencairn, and begged permission to take on again Lis livery, cliielly tliat he might pass unnoticed, and not be remarked as having neither calling nor vocation. That nobleman was surprised at his request ; but, without asking any question, gave him leave, and again invited him to use the froedon\ of his hall; so he continued as one of his retainers, till tlie Ivarl of Murray's retiu-n from Franco. But, before speaking of what then ensued, there are some things concerning tlio mur- der of the (^neon's I'lotestant hus- band, — the blackest of the sins of that age. — of which, in so far a.s my grandfatlier particijiatod, it is meet and proper 1 should previously speak. CIIAPTEII XL WiiiLK the cloud of troubles, wiicreof I have spoken in tlio foregoing chap- ter, was thickening and darkening over tile land, tlie event of the King's dreadful deatii came to pass; the which, though in its birth most foul and monstrous, filling the hearts of all men with consternation and horror, was yet a mean in the hands of I'rovidence, as shall hereafter ap- pear, whereby the kingdom of Tin; Loi:i) was established in Scotland. Concerning that fearful treason my grandfather never spoke Avilhout taking off his bonnet, and praying inwardly with such solemnity of countenance, that nono could bi^hold him unmoved. Of all the remarkable passages of his long life it was indeed the most remarkable ; and he has been heard to say, that ho could lofc well acquit himself of the actual sin of disobedience, in not obeying an admonition of the Spirit which was vouchsafed to liim on that occasion. For some time there had been a great variance between the King and Queen, lie had given himself over to loose and low com|)aiiions ; and though she kept her state and ])ride, ill was sai<l of her, if in her walk and conversation she was more sensible of her high dignity. All at once, how- ever, wlien he was lyiiigill at Ciasgow, there was a singular dcmonst tiou of returning nfTection on her y-..: :, iie more remarkable and thenion needed of the commonalty, on account of its suddenness, ;ind the events that en- sued ; for while he was at the wurst she minded not his condition, but took her delights and pastimes in divers parts of the country. Ko sooner, Jiowover, had his strength overcome tiio disease, than she was seized with this fond sympathy, and came flying with her endearmenta, seemingly to foster his recovery with PJNGAN GILTTAIZE. 85 'cof ap- carossos and love. 'J he wliich cxces- fiivu aiTuctiou w;is afterwards ascriljfd to a guilty hypocrisy; for, in the sequel, it caino to li;!,dit, tliat Avhilc slio was practising all those winning blandishnients. which few knew the art of ])etter, and witii whieli she regahied his confidence, she was at the same time engaged in correspond- once with thelL'irl of l>otIiwell. The King, however, was won by her kind- ness, and consented to be removed from among the friends of his family at Glasgow to Ivlinbuigh, in order that he might there enjoy the benelits of her soft cares, and the salutary attendance of the physiciiins of the capital. The house of the provost of Kirk o' Field, whieii stood not far from the spot where tlie buildings of the college now stand, was aecord- ini,dy jirepared for his reception, on account of the ailvantages which it afforded for the free and open air of a rising ground ; but it was also a eolitary place, a fit haunt fi>r midnight conspirators and the dark purposes of mysterious crime. There, for some time, the (iueen lavisiied upon hiiu all tlie endearing gentleness of a true and loving wife, being seldom absent by day, and sleeping near his sick chamber by night. Tiie land was blitiiened with sueii assurances of their reconciliation; and the King himself, with the frank ardour of flattered youth, was contrite for his faults, and jjromised her tlie fondest devotion of all his future days. In this sweet cordiality, on Sunday, the ninth of February. A.D. loOT, she parted from him to be present at a m;i.s(jning in the palace ; for the ]{eformation had not tiien so pone- triited into the habits and business of men as to hallow the Sabbath in the way it has since done amongst us. ]>ut before proceeding fartiier, it is projier to resume the thread of my grandfather's story. He had pa'"?nd that evening, as he was wont to tell, in pleasant gospel conversation with several acquaint- ances, iu the house of one Jtaphael Doquet, a ))ious-lawyer in the Canon- gate ; for even many writers in tiioso days were smitten Avith the love of godliness; and ns lie was returning to his dry lodgings in an entry now called 15aron Grant's Close, he en- countered A\inierton, who, after an end had been put to David Itiz/.io, became a retainer in the riotous household of the Karl of Ijothwell. This happened a short way aboon the Netherbow, and my grandfatlicr stopped to speak with him ; but there was a haste and confusion in his manner which made him rather eschew this civility. My grandfather, at the time, however, did not nmcii re'nark it ; but scarcely diad they jjarted tea paces, when a sudden jealousy of some unknown truilt or danger, wherein Wititerton was concerned, came into his mind like a ilasli of fire, and iie felt as it Avere an invisiiilo power constraining him to dog his stei'S. insomuch, that he actually did turn back. But on reaching the 15ow, he was obligated to stop, for the ward was changing ; and observing that the soldiers then posting Avero of the (Jueen's French gua; ;, his thoughts began to run on the rumour that was bruited of a league among the papist ]irincos to rut off all the Reformed with one UJiuiTsal sweep of tlie S' ythe of persecution, and ho felt himself moved and incitetl to go to some of the Lords of the Congre- gation, to warn tliem ui wliat ho feared; but, considering that iie had only a vague and unaccountable sus- picion for his thought, he wavered, and finally reiurntd lionie. Thus, though manit'esdy and marvellously instructed of the fruition of some bloody business in hand that ni^lit, he was yet overruled by the wisdom m r.lNGAN OILTTATZn. which is of this worhl, io suppress and refuse obodicrco to the prompt- ings of tlie inspiration. On reachinii; liis chamber, ho im- Imokk'd lii.s bi.'lt, as his custom was, and laid down his sword and Ijcgan to luidross, •Nvlirn aijain (Ik; same alaian from on hij,di full upon 1dm, .and the ennie warning spirit whisyiorcd to his mind's ear unspeakable intimations of dreadful things. Fear came upon him and trembling, Avhich made all Ids bones to sliake, and he lifted his sword and again buckled on his belt. JUit again the prudence of tin's world prevailed, and heeding not the ad- monition to Avaru the Lords of the Congregation, ho threw himself on his bed, without however unbuckling his sword, and in that condition fell asleep. JJut though his senses were shut his mind continued awake, and ho had feaiful visions of blood)' hands and glittering daggers gleaming over him from behind his curtains, till in terror he started up, gasping like one that had struggled with a Btronger than himself. A\'heii he had in soni" degree com- posed his thouglds. he went to the window, and opened it, to see by the stars how far the lught had passed, '['he wind(»w overlooked the North Loch and tbe swelling bank b.-yond, and the ilistant frith and the hills of Fite. The .skies were calm and dear, and the air was tempered with a bright frost. The stiirs in their courses were refieotcd in the still waters of the North Loch, as if there had been an opening through the earth, showing the other roiinavc; of the spangled firmament. I'ut the dark outline of the swelling bank on the northern side was like the awful corpse of some migiity thing prepared for in- tei'inent. As my grandfather stood in con- templation at the window, he heard the occasional churmo of dibcourso from passengers still abroad, and now and then the braggart llourish of a trumpet resounded from the royal ma.squing at the jialace, — breaking upon the holiness of the night with the harsh dissonance of a discord in some solemn harmony.— And as lie was meditating on many things, and griev- ing in spirit at the dark fate of j)oor Seotlaiul, and the woes with which the chihlren of salvation were en- vironed, he was startled by tlio a[)i)a- rition of a great blaze in the air, which for a moment lighted up all the land Avith a wild and liery light, and he beheld in the glass of the North IjOcIi, reflected from behind the shadow of the city, a tremendous eruption of burning beams and rafters burst into the sky, while a hoirible crash, as if the chariots of distruetiou were themselves breaking down, shook the town like an eartlnpiake. lie was for an instant astounded ; but soon roused by the clangour of an alarm from the castle ; and while a cry rose from all the city, as if the last trumpL-t itself was .'bounding, ho rushed into the street, where the in- habitants, as they had flown from their beds, were running in consternation like the .sheeted dead startled from their gj'aves. Drums beat to arms; — the bells rang ; — some cried the wild cry of fire, and there was wailing and weeping, ami many stood dund) with honor, and could give no an.swer to the universd ipiestion. — ■ " (iod of the lieavens, what is thi.s? " Presently a voice was heard crying', " The King, the Kinij ! " and all, as if movrd l)y ono spirit, replied, ''The King, the King ! " 'Jlun for a nioment there was a silence stiller than the rnidnigiit hour, and drum, i:ov bell, nor voice was lieaid, but- a rushing of the multituih^ towards St Marys i'ort, which leads to the Kirk o' Field. Among others, my grandfather HTXOAX OlI.lIATZr.. 87 bow f a Ao IiasU'iH'il to till! sj)ut by '1 odri(:k'.-i AVyml ; find as lie was riiiiiiiii,i( down towards tlio [losterii fjate, lio came with f,'n'at violence acr-'iiiist a man \vlio Avas HtriiL'uling n]i llirouL,di tlji.' torrent of the jieojilc, witliout cap or cloak, and .seeniin.ifiy maddened witli terror. Uri,'e(l l)y home HtrouL,' instinet, my ^'randfadier f^rasjied him by the throat; I'oi', Ity the <:limi).se of the ii.ijiits tliat M'ero then ])laeiii£,^ atovory window, ho saw i( waa Winterton. IJiit a swirl of tlu! crowd tore tiieni asuinler, and lie had oidv time to cry, *' its anc of J5otliweir.s men." 'J'ho people canghfc tho lOarl's name; but instead of seizinjf the fniritive, tliey repeated, " IJothwell, ISothwell, he's tho traitor!" and pressed more cnjjerly on to tlio ruins of the house, wliicii wore still burn- in^'. 'J'iio walls were rent, and in m;iny place.s tiirown down ; the west pdde was blown clean away, and the very ground, on the side where the Kin<;'s chamber bad been, was torn as with a hundred plouj,di8liares. Certain trees that '^vew hard by were cleft and riven as with a thunderbolt, and stones were stiekin*,' in tlieir timl)er like wedges and the shot of can?ion. It was tliought, that in sueh a. sudden l)last of desolation, nothini,' in the house could have withstood the slioi k, but that all therein must have been shivered to atoms. Wiien, liowever, tlu; day ben;an to dawn, it was seen that many thinirs hail escaped unblemished by the tire; aiul the King's body, with that of the servant wiio watched in his chamber, was fi'uud in .1 neighljouring garden. V iihout having suffered any materi.d (liange, — the which caused the greater marvelling ; for it thereby apjieared that they were tlic only sufTerers in that dark treason, making the truth jdain before the ]ieo]ile, tliat the con- trivance and firing thereof was con- certed and brougiit to maturity by some in autiiority with the (iueeii, — and who that was the ])eople an- swered Ijy crying as the roy;d corp,-.o was carried to tiie jialace, " iiothwell, Lord Hotliwell, lie is the traitor!" All the next day. and for many days after, consteination n igned in tlie streets of the city, and lujiror sat shuddering in all her dwelling-idaces. oNIultitudes stood in amazement from morning to night around the jjaiace ; for the Karl of JJothwell was within, and still honoured with all the homages due to the greatest public trust.s. Kver and anon a cry was heard, " IJothwell is the murderer ! " and the multitude shouted, " Ju.stice, justice ! " Ijiit their cry was not heard. Night after night tho trembling citizens watched with candles at their casements, dreading .some yet greater alarm ; and in the stillness of the midnight hour a voice was heard crying, "The (iueen and iJothwell are the murderers ! " and another voice replied, " Vengeance, vengeance ! — Blood for blood ! "' Every morning on tho walls of the houses wiitings were seen, demand- ing the I'.inishmont of the regicides, and the Queen's name, and the naino of Bothwell, and the names of many more, with tiie Archbishop of St Andrews at their head, were em- blazoned as the names of the regi- cides. l)ut Uothwell, with the reso- lute br.ivery of one in the confidence of power, heeded nottlie cry that thus mounted continually against him to Heaven, and the Queen feigned a widow's sorrow. 'i'iie M Iiole realm was as when the ark of the covcnaiit of the Lord was removed from Jsrnel and captive in the iiands of the I'liilistines. The inj'ired songht not the redress of their wrongs ; even the guilty were afraid of ono another, nnd by the 85 RING AN GTLHATZE, very cowardice of their distrust were prevented from bamiinj^ ut ii time ■\vlien they luiirlit have rioted at will. "What airffravated these i)ortents of a kiiiL'doiii fallinj,' asunder, was the mockery of law aii<l justice which the court attempted. Those who were accused of the Kinj,'"s death ruled the royal criuncils. aurl were <,'rcatest in the Queen's favour. The K;ui of Hothwell dictated the very proceed- iuirs bj- which he was himself to be brought to trial, and when the day of trial arrived, lie came with the pomp and retinue of a victorious con(|ueror — to be acquitted. But acquitted, as the guilty ever needs must be whom no one dares to accuse, nor any witness hazards to appear airainst. his acquittal served but to prove his jruilt. and the forms thereof the murderous partici[)ation of the Queen. Thus, tiimigh he Avas assoilzied in form of law, the libel against him was nevertheless found proven by the universal verdict of all men. Yet, in di .spite of the wurld, and even of the ccmviction recorded within their own bosoms, did the infatuated Mary an J that dreadless traitor, iu little more than tiiree months from the era of their crime, rush into mar- riage : but of the infamies concerning the same, and of the humiliated state to which poor Scotland sank in con- Bequen«e, I must refer the courteous reader to the histories and chronicles of the time, while I return to the nar- rative of my grandfather. When the Earl of Bothwell, as I Lave been told by thosj who heard him speak of these deplorable blots on the Scottish name, had been creatccl Duke of Orkney, the peoi)le daily expected the marriage. But instead of the ordinary cercmoniids used ut the marriages of former kings and princes, tiie (^ueeu and all ab(jut her, as if they had been smitten from on high with some manifest and sti'ango frenzy, resrlved, as ir w ■ .n and blasphemy, nutwiiLstJi; .■ ...t own and the notour ]k>]i'.j- .: nhe Duko, to celebrate iheir tni^m ac- cording to the strictest formf ciC the Protestants; and dohn Kuca'v'-rinr afc tlie time in tiie AVest CoaaniiT. h'm cuUeague, blaster Craig, "wuf .i:c;l<rre<I by tiie (^ueen in council *oi fabLidb the banns three several Sal>ln.:uii-> La St (iiles' kirk. On the morning of iht isint ap- pointed day my grandlutlftr "y^ nt thither ; avast coucour8e of aiUtfcufile were assembled, and tl»e worthy minister, when he rose iu lib*' pol^'it, holding the paper iu Im EuukI, trembled and was jiale, and doe .*ome time unable to sjieak; at lua t<* read the nanu's and ]>urp()Be (<f auAin'i.ige aloud, and he ]iaused wLtai &»t hail done so, and an awful BoIrOiiouiiirT zvy/.n the very sjiirits of the eoiiiTti-Arim. lie tiien laid down the juijjitc on tiie pulpit, and lifting Lie iiuij;;-* ami raising his eyes, cried witli a Ttiirnn-nt sadness of voice, — *• Lord 'fici or r.'ie pure heavens, and all ye od liV earth that hear me, I ])rotest. as, .n miiiai.'iter of the gospel, my abhon'fij'.tf .tmi de- testation of this hideous KJau: and I call all the noiiility jind :uii loc r,iie (Jueen's council to reu)f'i;%T.n,:.: with her Majesty against a tv]. :;i..i,:] aviat cover her with ini'anjy ic^r tT-.r and ruin past all remede." Tkret '..ly^ ilid he tiius publish the biuius. ibi.^ Diricii in that manner did he boJ ilr-irf, [.lim his protestation ; for wl.i l' ^.- ma called before the jirivy C'IUj l. ^hrrn the guilty IJothwell wa.- rsjin;;2rz: and beini; charged with liaviLr tSiM^eded tlie bounds of his commisKic'L. z-i re- plied with an a{)ostoli(' bruTwj — •' My commission is ft oiii ^l.* ^^'ord of (iod, good laws, and nattinJIr::!.-:. u, to all which this jn'oposed !ti.i;m.iice is obnoxi(Uis. The Kur] ci iiodiwcll^ there where he sits, kn v '■,- '-.^ in an adidterer, — the div : . . . . i: Le rJNflAX GILriATZE. 89 her the che •■•It; hid reil -!i lias ])rocur('(l from liia wifo lias b(.'en by collusioii, — and he knows likewise that lie has niunlered the kiii^' and piiiltily ])()ssesscd himself of tlic (ineen's jicrson." Yet, notwiliistandinpc, ^Ir Craig •\vas suffered to depart, even un- molested by tlie .'iHtonishe'l and over- awed IJotiiwell ; but, as I have said, the marriapo was still celebrated ; and it was the last f;reat crime of papis- tical device that the Lord f^ufTereii to see done within the bounds of Scot- land. Tor the same night letters were sent to tiie Karl of Murray from divers of the nobility, entreating him to return forliiwith; and my grand- father, at the incitement of the Earl of Argyle, was secretly sent by his patron (ilencairn to beg the friends of the state an<l the lawful prince, the son whom the Queen had born to her murdered husband, to meet without delay at Stirling, Accordingly, with the llower of their vassals and retainers, besides Argyle and (ilencairn, camo many of the nobles ; and having protested their detestation of the conduct of the (iueen, they entered into a Solem'i Jvoague and (Jovenant, wherein they rehearsed, as causes for their con- federating against the misrule with which the kingdom was so humbled, tliat the Scottish people were abhorred and vilipendit amongst all Christian nations; declaring that they would never desist till they had revenged the foul Muirder of the King, rescued the (.iueeu from her thraldom to the Karl of Jiotlnvell, and dissolved her ignominious marriage. The (iueen and her regicide, for lie could not be called her husband, were panic-struck when they heard of this avenging jiaction. S'le issued a bold proelamation, calling on her insulted subjects to take arms in her defence, and she published manifes- toes, all lies. She fled with liothwell from Edinburgh to the castle of IJortliwiek ; but scarcely were they within the gates when the s'jiigh of tiie rising storm obliged him to leave her, and tlu; same night, in the dis- guise of man's ajiparel, the (iuetii of all Scotland was seen flying, friendless and bewildered, to lier sentenced lord. The covenanting nobles in t!io meantime were mustering their clans ami their vassals ; and the JO;vrls of Morton and Atliol having brought the instrument of the League to Edinburgh, the magistrates and town- council signed the same, and, taking the oaths, issued instanter orders for the burghers to prepare the i selves with arms and banners, and to man the city wall. The whole kingdom rung with the sound of warlike pre- parations, and the ancient valour of tiie Scottish heart was blithened with the hope of erasing the stains that a wicked (lOvernment had brou'dit ui)on the honour of the land. .^leanwJiile the regicide and the Queen drew together what forces his power could command and her jiro- niises allure, and they advanced from Dunbar to Carberry-hill, where they encamped. The army of the Cove- nanters at the same time left Edin- burgh to meet them. MaryaiipeareJ at the head of her troops ; but they felt themselves engaged in a bad cause, and refused to tight. She ex- horted them with all the pith of her elocpience; — she wept, — she implor- ed, — she threatened, — and she re- proached them Avith cowardice, — but still they stood sullen. To retreat in the face of an enemy who had already surrounded the hill on which she stood was impracticable. In this extremity she called with a voice of despair for Kirkcaldy of (Jrange, a brave man. who she saw at the head of the cavalry by whom she was surrounded, and he having halted his horse and procured leave from h's 00 htngan gilitatzt: loaders, advanced toward Ikt. IJotli- AVL'll, witli a tVw followers, dnrinfj the interval, quitted tlie tield ; and, as Boon as Kiikealdy ennie u\), slie sur- rendered herself to him, and was con- ducted by liini to tlio iicad-({nartcrs of ti>c Covenanters, by whom she •was received witli all the wonted testimonials of respect, and was ;is- finrcd, if slio forsook I'otliwell and j;overned her kin<,^dom witii honest councils, tliey wouhl iionour and obey lier as tlieir sovcreipn. Uut tlio common soldiers overwiielmcd her witli rejjroaches, and on the march back to Edinburfrh poured upon her tile most opprobrious names. '• Never was sueli a si^dit seen," my grandfatiier ofcen said, "as the return of that abject I'rinccss to her caiiital. On tlie banner of the Lenguc •wasdepicted the cor])se of tiie murdered kin.if her husband lyin_Gf under a tree, ■witii the young jirincc his son kneel- ing before it, and tlio motto was, ' Judge and revenge my cause, O Lord.' Tiie standard-bearer rode witli it immediiately before the horse on which she sat weeping and wild, and covered with dust, and as often as ;<he raised her distracted eye the ajiparition of the murder in tlic Ihig fluttered in her face. Jn vain she supplicated pity, — yells and howls were all the answers slie received, and volk'vs of execiations came from the ])ri])ulace, witli I'lun her, burn her, bloody murderess ! Let her not live I " In that condition she was con- ducted to tlie I'rovo.st's house, iiito whieli .she was assisted to aligjit. uifire dead tliim abve, and next morning she was conveyed a pii.'^oner to Lochleven cnstle. Avhere she was soon after com- pelled to resign the crown to lier son, and the regency to tlic Eari of ]\lur- rny, liy wliose grent wisdom tiie Lo- formntion was established in truth and holiness tliroughout the kingdom — though for a season it was again menaced wiien .Mary eiVecled her escape, and dared tlio c.iuso of the Lord to battle at Langside. l$ut of that great day of victory it becomes me not to s|>eak, f.)V it iiath received the blazon of many an abler \>v\i ; it is Bullieient to mention tliat my grand- father was there, and after the battle that he returned with the army to (Jla.'jgow, and wa.s presi.'ut at the thank.'^giving. 'J'hc same night he |)ai<l his last res[)ect3 to the Karl of Murray, wlio jierniitted him to take away, as a trophy and niemori.d, the gloves which his liOrdshiii had worn that day in tht' fiehl ; and they have ever since been sacredly preserved at Quharist, where they niay still l)e seen. They are of York but!; the palm of the one for the riirht hand is still blue with the maik of the sword s hilt, and the forefinger stool is stained with the ink of a letter which tin; Karl wrote on the field to Argyle, who had joined the (Queen's faction ; the which letter, it has been tliouglit, caused the swithering of that nobleman in the hour of the on.set, by which Provi- dence gave the Kegent the victory — a conquest which established the Go.spel in his native land for evur. After the battle of Langside. many of the nobles and great personages of the realm grew jealous of the good Kegent Murray, and, by their own demeanour, caused him to ]nit on towards them a reserve and coldness of dejiortment, which they coi'Strued as their feelings and fancies led them, much to his disadvantage ; for he was too proud to court the good-will that he thought was his due. lUit to all peo]ile of a lower degree, like those in my grandfati er's station, he was ever the same punctual and gracious supe- rior, making, by the urbanity of hi.'3 manner, small courtesies recollected and spoken of as great favours, in so much that, being well -beloved of th^ whole commonalty, his memory, long RINOAN GILHAIZE. 91 licr tlio t of lilies ivcd it is mil- aih: i'> lli<- liu <»f ftffcT lii8 fatal floatli, wag licM in f,'roat cstiiiiation aiiionj,' tliciii, ami his fame as tiio swi'L't odour of many bloHsim^'H. Few tliin.t,'-*, my ^'ramlfatlicr oi'tcii said, ^'ave liim a sorer paiii,' than (he base murder by the llamiltons of that most eminent worthy ; ami in all the lahour.s and busiiie.ss of hi.s ioiiy life, notiiiiii,' came over more pleasant to hi-; thouj,dd8 than the remembrance of the part ho had himself in tlie retri- bution with Avhich their many bloody a'ts Avero in tiie end overtaken and jiiinished. Indeed, as far as concerns their guiltiest insti^fator and kinsman, the papal antichrist of St Andrews, never was a just ven<,a'ance and judg- ment more visibly manifested, fia I shall now, with all expedient brevity, rehearse, it bi.'imr tin; last exploit in which my prandfather boro arms for the connnonweal. J>ailio Kilspinnio of Crail having dealings with certain GlasgoAV mer- chants, who sold plaidiiigto the High- landers of Lennox and Cowal, finding them doure in payment, owing, as they saiil, to their customers lengthen- ing tiieir credit of their own accord, on account of the times, tlu; west liav- ing been from the battle of Langside unwontedly tranquil, he, in the spring of lo71, came in cpiest of his monicf, and my grandfather having notice thereof, took on behind him on horse- back, to sec her father, Agnes Kil- fp'M'.io, who had lived in his house from ll.ti time of his marriage to her ; ant, i'.i^pa Ituet. And it haj^pened t..-it Ca,.itain Crawford of ■lordanhill, wl'.o w.'S then meditating his famous exploit against the castle of Dumliar- ton. met my gramlfather by chance in the 'J'rongait, and knowing some little of him, and of the great regard in which he was held by many noblemen, for one of his birth, sjiokt' to him cor- dially, and asked him to be of his party, assigning, among other things, as a motive, that the great adversary of the Heformation, tho Archbishop of St Andrews, had. on account of tho doom and outlnvry pronounced ujion him, for being accessory botii to tiu; munler of King Henry, the Ciiieeu's I'rotestant husband, ami of tho good IJeg.nt Murray, taken refugo in that redoubtable fortres*. Some concern for the state of his wife and young family weighed with my grandfather while he was in com- munion with Jordanhill ; but alter parting from him. and going back to tho Saracen's inn in the (iallowgait, where Hailie Kilspinnie ami his daugh- ter were, he had an inward urging of the spirit, moving him to be of the enterpiise, on a persuasion, as 1 have hoard him tell himself, that witiiout he was there something would arise to balk tiie undertaking. So he was in consequence troubled in thought, and held himself aloof from the familiar talk of l)i.s friends all tho remainder of the day. wishing that he might be able to overcome the thirst which Cajitain Crawford had bred within him to join his company. Hailie Kilspinnie seeing him in this perplexity of soul, spoke to him as a friend, and searched to know what had taken ptossession of him, and my grandfather, partly moved by his en- treaty, and partly by the thought of the great palpable Antichrist of Scot- land, who had done the bailie's fire- side such dan)age atid detriment, being in a manner exposed to their tak- ing, told him what Ijad been pro- pounded by Jordaidnll. " Say you so," cried the bailie, re- membering the oflence done to his family. " say you so ; and that he is ill a girn tliat wants but a manly hand to gri]i him. IJodyand soul o' nie. if the thing's within the j.ower of the arm of fl"sh he sh;iH lie taken and brought to tho wuddy, if the Lord permits justice to be done within the realms of Scotland." IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lis m lb 2.2 m '- IM 1.8 11-25 111.4 IIIIII.6 a /2 v: A ^V V Photographic Sdences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ■<^>. ^'^> \ Ms 5^ OS FvTNGAN GILHAIZE. The which bold and valorous breatliiiifr of the honest magistrate of Crail kindled the smoking yearnings . of my grar.dfather into a bright and blazing Hame. and he replied : " Then, sir, if you be so minded, I cannot perforce abide behind, but will go fortii Avith you to the t ^ttle, and swithor not with the sword till wo have effected some notable achieve- ment." Tiiey accordingly went forthwith to Captain Crawford and proffered to him their service, and he wixa glad- .iftlencd tiiat my grandfather had come to so warlike a purpose; but he looked sharply at the bailie, and twice smiled to my grandfather, as if in doubt of his soldiership, saying, "IJnt, Gil- haize, since you recommend him, he must be a good man and true." So the same night they set out at dusk, with a chosen troop and band of 'iot more than two hundred men. A boat, provided with ladders,dr oppod down the river with the tide, to be before them. By midnight the expedition reached the bottom of Dumbuck Hill, where, having ascertained that the boat was arrived, Jordanhill directed those aboard to keep her close in with the shore, and move with their march. The evening when they left Glas- gow was bright and calm, and the moon, in her first quarter, shed her beautiful glory on mountain and tower and tree, loading them as Avitli the light of a heavenly torch, and when tiiey reached the skirts of the river, it was soon manifest that their enterprise was favoured from on High. The moon was by that time set, and a thick mist came rolling from the Clyde and the Leven, and made the night air dim as well as dark, veiling their movemcTits from all mortal eyes. Jordanhill's guide led them to a part of the rock which Avas .seldom guarded, and showed them where to place tlicir ladders. lie Ii.id been in the service of the Lord Fleming, tho governor, but on account of contu- melious usage had quitted it, and had been tlie contriver of the scheme. Scarcely was the first ladder placed when the impatience of the men brought it to the ground ; but there was a noise in the ebbing waters of the Clj'de that drowned the accident of their fall, and prevented it from alarming the soldiers on the watch. This failure disconcerted Jordanhill for a moment ; but the guide fastened the ladder to the roots of an ash tree which grew in a cleft of the rock, and to the first shelf of the precipice they all ascended in safety. The first ladder was then drawn up and placed against the upper storey, as it might be called, of the rock, reaching to the gap wliere they could enter into the fortres.s, while another l".dder was tied in its place below. Jordanhill then ascended, leading tlio way, followed by his men, the bailie of Crail being before my grandfather. They were now at a fearful height from the ground ; but the mist was thick, and no one saw the dizzy emi- nence to which he had attained. It happened, however, that just as Jor- danhill reached the summit, and while my grandfather and the bailie were about half-way up the ladder, the micit below rolled away, and the stars above shone out, and the bailie, easting hi3 eyes downwiird, was bo amazed and terrified at the eagle fliglit he had taken, that he becan to quake and tremble, and could not mount >: step farther. At that juncture delay was death to success. It was impossible to pass him. 'J"o tun.ble him off the ladder, and let him be dashed to pieces, as some of tiie men both above and be- low roughly bade my grandfather do, was cruel. Ail were at a stand. Governed, however, by a singular RINGAN GiLHAIZE. 03 been in ing, tlio F contu- "viul liad enio. r iilaccd men lit there aters of accident it from watch, rd.iiihill istcned ush tree )ck, and ice tliey inspiratior, my grandfather took off his own sword-belt, and also the bailie's, and fastened him with them to the laddor by the oxters and legfi, and tlien turninpf round the ladder, leaving him so fastened jiendent in the air on the lower side, the assailants ascended over his belly, and courage- ously mounted to tlicir perilous duty. Jordaiiliill shouted as they mus- tered on the summit. The officers and soldiers of tlic garrison rushed out naked, but sword in hand. The assailants seized tlic cannon. Lord Fleming, the governor, leaped tlie wall into the boat that had brought the scaling ladders, and was rowed away. The garrison tlius deserted surrendered, and the guilty prelate was among tlie prisoners. As soon as order was in some de- gree restored, my grandfather went, witli two other soldiers, to where the bailie liad been left suspomled, and having relieved him from his horror, which the breaking daylight increased by showing him tlie fearful heiglit at whicii he hung, he brought him to Jordaiihill, who, laugln'ng at his dis- aster, ordered him to be one of tiie guard appointed to conduct the Arch- bisliop to Stirling. In that service the worthy magis- trate provcjd more courageous, and upbraided tlie prisoner several times on tiie road for the ill he had done to him. lUit that traitorous high priest heard liis taunts in silence, for he was a valiant and proud man. Such, in- deed, was his gallant bearing in the marcii, that th^j soldiers were won by it to do iiim liomage as a true knight ; and had he been a warrior as lie was but a priest, it was thought by many tiiat, thougli botli papist and traitor, tiiey might have been worked ujion to set him free. To Stirling, however, he was carried; and on the fourth day from the time he was taken ho was executed on the gallows, where, not- withstanding his guilty life, lie suffered witli the bravery of a gentleman dying in a righteous cause, in so much that the papists honoured his courage as if it had been the virtue of a holy mjir- tyr, and IJailie Ki..-pinnie all his days never ceased to wonder how so wicked a man could die so well. CHAPTER XII. Having thus set forth the main pas- sages in my grandfather's life, I should now quit the public highway of his- tory, and turn for a time into the pleasant footpath of his domestic vineyjird, the plants whereof, under his culture, and the pious waterings of Elspa Ivuet, my excellent progeni- trex, were beginning to spread their green tendrils and goodly branches, and to hang out their clusters to the grficious sunshine, as it were in de- monstration to the heavens that tho labourer was no sluggard, and as an assurance that in due season, under its benign favour, they would grate- fully repay his care widi sweet fruit. But there is yet one thing to be told, which, thougii it may not be regarded as germane to the mighty event of tho Ueforniation, grew so plainly out of the signal catastrophe related in tho foregoing chapter, that it were to neglect the instruction mercifully in- tended, were I not to describe all its circumstances and particulars as they came to pass. Accordingly to proceed. In tho winter after the storming of Dmn- barton Castle, Widow Kuet, tho mother of my gramlmotlier, hearing nothing for a long time of her poor dnighter Marion, had fallen into a melancholy state of moaning and in- ward grief, insomuch, that Bailio Kilspinnie wrote a letter, invoking my grandfather to come with his wife 94 RINGAN GILHAIZE. to Crail, tbiit they mijjht join together ill comforting tiie agetl woman ; wliicli work of duty and cliarity tlicy lost no timo in undertaking, carrying with them Agnes KiI.si)innio tof«'oher kin. Being minded, both in the going and the coming, to partake of tiio feast of tlie heavenly and apostolic eloquence of the fearless lieforiner's life-giving truths, they went by the way of Edinburgh ; and in going about while there, to show Agnes Kilspinnie the uncos of the town, it happened as they were coming down from the Castle-hill, in passing the Weigh-house, liiat she observed a beggar woman sitting on a stair seem- ingly in great distress, for her hands Were fervently clasped, and she was Bwinging iier body backwards and forwards like a bark Avithout a rudder on a billowy sea, when the winds of an angry hejvven are let loose upon't. "Wiiat made this forlorn wrt teii the more remarkable, was a seeniing remnaiit of better days, and as slie from time to time lifted her delicate hands aloft in her despairing ecst.isy, it was impossible to look upon her without comf)a8sion. My grandfather and his wife, with Agnes, stopped for a moment, and conferred together about what alms they would offer to a gentlewoman brought so low ; when she, observinfr them, came wildly towards them, crying, '' Oil ! save a famishing out- cast from death and perdition." Her frantic gesture made tlieir Bouls shudder ; and before they had time to reply, she fell on her knees, and taking Elspa by the hand, re- pented the same vehement pi-ayer, adding, "Do, do, even though I be the vilest and guiltiest of woman- kind." "Clarion lluct! — O, my sister!— O, my dear Marion!" as wildly and as woefully did my grandmother, in that instant, also cry aloud, falling ou the beggar-woman's neck, and sob- bing as if her iieart would have burst ; for it was indeed the bailie's wife, and the mother of Agues, tha' sup- plicated for a morsel. This sad siglit brouglit many persons around, among others a decent elikrly carlin that kept a huxtry shop close by, who pitifully invited them to come from the public causey into her house; and with some dillicalty my grandfather removed the two sisters hither. When they had been some time ia the house of old Ursio Firikins, as the kind carlin was called, Elspa lluet all the while weeping like a constant fountain, and repeating " Marion, Marion ! " with a fond and sorrowful tenderness that would allow her to say no more, my grand- father having got a drink of meal and water prepared, gave it to the famished outcast, and she gradually recovered from her stupor. For many minutes, however, she sat still and said nothing, and when she did speak, it was in a voice of such nn'sery of soul, that my grand- father never liked to tell what terrible thoughts the remembrance of it ever gave him. By way of consolation, my grand- father told her they were then on their way to Crail, and that as soon as they had procured for her some fit apparel they would take her with them. J\ lean while the charitable Ursie Firikins had made ready a mess of porridge, and the mournful Magdalen being soothed and coufoled, was per- suaded to partake. And afterwards, when they had sat some time, my graTidl'iither went to his lodgings; and having paid his lawin, returned to the two sisters and Agnes Kil- spinnie, and they all walked to the shore of liCith togetlier, where they found a boat going to Kinghorn, into RINGAN GILHAIZE. 05 » wliicli flio" ^-iiiliiiikiil ; iuul having,' Bli'pt tlicro, tliey hiiT<l a cart to take tlioin to Criiil next jiioniiiig. Wlu'u tlicy caiiio witliiii a mile of tlio towu, wlidio a sinuU jiiiblic stood that wayfariiiiuf men woro wont to 8toi) and icfrcsli tlicmselvos at, my prandf;itluT urged tlic disconsolate Marion, who had oomo all ti)i; way from Kinyhorn without speaking' a single word, to alight from tiie cart, and remain there till the cloud of niglit, when she might go to her mother's unafHieted by the gaze of the ftililess nndtitudc. To this, at first, sho made no answer; but leaping out of the cart, and standing still for a moment, slie looked wistfully at her sister and daughter, and then began to weep, crying, " Gang yo awa, and no mind me." Elspa remonstrated with her for sonic time, but she was not to bo en- treated : " Go yc on wi' your gudenian and Agnes," she repeated, "and let me come by mysel'," " No, Marion," replied her sister, " that siia'na be ; I'll no let you do that: if ye will mak sic a pilgrimage, I'll bear you company." Her daughter, who had all this time stood silent with the tear in her e'e, then said, "I'll gang wi' yon, mother, too." "Mother! — O Agnes Kilspinnie, dinna sac wraug yoursel', and your honest father, as to ca' the like o' me mother But did yc say yo would come wi' mc?" — and she dropped vehemently on her knees, aui! spread- ing her arms to tlie skies, cried out with a loud and wild voice — "God, God! is Thy goodness so great, that thou canst already vouch- safe to mo a mercy like this?'' Seeing her so bent on going into the town, and his wife and her dangliter so mindit to go with her, my grandfather said it would bo na well for him to rini forward and pre- pare her mother for her coming; ho lie left them, and hastenetl into tiie town, thinking tlioy would come in tlie cart; but wlien he was gone, Marion, still in the hope she niiglit get her sister and daugiiter dissuaded from accompanying her, told tliem that she was resolved to go on her bare feet ; and, having 2>aid the King- horn man for his cart, the three set forward together, Elspa on the right hand and Agnes on the left hand of the lowly penitent. In the meantime my grandfather hastened to the dwelling of Widow lluet, his gude-mother, to tell her who was coming, and to prepare her aged mind for the sore shock. 'J he news were at first as glad tidings to the humane old woman ; but every now and then she began to start, and to listen, — and a tear fell from her eye. In that state she had not been long, when the sougli of a din gathering at a distance was heard. Aiy grauiifather hearing the sound drawing nearer and nearer, went out of the house to see if his presence might be any protection ; but the siglit he saw was even more sorrowful than the aged mother's grief. Instead of tlio cart in which ho expected to see the women, he beheld them coming along, side by side, to- gether, attended by a great multitude. Among others that ran from the cau- sey-side to look in the face of Marion — still beautiful, though faded, but shining with something brighter than beauty — there was a little boy that went up close to her, and took her by the hand, wi'hout speaking, and led her along, lie was her own son ; but still she moved not her solemn heavenward eye, though a universal fobbing burst from all the multitude ; and my grandfather, at the piteous pageantry, was no longer able to re- main master of his feelings. Seeing J 00 RINGAN GILHAIZE. however, that the mournful actors therein were going on towards Bailie Kil-spinnie's, and not intending to stop, as he expected they wouhl, at Widow lluet's door, lie ran forward to warn liis old friend ; but in this he was too late ; sonic one had been already there ; and he found the poor man, witii his three other children, standing at the door, seemingly utterly at a loss to know what bis duty should be. At that juncture tlio multitude came rushing on before the women, and halted in front of the bailie's house. When Agnes Kilspinnie and her brother saw their father and brother and sisters at the door, they quitted their mother and joined them, as if instructed by an instinct, while she slowly approached. Elspa lluet, who had hitherto maintjiined a serene and resigned composure of countcnanrie, was so moved at this sail spectacle, that my grandfather, seeing her distress, stepped out and caught lier in his arms, and supported her from falling, she was so faint with anguish of heart. In the same moment, with a look that struck awe and consternation into every one around, oMarion stepped on towards her husband and children, and gazed at them , and then dropped on her knees, while they went in and shut the door. The multitude uttered a fearful Bougli ; Elspa Ruet, roused by it, rushed from my grandfather towards her sister, and stooping, tried to rais(> her up. Poor Manon, still kneeling, looked around to the people, who stood all as still as mourners at an interment, and her dark ringlets falling loose, made her pale face appear of an unearthly fairness. She seemed as if she would have said something to her sister, who had clasped h'!r by tlie hand, but litherly swinging backward, siie laid iicr head down on her husband's threshold, and gave a heavy sigh, and died. The burial of Marion lluet was decently attended to by IJailie Kil- spinnie and all his family. And my grandfather, with his wife, having spent some time after witli tiieir friends at Crail, returned homeward by them- selves, passing over to Edinburgh, that they might taste once more of the elixir of salvation as dispensed by John Knox, who had been for son.o time in a complaining way, and it was by many thought that the end of his preaching was «lrawing nigh. It happened that tlie dreadful tid- ings of the murder of the Protestants in France, by the command of " the accursed king," reached Edinburgh in the night before my grandfatluT and his wife returned thither ; and he used to s]K'ak of the consternation that they found reigning in the city when they arrived there, .as a thing very awful to think of. Every shop was shut, and every window closid; for it was the usage in those days, when death was in a house, to closo all the windows, so that the appear- ance of the town was as if, for the obduracy of their idolatrous sovereign, the destroying angel had slain all the first born, and that a dead body was then lying in every family. There was also a terrifying solem- nity in the streets ; for, though tiiey were as if .all the people had conio forth in p.anic and sa<l wonderment, many were clothed in black, and there was a funereal stillness, — a dism.-d sense of calamity that hushed the voices of men, .and friends meeting one another, lifted up their hands, and shuddering, passed by without speaking. My grandfather saw but one, between Leith Wynd and the door of the house in the Lawnm.arket, where he proposed to lodge, that wore KINGAN GILHAIZE. 67 a smile, nnd it was not of jileasurc, but of uviiricc countiiif,' its giiius. The man was one Hans IJorphcn, an armourer that had feathered his nest iu tlie raids of the war with tlie Queen Kegeut, lie was a Kornian by birth, and had learnt the temper- ing of steel in (lermany. In his youth he liad been in the Iniperator's service, and had likewise worked in th: arsenal of Venetia, Some said he was per- fected in his trade by the infidel at Constantinopolis ; but, however this might be no man of that time was more famoi among roisters and moss- troopers, foi lie edge and metal of his weapons, thai, tliat same blasphemous incomer, who thought of notliing but the greed of gain, whether by dale to Protestant or Papist ; so that the sight of his hard favoured visage, blith. ned with satisfaction, was to my grandfather, who knew him well by repute, as au omen of portentous aspect. For two days the city continued in that dismal state, and on the third, which was the Sabbath, the churches were so tilled that my grandmother did not venture to enter the High Kirk, where the Kefornicr was waited for by many thirsty and languishing souls from an early hour in the morn- ing, wlio desired to hear what he would say concerning the dark deeds that had been done in France. She therefore reftlrued to the Lawnmar- ket ; but my grandfather worked his way into the heart of the crowd, where he had not long been when a nmrmur announced tl.at Master Knox was coming, and sooji after he entered the kirk. lie had now the appearance of great age and weakness, and he walked with slow and tottering steps, wear- ing a virl of fur round his neck, and a staff in one hand, godlie Richie Bal- landen, his man, holding him up by the oxter. And when he came to the a foot of the pulpit, Jtichie, by the help of another servant that followed with TiiK IJooK, lifted him up the steps into it, where he was seemingly so exhausted that" he was obligated to rest for the space of several minutes. No man who had never seen him be- fore could" have thought that one so frail would have had ability to have given out even the psalm ; but when he began the Spirit descended upon him, and he was so kindled that at last his voice became as awful as the thunders of wrath, and his arm was strengthened as with the strength of a champion's. The kirk diried to the foundations, the hearts of his hearers shook, till the earth of their sins was sliaken clean from them, and he ap- peared in the whirlwind of inspira- tion, as if his spirit was mounting, like the prophet Elijah, in a fiery chariot to the gates of heaven. His discourse was of the children of Bethlehem slain by Herod, and he spoke of the dreadful sound of a bell and a trumpet heard suddenly in the midnight hour, when all were fast bound, and lying defenceless in the fetters of sleep. He described the dreadful knocking at the doors — the bursting in of men with dr; wn swords — how babies were harled by the arms from their mothers' beds and bosoms, and dashed to death upon the marble floors. He told of parents that stood in tiic porches of their houses and made themselves the doors that the slayers were obliged to hew in pieces before they could enter in. He pictured the women flying along the street with their in- fants in their arms, and how tiio rulliaiis of the accursed king, know- ing their prey by their cries, ran after them, caught the mother by the hair and the bairn by the throat, and, in one act, flung the innocent to the stones and trampled out its life. Then he paused, and eaid, in a soft / 98 RINGAN GTLHAIZE. niid thankful voice, that in tho liorrors of Bethlehem there was still much mercy ; for tho idolatroua dread of Herod prompted Iiim to slay but young cliildren, wlioso blamelesa lives were to their weeping parents an assurance of their acceptance into heaven. "What, then," ho cried, "arc we to think of that night, ami of that king, and of that people,, among whom, by whom, snd with wliom, the commissioned murderer twisted his grip in the fugitive old man's grey hairs, to draw back his head that tiie knife might the surer reach his heart? With what eyes, being already blinded with weeping, shall we turn to that city where the withered hands of tho grandmother were deemed as weapons of war by tlie strong and black-a-vised slaughterer, whose sword was owre vehemently used for a' tho feckless remnant of life it had to cut ! liut deaths like these were brief and blessed compared to other things — which. Heaven be praised, I have not the power to describe, and which, among tins Protestant congregation, I trust there is not one able to imagine, or who, trying to conceive, descries but in dark and misty vision the pains of mangled motliers ; babes, untimely and unquickened. cast on the dung- liills and into tho troughs of swivie ; of bhick-iron hooks fastened into t! o mouths, and riven through the cheeks of brave men, whose arms are tied with cords behind, as they are dragged into the rivers to drown, by those who durst not in fair battle endure ti)o lightning of tlieir eyes. — O, Herod ! — Herod of Judea — tiiy name is here- after bright, for in tliy bloody busi- ness thou wnst thyself nowhere to be seen. In the vonts and abysses of thy unstained palace, thou hidst thy- self from the eye of history, and pcr- liaps liumanely sat coverimif thin^ ears with thy liands to shut out the sound of tho wail and woo around thee. But this Herod — let me not call him by so humane a name. No : let all tho trumpets of justice sound hia OAvn to everlasting infamy — Charles the Ninth of France ! And lot his ambassador that is here ayo yet, yet to this time audaciously in this Christian land, let him tell his niastor that sentence hw been pronounced against him in Scot- land ; that the Divine vengeance will never depart from him or hi« house until repentance has ensue. i, and atonement been made in their own race ; that his name will remain a blot — a blot of blood, a stain never to bo effaced — a thing to be pronounced with a curse by all posterity ; and that none proceeding from his loins shall ever enjoy his kingdom in peace." The preacher, on saying these pro- phetic words, paused, and, with his eyes fixed upwards, he stood some time silent, and then, clasping his hands together, exclaimed, with fear and trembling upon him, "Lord, Lord, thy will be done ! " Many thought that ho had then received some great apocalypse ; for it was* observed of all men that he wao never after like the man he had once been, but highly and holily elevated above earthly cares and considera- tions, saving those only of his mini- stry, and which he hastened to close. He was as one that no longer had trust, portion, or interest in this tem- poral world, which in loss than two months after he bade farewell, and was translated to a better. Yes, to n better ; for assuredly, if there is aught in tl)is life that may be regarded as the symbols of infoftmcnt to the iidierit- ance of Heaven, the labours anc^ mini- stration of John Knox were testi- monies that he had verily received the yird and stane of an heritage ou High. RINGAN GILHAIZE. 99 CHAPTER XIII. SnopTi-Y nfter jny grnndfatlicr had rt'tuniccl witli liis wil'o to tlioir quiet dwclliiifif at Quliarist on the (Jarnock Bido, liu began, in the courso of tlic winter following, to suffer an occa- Kioiiiil pang in that part of liia body whieli Avas damaged ny the fall lie got ill rugging down the Virgin ilary out of her niche in the idolatrous abbey- kirk of Kilwinning, and the anguish of his Buffering grew to such a liead by Candlemas that he was obligated to sendforhi8oldacquaintance,Dorfiinick Callender, who had, after his marriage 'with tho nun, settled as a doctor of physic in tho godly town of Irvine, J3ut for many a day all the skill and medicamcnting of Doctor Callender did him little good, till Nature had, of her own accord, worked out tho root of the evil in the shape of a sklinter of bono. Still, though the wound then closed, it never was a soimd part, and he continued in consequence a lamiter for life. Yet were his days greatly prolonged beyond the common lot of man ; for he lived till he was ninety- one years, seven months, and four days old, and his end at hvst v/as but a pleasant translation from tUe bodily to the spiritual life. For some days before the close he was calm and cheerful, rehearsing to the neighbours that came to speer for him. many things like those of which I have spoken herein. Towards tho evening a serene drowsinosa fell upon him, like the snow that falleth in sil- ence, and froze all his temporal facul- ties in so gentle a manner, that it could not be said he knew what it was to die ; being, as it were, carried in the downy arms of sleep to the portal door of Death, where all the pains and terrorts that guard the same werj hushed, and stood mute aroxmd, as he was softly received in. No doubt there was something of a providential design in tho singular In-olongation of such a pious and )lamele83 life ; for through itthepos- pcssor becninc a blessed mean of sow- ing, in the hearts of his children and neighbours, the seeds of those sacred principles, which afterAvards made tliLm stand firm in their religions integrity when they were so grievously tried. For myself I was too young, being scant of eight years when he de- parted, to know the worth of those precious things which he had treasured in the garnel of his spirit for seed-corn unto the Lord ; and therefore, though I often heard him speak of the ridd- ling wherewith that mighty husband- man of the Reformation, John Knox, riddled the truths of tho gospel from the errors of papistry, I am bound to say, that his own exceeding venerable appearance, and the visions of past events, which the eloquence of his traditions called up to my young fancy, worked deeper and more thorouglily into my nature, than the reasons and motives which guided and governed many of his other disciples. But, be- fore proceeding with my own story, it is meet that I should still tell the courteous reader some few things wherein my father bore a part, — a man of very austere character, and of a most godly, though, as some said, rather of a stubbornly affection for the forms of worship which had been established by John Knox and the pious worthies of his times ; he was withal a single- minded Christian, albeit more ready for a raid than subtle in argument, lie had, like all who knew the old people his parents, a by-common re- verence for them ; and spoke of the patriarchs with whom of old the Lord was wont to hold communion, as more favoured of Him than David or Solo- mon, or any otlicf princes or kings. When he was very young, not passing, as I have heard him often tell, more than six or seven years of v^ m KINGAN GILHAIZE. ago, he was taken, along witli hia bretlircn, by my grandfather, to see the signing at Irvine oi tiio Covenant, with which, in tlio lowering time of the Spanish armiida, King James, the son of Mary, together with nil the Reformed, bound themselves in solemn compact to uphold the Protestant re- ligion. Afterwards, when ho saw the country rise in arms, and heard of the ward and watch, and tho beacons ready on the hills, his imagination was kindled with some dreadful con- ceit of the armada, and he thought it could be nothing less than some awful and horrible creature sent from tho shores of perdition to devour the whole land. The image he had thus framed in '•'« ^"ars haunted him con- tinually; -ight after night he could no' for thinking of its talons of oraLid, and wings of thunder, and nostrils flaming tire, and the iron teeth with which it was to grind and gnash the bodies and bones of all Protestants, insomuch that his parents were concerned for the health of his mind, and wist not what to do to appease the terrors of his visions. At last, however, the great Judith of the Protestant cause. Queen Eliza- betli of England, being enabled to drive a nail into the head of that Ilolofornes of the idolaters, and many of the host of ships having been plunged, by the right arm of the tempest, into the depths of the seas, and scattered by the breath of the storm, like froth over the ocean, it happened that, one morning about the end of July, a cry arose that a huge galley of the armada was driven on the rocks at Pencorse ; and all the shire of Ayr hastened to the spot to behold and witness her shipwreck and overthrow. Among others my grand- father, with his three eldest sons, went, leaving my father at home ; but his horrors grew to such a passion of fear, that his mother, the calm and pious Elspa lluet, resolved to take him thither likewise, and to give him tho evidence of his eyes, that tho dreadful amiada was but a navy of vessels liko the ship which was cast upon the shore. By this prudent thought of her, when ho arrived at tho spot his apprehensions were soothed ; but his mind had ever after a strange habitude of forming wild and wonder- ful images of every danger, whereof tho scope and nature was not very clearly discerned, and which con- tinued with Dim till the end of his days. Soon after the death of my grand- father, he had occasion to go into Edinburgh anent some matter of legacy tha. had fallen to us, through the decease of an uncle of my mother, a bonnet-maker in tho Canongate; and, on his arrival there, he found men's minds in a sore fever concern- ing the rash counsels wherewith King Charles the First, then reigning, was mindit to interfere with the pure worship of God, and to enact a part in the kirk of Scotland little short of the papistical domination of tho Ro- man Antichrist. To all men tiiis was startling tidings ; but to my futlier it was an enormity that fired his blood and spirit with the fierceness of a furnace. And it happened that ho lodged with a friend of ours, one Janet Geddes, a most pious woman, who had suffered great molestation in her worldly suostance, from certain endeavours for tho restoration of the horns of tho mitre, and the prelatic buskings with which that meddling and fantastical bodie. King James tiio Sixth, would fain have buskit and dis- guised the sober simplicity of gospel ordinances. No two persons could be more heartily in unison upon any point of controversy, than was my worthy father and Janet Geddes, concerning the enormities that would of a ueces- rJNOAlT GILHAIZE. Bity ensuo from the papisticul preten- Bions nnd unrighteous usurpation of Kin^ Charles ; and they sat crooning and lamenting together, all the Satur- day afternoon and night, about the ■woes of idolatry that were darkening again over Scotland. No doubt there was both reason and piety in their fears ; but in the method of their sorrow, from what I have known of my father's earnest and simj)le character, I redde there might bo some lack of tiie decorum of wisdom. But be this as it may, they lieated the zeal of one anotlier to a pitch of great fervour, and next morn- ing, the Sabbath, they went together to the high kirk of St Giles to sec what the power of an infatuated Government would dare to do. The kirk was filled to its uttermost bunkers ; my father, however, got for Janet Geddes, she being an aged woman, a stool near the skirts of the pulpit ; but nothing happened to cjvuso any disturbance, till the godly Mr Patrick I lenderson had made an end of the morning prayer, when ho said, with tears in liis eyes, with re- ference to the liturgy, which was tlicn to be promulgated, " Adieu, good people, for I tiiink this is the last time of my saying prayers in tliis kirk ; " and the congregation being nuich moved thereat, many wept. No sooner had Air Henderson re- tired, than Master Ramsay, tliat horn of the beast, which was called the Dean of Edinbur/^h, appeared in tiie pulpit in the pomp of his abomina- tions, and began to read tlie liturgy. At the first word of which .lanet Geddes was so transported with in- dignation that, starting from her stool, she made it fly whirring at his head, as she cried — " Villain, dost thou say the mass at my lug ? " Then such an uj-Toar began, as had not been wit- nessed since the destruction of the dels ; the women screaming, nnd clapping their hands in terrification- as if the legions of the Evil One had been lei loose upon them : . nd the men crying alou(l, " Ant*, .at, anti- christ ! down wi' the pope ! " and all exhortation to quiet them was drown- ed in the din. Sucii was the beginning of those troubles in the churcii and state, so wantonly provoked by the weak and wicked policy of the first King Charles, and which in the end brought himself to an ignontiiiious deatli ; and such tiie cause of that Solemn League and Covenant, to wliicli, in my greea {'ears, my father, soon after his return lome, took me to bo a party, and to which I have been enabled to adhere, witli unerring constancy, till the glorious purpose of it has all been fulfilled and accomplished. When my father returned homo, my mother and all the family were grieved to see his sad and altered looks. We gathered around him, and she thought he had failed to get the legacy, and comforted him, by saying tliey had hitherto fenn't without it, and so might they still do. To her tender condolcments ho however made no answer ; but, taking a leathern bfig, with the money in it, out of his bosom, he filing it on tho table, saying, " What care I for this world's trash, when the ark of the Lord is taken from IsraiJ ? " which to hear daunted the hearts of all present. And then he told us, after some time, what was doing on the part of tho King to bring in the worship of tho Beast again ; rehearsing, with many circumstances, the consternation and sorrow and rage and lamentations that he had witnessed in Edinburgh. I, who was the ninth of his ten children, and then not passing nine years old, was thrilled with an un- speakable fear ; and all the dreadful things, which 1 had heard my grand- father tell of the tribulations of his Idi RINOAN QILHATZE. time, came upon my spirit like visions of tlio visiblo scene, and I began to •weep with nn excoedinj^ sorrow, inso- nnieh tliat my fatiicr was auiazeil, and caressed mo, and tliaidced Heaven tliat one so yoniirf in liis liouso felt as a I'l-ote.stant ciiild sliould feci in i\n epoch of such calamity. It was then late in the afternoon, towards tiie gloaminff, and having partaken of some refreshment, my father took the big Bible from the press-head, and, after a prayer uttr a in great lieaviness of spirit, he read u portion of the llcvelations, concerning the vials and tlie woes, exponnding the same like a preacher ; and we were all filled with anxieties and terrors : some of the younger members trembled with the thought that the last day was suiely at hand. Next morning a sough and rnmour of that solemn venting of Christian indignation which had been mani- fested at Edinburgh, having readied our country-side, and the neighbours hearing of my father's return, many of tliem came at night to our house to hear the news ; and it was a meeting that none present tiicreat could ever after forget: — well do I mind every thing as if it had happened but yes- treen. I was sitting on a laigii stool at the fireside, between the cliimley- lug and the gown-tail of old Nausc Snoddie, my mother's aunty, a godly woman, that in her eild wc took care of; and as young and old came in, the salutation was in silence, as of guests coming to a burial. The first was Ebenezer IMuir, an aged man, whose grandson stood many a blast in the persecution of the latter days, both with the BlackculTs and the bloody dragoons of the remorseless Graham of Claver. He was bent with the burden of time, and leaning on liis staff, and his long white hair hung down from aneath his broiic^ blue bonnet. He vras one whom my grand- father held in great respect for the sincerity of his principiis and the dis- cretion of his judgment, and among :11 his neighbours, and nowhere moro than in our house, was he considered a most patriarchal character. " Cume awa, Ebenezer," said my father, "I'm blithe and I'm sorrowful to see you. This night we may bo sjiar't to sneak in peace of the things that pertiim unto salvation; but tlio day and the hour is not far off, when the flock of Christ shall bo scattered and driven from the pastures of their Divine blaster." To these words of affliction Eben- ezer ^luir made no response, but went straight to the fireside, facing Nanso Snoddie, and sat down without speak- ing; and my father, then observiiig John Fullarton of Dykedivots coming in, stretched out his ]iand,,and took hold of his, and drew him to sit down by his side. They had bec]i in a manner brotlier.s from their j'outh upwards : an uncle of John Fullarton's, by whom ho was brought up, had been owner, and he liimself had heired, and was tlien possessor of, the mailing of Dykcdivot, beside ours. Ho was the father of four brave sons, the youngest of whom, a stripling of somo tliirteen or fourteen years, was at his back ; the other three came in after- wards. He was, moreover, a man of a stout and courageous nature, though of a much-enduring temper. " I hope," said ho to my father, "I hope, Sawners, a' this straemash and hobbleshow that fell out las6 Sabbath in Embro' has been seen wi' tlio glamoured een o' fear, and that the King and Government canna bo sae far left to themscLs as to meddle wi' the ordinances of the Lord." " I doot, I doot, it's owrc true, John," replied my father in a very mournful manner ; and while they were thus speaking, Nahum Chapel- RINGAN OILHAIZE. 103 rip cnnio lu'ii. IFownsayounp ninn, and lii.s fntlier liciiig precentor nml BfliOdhiiMstcr of tlio jiarisli, lio lind more lair fluin eomnioiily falls to the lilt of eoiintry folk; over and alioon tliin, lie WAH of a Hjiirit^ disposition, «nd l)otli eydent an<l e!if,'er in wliatHO- cver li(! undertook, so that for his years lie was greatly looked up to nninnf,' ail his ncrpiaintance, uotwith- staiiiliiif; a Hiiiall npi(;in of conceit that lio was in with liiiiiHclf. On Hceinf,' liiin coming in, Morthy Khenezer ]\Iuir made a sign for liini to draw near and sit by liim ; and when iie went forward, and drew 1' a stool, the old man took hold of liini by the hand, and said, *' Yo're weel conic, Nnhuni ; " and niy father added, ''Ay, Xahuni ("hapelrig, it's fast coming to pass, ;is ye liacs been aye saying it woidd ; the King hasna restit wi'' putting tho prelates upon us." "What's to prelates, ilobin Tnl- larton V " said auld Nanse Snoddie, turning round to .John's son, Av!io was standing behind his father. •' They're the red dragons o' un- righteousness," re))lied tiio sincere luddie with great vehemence. " (lude guide us!" cried Nanso with the voice of terror; "and has the King daur't to send sic accursed thinj,'s to devour God's people? " Ihit my mother, who was sitting behind me, touched her on the slioul- der, bidding Jior be quiet; for the f)oor woniau, being then doited, when eft to the freedom of her ov/u will, .was apt to expatiate without ceasing on whatsoever she happened to dis- course anent ; and Nalium Cliapelrig said to my father — "'Deed, Sawners Gilliaizo, we could look for nac better ; prelacy is hut the prelude o' pajiistry: but the papistry o' this prelude is a perilous papistry indeed; for its roots of ranknesa arc iu the midden-Lcad of Arminianisni, which, in a sense, is a greater Antichrist tliau Antichrist liiniHclf, even whore he sits on his throne of tliraldom iu the lloniaii vaticaiio. IJiit nevertheless, I trust and liope, that liioiigii tho young bride of I'rotcstantiom be for a heason thrown down, .die shall not be over- come, liiit will HO strive and war«Io with tlie foul g'.Jj . of that rampant Arminian, tho Ki Jish high-priest Laud, that bo ^liaU himself l»o cast into the mir , or choketwi' the stouro of his own baliicfu's of abominationB, wherewith ho would overwhelm and bury tlio Evangil. Yea, even though the shield of his uiighty men is made red, and liis valiintmcn arc iu scarlet, lie sliall recount his wortliies, but they shall stumble in their Avalk." AVhilo Nahura Avas thus holding forth, tiic house fdled even to Iho trance 'door with the neighbours, old and young ; and several from time to time spoke bitterly against the deadly f-iu and aggression which the King was committing in the crime that the reading of the liturgy was upon the conscieiices of his [leople. At last Kbenezer Muir, taking off his bonnet, and rising laid it down on his seat behind him, and then re-^ting with both his hanosou hisstalT, looked up, — and everyone was hushed. Truly it was an affecting sight to behold that very aged, time-bent, and vene- rable man so standing iu the midst of all his dismayed and pious neigh- bours, — his grey hairs flowing from his haffets. — and the light of our lowly hearth shining upon his bald head and reverent countenance. "Friens," said he, "I hae lived lang in the world ; au<l in this house I hao ofti'H partaken the sweet rep.ist of the conversations of that sanctified character, Michael Gilhaizc, whom we a' revered as a parent, not more for his ain worth than for the great things to which he waa a witness in the trials 104 RINGAN GILHAIZE. and troubles of the Reformation ; and it seems to me, frae a' the experience I hae gath^nt, that when auce kings and governments hae taken a step, let it be ne'er sae rash, there's a some- thing in the nature of rule and power that winna let them confess a fau't, though they may afterwards bo con- strained to renounce the evil of their ways. It was therefore wi' a sore heart that I heard this day the doleful tidings frae P^mbro', and moreover, that I hae listened to the outbreath- ings this night of the heaviness where- with the news hae oppressed you a'. Sure am I, that frae the provocation given to the people of Scotland bj' tlie King's miscounselled majesty, nothing but tears and woes can ensue ; for by the manner in whicli they hae already rebutted tlie aggression, lie will in return be stirred to aggrieve them still farther. I'm now an auld man, and may be removed before the woes come to pass ; out it requires not the o'e of prophecy to spae bloodshed, and siif- fering, and many afflictions in your fortunes. Nevertheless, friens, be of good cheer, for the Lord will prosper his own cause. Nei^he^ king, nor priest, nor any human authority, has the right to interfere between you and your God ; and allegiance ends where persecution begins. Never, therefore, in the trials awaiting you, fori:ot that the right to resist in matters of con- science is the foundation-stone of re- ligious liberty ; O see, therefore, that you guard it weel ! " The voice and manner of the .aged speaker melted every heart. Many of the women sobbed aloud, and the children were moved, as I was myself, and as I have often lieard tiieni in their manhood tell, as if the spirit of faith and fortitude had entered into the very bones .and marrow of their bodies ; nor ever afterwurds have I heard psalm mng with such melodious energy of holiness as that pious con- . gregation of simple country folk sung the hundred and fortieth I'sivlm before dep.arting for their lowly dwellings on that solemn evening. It was on the AVednesday that my fatlier came homo from Edinburgh. On Friday the farmer lads and their fatliers continued coming over to our house to hear the news, and all their discourse was concerning the manifest foretastii of papistry which was in the pr.aying of the prayers, that an obdu- rate prince and an .alien Arminiau prelate were .attempting to tliruat into their moutljs ; and every one spc ke of renewing tlie Solemn League and Coven.ant, which, in the timts of the Reformation and the dangers of the Spfinish Armada, had achieved such great things for Tin: Tiiuni and the WOIJD. On Siiturday, Mr Sundrnm, our minister, called for my father .about twelve o'clock. He had heard the news, and also that my fiitlier had come back. I was doing something on the green, I forget now wliat it was, when 1 saw him coming towards the door, .and I ran into the houso to tell my f.ather, who ininicdiately came out to meet him. Little passed in my hearing be- tween them, for, after a short inquiry concerning how my father had fared in the journey, the minister took liold of him by the .arm, and they walked together into the fields, where, when they were at some distance from the houso, Mr Sundrum stopped, and began to discourse in a very earnest and lively m.anner, frequently touch- ing the i)alin of his left hand wiih the fingers of his right, .as lie spoke to my fatlier, .and sometimes lifting both his hands .as one in amaze, ejuculating to the heavens. While they were thus reasoning together, worthy Ebenezer Muir came tow<ards the house, but, observing where they were, he turned off and .^* RINGAN GILHAIZE. 105 joined them, and they continued all three in veliement deliberation, in so much that I was drawn by the thirst of curiosity to slip so near towards them that I could hear wiiat passed ; and mj- young heart was pierced at tiie severe terms in which the minister was condemning the ringleaders of the riot, as he called the adversaries of popedom in Edinburgh, and in a manner rebuking my honest father aa a sower of sedition. My father, however, said stiffly — for he was not a nian to controvert witii a minister — tiiat in all temporal tilings he was a true and leal subject, and in what pertained to the King as king, he wou'.v. stand as stoutly up for as any man in the three kingdoms ; but against a usurpation of the Lord's riglits, hi.s h uid, his heart, and his f'.itlicr's sword, that had been used in the Keformation, wore all alike ready. Old Ebenezer Muir tried to pacify liim, and reasoned in great gentleness with both, expressing liis concern that a Presbyterian minister could think tliat tlie attempt to bring in prelacy, and the reading of court-contrived prayers, was not a meddling with things sacred and rights natural, whicli neither prince nor potentate had au- tiioiity to do. liut Mr Sundrum was one of tliose that longed for tlie fiesh- {)ots of Egypt, and tlie fat things of a ordly hierarchy ; and the pacilic re- monstrances of tiie pious old man made him wax more and more wroth at what lie liatefully pronounced their rebellious j .clinations ; at wliich bitter words both my fatlicr and Ebenez-er ]Muir turned from him, and went to- gether to the iiouse with sadness in their faces, leaving him to return the way he iuul come alone — a thing which filled mo with consternation, ho hav- ing ever before been treated and reverenced as a pastor ougiit always i') be. What comment my father and tho , but on kirk was old man made on his conduct when they were alone, I know not ; the Sabbath morning the filled to overflowing, and my father took me with him by the hand, and we sat together on the same form with Ebenezer Muir, whom we found in the cluirch before us. When Mr Sundrum mounted into the pulpit and read the psalm, and said tiie prayer, there was nothing particular ; but when he prepared to preach, there was a rustle of expecta- tion among all present ; for tlie text he chose was from llomans, ciiap. xiii. and verses 1 and 2 ; from wliicli he made an endeavour to demonstrate, as I heiird afterwards, for I was then too ycung to discern tiie matter of it myself, the duty and advantage of pas- sive obedience — and, growing warm with his ungospel rhetoric, lie began to rail and to daud the pulpit, in con- demnation of the spirit which had kithed in Edinburgh. Ebenezer Muir and my father tholed with hiui for some time ; but at last he so far forgot his place and oHice, that they both rose and moved towards the door. Many others did the same, and presently the whole congregation, with the exception of a very few, also began to move, so tliat tlie kirk skayled ; and from that day, so long a \i' Sundrum. continued in the parish, ne was a leper and an ex- communicant. !Meanwliile the alarm was spread- ing far and wide, and a blessed thing it was for tl.e shire of Ayr, though it caused its soil to besoakened with tho blood of martyrs, that few of tho ministers were like the time-serving Mr Sundrum, but trusty and valiant defenders of tho green pastures whereon they* liad delighted, like kind shepherds, to lead their confid- ing flocks, and to cherish the young lambs thereof with the tender em- braces of a holy ministry. Among 106 niNGAN GtLHAlZE. the rest, that godly nnd great saint, Mr Swiuton of Garnock, our ncipili- bour parisli, stood courageously for- waid in the gap of the broken fence of tlie vineyard, announcing, after a most weiglity discour?e, on the i5anie day on which Air Sundrum preached the erroneous doctrine of passive obe- dience, that next Sabbath lie would administer the sacrament of the Ijord's Supper, not knowing how long it might be in the power of liis people to partake of it. Everybody around accordingly prepared to be present on that occasion, and there was a won- derful congregation. All the adja- cent parishes in succession did the same thing Sabbath after Sabbath, and never was there seen, in the me- mory of living man, such a zealous devotion and strictness of life as then reigned throughout the whole West Country. At last the news came, that it was resolved among the great and faithful at Edinburgh to renew the Solemn League and Covenant ; and the min- isters of our neighbourhood having conferred together concerning the same, it was agreed among them, t'lat the people should be invited to come forward on a day set apart for the purpose, and that as the kirk of Ir- vine was the biggest in the vicinage, the signatures both for the country and tliat town should be received there. ;Mr Dickson, the minister, than whom no man in his day was more brave in the Lord's cause, accordingly made the netdful preparation, and appointed the time. In the meanwhile the young men began to gird themselves for war. The swords that had rested for many a day were drawn from their idle places; and tiie women worked to- gether, that their brothers and their sons might be ready for the field ; but at their work, instead of the an- cient lilts, they sung psalms and godly ballads. However, as I mean not to enter upon particulars of that awak- ening epoch, but only to show forth the pure and the holy eari.estness wi^h which the minds of men were then ac- tuated, I shall hero refer the courteous reader to the annals and chronicles of the time,— albeit the truth in thorn has suffered from tl'e alloy of a base servility. CIIArXEll XIV. The sixteenth day of tlune, in the year of our Lord 1638, was appointed for the renewal at Irvine of the Solemn League and Covenant. On the night before, my five elder brothera, who were learning trades at Glasgow and Kilmarnock, came home that they might go up with their father to the house of God, in order to set down their names together ; me and my four sisters, the rest of his ten children, were still biding Avith our mother and him at the mailing. From my grandfather's time there had been a by-common respect among the neighbours for our laniily on his account ; and that morning my bro- ther Jacob, who happened to be the first that went, at break of day, to the door, was surprised to see many of the cotters and neighbouring far- mer lads already assembled on the lone, waiting to walk with us to tho town, as a token of their reverence for the principles and the memory of that departed worthy, and they wore all belted and armed with swords like men ready for battle. Seeing such a concourse of the neighbours, instead of making exercise in the house, my father, as the morn- ing was bright and lown, bade me carry the liible and a stool to tho dykeside, that our friends might have room to join us in worship, — which I did accordingly, placing the stool tllNGAir GILtTAlZK 107 under the ash-trec, at the corner of tlic stack-jiircl, and l)y all tliose Avho were present on that occasion tlie spot v,■^^H over afterwards regarded as a Jiallowed jilace. Truly there was a scene and a si^^dit tliere not likely to be forgotten ; for the awful cause tiiat had brought togetlier that meet- ing was a tiling which no man Avho liad a part therein could ever in all Lis days forget. My father chose the Ixxvi. Psalm, and when it was sung, he opened the Scriptures in Second Kings, and read aloud, with a strong voice, the xxiii. chapter, and every one likened Josiah to the old King, and Jehoahaz to his son Charles, by whoso disregard of the Covenant the spirit of the land was then in such tribulation ; and at the conclusion, instead of kneeling to pray, as he was wont, my father stood up, and, as if all temporal things were then of no account, he only suppli- cated that the work they had in hand for that day might be approved and Bauctiried. The worship being over, the family returned into the houf^e, and having partaken of a repast of bread and milk, my father put on hia father's sword, and my brothers, who had brought weapons of their own home with them, also belted themselves for the road. I was owre young to b3 trysted for war, so my father led me out by the hand, and walking forward, followed by my brothers, the neighbours, two and two, fell into (he rear, and the women, in their plaids, came mourn- ful and in tears at some short distance behind. As we were thus proceeding to- wards the main road, we heard the sound of a drum and fife, and saw over the hedge of the lane that leads to the elachan, a white banner wav- ing aloft with the words " Sou;mn Lkagi'i: axd Covknant" painted thereon ; at the eight of which my j father was much disturbed, saying, — " This is some siily device of Na- hum Chapelrig, that, if we allow to l^roceed, may bring scoff and scorn upon ihe cause as we enter the town ;" and with that, dropping my hand, he I'an forward and stopped their vain bravery ; for it was, as he had sup- posed, the work of Nahuni, who was marching, like n man-of-war, a', the head of his band. However, on my father's reraonstrivnce, he consented to send aAvay his sounding instruments and idle banner, and to walk com- posedly along with us. As we reached the town-end port, we fell i .1 with a vast number of other persons, from different parts ol the country, going to sign the Covenant, and, on a cart, worthy Ebenezer Muir and three other aged men like him- self, who, being all of our parish, it was agreed that they should alight and walk to the kirk at the head of tliose who had come with my father. While this was putting in order, other men and lads belonging to the parish came and joined tis, so that, to the number of more than a hundred, wo went up the town together, "When we arrive 1 at the tolbooth, we were obligated, with others, to halt for some time, by reason of the great crowd at the Kirkgatefoot waiting to see if the magistrates, who were then sitting in council, would come forth and go to the kirk ; and the different crafts and burgesses, with their deacons, were standing at the Cross in order to follow them, if they determined, in their public capacity, to sign the Covenant, ac- cording to the pious example which had been set to all in authority by the magistratt'S and town-council of ]''dinbr.rgh three days before. "We had not, liowever, occasion to be long detained ; for it was resolved, with a unanimous heart, that the provost should sign in the name of the town, 108 RINGAN GTLHAIZE. and that tho bailies and councillors should, in their own names, sign each for himself; so they came out, with the town-officers bearing their battle- axes before them, and tho crafts, ac- cording to their privilege, followed them to the kirk. The men of our parish went next ; but on reacliing the kirk-yard yett, it was manifest that, large as the ancient fabric was, it would not be able to receive a moitd of the persons assembled. Godly Mr David Dickson, the minister, had, however, provided for this ; and on one of the old tombs on the south side of the kirk, he had ordered a table and chair to be placed, where that effectual preacher, Mr Livingstone, delivored a great ser- mon, — around him the multitude from the country parishes wore con- gregated; but my fatlier being well acquainted with Deacon Aiild of the Wrights, was invited by him to come into his seat in the kirk, where he carried me in witli him, and we heard Air Dickson himself. Of the strain and substance of his discourse I remember nothing, save only the earnestness of his manner; but well do I remember tho awful sough and silence that was in the kiik when, at the conclusion of the sermon, he prepared to road the words of the Covenivnt. "Now," said he, when he had come to the end, and was rolling it up, "as no man knoweth low long, after this day, he may be aUowed to partake of the sacrament of the Supper, the ciders Avill bring forward the elements : an I it is hoped that sisters in Christ will not come to com- munion till the brethren are served, who. as they take their seats at the Lord's table, are invited to sign their names to this solenni cliarter of the religious rights and liberties of God's people in Scotland." Uo then camo down from the pulpit with tho parchment in his hand, and going to the head of the sacramental table, he opened it again, and laid it down over the elements of tho bread and wine which the elders had just placed there ; and a minister, whose name I do not well recollect, sitting at his right hand, holding aa inkstand, p/esented him witii a pen, which, when he had taken, he prayed in silence for the space of a minute, and then, bending forward, Jie signed his name ; having done so, he raised himself erect and said, with a loud voice, holding up his right hand, " Before God and these witnesses, in truth and holiness, I have sworn to keep this Covenant." At that moment a solemn sound rose from all the con- gregation, and every one stood up to see the men, as they sat at the table, put down their names. From the day on which the Cove- nant was signed, though I was owre young to remember the change my- self, I have heard it often said, that a great n Iteration took place in the morals and manners of the Cove- nanters. The Sabbath was observed by them with far more than the solemnity of times past; and there was a strictness of walk and conversa- tion among them, which showed how much in sincerity they were indeed regenerated Christians. The company of persons inclined to the prelatic sect was eschewed as contagious, and all light pastimes and gaiety of heart were suppressed, both on account of their tendency to sinfulness, and because of the danger with which the Truth and the Word were threatened by the Armician Antichrist of the King's Government. But the more immediate effect of the renewal of tho Solemn League and Covenant was the preparation for defence and resistance, which the deceitful policy of that false monarch, King Charles the First, taught every EINGAN GILHAIZE. 105) one to know would be required. Tlio nien began to practise firing at butts and targets, and to provide tliemselves witii arms and munitions of war ; while, in order to maintain a life void of offence in all temporal concerns, they were by ordinaire obedient and sub- missive to those in authority over them, whether holding jurisdiction from the King, or in virtue of baronies and feudalities. In this there was great wisdom ; for it left the sin of the provocation still on the heads of the King and his evil counsellors, in so much that even, when the General Assembly, holden at Glasgow, vindicated the indepen- dence and freedom of Christ's king- dom, by continuing to sit in despite of the dissolution pronounced by Kivig Charles' commissioner, the Marquis Hamilton, and likewise by decreeing the abolition of prelacy as an abomi- nation, there was no political blame wherewith the people, in their capacity of subjects to their earthly prince, could be wyted or brought by law to punishment. In the meantime, the King, wlio was as fey as he was false, mustered his forces, and his rampant high-priest, Laud, was, with all the voices of his prelatic emissaries, inflaming the honest people of England to wage war against our religious frjodom. The I ,.^ .tical Queen of Charles was no less busy with the priesthood of her crafty sect, and aids and powers, both of men and money, were raised where- ever they could be had, in order to reinstall the discarded episcopacy of Scotland. The Covenanters, however, were none daunte<l, for they had a great ally in the Lord of hosts ; and, with Him for their captain, they neither sought nor wished for any alien assist- ance, though they sent letters to their brethren in foreign parts, exhorting them to unite ia the Covenant, and to join them for the battle. General Lesley, in Gustavus Adolphus' army, was invited by his kinsman, the Lord Rothes, to come home, that, if need arose, he might take the temporal command of the Covenanters. The King having at last, according to an ancient jiractice of the English monarchs, when war in old times was proclaimed against the Scots, sum- moned his nobles to attend him with their powers at York, the Covenanters girded their loins, and tlie whole country rung with the din of the gathering of an host for the field. One Captain Bannerman, who had been with Lesley in the armies of Gustavus, was sent from Edinburgh to trtiin the men in our part ; and our house being central for the musters of the three adjacent parishes, ho staid a night in the week witli us at Quharist for tlie space -^f better than two months, and his military discourse greatly instructed our neigii- bours in the arts and stratagems of war. He was an elderly man, of a sedato character, and had gone abroad with an uncle from ^lontrose when he was quite a youth. In his day he had seen many strange cities, and places of wonderful strengtii to witlistand the force of sieges. liui., though bred a soldier, and his homo in the camp, ho had been himself but seldom in the field of battle. In appearance he was tall and lofty, and very erect and formal ; a man of few words, but they were well cliosen ; and he was patient and pains-taking; of a contented aspect, somewhat hard-favoured, and seldom given to smile. To little chil- dren he was, however, bland and cour- teous; taking a pleasure ia setting those that were of my age in battle array, for he had no pastime, being altogether an instructive soldier ; or, p.a William, my third brother, used to 1 Bay, who was a free out-spokcu lad, 110 RINGAN GILHAl/E. Captain Bannerman was a real dominie o' war. Besides liiin, in onr conntry-Bido, there was another oliieer, by name Hepburn, who had also been bred Avith the great Gustavus, sent to train the Covenanters in Irvine ; but he wi'H of a more mettlesome Imniour, and hicked the needful douceness that became -those who were banding them- selves for a holy cause ; nevertheless, he was much beloved by the men ho had the training of ; and, on the night before he left the town, lies were told of a most respectit and pious oliieer of the town's power, if he did not find the causey owre wide when he was going home, after partaking of Cap- tain Hepburn's pay-way supper. But how that may have been is little of my business at present to investigate ; for I have only spoken of Hepburn, to notify what happened in conse- quence of a brag he iiad with Baimer- mun, anent the skill of tlieir respec- tive disciples, the which grew to such a controversy between them, that no- thing lees would satisfy Hepburn than to try the skill of the Irvine men against ours, and the two neighbour- ing pari.'jhcB of Garnock and Stoney- holm. Accordingly a day was fixed for that purpose, and the Craiglands-croft was the place appointed for this pro- bation of soldiership. On the morning of the appointed day the country folk assembled far and near, and Nahum Chapelrig, at the head of the lads of his clachan, was the first on the field. The sight to my young eyes was as the greatest show of pageantry tliat could be imagined ; for Nahum had, from the time of the covenanting, been gather- ing arms and armour from all quar- ters, and had thereby not cMy ob- tained a glittering breastplate for hini- ficlf. but tiiree otiier coats of mail for tlio like number of his fellows ; and when they were coining over the croft, with their fife and drum, and the banner of the Covenant waving aloft in the air, every ou<: ran to be- hold such splendour and pomp of war ; many of the women, that were witnesses among the multitude, wept at such an apparition of battles daz- zling our peaceful fields. My father, with nij five brothers, headed tlie Covenanters of our parish. There was no garnish among that band. They came along with austere looks and douce steps, and their belts were of tanned leather. The hilts of many of their swords were rusty, for they had been the weapons of their forefathers in the raids of the Refor- mation. As my father led them to their station on the right flank of Nahum Chapelrig's array, the crowd of onlookers fell back, and stood in silence as they ])as8ed by. IScarcely had tiiey halted, when there was a raahing among the on- lookers, and presently the townsmen, with Hepburn on horseback, were seen coming over the brow of the Gowan-brae. They were scant the strength of the country folk by more than a score, but there was a band of sailor boys with them that made the number greater; so that, when they were all drawn up together forenent the countrymen, they were more than man for man. It is not to 1,3 suppressed nor denied, that, in the first show of the day, Hepburn got far more credit and honour than old sedate Jiaunerman ; for his lads were lighter in the heel, glegger in the eye, and brisker in the nianreuvres of war : moreover, they were all far more similar in their garb and ajifjc.i ranee, which gave them a seeming compactness that the country- men had nothing like. But when the simm contest began, it was not long till Bannerman's disciples showed the proofs of their master's better skill to such a mark, that Hepburn grew EINGAN GILHAIZE. Ill hot, and so kindled his men by re- ])roaclic'S, that there was liko to have been figliting in true earnest; for tlie blood of tlio country folk was also rising. Their eyes grew fierce, and they muttered through their tcetli. Old Ebcnezer Muir, who was among the multitude, observing that their blood was heating, stepped forward, and lifting up his hand, cried, "Sirs, stop ; " and both sides iustanter made a pause. "This maunna be," said he. " It may bo sport to those who arc by trade soldiers to try the mettle o' their men, but ye'ro a covenanted people, obligated by a grievous tyranny to quit your spades and your looms only for a season ; therefore be counselled, and rush not to battle till need be, which may the Lord yet prevent." Hepburn uttered an angry bnn, and would have turned the old man away by the shoulder ; but the comba- tants saw they were in the peril of a quarrel, and many of them cried aloud, "He's in the right, and we're playing the fool for the diversion o' our adver- saries." So the townsmen and the country folk shook hands ; but instead of renewing the contest. Captain Ban- nerman proposed that they should all go througli their discipline together, it being manifest tliat there were little odds in their skill, and none in their courajic. The which prudent admoni- tion pacified all parties, and tlie re- mainder of the day was spent in cor- diality and brotherly love. Towards tlie conclusion of the exercises, worthy I\Ir Swinton camo on the field ; and wiien the business of the day was over, he ste[)ped forward, and the trained men being formed around hun, tiie onlookers standing on the outside, he exliorted them in prayer, and implored a blessing on their covenanted union, which had the effect of restoring all their hearts to a religious frouie f^ud a, solemnity befitting the spirituality of their cause. One night, about a month after the ploy whereof I have spoken in tlic foregoing chapter, just os my father had finished the worship, and the family wore composing tlieniKelvos round the fireside tor supper, Ave were startled by the sound of a galloping horse coming to the door ; and before any one had time to open it, there was a dreadful knocking with the heft of the rider's whip. It was Nalium Chapelrig, who being that day ;it Kilmarnock, had heard, as be was leaving the town, the cry get up there tliat the Aggressor was coming from York with all the Y i,disli power, and he had flown far and wide on his way home publishing the dismal tidings. My father, in a sober manner, bade him alight and partake of our supper, q""stioniiig him sedately aiiont wliat he liad heard ; but Nahum was raised, and could give no patisfaciiou in his answers ; he, however, leapt from his horse, and drawing the bridle through the ring at tlie door- cheek, came ben to the fire where we had all so shortly before been harmoniously sitting. His eyes were wide and wild ; his hair, with the heat he was in, was as if it had been pomated ; his che?ks were white, his lips rod, and he panted with haste and panic. "They're coming," he cried, "in thousands o' thousands ; ne'er sic a force has crossed tiie border since the day o' Flodden Fiehl. We'll a' either bo put to the sword, man, woman, and child, or sent in slavery to the plantations." " ]SJo," replied my father, " tilings arc no just come to that pass ; we have our swords yet, and hearts and hands to use them." The consternation, however, of Nahum Cliapeliig that nigiit was far ayont all counsel ; so, after trying to Bootho and r^osQA hii;i iptQ a nior^ 112 RINGAN GILHAIZE. temperate frame, my father was obli- gated to tell him tliat, since the battle was coming so near our gates, it be- hoved the Covenanters to be in readi- ness for the field, advising Niihum to go lionie, and be over with him be- times in the morn'.ng. While they yveve thus ' speaking, James Newbigging also came to the door with a rumour of the same sub- stance, which his Avifo had brought from Eglinton Castle, where she had been with certain cocks and hens, a servitude of the Ej^lintons on their mailing ; so that there was no longer any dubiety about the news, though matters were not in such a desperate condition as Nahura Chapelrig had terriiied himself with the thought of. Nevertheless, the tidings were very dreadful ; and it was a judgment-like thing to hear that an anointed king was so far left to himself as to be coming with wrath, and banners, and trampling war-horses, to destroy his subjects for tlie sincerity of tlieir re- ligious allegiance to that Almighty Monarch, who has but permitted the princes of the earth to be set up as idols by the hands of men. James Newbigging, as well as Nahum, having come ben to the fire- side, my father called for the Books again, and g<ave out the eight first verses of the forty-fourth Psalm, which we all sung with hearts in holy unison and zealous voices. "When James Newbigging and Nahum Chapelrig were gone away home, my father sat for some time exhorting us, who were his youngest children, to be kind to one unotlier, to cherifih our motlier, and not to let aulJ doited aunty want, if it wj j the Lord's will that he should never come back from the battle. The which to hear caused much sorrow and lamenta- tion, especially from my mother, who, however, said nothing, but took hold of Ms hand and watered it with her tears. After this ho walked out into the fields, where ho remained some time alone ; and during his absence, me and the three who were next to mo were sent to our beds ; but, young as we then were, we were old enough to know the danger that hung over us, and we lay long awake, wondering and woful with fear. About two hours after midnight the house was Jigain startled by an- other knocking, and on my father in- quiring who was at the door, he waa answered by my brother Jacob, who had come with IMichael and llobia from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, on hear- ing the news, and had thence brought William and Alexander with them to go with their father to the war. For they had returned to their respec- tive trades after the day of the cove- nanting, and had only been out at Hepburn's raid, as the ploy with the Irvine men was called in jocularity, in order that the neigh- bours, who venerated my grand- father, might see them together as Covenanters. Thearrival of her sons, and the pur- pose they had come upon, awakened afresh the grief of our motiier ; but my father entreated us all to be quiet, and to compose ourselves to rest, that we might be the abler on the morn to prepare for what iniglit then ensue. Yet, though there was no sound in the house, save only our motlicr's moaning, few closed their eyes, and long before the sun every one was up and stirring, and my fatlier and my five brothers were armed and belted for the march. Scarcely wore thoy r(;u<ly, when different neighbours in tlie like trim came to go witli them. Presently, also, Nahum Chapelrig, with his ban- ner, and fife, and drum, at the head of some ten or twelve lads of his clachan, came over, and on this oc- casion no obstacle was mado to and bitte his Swin and drun and turn the theh EINGAN GTLHATZE. 113 that bravery which was thought so uncomely on the day of the cove- nanting. While the armed men were thus gatlicring before our door, witli the intent of setting forward to (ilasgow, as the men of tlie West had been some time before trysted to do, by orders from General Lesley, on the first alarm, that godly man and minister of righteousness, the Reverend Mr Swinton, made his appearance with his staff in his hand and a satchel on his back, in which he carried the Bible. " I am come, my frien's," said he, "to go with you. Where the en- signs of Christ's Covenant are dis- played, it is meet that the very lowest of his vassivls should be there ; " and having exhorted the weeping women around him to be of good cheer, he prayed for them and for tiieir little children, whom the Ag!:fressor was, perhaps, soon to make fatherless. Nahiim Chnpelrig then exalted his banner, and the drum and fife be- ginning to play, the venerable man stepped forward, and heading the array with his staff in his hand, they departed amidst tiie shouts of the boys, and the loud sorrow of many a wife and mother. I followed them, with my com- panions, till they reached the high road, where, at the turn that led them to Glasgow, a great concourse of other women and children belonging to tiie neighbouring parishes were assembled, having tiiere parted from their friends. They were all mourning and weeping, and mingling their lamentations with bitter predictions against the King and liis evil counsellors ; but seeing Mr Swinton they became more composed, and he having made a sign to the drum and fife to cease, he stopped, and earnestly entreated them to re- turn home and employ themselves in the concerns of their familiea, which, the heads being for a season removed, stood the more in need of all their kindness and care. This halt in the march of their friends brought the onlookers, who were assembled round our house, running to see what was the cause, and, among others, it gave time to the aged Ebenezer Muir to come up, whdhi Mr Swinton no sooner saw than he called on him by name, and bade him comfort the women, and in- vite them away from the high road, where their presence could only in- crease the natural grief that every covenanted Christian, in passing to join the army, could not but suffer, on seeing so many left defenceless by the unprovoked anger of the Aggres- sor. He then bade the drum again beat, and, the marf . being resumed, the band of our parish soon went out of sight. While our men continued in view Ebenezer Muir said nothing ; but as soon as they had disappeared behind the brow of the Gowan-brae, he spoke to the multitude in a gentle and pa- ternal manner, and bade them como with him into the neighbouring field, and join him in prayer ; after which he hoped they would see the wisdom of returning to their homes. They accordingly followed him, and he hav- ing given out the twenty-third Psalm, all present joined him, till the lonely fields and silent woods echoed to tho melody of their pious song. As we wer« thus standing around the old man in worship and unison of spirit, the Irvine men came along the road ; and seeing us, they hushed their drums as t' jy passed by, and bowed down their banners in reve- rence and solemnity. Such was the outset of the worthies of the renewed Covenant, in the war with the first Charles. 114 RINGAN GILHATZE, CHAPTER XV. Afteu my father and brothers, with our iicicfhboura that went witli them, had returned from the blood- less raid of Dunso Law, as tiio fust expedition was called, a solemn thanksgiving was held in all the country-side ; but the minds of jnen were none pacified by the treaty con- cluded with the Kiupf at JJerwick. For it was manifest to the worhl, that coming in his ire, and with all the might of hia power, to punisli the Covenanters as rebels, he would never have consented to treat with them on nuythiug like equal terms, had he not been daunted by their strength and numbers ; so that the spirit awakened by his Ahab-likc domination con- tinued as alive and as distrustful of his word and {tactions as ever. After the rumours of iiis plain jug- gling about the verbals of the stipu- lated conditions, and his arbitrary prorogation of the parliament at Edinburgh, a thing wliich the best and bravest of the Scottish monarchs liad never before dared to do without the consent of the States then assem- bled, the thud and murmur of warlike preparation was renewed both on anvil and in hall. And when it wivs known that the King, fey and dis- t.(;mpered with his own weak conceits and the instigations of cruel counsel- lors, had, as soon as lie heard that the Covenanters were disbanded, re- newed his purposes of punishment and oppression, a gurl of rage, like the first brush of the tempest on the waves, passed over the whole extent of Scotland, and those that had been in arms fiercely girded themselves again for batth\ As the king's powers came again towards the borders, the Covenanters, for the second time, mustered under Lesley at Dunse ; but far different was this new departure of our men from the solemnity of their first cx- t)edition. Their spirits were now larsh and angry, and their drums sounded hoarsely on the breeze. Godly ^Ir Swinton, as he headed them again, struck the grviUnd with his stair, and, instead of praying said, "It is the Lord's pleasure, and ho wid make the Aggressor iin' the weight of the arm of fiesli. Honest folk arc no ever to be thus obligated to leave their fields and families by the provocations of a prerogative that has so little regard for the people. la the nanje and strength of God, let us march." With six and twenty thousand horse aini foot Lesley crossed the 'J'weed, and in the first onset tho King's army was scattered like chaff before the wind. When the news of the victory arrived {iniong ns, every one was filled with awe and holy wonder ; for it happened on the very day which was held as n universal fast throughout the land; on tiiat day likewise, even in the time of wor- ship, the castle of Dumbarton was won, and the covenanted Earl of Had- dington repelled a wasteful irruption from the garrison of Berwick. Such disasters smote the King with consternation ; for the immediate fruit of tho victory was the conquest of Newcastle, Tyne-mouth, Shields, and Durham. Baffled and mortified, humbled but not penitent, the rash and vindic- tive Monarch, in a whirlwind of mu- tiny and desertion, was obligated to retreat to York, where he was con- strained, by the few sound and sober- minded that yet hovered around him, to try the effect of another negotiation with his insulted and indignant sub- jects. But as all the things which hence ensued are mingled with tho acts of perfidy and aggression by which, under the disastrous infiuenco of the fortunes of his doomed an4 RINGAN GILHAIZE. 115 guilty race, ho drew down the ven- gcuiico of his Englisli subjects, it Avould lend mo far from this house- hold memorial to enter more ;iL larf,'o on circuni.stiuices so notour, tiiouj;h they have been strangely palliated by the supple spirit of latter times, es- pecially by the sordid courtliness of the crafty Clarendon. I shall there- fore! skip the main passages of public affairs, and hasten forward to the time •when I became myself enlisted on the side of our national liberties, briefly, however, noticing, as 1 proceed, that after the peace which was concluded at Kipon my father and my live brothers came home. None of them received any hurt in battle ; but in the course of the winter the old man was visited with a great income of j)ain8 find aches, in so much that, for the remainder of his days, he was little able to endure fatigue or hardship of any kind ; my second brotlusr, Hobin, was therefore called from his trade in Glasgow to look after the mailing, for I was still owre young to bo of any effectual service ; Alexander continued a bonnet-maker at Kilmarnock ; but Michael, AVilliam, and Jacob, joined and fought with the forces that won tho mournful triumph of Marstou- moor, where fifty thousand subjects of the same King and laws contended with one another, and where the Lord, by showing himself on the side of the people, gave a dreadful admonition to the Government to recant and con- ciliate while there was yet time. Meanwhile the worthy Mr Swinton, having observed in me a curiosity towards books of history and piety, had taken great pains to instruct me in the rights and truths of relMon, and to make it manifest alike to the civca and eyes of my understanding, that no human .luthority could, or ought to, dictate in matters of faith, beeaiiso it could not discern tho eecreta pf the brejist, i^either know what was acceptable to Heaven in conduct or in worship. lie likewise expounded to me in what manner tho Covenant was not a temporal but a spiritual league, trenching in no re- spect upon the ujitural and contributed autiiority of the kingly office. But, owing to the infirm state of my father's health, neither my brother Kobin nor I could bo fipared from the farm, in any of the different raids that ger- minated out of the King's controversy with the English parliament ; so that in the whigamoro expedition, as it was profanely nicknamed, from our shire, with the covenanted Earls of Cassilis and Eglinton, wo had no personality, though our hearts went with those that were therein. \^'hen, however, the hideous tid- ings came of the condenination and execution of the King, there M'as a stop in the current of men's minds, and as the waters of Jordan when tho ark was carried in, rushed back to their fountain-head, every true Scot on that occasion felt in his heart the ancient affections of his nature re- turning with a compassionate horror. Yet even in this they were true to the Covenant ; for it was not to be hidden that the English Parliament, in doing what it did in that tragical event, Avas guided by a speculative spirit of po- litical innovation and change, different and distinct, both in principle and object, from the cause which made our Scottish Covenanters have re- course to arms. In truth, the act of bringing kings to public condign punishment was no such new thing in the chronicles of Scotland, as that brave historian, George Buchanan, plainly shows, to have fdlcd us with sucii amazement and affright, had the offences of King Charles been proven as clearly personal, as the crimes for which the ancient tyrants of his pedi- gree suffered the death : — but hia offences were shared with hia coun- 116 RINGAN GILHAIZE. lii sellors, whose duty it was to have bridled his arbitrary pretensions, lie was in consequence mourned as a victim, and liis son, the second Cli.'irlc'S, at onco proclaimed and acknowledged King of Scotland. How ho deported himself in that capacity, and what gratitude ho and his brother showed the land for its faith and loyalty in tho wreck and desperation of their royal fortunes, with a firm and a fearless pea I now purpose to show. But as tho tale of their persecutions is ravelled with tho sorrows and tho suiferings of my friends and neighbours, and the darker tissue of my own woes, it is needful, before proceeding therein, that I should entreat the indulgence of tlie courteous reader to allow a few short t)assages of my private life now to be lerc recorded. Some time before the news of King Charles' execution readied us in the West, the day had been set for my marriage with Sarah Lochrig ; but the fear and consternation which the tid- ings bred in all minds, many dreading that the event would be followed by a total breaking up of the union and frame of society, made us consent to defer our happiness till wo saw what was ordained to come to pass. When, however, it was seen and felt that the dreadful beheading of an anointed monarch as a malefactor, had scarcely more effect upon the tides of the time than the death of a sparrow, — and that men were called as usual to their daily tasks and toils, — and that all things moved onward in their accustomed courses, — and that laws and jurisdictions, and all the wonted pacts and processes of community between man and man, suffered neither molestation nor hind- rance, godly Mr Swinton bestowed his blessing on our marriage, and our friends their joyous countenance at the wedding feast. My lot was then full of felicity, and I had no wish to wander beyond the green valley where we established our peaceful dwelling. It was in a lown holm of tho (Jarnock, on tho lands of (iuharist, a portion of which my father gave mo in tack ; and Sarah's father likewise bestowed on us seven rigs, and a cow's grass of his own mailing, for her tocher, as tho beginning of a plenishment to our young fortunes. Still, like all tho neighbours, I was deeply concerned about what was going on in the far- off world of conflicts and negotia- tions ; and this was not out of an idle tliirst of curiosity, but from an interest mingled with sorrows and affections ; for, after tlie campaign in England, my three brothers, Michael, William, and Alexander, never domi- ciled themselves at any civil calling Having caught the roving spiri: of camps, they remained in the skirts of the array which the covenanted Lords of Edinburgh continued to maintain ; and here, poor lads ! I may digress a little, to record the brief memorials of their several unhappy fates. When King Charles tho Second, after accepting and being sworn to abide by the Covenant, was brought home, and the crown of his ancient p ogenitors placed upon his head at bcoone, by the hands of the Marquis of Argyle, in the presence of the great and godly Covenanters, my brothers went in the army that he took with him into England. Michael was slain at the battle of Worcester, by the side of Sir John Shaw of Greenock, who carried that day tho royal banner. Alexander was wounded in the same fight, and left upon tho field, where he was found next morn- ing by the charitable inhabitants of the city, and carried to the house of a loyal gentlewoman, one Mrs Deer- hurst, that treated him with much tenderness ; but after languishing in RINOAN GILHATZE. 117 npony, na sho hcraclf wrote to my fallicr, ho departed this lifo on tho third day. Of William I have sometimes wished that I had never heard more ; for after tlio adversity of that day, it would seem ho forgot tho Covenant and his fatiier's house. Kitchio Mini- ^'!iff, an old servant of tho Lord Eglinton's, when tho Earl his master was Cromwell's prisoner in the Tower of London, saw him there among tho guard, and scmo years after tho Kestoration he met him again among tho King's yeomen at AVestminster, about tho time of tho beginning of the persecution. But Willy then begged Ilitclue,with tho tear in his eye, no to tell his father ; nor was ever the old man's heart pierced with tho anguish which tho thought of such backsliding would have causcd,though he often wondered to us at homo, with the anxiety of a parent's wonder, what could have become of blithe light-hearted Willy. No doubt he died in tho servitude of the faithless tyrant ; but the storm that fell among us, soon after Ritchie had told me of his unfortunate condition, left lis neither time nor opportut.ity to in- quire about any distant friend. But to return to my own story. From my marriage till the perse- cution beg.an, I took no part in tho agitations of the times. It is true, after the discovery of Charles Stuart's perfidious policy, so like his father's, in corresponding with the I^Iarquis of Montrose for the subjection of Scot- land by the tyranny of tho sword, at the very time ho was covenanting with the commissioners sent from the Lords at Edinburgh with tho ofTer of the throne of his ancestors, that with my father and my brothei- Robin, together with many of our neighbours, I did sign the Remonstrance against making a prince of such a treacherous and unprincipled nature king. But in that we only delivered reasons and opinioni on a matter of temporal expediency; for it was an instrument that neither contained or implied obligation to arm; indeed our doportiiient bore testimony to this explanation of tho spirit ia which it was conceived and under- stood. For when the prince had received the crown and accepted tho Covenant, wo submitted ourselves as good subjects. Fearing (iod, wo were content to honour in all rights and prerogatives, not contrary to Scrip- ture, him whom, by His grace in tho mysteries of His wisdom. He had, for our manifold sins as a nation and a people, been pleased to ordain and set over us for king. And verily no better test of our sincerity could be, than tho distrust with which our whole country- side was respected by Oliver Crom- well, when lie thought it necessary to build that stronghold at Ayr, by which his Englishers were enabled to hold tho men of Carrick, Kyle, and Cun- ningham in awe, — a race that, from the days of Sir William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce, have ever been found honest in principle, brave in affection, and dauntless and doure in battle. But it is not necessary to say more on this head ; for full of griefs and grudges as wore tlie hearts of all true Scots, with the thought of their country in southern thraldom, while Cromwell's Englishers held the upper hand amongst us, t!ie season of their dominion was to mo and my house as a lown and pleasant spring. All around me was bud and blossom and juvenility, and gladness, and hope. My lot was i\a the lot of the blessed man. I ate of the labour of my hands, I was happy, and it was well with me ; my wife, as the fruitful vino that spreads its clusters on the wall, made my lowly dwelling more beautiful to the eye of the heart tlian the golden palaces of crowned kings, and our pretty bairns were like olive plants lis KINGAN GILHAIZE. round about my table ; — but they are all gone. The flood and flame have passed over them ; — yet be still, my heart : a little while endure in silence : for I have not taken up the avenging pen of history, and dipped it in tlie blood of martyrs, to record only my own particular woes and wrongs. It has been seen, by what I have told concerning the part my grand- fatlicr had in the great work of the Ileformation, that the heads of the house of Argyle were among the fore- most and the firmest friends of the resuscitated Evangil. The aged Earl of that time was in the very front of the controversy as one of the Lords of the Congregation ; and though his son, the Lord of Lorn, hovered for a season, like other young men of his degree, in the purlieus and preciucts of the Lady Regent's court, yet when lier papistical counsels broke the pac- tion with the Protestants at Pertii, I have rehearsed how he, being then possessed of the inhei-itance of his father's dignities, did, with the bravery becoming liis blood and station, re- monstrate witli lier Iligliness against such im])olitic craft and perfidy, and, along with the Lord James Stuart, utterljt eschew lier presence and mctliod of government. After the return of Queen Mary from France, and while she manifested a respect for the rights of her cove- nanted people, that worthy Earl was among her best friends; and even after the dismal doings that led to her captivity in Lochleven Castle, and thence to the battle of Langside, he still juted tlie part of a true noble- man to a sovereign so fickle and so faithU'f-s. "Whether he rued on tlie field that iie had done so, or was smitten with an infirmity that pre- vented him from fighting against liis old friend an<l covenanted brother, the good Regent Murray, belongs not to tlua history to iuc][uire ; but certain it is, that in him the Protestant prin- ciples of his honourable house suf- fered no dilapidation ; and in the per- son of his grandson, the first marquis of the name, they were stoutly asserted and maintained. When the first Charles, and Laud, that ravenous Arminiiui Anticlirist, attempted to subvert and abrogate the Presbyterian gospel Avorsliip, not only did the marquis stand forth in the van of the Covenanters to stay the religious oppression then meditated against his native land, but laboured with all becoming earnestness to avert the pestilence of civil war. In that doubtless Argyle offended tho false counsellors about the King ; but when the English Parliament, with a Lawless arrogance, struck off the head of the miscounselled and bigoted monarch, faithful to his covenants and tlie loyalty of his race, tlie Marquis was amongst the foremost of the Scottish nobles to proclaim the Prince of Wales king. With his own liands he placed on Charles the Second's head the aiicient diadem of Scotland. Surely it niiglic tiierufore have been supposed, that all previous offence against tiie royal family was forgotten and forgiven ; yea, when it is con- sidered that General Monk himself, the boldest in the cause of Cromwell's usurpation, was rewarded with a dukedom in England for doing no more for the king there than Argyle had done for him before in greater peril here, it could not have entered into the imagination of Christian men, tliat Argyle, for only submitting like a private subject to the same usurped autliority when it had become siii)reme, would, after the Restoration, be brought to the block. Hut it was so; and though the inachinations of political enemies converted that Hub- mission into treasons to excuse their own crime, yet there was not an houest mau iu all iha realm that did BINGAN GILfiAlZE. 119 not sec in the doom of Argylo a dis- mal onion of the cloud and storm wliich so soon after burst upon our rolijjious liberties. i'sissing, liowcver, by all those afllictions wliicii took the colour of pulitical animosities, I Iiasten to speak of the proceedings which, from the hour of the Restoration, were hatched for the revival of tlie prelatie oppres- .Mon. The tyranny of the Stuarts is indued of so fell a nature, tliat, having once tasted of blood in any cause, it will return again and again, however so often baffled, till it has either de- voured its prey, or been itself mas- tered : and so it showed in this instance. For regardless of those troubles which the attempt of the first (.'iiarles to exercise an authority in si)iritual tilings beyond the rights of ail earthly sovereignty caused to the realm and to himself, the second no sooner felt the sceptre in his grip, than I,-,) returned to the same enormities; and lie found a fit in- strument in James Siiarp, who, in contempt of the wrath of (iod. sold himself to Antichrist for the prelacy of St Andrews. But it \v;\H not among the tambitious and mercenary members of the clergy that tliu evidences of a baekslidi'ig generation were alone to by seen ; many of the people, nobles, and magistrateJi, were infected witli the sin of the fiamc reprobation ; and in verity, it might have been said of the reahn, that the restoration of King Charles the Second was hailed as an advent ordained to make men forget all vows, sobriety, and solenuiities. It in, however, something to be said in commendation of the constancy of mind ami princ'i[)le of our West- country folk, that the immorality of that (h'unken loyalty was less outra- geous and offensive to God and man amonjT them, and that altiiough we did eubuiit, and were commuudud to commemorate" the anniversary of the King's restoration, it was nevertheless done with humiliation and anxiety of spirit. But a vain thing it would be of me to attempt to tell tlie heartburn- ing with which Ave heard of the man- ner that the Covenant, and of all things whi'.h had bee'; hallowed and honourable to religious Scotland, Avere treated in the town of LithgoAV on that occasion, filtiiough all of my grandfather's stock knew that from of old it was a seat and sink of syco- phancy, alien to holiness, and prono to lick the dust aneath the feet of Avhomsoever ministered to the corrup- tion abiding there. Had the general inebriation of the kingdom been confined only to such mockers as the papistical progeny of the unregencrate town of LithgoAv, Ave might perhaps have only grieved at the wantonness of the Avorld ; but they Avere soon followed by more palpable enormities. ^liddleton, tlio King's commissioner, coming on a jirogrcss to Glas^gow. held a council of state there, at Avhieh Avas present the apostate Fairfoul, Avho had been shortly before nominated Archbisiiop of tiiat city ; and at his Avicked incite- ment, Middleton, in a fit of actual intoxication from strong drink, let loose the bloodhounds of persecution by that memorable act of council which bear,', the date of the 1st of October, 1GG2 — an anniversary that ought ever to be held as a solemn fast in Scotland, if such things miglit be, for by it all the ministers that had received Gospel ordination from and after the year forty-nine, and avIio still refused to bow the knee to Baal, Avero banished, Avith their families, from their kirks and manses. But to understand in Avhat Avay that Avicked act, and the blood-caus- ing ])roelamatiou Avhich ensued, came to take effect, it is needful, befun; proceeding to the recital, to bid tlu 1^ RINGAN GILHAIZE. courteous reader remember the preach- ing of the doctrine of passive obe- dience by our time-servinsf pastor, Mr Sundrum, and how the kirk was de- serted on that occasion ; because, after his death, which huppenod in the forty-nine, godly Mr Swinton became our chosen pastor, and being placed and inducted according to the apos- tolic ordination of Presbytery, fell of course, like many of his Gospel brethren, under the ban of the afore- said proclamation, of which some im- perfect sough and rumour reached us on the Friday after it was framed. At first the particulars were not known, for it was described as the muttering of unclean spirits against the purity of the Truth ; but the tidingB startled us like the growl of some unknown and dreadful thing, and I dreamt that night of my grand- father, with his white hair and the comely venerableness of his great age, appearing pale and sorrowful in a field before me, and pointing with a hand of streaming light to horsemen, and chariots, and armies with banners, waving together on the distant hills. Saturday was then the market-day at Irvine ; and though I had but little business there, I yet went in with my brother Robin, chiefly to hear the talk of the town. In this I but partook of the common sympathy of the whole counlxy-side; for, on entering the town-end port, we found the con- course of people there assembled little short of the crowd at Marymas Fair, and all eager to learn what the council held at Glasizow had done ; but no one could tell. Only it was known that the Earl of Eglintoii. who had been present at the council, was re- turned homo to the castle, and that he had sent for the Provost that morning on very urgent business. While wo were thus all speaking and marvelling one with another, a cry got up that a band of soldiers was coming into the town from Ayr, the report of which, for the space of several minutes, struck every one with awe and apprehension. And scarcely had the sough of this passed over us, when it was told tliat the ])rovo3t had privately returned from Kgliuton Castle by the (iailows-knowes to the backsides, and tliat he had sent for the minister and the bailies, with others of the council, to meet him in the clerk's chamber. No one wist what the moaning of such movements and mysteries could be ; but all boded danger to the fold and flock, none doubting that the wolves of Episcopalian covetousness were hungering and thirsting for the blood of the covenanted lambs. Nor were we long left to our guesses, for, soon after the magistrates and the minister had met, a copy of tlit pro- clamation of the council hold at Glas- gow was put upon the tolbootli door, by which it was manifested to every eye that the fences of the vineyard were indeed broken down, and that the boar was let in and wrathfuUy trampling down and laying Avastc. CIIAPTER XVI. TiiK proclamation was a stunning blow on the forehead of the Cove- nanters, and for the next two Sab- baths Mr Swinton was plainly in praj'or a weighed down and sorrow- ful-hearted man, but he said nothing in liis discourses that particularly affected the marrow of that borc and solemn business. On the Friday night, however, before the last Lord's day of that black October, he sent for my brother, who was one of his elders, and told him tliat lie had reueivod a mandatory for conformity to the pro- clamation, and to acknowledge the prelatic reprobation that the King's government had introduced into the RINGAN GILHAIZE. 121 church ; but that it wns hia inten- tion, strengthened of tlie Lord, to adhere to his vows and covenants, even to the uttermost, and not to quit his flock, liappen what Avould. "Tlie ])eild of the kirk and the manse," said he, " being teniporahties, are aneatli the power and regulation of the eartldy monarch ; but in the things tliat pertain to the allegiance 1 owe to the King of kings, I will act, with his heartening, the part of a true and loyal vassal." Tliis determination being known throughout the parish, and the first of November being the last day allowed for conforming, on the Sabbath pre- ceding we had a throng kirk and a solemneezed congregation. Accord- ing to their wonted custom, the men, before the hour of worship, assembled in the ki'-k-yard, and there was much nuirmuring and marvelling among us, that nobody ill all the land would stand forth to renew the Covenant, as was done in the year thirty-eight ; and we looked around and beheld the green graves of many friends that had died since the great day of the cove- nanting, and we were ashamed of our- selves and of our time, and mourned for the loss of the brave spirits which, in the darkness of His mysterious wisdom, tlie Lord had taken away. 'J'he weather, for the season, was bright and dry; and the withered leaf still hung liei'e and there on the tree, so that old and young, the infirm and the tender, could come .abroad ; and many that had been bed-rid Avere sup- ported along by their relations to hear the word of Truth, for the last time, preached in the iiouse of God. i\Ir Swinton came, followed by his wife and family. He was, by this time, a man well stricken in years, but Mrs .Swinton was of a younger genera- tion ; and they had seven children, — ]Martha, the eldest, a fine lassie, was not passing fourteen years of age. As they c£ime slowly up the kirk-stile, we all remarked that the godly man never lifted his eyes from the ground, but came along perusing, as it were, the very eartii for consolation. Tlse private door which, at that epoch, led to the minister's seat and the pulpit was near to where the bell- rope hung on the outer wall, and as the family Avent towards it, one of the ciders stepped from the plate at the main door to open it. But after Mrs Swinton and the children had gone in, the minister, who always stopped till they had done so, instead of then following, paused and looked up with a compassionate aspect, and laying his hand on the shoulders of old Willy Shackle, who was ringing the bell, he said — " Stop, my auld frien',— they that in this parish need a bell this day to call them to the service of their Ma- ker winna come on the summons o* yours." He then walked in ; and the old man, greatly affected, mounted the stool, and tied up the rope to the ring in the wall in his usual manner, that it might be out of the reach of the school weans. " But," said he, as he came down, " I needna fash ; for af- ter this day little care I wha rings the bell ; since it's to be consecrat to the wantonings o' prelacy, I wis the tongue wiis out o' its mouth and its head cracket, rather than that I should live to see't in the service of Baal and the whore o' Babylon." After all the congregation had ta- ken tiieir seats, Mr Swinton rose and moved towards the front of the pulpit, and t!i(' silence in the church was as the silence at the martyrdom of some holy martyr. He then opened THE Book, and having given out the ninety-fourth Psalm, we sang it with weeping souls ; and during the prayer that followed there was much sob- bing and lamentations, and an uui- 12^ illNGAN GILHAIZE. vorsal sorrow. His discourse was from the fifth chapter of the Liuneu- tatioiis of Jereiiiiali, verse first, and first clause of the verse; and witli the tongue of a prophet, and tlie voice of an apostle, he foretold, as things al- ready written in tlie chronicles of the kiiig<loni, many of those sufferings v'liieh afterwards came to pass. It was a sermon that settled into the bottom of the hearts of all that heard it, and prepared us for the woes of the vial that was then ]iouring out. At the close of the discourse, when the precentor rose to read the re- membering prayer, old Ebenezer Muir, then upwards of fourscore and thirteen, who had been brought into the church on a barrow by two of his grandsons, and was, for reason of his deafness, in the bench with the elders, gave him a paper, which, after re- hearsing tlic names of those in dis- tress and sickness, he road, and it was "The persecuted kirk of Scot- land." "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem! let my right hand forget her cun- ning,'" cried Mr Swinton at the words, witli an inspiration that made every lieart dirl ; and surely never was sueh a prayer heard as tluit with which he followed up the divine words. Then we sang the hundred and fortieth Psnlm, at the conclusion of which the minister came again to the front of the pulpit, and with a calm voice, attuned to by ordiuaro solem- nity, he pronounced the blessing ; then, suddenly turning himself, he looked down to his family and said, " Tlie foxes have holes, and the birds of the air liave nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." And he covered his face with his iiands. and sat down and wept. Never shall I forget the sound which rose at that sight. It was not a cry of woe ; neither was it the howl of despair, nor the sob of sorrow, nor the gurl of wrath, nor the moan of anguish, but a deep and dreadful rustling of hearts and spirits, as if the angel of desolation, in passing by, had shaken all his wings. The kirk then began to skail ; and when the minister and his family camo out into the kirk-yard, all the heads of families present, moved by some sacred instinct from on higli, followed them with one accord to tlie manse, like friends at a burial, where we told them, that whatever the Lord was pleased to allow to ourselves, a por- tion would be set apart for his ser- vant. I was the spokesman on that occasion, and verily do I think that, as I said the words, a glorious light shone around me, and that I felt a fanning of the inward life, as if the young cherubims were present among us, and fluttering their wings with :v.^ exceeding great joy at the piety of our kind intents. So passed that memorable Sabbath in our parish ; and here I may relate, that we had the satisfaction and com- fort to know, in a little time thereafter, that the same Christian faitiifulness with which Mr Swinton adhered to his gospel trusts and character, was maintained on that day by more than three hundred other nuuisters, to the perpetual renown of our national worth and covenanted cause. And therefore, though it was an era of much sorrow and of many tears, it was thus, through the mysterious ways of Providence, converted into a ground of confidence in our religion, in so much that it may be truly said, out of tlie ruins and the overthrow of the first rresbyterian Church the Lord built uji among us a stronghold and sanctuary for his truth and Inw. Nothing particular happened till the second week of November, when a citation camo from Irvine, com- manding the attendance of ^Mr Swin- ton, on a suffragan of Fairfoul'a, llINGAN GILHATZU. m till under the penalties of tlic proclama- tiuii. In the meuntimc wo had been preparing for the event ; and my i'utlier having been some time no more, and my brother witii his family in a house of their own, it was settled between him and me, that I should take our motlier into mine, in order that the beild of (iuharist might be given up to the minister and his houseless little ones; which all our neighbours much commended ; and there was no slackness on their part in making a provision to supply tlio want of his impounded stipend. As all had foreseen, Mr Swiutou, for not appearing to the citation, was pronounced a non-conformist; and the same night, after dusk, a party of the soldiers, that were marched from Ayr into Ir^'ine on the day of the pro- clamation, came to drive him out of the manse. There was surely in this a needless and cxasj)erating severity, for the light of day might have served as well; but th(^ men were not to blame, and the officer who came with tliem. having himself been tried in the battles of tlie Covenant, and being of a humane spirit, was as meek and compassion- ate in his tyrannical duty as could reasonably be hoped for. lie allowed ]\Irs Swiuton to take away her clothes, and the babies, that were asleep in their beds, time to be awakmed and dressed, nor did he object to their old ploughman, Kobin Harrow, taking sundry articles of provision for their next morning's repast; so that, com- pared with the riots and rami)ageous insolence of the troopers in other places, we had great reason to be thankful for the tenderness with which our minister and his small family of Seven children were treated on that memorable night. It was about eight o'clock when Martha, the eldest daughter, came flying to me like a demeuted creature, crying the persecutors were come, with naked swords and dreadful faces, and she wept and wrung her hands, think- ing they were then nnirdering her parents and brothers and sisters. I did, however, all that was in my power to pacify her, saying, our lots were not yet laid in blood, and, leaving her to the consolatory counsellings of my wife, I put on my bonnet, and has- tened over to the manse. The night was troubled and gusty The moon was in her first quarter, and wading dim and low through the clouds on the Arran hills. Afar off, the bars of Ayr, in their roaring, boded a storm, and the stars were rushing through a swift and showery south-west carry. The wind, as it hissed over the stubble, sounded like the wliisperings of desolation ; and I was thrice startled in my walk by passing shapes and shadows, whereof I could not discern the form. At a short distance from the manse door I met the godly sufferer and his destitute family, with his second youngest child in his arms. Mrs Swinton had their baby at her bosom, and the other four i)oor, terrified, helpless creatures were hirpliug at their sides, holding them by the skirts, mid often looking round in terror, dreading the persecutors, by whom they were in that dismal and inclement night so ciist u^iou the mercy of the elements. But He that tempers the wind to the shorn lamb was their protector. "You see, Kingan Gilhaizo," said the minister, " how it fares with tliem in this world whose principles are at variance with the pretensions of man. But wo are mereifnlly dealt by — a rougher manner and a harder heart, in the age it of ])ersecution that has driven us from house and home, I had laid my account for ; therefore, even in tliis dispensation, I can SCO the gcutio baud of a gracious m RINGAN GILHAIZE. T>'>.:^ter, and I bow the head of thankfulness." While we were tlms speaking and ■walking towards Quharist, several of the neighbours, who had likewise heard the alarm of Avhat had thus come to pass, joined us on the way, and I felt within myself that it was a proud thing to be able to give refuge and asylum to an aged Gospel minister and his family in such a time and on such a night. We had not been long in the house when a great concourse of his friends and people gathered around, and among others Nahum Chapelrig, who had been some time his father's suc- cessor in the school. But all present were molested and angry with him, for he came in battle array, with the Bword and gun that he had carried in the raids of the civil war, and was bragging of valorous things then needful to be done. " Nahum Chapelrig," said the Worthy to him with severity, " this is no conduct for the occasion. It would hae been a black day for Scotland had her cliildren covenanted themselves for temporal things. No, Nahum ; if the prelatic reprobation now at- tempted on the kirk gang nae farther than outing her ministers from their kirks and manses, it maun be tholet ; so look to it, that ye give not the ad- versary cause to reproach us with longing for the flesh-pots of Egypt when we are free to taste of the hea- venly manna. I rcdde ye, therefore, ahum Chapelrig, before these wit- nesses, to unbuckle that belt of war, and lay down thae weapons of offence. The time of the shield and banner may come owre .«oon upon us. Let us not provoke t!ic smitcr, lest he draw his sword against us, and have law and reason on his side. There- fore, I say unto thee, Peter, put up thy sword." The zealous dominie, being thus timeously rebuked, unharnessed him- self, and the minister having returned thanks for the softness with which the oppression was let down upon him, and for the pious affection of his people, we returned home to our respective dwellings. But though by this Christian sub- mission the power of cruelty was at that time rendered innocent towards all those who did as Mr Swinton had done, we were, nevertheless, not al- lowed to remain long unvisited by another swirl of the rising storm. Before the year was out, Fairfoul, the Glasgow antichrist, sent upon us one of the class that prelacy was then so fast adopting for her sons and heirs. A lang, thin, bare lad he was, that had gotten some spoonful or two of pagan philosophy at college, but never a solid meal of learning, nor, were we to judge by his greedy gap- ing, even a satisfactory meal of victuals. His name was Andrew Dornock ; and, poor fellow, being eschewed among us on account of his spiritual leprosy, he drew up with divers loose characters, that were nae overly nice of their company. 1'his made us dislike him moro and more, in so much, that, like others of his nature and calling, he made sore and secret complaint«« of his parishioners to his mitred master ; re- presenting, for aught I ken to the contrary, that, instead of believing tlie Gospel according to Charles Stuart, we preferred that of certain four persons, called Matthew, Mark, Li ke, and Joim, of whom, it may bo doubted, if he, poor man, knew moro of tiian the names. But be tiiat as it may, to a surety he did grievously yell and cry, because we preferred listening to the Gospel melody of JNIr Swinton under a tree to his feck- less havers in the kuk ; as if it was nae a more glorious thing to worship God in the freedom and presence of EINGAN GILHAIZE. 125 re- the universal Nature, beneath the canopy of all the heavens, than to bow the head in the fetters of episcopal bond- age below tlie stoury rafters of an auld bifjging, such as our kirk was, a perfect howf of cloks and spiders. Indeed, for that matter, it was said tliat the only sensible thing Andrew Dornock ever uttered from the pulpit was, when lie first rose to speak therein, and which was caused by a spider, that just r.t the moment lowered itself down inio his mouth : ♦'() Lord," cried the curate, "we're puzhened wi' speeders ! " It niii^'ht have been thou^^ht, con- sidering the poor hand which the pre- latic curates made of it in their en- deavours to preach, that they would have set themselves down content with the stipend, and allowed the flocks to follow their own shepherds in peace ; but their hearts were filled with the bitterness of envy at the siglit of the multitudes that went forth to gather the manna in the fields, and their malice was exasperated to a wonderful pitch of wickedness by the derision and contempt with which they found themselves regarded. I-io one among them all, however, felt this envy and malice more stirring within him, than did the arch-apostate James Sharp ; for the faithfulness of so many ministers was a terror and a re- proach to his conscience and apostacy, and made him labour with an exceed- ing zeal and animosity to extirpate so many evidences of his own religious guilt. Accordingly, by his malignant counsellings, edicts and decrees came out iigainst our t;ibernacle in tlie wil- derness, and under the opprobrious name of conventicles, our holy meet- ings were made prohibited oiTences, and our ministers subjected to pains and penalties, as sowers of sedition. It is a marvellous thing to think of the madness with which the minds of those iu authority at that time were kindled; first, to create causes of wrong to the con-sciences of the peo- ple, and afterwards to enact laM' • for the natural fruit of that frantic policy. The wanton imposition of the prelatic oppression begat our field preachings, and the attempts to disperse us by tho sword brought on resistance. IJut it belongs not to me and my story to treat of the folly of a race and govern- ment, upon whom a curse was so manifestly pronounced ; I shall there- fore return from this generality to those particulars wherein I was my- self a witness or a sufferer. During the greater part of tho year after the banishment of Mr Swinton from the manse and kirk, we met with little molestation ; but from time to time rumours came over us like the first breatliings of the cold blasts in autumn, that forerun tho storms of winter. All thoughts of innocent pastimes and pleasures pas- sed away, like the yellow leaves that fall from the melancholy trees ; and there was a heaviness in the tread, and a solemnity in the look of every one, that showed how widely the shadows of coming woes were dark- ening the minds of men. But though the Court of Commis- sion, which the apostate James Sharp procured to bo established for the cognizance of those who refused to acknowledge the prelatic usurpation, was, in its proceedings, guided by as little truth or principle as the Spanish inquisition, the violence and tyranny of its awards fell less on those of my degree than on the gentry; and it was not till tlie drunkard Turner was appointed general of the west coun- try that our personal sufferings began. The curates furnished him with lists of recusants; and power haviiig been given unto him to torment on for many days, he was as remorseless as James Sharp's own Court in tho iiues which he levied, and iu eating 126 RINOAN GILHAIZE. tho people lip, by sending his men to live upon them at free quarters, till the fines were paid. In our neiglibourhood wo were for some time gently dealt with ; for tho colonel who at Ayr had tiic command under Turner, was of a humane spirit, and for a season, tliough the rumour of the oppressions in Dumfriesshire and Galloway, where tho drunkard himself reigned and ruled, dismayed and troubled us beyond utterance, we wore still permitted to taste of the gospel pastures with our own faithful shepherd. But this was a blessing too great in those days to be of a continuance to any flock. The mild and consider- ate gentleman, who had softened the rigour of the prelatic rage, was re- moved from his command, and in his f)lace came certain cruel olKcers, who, ike the serpents that were sent among the children of Israel in the desert, defiled our dwellings, and alllicted many of us even unto death. The change was the more bitterly felt, be- cause it was sudden, and came upon us in an unexpected manner, of which I will here set down some of tho cir- cumstantials. According to the usage among us, from the time when Mr Swinton was thrust from the ministry, the parish had assembled, on the third Lord's day of May, in the year 1GG5, under the big sycamore -tree at Zachariah Sraylie's gable, and which has ever since been reverenced by the name of the Poopit Tree. A cart served him for the place of lecture and exhorta- tion; and Zachariah Smylie's daughter, Rebecca Armour, a goiily widow, who resided with him, ha<l, as her custom was in fine weather, ordered and arranged all the stools and chairs in the house, with the milk and washing- boynes upside down, around the cart aa seats for the aged. When tho day was wet or bled(, the worsbi|> was held in the barn ; but on this occasion tho morning was lown and tho lift clear, and the natural quietude of tho Sabbath reigned over all the fields. AVc had sung a portion of the p.^alui, and tho harmonious sound of voices and spirits in unison was spreading into the tranquil air, as the pleasant fragrancy of flowers diffuses itself around, and the tune, to which we sung the divine inspiration, was tlie sweet and solemn melody of the Martjrs. Scarcely, however, had wo pro- ceeded through tho second verse, when Mr Swinton, who was sitting on a stool in the cart, with his back to tho house, started up, and said, " Christians, dinna be disheartened, but I think I see yonder the glim- merin' of spears coming atweou tho hedges." At these words we all rose .nlarmed, and, on looking round, saw ?omo eight or ten soldiers, in the path lead- ing from the high-road, coming to- wards us. The children and several of the women moved to run away, but Mr Swinton rebuked their timerarious fear, and said — "01 ye of little faith, wherefore are ye thus dismayed ? Let us put our trust in IJim, who is mightier than all the armies of all the kings of all the earth. We aro here doing homage to Ilim, and He will protect His true vassals and faithful people. In his name, therefore. Christians, I charge you to continue His praises in the psalm ; for in His strength I will, to the end of my intent, this day fulfil tho woixl and tho admonition ; yea, even in the very flouting of tho adver- banner." The vehemence of Elijah was in his voice ; wo resumed our former pos- tures ; and he himself leading on the psalm, we began to sing anew in a louder strain, for we were fortified and encouraged hy his hol^ intrepidity. sary's RINGAN GILHAIZE. 127 c pro- verse, ting on Jack to enid, rtcnod, glim- en tho No ono moved as it were an eyelid ; the very oliildrcn were steadfast ; and all looked towards the man of God .is lie sat in liis liurablo seat, serene, and more awful tlian ever was Solomon on the royul throne of the golden lions, arrayed in all Iiis f,dory. Tiic rough soldiers were struek for a time with amazement at the religious bravery with which the worshipping was continued, and they halted as they drew near, and whispered together, and some of them spoke as if the fear of the Tjord had fallen upon them. During the whole time that we con- tinued singing, they stood as if they durst not venture to disturb us ; but when the psalm was finished, their sergeant called on them to do their duty. 'I'lio men then advanced, but with one accord we tlirew ourselves in be- tween them and the cart, and cried to Mr ISwinton to make his escape ; he however rose calmly from his seat and said — " Soldiers, shed no blood ; let us finish our prayer, — the worst of men after condemnation are suffered to pray, — ye will, therefore, not surely refuse hannless Christians the boon that is alloo't to malefactors. At the conclusion I will go peaceably with j'ou, for we .nre not rebels ; wo yield all bodily obedience to the powers that be, but the upright mind will not bend to any earthly ordinance. Our bodies aro subject to the King's authority, and to you as his serv.ints, if ye de- mand them, wo are ready to deliver them up." But the sergeant told him harshly to make haste and come down from the cart. Two of the men tiien went into the house, and brought out the churn and bread and cheese, and with much ribaldry began to eat and drink. In the meantime, Znchariah Sniylie had gone to tho stable and saddled his horse, and Kebeoca Armour had made a small providing of provisions for Mr Swinton to take with him to the tol- booth of Irvine ; for thither the sol- diers were intending to carry him that night, in order that he might be sent to Glasgow next day with other suf- ferers. When, however, the Jiorso was brought out, and the godly man was preparing to mount, the sergeant took him by the sleeve, and pulled him back, saying, "The horse is for me." Verily at this insult I thought my heart would have leapt out ; and every one present gurled and growled ; but the soldiers laughed at seeing the ser- geant on horseback. Mr Swinton, however, calmly advised us to make no obstacle: " Good," said he, "will come of this, and though for a season we are ordained to tribulation, and to toil through the slough of despond, yet a firm footing and a fair and green path lies in a peaceful land beyond." The soldiers then took him away, the blasphemous sergeant riding, like a Merry Andrew, on Zachariah Sniy- lie's horse before them, and almost the whole congregation following with mournful and heavy hearts. CIIAPTEK XVII. The testimony of tho regard and re- spect which we showed to Mr Swinton in following him to the prison-door was wickedly reported against us as a tumult and a riot, wearing the aspect of rebellion ; and accordingly, on the second day aft( r he was sent from Ir- vine to Glasgow, a gang of Turner's worst troopers came to live at heck and manger among us. None suffered more from those ruthle.'^s men 1 !ian did my brother's house and mine ; for our name was honoured among the true and faithful, and we had committed the unpardonable gin against tho pre- lacy of harbouriug our minister and 128 RINGAN GILHAIZE. his destitute family, wlien tlioy were driven from tlieir homo iii .1 wild and wintry night. We were both, tosfctlicr Avitli okl Zachariah Smylie, fined cacli in a heavy sum. Thinking that by paying tlie money down we should rid ourselves and our neighbours of the presence and bur- den of the devouring soldiery, our friends, to enable us, made a gather- ing among them, and brought us the means, for we bad not a sufiiciency of our own. But this, instead of miti- gating the oppression, became a reason with the officer set over us to pcrso- cute us still more ; for he pretended to see in that neighbourliness the evi- dences of a treasonous combination, ao that he not only took the money, but made a pretext of the readiness with winch it was paid to double liis Beverity. Sixteen domineering camp reprobates were quartered on four honest families, and five of them were on mine. What an example their conduct and conversation was at my sober hearth, I need not attempt to de- scribe. But notwithstanding all the im- moral bravery of the rampant soldiery, and especially of Swaby, tlieir liber- tine commander, they had not been long among us till it was discerned that they were as much under the common fears and superstitions as the most credulous of our simple country folk, in so much that what with our family devotions and the tales of witches and warlocks with whicli every one, as if by concert, delighted to awe them, they were loth to stir out of their quarters after the gloam- ing. Swaby, however, though less under those influences than his men, nevertheless partook largely of them, and would not at the King's com- mands, it was thought, have crossed the kirk-stile at midnight. But though he was thus infirm with the dread of evil spirits, ho was not daunted tlioroby from ill pur- poses ; and having ono day falk'U in with old Mysio (Jilmour on the road, a pawkie carlin of a jocose natin-o, ho entered into a blethering disoour.so with her anent divers tilings, and from less to more, propounded to lionest jNIysie that she should lend a cast of her skill to bring about a secret meeting between him and Martha Swinton, the minister's eldest daughter. Mysie Gilmour was a Christian woman, and her soul was troubled with the proposal. But she put on the mask of a light hypocrisy, and said she would maybe do something if he fee'd her well, making a tryst with him for the day following ; purposing in the meanwhile to devise, with the counselling of some of her acquaint- ances, in what manner she could take revenge upon him. Among others that she conferred with was one Itobin Finnic, a lad wiio, when a callan, had been drummer to the host that Nahum Ciiapelrig led in the time-; of the Civil War to the raid of Dunse-liill. llo was sib to herself, had a spice of her pawkric, and was moreover, though not with- out a leavening of religion, a fellow fain at any time for a spree ; besides whicli he had, from the campaigns of his youth, brought home a }i(;art- liatred and a derisive opinion of tho cavaliers, taking all seasons and occa- sions to give vent to the same, and ho never called Swaby by any other name than the cavalier. Between Mysie and Robin, with some of his companions, a paction was made that she should keep her tryst with Swaby, and settle on a time and place for him to come, Robin covenanting that between him .and his friends the cavalier should meet with a disappointment. Accordingly, at tho jca tent Ilea the tha wis| her RINGAN GILHAIZE. 129 infirm Ik; was roiid, lire, lio iCOUVHO time appointed, when she met Swaby on the road wliero they had fore- patliercd the day before, slio trystcd him to coino to her house on Hallow- e'en, which happened to bo then at liand, and to be sure no to bring liis Bword, or any weapon that might breed mischief. After parting from him, the cava- lier going one way and the carlin the otlier, Robin Finnic threw himself in lii.s way, and going up to him with a Beemiiig respectfulness, said — " Yc were speaking, sir, to yon auld wife ; I hope yo hae gi'en her nao offence." TJie look with which Robin looked ftt Swaby, as he said this, dismayed the gallant cavalier, who halted, and looked towards the old woman, who was then nearly out of sight. Robin at the same time moved onward. "Friend!" cried the cavalier, *' stop. I nmst have some talk with you about the old woman." " Whisht ! " exclaimed Robin, *' she's very gleg o' the hearing. I would na for twenty merks she jealoused that I had telt you to take tent o' her cantrips." "Do you mean to say that she's a witch ? " said Swaby in a low and apprehensive voice. " I would na say sic a thing o' her for the world," replied Robin very seriously; "I would ne'er expek to hae a prosperous hour in this world were I to ca' honest Mysie Gilmour ony thing sae imcanny. She's a pious wife, sir — deed she is. Me ca' her a witcli ! She would deserve to be hang'd if she was a witch — an' it could be proven upon her." But these assurances gave no heartening to the gallant cavalier ; on the contrary, he looked like one that was perplexed, and said, "I wish I had had nothing to do with her." Jo which Robiu replied : '' Mind what I hae been saying, keep wecl wi' her, as ye respck yoursel'." In saying these words Robin turned hastily into the wynd that led to the clachan, laughing in his sleeve, leav- ing the brave cavalier in a sore state o' dread and wonderment. It seems that shortly after Robin Finnic had departed from the gallant cavalier, a lad, called Sandy ^lacgill, who was colleagued with him in the f)lot, came towards the captain with ooks cast to the earth, and so full of thought, that ho seemingly noticed nothing. Going forward in this locked-up state 6i the outward sense, ho came close upon Swaby, when, afTectiiig to be startled out of hia meditations, he stopped suddenly short, and looked in the lieutenant's broad face, with all the alarm he could put into his own features, till he saw ho was frightened out of his judg- ment, when lie said — " Gudo be about us, sir, ye hae gotten scaith ; the blighting blink o' an ill e'e has lighted upon you. — O, sir ! O, sir ! tak tent o' yoursel' I " Sandy had prepared a deal more to say, but finding himself overcome with an inward inclination to risibility at the sight of Swaby's terrification, he was obligated to flee as fast as he could from the spot ; tlie which wild- . like action of his no doubt dismayed the cavalier fully as meikle as all ho had said. But notwithstanding all their mystical admonitions, Swaby still persevered in his purpose, and ac- cordingly he was seen lurking, without his sword, about the heel of the even- ing, on Hallowe'en, near the skirts of the clachan where Mysio Gilmour lived. And, as it had been conspired among her friends, Mungo Affleck, her gude-brother, a man weel stricken in years, but of a youthy mind, and a perfect pen-gun at a crack, came across the cavalier iu his path, and 130 RINaAN GILTTATZK. Swnby liaving before ponic sliglit no- qiiaintanco with hi.; garb and canny observes, hoNorcd for a littlo in di.s- course with Muniro " I counsel you, sir," said tlie pnwiiio ankl carl as tlioy were separat- ing, " no to gnnj,' far afield tliis niglit, for this is a iiigiit that tlierc is na the like o' in tlic year round. Tt'.s Hallow- e'en, sir, so bo counselled by me, and seek your lianie betimes ; for niony a nne has met with tliinj,'3 on Hallow- e'en that thoy neA'er after forfjot." Considering the exploit on wiiieh the cavalier wa.s tlipn boMno, it's no to bo thouglit that tlii.s Avas very hoartenintf niutiic ; but for all tliat, lie said blytliely, as !Mungo toM me him- self, *' Niiy, not so f;ist, frovernor, tell us what you mean by Hallowe'en!"' " Hallowe'en ! " cried Munyo Af- fleck, with a sound o' serious sincerity; " Do yo no ken Hallowe'en? but 1 necdna say that. Ye'll excuse me, captain — what can you Englishers, that arc brought up in the darkne.^s o' liuman ordinances in go.spel things, and Avho live in the tliraldom of epis- copalian ignorance, ken o' Jiallow- e'en, or o' any other solemn day . set apart for an occasion. — O, sir. Hal- lowe'en among us is a dreadfvi' night ! witches and warlocks, and a' lang- iiebbit things, hae a power and a dominion unspeakable on Hallowe'en. The de'il at other thnes gi'es, it's said, his agents a mutchkin o' mischief, but on this night it's thought they hae a chappin ; and one tiling most demon- strable is ; — but, sir, the sun's down — the blessed light o' day isayont the hill, and it's no safe to be subjek to the whisking o' the mildew frae the tails o' the benwood ponies that are saddled for yon awfu' carnavauling.s, where Cluty plays on the pipes ! so T wis you, sir, gude night and weel hnme. — O, sir, an ye could bo per- suaded ! — Tak an auld man's advice, and rather read a chapter of xiii: IJooK, an it should even bo tlie un- edifying tenth of Nehemiah, tlian bo seen at the gloaming in tlii.s gait, about the dyke-sides." Mungo having thus delivered him- self, went away, leaving Swaby ns it were in a switiier : but after the dusk Jiad closed in, when the angels had lighted their candles at tlieir windows in the sky, to watch over the world in the hears of sleep, Swaby, with stealthy steps, came to Alysie {Jil- mour's door, and sofily tirling at tlie pin was admitted ; for all within wa.s really for his reception. liobin Finnic and Snndy Macgill having carried thither Zacliariaii Smylie's black ram, a condumacious and out.stropolous beast, which they had laid in Mysie's bed, and keejiit frac hawing witli a gude fothering of kail-blades and a clouto soaken iu milk. jNIysie. on opening the door, said to the gallant civalier — "Just step in, ye'll fm' a' ready," and she blew out her crusio wliicli .she had in her hand, and lotting the captain grojje iu by himself, hirpled as fast as she could to one of the neighbours ; for, although she had covenanted with him to come without his sword, she was terrified with the fear of some dreadful upshot. As soon as he was in, llobin Finnio and Sandy Macgill went and hearkened at the window, where they heard the gay gallant stumbling in the floor, as ho went groping his way towards the bed where the auhl toop was breatiiing thickly, mumbling and crunchuig the kail-blades in a state of as great de- light and satisfaction as any bea.st could well be. But no sooner had the cavalier placed his hand on the horned head of the creature, than he uttered a yell of despair ; in the same moment the toop, iu littlo less friglit, jumpifc out of the bed against him and knocked him down over a stool with llINCiAN GILIIAIZK. 131 a lounder. 'I'lic ram recovering' its BcnHCH bt'foro tlic cavalier, and beiiij,' in dread of danger, returned to the dinrge, and began to butt hini aw if it would liavo been his deatli. 'J lie cries that nsued are not to bo told ; uU the neighbours came running to tlio door, to sec what was the matter, Komo with lighted sticks in tlieii liiinds, and some with burning coals in tiio tongs. IJobin Finnio and Sandy Macgill were like to die witli liiugliing ; but fearing tlic wrathful liim might kno6k out the bowels or the brains, if he had any, of the poor young cavalier, they opened the door and so delivered him from its horns. He was, however, by tiiis time, almost in a state of distraction, believing the Ijcast was the real Evil One; so tliat ho no sooner felt himself free anil saw tiio lights, than he flew to liis quarters as if he had been pur- sued by a legion. Some of his own soldiers that were lying in the clachan, and who had come out with the rest of tiie folk, saw through the stratagem, and, for- gf-tting all reverence for their afllicted commander, laughed louder and longer than anybody. In short, the story was o'er the whole parish next day, and the very weans, v/herovcr tlic cavalier appeared, used to cry ])a at him, by which his very life was made a shame and a burden to him, insomuoh that he applied for leave to give up his commission, and returned home to his kindred in the south of England, and we never heard tell of him after. But although in the exploit of Mysie Gilmour and llobin Finnic with his confederates, M'c had a tast- ing of mirth and merriment, to the clfect of lessening the driad and fear in which our simple country-folk held his Majesty's ungracious fine-levers, the cavalier captains and soldiers, still there was a gradual iugroAvtli of the weight of the o]»pre8sion, wherewith we were laden more as bondtnien and slaves than as subjects; and, in the meantime, the spirit of that piitriarch, my apostolic grandfather, was gather- ing to heart and energy within the silent recesses of my afllicted bosom. I heard the murmuring, deep and sad, (if my ncigiihour.s, at the insult and the contumely wliich they wcro obligated to endure from the irre- sponsible recklessness of military domination,— but I said nothing; I was driven, with my pious wife and our simple babies, fmm my own hearth by the coiivorsation of tlie commissioned freebooters, and obli- gated to njake our home in an out- Iiouso, that we might not be molested in our prayers by their Avickedjiess, — but I said notiiing ; I saw my honest; neighbours plundered, and their children insulted, — but I said nothing ; I Avas a witness when our godly minister, after having been driven with his wife and family out to the mercy of the winter's wind, Mas seized in the very time while ho was wor- shipping the Midcer of us all, and taken like a malefactor to pri.son, — - but I said nothing; and I Avas told the story of the machinations against his daughter, — and still I said nothing. Like the icy winter, tyranny hud so iucrusted my soul, that my taciturnity seemed as hard, impenetrable, cold, and cruel, as the frozen river's sur- face, but the stream of my feelings ran stronger and fiercer beneath ; and the time soon came Avhen, in propor- tioii to the still apathy that made my brother and my friends to wonder how I so quietly bore the events of so much, my inward struggles burst through all outward jKissive forms, and, like the hurling and the drifting ice, found no effectual obstacle to its irresistible and natural destination. LIrs Swintou, the Avorthy lady of that saiut, our pastor, ou hearing 132 RTNGAN GTLHATZE. what liad been plotted against lier child, came to me, and very earnestly entreated of me that 1 ■would take the gentle Martlia to lier cousin, tlie Laird of Gavlin's, in Dumfriesshire, she having heard that some intro- missions, arising out of pacts and covenants between my wife's cousin and the Laird of Barscob, obligated me to go tliither. Tliis was on the Alonday after tiie battering that the cavalier got from Zachariaii Smylie's black ram ; and I, reasonably tiiiuking tiiat there was judgment in the re- quest, and tliat 1 might serve, by my compliance, the lielpless residue, and the objects of a persecuted Christian's affections, I consented to take the damsel with me as far as Garlin's, in Galloway ; the Avhich I did. AVIien I had left !Martha Swinton with Iier friends, I went to the end of my own j.iurncy, and here, from wliat ensued, it is nceilful that I should re- late that, in this undertaking, I left my own house under the care of my brother, and that I was armed with my grandfather's sword. It liappcned that, on Tuesday the 13th November, IGGU, as I was re- turning homeward from IJarscob, I fell in with three godly countrymen, about a mile youtli of the village of Dairy, in Galloway, and Ave entered into a holy and most salutary conver- sation anent the sufferings and tiie fortitude of God's people in that time of trouble. ])iscoursing with great sobriety on that melancholious tlwme, wo !net a gang of Turner's black- cu.fY.-., driving before them, like beasts to the slaugiitor, several miserable persons to thrash out the corn, that it migiit bo sold, of one of my com- panions, who, being himself a perse- cuted man, nnd unal)le to ]iay the fine forfeited by his piety, luul some days before been forced to ilee his iiousc. On seeing the soldiers and tiieir prey coming toward ua, the poor man would have run away, but we exhorted him not to be afraid, for ho might pass unnoticed, and so ho did ; for, althougli those whom the military ra- biators were driving to thrash his corn knew him well, they were en- abled to bear up. and were so endowed with the strength of martyrdom, that each of them, only by a look, signified that tliey were in the spirit of fellow- ship witli him. After they had gone by, his heart, however, was so afllicted that so many wortiiy persons should bo so harmed for his sake, that he turned back, and, in despite of all our entreaties, went to them, while we went forward to Dairy, wiiere we entered a small public, and, having ordered some re- freshment (for we were all weary), we sat meditating on wliat could bo the upshot of such tyranny. While we were .so fitting, a cry got up that our companion was seized by tlie soldiers, and that they were tormenting liim on a red-hot gridiron for not having paid his fine. My blood boiled at tlie news. 1 rose, and those wlio were with mo followed, and wo ran to the house — his own liouse — wliere the poor man wa.s. I beseeched two of the soldiers wiio were .at tiio door to desist from tiieir cruelty ; but wiiile I was speak- ing, other two that were witliin camo raging out, like curs from a kennel, andfli'w at me, and one of them dared to strike me with iiis nievo in tiio mouth. My grandfather's sword flew out at the blow, and the insulier lay wounded and bleeding at my feet. My companions iu tlie same moment rushed on tiic other soldiers, dasiied their teeth down their tliroats, and, twisting their firelocks from their hands, set the prisoners free. Li this tliere was rashness, but tliere was also redemption and glory. Wo could not stop at wiiat wo had done. Wo ciUled ou those who had nmOAN GlLHATZT):, Ids lic'cii broui;lit to thrash tlie corn to join witli iiR, and thoy joined ; -vve JiastLiied to tlio m-xt farm — the spirit of in(hVnation was tlicrc before ns — and master and man, and father and pon, tliere likewise found that tlie liilts of tiieir fatliers' covenanted swords fitted tlieir avenging grasps. >Ve liad now fired the dry stubble of tlio land— the flame spread — we ad- vanced, and grew stronger and stronger. 'I'lie hills, as it were, clapped their hands, and the valleys shouted of freedom. From all sides men and iior.se came exulting towards us : the gentleman and the hind knew no dis- tinction. Tlio cry wai^, " Down with tyranny — we are and we Avill make free!" The fields rejoiced witli the multitude of our feet as wo advanced toward.-i Dumfries, where Turner lay. His black-cufTs flung down their arms and implored our mercy. AVe entered Dumfries, and the Oppressor was our prisoner. CHAPTER XVIir. ITiTiii;UTO the rising at Dairy had been as a passion and a fii)reading fire. Tiie strength of t^ie soMiers Mas con- sumed before us, and their arms be- came our weapons ; but when we had gained possession of Dumfries, and had set a ward over the house where we had seized Turner, I saw that we had waded owrc far into the river to think of returning, and that to go on was safer tiian to come back. It was indeed manifest that we had been triui'.ipliant rather by our liaste than by the achievements of victorious l)attle ; and it could be hidden from no man's thought that the power and tlio vengeance both of the govern- ment and the prelacy would soon be set in array against us. I tiierefore bethought myself, in that peril of our lives and cause, of two things which seemed most needful : First, not to falter in our enterprise until we had proved the utmost of the Lord's pleasure in our behalf; and, second, to use the means under Him which, in all human undertakings, are re- quired to bring whatsoever is ordained to pass. Whether in these things I did well or wisely I have to the adjudication of the courteous reader; but I can lay my hand upon my heart, and say aloud, yea, even to the holy skies, " I thought not of myself nor of mine, but only of the rel'gious rights of my sorely-oppressed countrymen." From the moment in which I re- ceived the blow of the soldier up till the hour when Turner was taken, I had been the head and leader of the people. ]\Iy sword was never out of my grip, and I marched as it were ia a path of light, so wonderful was the immediate instinct with which 1 M'as directed to the accomplishment of that adventure, the success of which overwhelmed the fierce and cruel' Anticlirists at Edinburgh with un- speakable consternation and panic. But I lacked that knowledge of tho art of war by which men are banded into companies and ruled, however manifold their diversities, to one end and effect, so that our numbers hav- ing by this time increased to a great multitude, I felt myself utterly unablo to govern tliem. We Avere as a sea of billows, tl'.r.t move onward all iu one way, obedient to the impulse and deep fetch ings of the tempestuoua breath of tho awakened winds of heaven, but which often break into foam, and waste their force iu a roar of ineffectual rage. Seeing this, and dreading the con- sequences thereof, I conferral with some of those whom I had obs- ved tho most discreet and consideraie in the course of the raid, and we camo to a resolve to constitute and appoint 134 illNGAN GILHATZE. Captain Learmont our chief com- mander, be having earned an experi- ence of tlie art and stratagems of war under the renowned Lesley. Had we abided by that determination, some have thought our expedition might have come to a happier issue ; but no human lielps and means could change what was evidently ordained other- wise. It happened, however, tiiat Colonel Wallace, another officer of some repute, also joined us, and his name made him bright and resplen- dent to our enthusiiism. While we weie deliberating whom to choose for our leader, Colonel A\'allace was in the Bame breath, for his namo's sake, ju'oposed, and was miited in tlie com- mand with Loarmoiil. Thi.s wa;^ a deadly error, and ou^ht in all time coming to be a warning and an ad- monition to people a\h\ nations in their straits and diflicultics, never to be guided, in the weighty shocks and controversies of disordered fortunes, by any prejudice or affection so un- substantial as the eclio of an honoured name. For this Wallace, though a man of questionless bravery, and a gentleman of good account among all who knew him, had not received any gift from Nature of that spirit of masterdom without which there can be no connnand; so that he was no sooner appointed to lead us on, with Learniout as his second, than his mind fell into a strange confusion, and ho heightened disorder into anarchy by ordering over much. Wo could not, however, undo tlie evil, without vio- lating tiie disci jiline that we were all conscious our furces so grievously Jacked ; but, from the very moment that I saw in what manner he took upon him the conmiand, I augured of nothing but disaster. Learmont was a collected and an urbane character, and did much to temper and turn aside the thriftless ordinances of his superior, lie, sec- ing how much our prosperity was de- pendent on the speed with which wo could reach Edinburgh, hastened for- ward everything with such alacrity that we were ready on the morrow by mid-day to set out from Dumfries. But the element of discord was now in our cause, and I was reproached by many for having abdicated my natural right to the command. It was in vain that I tried to redeem tlie fadfc by taking part with LearmcTt, u 'cr the determination, when tie b^1' • .'our of defeat or dismay shoun, oo .1.; iipon us, to take my stand witli liim, and, regardless of 'Wallace, to consider him as the chief and champion of our covenanted liberties, but why do I dwell on these intents? Let me ha.--ten to describe the upshot of our enterprise. As soon as we had formed, in tho manner herein related, something like a head and council for ourselves, we considered, before leaving Dum- fries, what ought to be done witii General Turner, and ordered him to be brouj,'ht before us ; for those who had .suffered from iiis fell orders and brutal soldiery were clamorous for hi- blood. But when the man was brougli' in, he was so manift^stly mastered ' v his wine, as his vice often made him, that wo thought it would be as it were to ask a man mad, or possessed, to account for his actions, as at that time to put the frantic drunkard on his defence ; so we heeded not hia obstreperous menaces, but ordered him to be put into bod, and his papers to be searched for and laid before us. In this moderation there was wis- dom, for, by dealing so g'mtly hv 'o who had proved himself so ruth; -i; '. agent of the prolatic aggressions, \ bespoke the good opinion even 01 many among our adversaries ; and in the end it hnjv-idc proved a meiisuro of j;.scice as veil as of merty. For, 0)1 (,xiunini!»g hi pajjcrs, it ai)pearcd I wl f.( iie on th one hoi in no.' brol dee the the coy of of we yon tha wl illNGAN GILTIAIZE. i35 I ¥■■ that pitiless as his domineering had been, it Avas far sliort of the universal cruelty of his instructions from the apostiite James Sharp, and those in the council with him, who had de- livered themselves over as instruments to the arbitrary prerogatives rnid tyran- nous pretensions of the court. AVe tlieref or e resolved to proceed no f arth or against him, but to keej) him as an hostage in our hands. Many, how- ever, among tlie commonalty com- plained of our lenity; for they !iad endured in their persons, their gear, and tlieir families, great severities ; and tiiey grudged that he was not obligated to taste tiie bittcrne.ss of tiu; cu|) of whieli Ite had forced them to diiidc so deeply. In tlie meantime all t!io country became alive widi the ne\v.i of our I'x- jdoit. Tiie Covenanters of tlie shire of Ayr, headed by several of their ejected ministers whom tliey Jiad clierished in the solitary dens and iiidings in tlio moors ami liills, to winch they had been forced to lice from the proclamation against the iield-preacijings, advanced to meet us ou our marcli. A'erily it Avas a sight tliat ma<le tlio heart of man dinle at <)n(!e with gladness ,ind sorrow to be- hold, as tiie day dawned on our course, iu crossing tiie wide and lonely wilder- ness of Ciimnock-moor. those religious brethren coming towards us, moving in silence over the heath, like the ^...l■iowsof tiio slowly-sailing clouds of the BumiiHir sky. As we were toiling tlirougli the deep lieatlier on the eastern skirts of the Meiiriismnor, a mist hovered all tlie morning nver the pad of Neilston, covering like a snowy ileecc the sides of the hills down almost to the course of our route, in such a manner that we could see nothing on the left be- yond it. We were then within less than fourteen miles of (Jla-sgow, where General Dal/iel hiy with the King's forces, keeping in thraldom the godly of that pious city and its neighbourhood. Captain Learmont, well aware, from the eager character of the man, that he would be fain to intercept us, and fearfid of being drawn into jeopardy by the mist, per- suaded Wallace to halt us some time. As November was far advanced, it was thought by the country-folk that the mist would clear away about noon. "\\"e .accordingly made a pause, and sat down on the ground; for many were weary, having over- fatigued them- selves in their zeal to come up with the main body, and we all stood in need of rest, Searcely, however, had we cast ourselves in a desultory manner on the heather, when some one heard tiie thud of a distant driua in the mist, and gave tlie alarm ; at which M'e all again suddenly started to our feet, and listening, were not long left in doubt of the sound. Orders were accordingly given to ])laee ourselves in array for battle ; and while Ave were obeying the conuuand in the best manner our little skill alloAved, the heating of the drum came louder and nearer, intermingled Avith the shrill Avar-note of the spirity fife. Kvery one naturally thought of tlie King's forces; and the Kev. Mr Semple, seeing that Ave Avere in some measure jirepared to meet them, ste])- ])ed out in front Avith all his Avorthy brethren in the camp, and liaving solemneezed us for worship, gaA'e out a psalm. By the lime Ave had sung the first three verses the drum and fife sounded so near, that 1 could discern tliey played the tune of ".Tohn, come kiss me now," Avhich left mo in no doubt that the soldiers in the mist were my own friends and neighbours ; for it was the same tune which Avas played Avheii the juen of our parish Aveut to the raid of Dunsehill, and which, iu 136 RTNGAN GILHATZE. memorial of that era, had been pre- served as a sacred melody amongst us. Being thus convinced, I stepped out from my place to the ministers, and said, "They are friends that are com- ing." The worship was in conse- quence for a short space suspended, and I p' xatly after saw my brother at the he ' -ir neighbours com- ing out of loud ; whereupon I went forward • meet him, and we shook hands sorrowfully. " This is an unco thing, Ringan," were his first words ; " but it's the Lord's will, and He is able to work out a great salvation." I made no answer ; but inquiring for my family, of whom it was a cheering consolation to hear as blithe an account as could reasonably be hoped for, I walked with him to our captains, and made him known of them as my brother. Saving the innocent alarm of the drum in tlie mist, our march to Lanark was without hindrance or molesta- tion ; and when we arrived there, it was agreed and set forth, on the ex- hortation of the ministers who were Avith us, tliat the Solemn League and Covenant should be publicly renewed ; and, to the end that no one miglit misreport the spirituality of our z^al and intents, a Protestation was like- wise publislied, wlierein we declared our adherence and allegiance to the King undiminished in all temporal- ities ; that we had been driven to seek redress by the sword for ojipressions so grievous, that they could be no longer eii(iured ; and that all we asked and sought for was, the re-estfiblish- ment of the Presbyterian liberty of worship, and the restoration of our godly pastors to their gospel-rights and privileges. The morrow after was appointed for the covenanting, and to be held as a day of fasting and humiliation for our Qwu sins, irhich had provoked the Lord to bring us into such state of peril and suffering ; and it was a sacred consolation, as Mr Semple showed in his discourse on the occa- sion, that, in all our long and painful travels from Dumfries, we had been guided from the commission of any offence, even towards those whose hearts were not with us, and had been brought so far on our way as blame- less as a peace.able congregation going in tlie lown of a Sabbath morning to worship their Maker in the house of prayer. But neither the sobriety of our de- meanour, nor the honest protestation of our cause, had any effect on the obdurate heart of the apostate James Sharp, who happened, by reason of the Lord Rothes going to London, to be then in tiie chief chair of the privy- council at Edinburgh. He knew the deserts of his own guilt, and he hated us, even unto deatli, for the woesJie had made us puffer. The sough, therefore, of our approach was to the consternation of his conscience as the sound of the wheels of an avenging God, groaning heavily in their coniin|f with the weight of the engines of wrath and doom. Some said that lie sat in the midst of the counsellors like a demented man ; and others, that he was seen flying to and fro, wringing his hands, and weeping, and wail.ng, and gnashing his teeth. But though all power of forethought and policy was taken from him, there were others of the council who, being less guilty, were more governed, and they took measures to defend the capital against us. They commanded the gates to bo fenced with cannon, and working on the terrors of the inhabitants with fearful falsehoods of crimes that were never connnitted, thereby caused them to band themselves for the protection of their lives and property, while they interdicted them from all egress, in so much, that many who were friendly at nn'ra for the am like on t the desc nnu bou as ii wat hos and oft cxa RINGAN GILHAIZE. 137 to us were frustrated in their desire to come with the aid of their helps aud means. The tidinga of the preparations for the security of Edinburgh, with the unhappy divisions and continual controversies in our councils, between the captains and the ministers, aneut the methods of conducting the raid, ha(], even before we left Lanark, bred much sedition among us, and an ominous dubiety of succei^s. Never- theless our numbers continued to in- crease, and we went forward in such a commendable order of battle, that, had the Lord been pleased with our undertaking, there was no reason to think the human means insufficient for the end. But in the mysteries of the depths of His wisdom he had judged, and for the great purposes of his providence he saw, that it was meet we should yet suffer. Accord- ingly, even while we were issuing forth from the port of the town, the face of the heavens became overcast, and a swift carry and a rising wind were solemn intimations to my troub- led sj)irit that the hearteninc,' of His countenance went no farther with us at that time. Nor indeed could less tlian a miracle in our behalf have availed; for tiie year was old in November, the corn was stacked, the leaf fallen, and Nature, in outcast nakedness, sat, like the widows of the martyrs, forlorn on the hills : her head was bound with the cloud, and she mourned over the desolation that had sent sadness and silence into .all her pleasant jjlaces. As we advanced the skies lowered, and the blast raved in the leafless boughs ; sometimes a passing shower, as it travelled in the storm, trailed its watery skirts over our disheartened host, (pienchiiig the zeal of many, — and ever and anon the angry riddlings of the cruel hail still more aud more exasperated our discontent. I ob- served that the men began to turn their backs to the wind, and to look wistfully behind, and to mutter and murmur to one another. But still we all advanced, gradually however fall- ing into separate bands and companies, like the ice of the river's stream break- ing asunder in a thaw. In the afternoon the fits of the wind became less vehement; the clouds were gathered more compactly together, and the hail had ceased, but the rain was lavished without mea- sure. The roads became sloughs, — our feet were drawn heavily out of the clay, — the burns and broods raged from bank to brae, — and tlie horses swithered at the fords, in so much, that towards the gloaming, when we were come to Bathf.'ate, several of our broken legions were seen far behind ; and when we lialted for the night, scarcely more tiian half the number with whom we had that morning left Lanark could be mustered, and few of those who had fallen behind came up. r t still Captain Learmont thought, thac as soon as the men had taken some repose after that toilsome march, we should advance outright to Edin- burgh. AVallace, however, objected, and that night was spent between them and the ministers in thriftless debate ; moreover, our hardships were increased ; for, by the prohibition of the privy-council against the egress of the inhabitants of the city, we were, as I have said, disappointed of the provisions aud succour we had trusted to receive from them, and there was no hope in our camp, but only bitterness of spirit ana the breathings of despair. Seeing, what no man could hide from his reason, our cause abandoned of the Lord, 1 retired from tlie main body of the host, and sat alone on a rock, musing with a sore heart on all that had come so rashly to pass. It [ was then the last Lour of the gloam- 138 niNGAN GTLITAIZE. iug, and everything around was dis- mayed and dishevelled. The storm had abated, and the rain was over, but the darkness of the niglit was closing fast in, and we were environed with perils. A cloud, like the black- ness of a niort-cloth, hung over our camp ; the stars withheld their light, and the windows of the castle shone with the candles of our enemies, who, safe in their stronghold, were fresh in strength and ready for battle. I thought of my home, of the part- ner of my anxieties and cares, of the children of our love, and of the dan- gers of their defencelessness, and I marvelled with a weeping spirit at tlie manner in wliioh I had been snnlchcd up, and brought, as il were in a wliiil- wind, to be an aetov in a pccno of liuch inevitable woe. Sometimes, in the passion of that grief, I was tempted to rise, and moved to seek my way back (r> the nest of my affec- tions. Uut as often as the tliought came over my heart, witli its soft and fond enticements, some rustle in the camp of the weary men avIio had borne in the march all that I had borne, and many of Uiem in tlie cause far more, yea, even to t!ie martyrdom of dear friends, I bowed my head and prayed for constancy of purpose and fortitude of mind, if the arm of flesh was ordained to bo the means of res- cuing the Gospel, and delivering poor Scotland from i)rolatic tyranny, and the thraldom of an antichristiau usur- pation in the kingly power. While I was tlius sitting in this sad and solitary state, none doubting that before another night our cove- nanted army would be, as the hail that smote so sorely on our march, seen no more, and only known to have been by the track of its course on the fields over which wo had passed, a light broke in upon the darkness of my soul, and amidst high and holy experiences of consolation, mingled with awe and solemn wonder, I beheld as it were a brigiit and shin- ing hand draw aside tlie curtain of time, and disclose the blessings of truth and liberty that were ordained to rise from the fate of the oppressors, who, in the pride and panoply of arbitrary power, had so thrown down the temple of God, and laid waste His vineyard. I saw that from our hasty enter- prise they would l-.e drawn to com- mit still more grievous aggressions, aii'l thereby incur some fearful for- feiture of the iionours and predomi- nancy of which tliey h;id for so many years shown themseivcs so unworthy ; and T had a foretaste in that hour of the fuininieiit of my grandfather's prophecy concerning the tasks tliat were in store for myself in the de- liverance of my native land. So that, although 1 rose from tlie rock where- on 1 was sitting, in the clear convic- tion that our array would be scattered like chaff before the wind, I yet had a blessed persuasion that the event would prove in the end a link in the chain, or a cog in the wheel, of the hidden enginery with which Provi- dence works good out of evil. In the course of the niglit, shortly after the third Avatch had been set, some of those who had tarried by the way came to the camp with the tid- ings that ])alziel aiul all the royal forces in (Glasgow were coining upon us. 'J'liis, though foreseen, caused a great panic, and a council of Avar, consisting, as usual, of ministers and officers, was held, to determine Avhat should be done ; but it was likewise, as usual, only a fruitless controversy. I, however, on this occasion, feeling myself sustained in spirit by the assurances I had received iu my medi- tations on the rock, ventured to speak my mind freely; which was to tho effect that, taking our dejected con- dition, tho desertion of our friends, ri( KTNGAN GTLnAIZE. 1^9 and our disappointments from the city, into consideration, we could do MO better thing tlian evade the swords of our adversaries by disbanding our- Bolvcs, that each might be free to seek safety for himself. Many were inclined to tliis coun- sel ; and I doubt not it would liave been followed ; but, while conferring together, an oflicer came from the Privy Council to propose a cessation cf arms till our demands could bo considered. It was manifest that this was a wily stratagem to keep us in the •snare till Dalziel had time to come up, and I did all in my power to make the council see it in the same light; but there was a blindnesH of mind among \\i<, and the greater number thought it augured a speedy redress of the wrongi^ for which wo had come to seek reparation. Nor did tlieir ob- stinacy in this relax till next morning, when, instead of anytliing like tiieir improbable hopes, came a proclama- tion ordering us to disperse, and con- taining neither promise of indemnity nor of pardon. J5ut then it was too late. Dalziel was in sigiit. Ilis army was coming like a stream along the foot of the Pentland Hills. We saw his banners and the glittering of his arms, and the sound of his musicants came swelling on the breeze. It was plain that his purpose was to drive us in towards the town ; but had we dispersed, we might even then have frustrated his intent. There happened, however, besides Learmont and Wallace, to be several officers among us who had stubborn notions of military honour; and they would not permit so misoldier-like a flight. There were also divers heated and fanatical spirits, Avliom, because our undertaking had been for religious ends, nothing could persuade that rrovidenec would not interfere in some signal manner for their deliver- ance, yea, even to the overthrow of the enemy ; and Mr Whamle, a min- ister, one of these, getting upon tlie toji of tlic rock where I had sat the night before, began to preach of tlio mighty things tliat the Lord did for the children of Israel in the valley of Aijalon, where he not only throw down great stones from the heavens, but enabled Josliua to command the sun and moon to stand still — which to any composed mind was melancholi- ous to hear. In sequence to these divisions and contrarieties whicii enchanted us to tlie spot, Dalziel, con.sidering that we were minded to give him battle, biDiiglit on ilis force: and it is but diK- to the renown of tiie valour of tiiosi; jireseut to record that, notwitli- standing a fearful odds, our men, hiiving the vantage ground, so stoutly maintained their station that we re- pulsed iiim thrice. J5ut the victory, as I have said, was not ordained for us. In the afternoon Dalziel was reinforced by several score of mounted gentlemen from the adja- cent counties, and with their horse, about sunset, our phalanx Avas shat- tered, our ranks broken, and then we began to quit the field. The number of our slain, and of those who fell into the hands of the enemy, did not in the whole exceed two hundred men. The dead might liave been greater, but for tiie compassion of the gentlemen, who had respect to the can.su which had provoked us to arms, and who, in- stead of doing as Dalziel's men did, without remorse or pity, cried to tlio futritives to flee, and sjiai-ed many in consideration of the common wrongs. When I saw that our host was dashed into pieces, and the fragments scattered over the fields, I fled with the flying, and gained, with aboi'fc some thirty other fugitives, the brovtr of a steep part of the Pentland Hills, where the mounted gentlemen, even had they been inclined, could not 140 RTNGAN GILHAIZE. easily have followed \\a. There, whilo we halted to rest a little, we heard a shout now and tlien rise startling froQi the field of battle below; but night coming ou, all was soon silent, and we sat, iu the holiness of our mountain-refuge, in silent rumination till the moon, rolling slowly from be- hind Arthur's Seat, looked from her window in the cloud, as if to ad- monish us to flee farther from the scene of danger. The llcv. Air Witherspoon being among us, was the first to feel the gracious admonition, and, rising from the ground, he said — " Friends, we must not tarry here, the hunters are fortli, and we are the prey they pursue. They will track us long, and the hounds are not of a nature to lose scent, especially when they have tasted, as they have done this day, the rich blood of the faith- ful and the true. Therefore let us de- part; but where, O where sliall we And a home to receive us ? — Where a place of rest for our weary limbs, or a safe stone for a pillow to our aching heads ? But wiiy do I doubt ? Blameless as we are, even before man, of all offence, save that of seeking leave to worsliip God according to our conscience, it cannot be that we shall bo left without succour. No, my friends ! though our bed be the damp grass and our coverlet the cloudy sky, our food the haws of the hedge, and our drink the drumly burn, we have made tor our hearts the down-beds of religious faith, and have found a banquet for our spirits in the ambrosial truths of the gospel — luxuries that neither a James Sharp nor a Charles Stuart can ever enjoy, nor all the rents and revenues, fines and forfeitures, which princes may exact and prelates yearn to partake of, can buy," lie then offered up a thanksgiving that we bad been spared from the sword in the battle ; after which wo shook hands in silence together, and each pursued his own way. Mr Witlierspoon lingered by ray side as we descended the hill, and I discerned that he wao inclined to be my companion ; so we continued to- gether, stretching towards tlie north- west, in order to fall into the Lithgow road, being mindet to pass along the skirts of Stirlingshire, thence into Lennox, in the hope of reaching Argyle's country, by the Wcay of the ferry of Balloch. But we had owre soon a cruel cause to change tho course of our flight. In coming down towards tho Ahnondwater, we saw a man running before us in the glimpse of the moon- shine, and it was natural to conclude, from his gestures and the solitude of the place, that no one could be so far a-field at such a time, but some poor fellow-fugitive from Bullion- green, where the battle was fought; so we called to him to stop, and to fear no ill, for wo were friends. Still, however, he fled on, and heed- ed not our entreaty, which made ns both marvel and resolve to overtake him. We thought it was not safe to follow long an unlinown person wlio was so evidently afraid, and flying, as we supposed, to his home. Accord- ingly we hastened our speed, and I, being tlie nimblest, readied him at a place where he was stopped by a cleft in the rocks on the river's woody brink. "Why do you fly so fast from us?" said I, "we're frae the rent- land-hills too." At these words he looked wildly round, and his face was as ghastly aa a ghost's in the moonlight ; but dis- torted as he was by his fears, I dis- covered in him my neighbour, Nahura Chapelrig, and 1 spoke to him by name. " O, llingan Gilhaize ! " said he, RINGAN GILHAIZE. 141 and he took hold of me with his riglit hand, while he raised his left and shook it ill a fearful and frantic manner, " 1 am a dead man, my hours are num- bered, and tlie sand-plass of my days is amaist a' run out. I had been saved from tlie sword, spared from the spear, and, flying from the field, I went to a farm-house yonder; I sought admission and shelter for a forlorn Christian man ; but the edicts of the persecutors are more obeyed here than the laws of God. The farmer opened his casement, and spcering if I had been at the raid of the Cove- nanters, which, for the sake of truth and tlie glory of God, I couldna deny, he sliot me dead on the spot; for his bullet gaed in at my breast, and is fast in my ." lie could say no more ; for at that juncture he gave, as it were, a gurgle in the tliroat, and swirling round, fell down a bleeding corpse on the ground where he stood, before Mr Wither- epoon had time to come up. We both looked at poor guiltless Nahum as he lay on the grass, and, after some sorrowful communion, Ave lifted the body, and carrying it down aneath the bank of the river, laid stones and turfs upon it by the moon- light, that the unclean birds might not be able to molest his martyred remains. Wo then consulted together ; and having communed concerning the manner of Nahum's death, we re- solved not to trust ourselves in the power of strangers in those parts of the country, wliere the submi.ssion to the prelatic enormity had been fol- lowed with such woeful evidence of depravity of heart. So, instead of continuing our journey to the north- ward, we changed ^^ar course, and, for tlie remainder of the niglit, souglit our way due west, by the skirts of the moors and other untrodden ways. CHAPTER XIX, At break of day we found ourselves on a lonely brae-side, sorely weary, hungry and faint in spirit: a few whin buslies were on the bank, and the birds in them were beginning to chirp — we sat down and wist not what to do. Mr Witherspoon prayed inwardly for support and resignation of heart in the trials he was ordained to under- go ; but doure thoughts began to gather in my bosom. I yearned for my family, — I mourned to know what had become of my brother in tlio battle, — and I grudged and marvelled wherefore it was tliat the royal and the great had so little respect for the religious honesty of harmless country folk. It was now the nine-and-twentieth day of November, but the weather for the season was open and mild, and the morning rose around us in tlie glory of her light and beauty. As the gay and goodly sun looked over the e.'isteru hills, we cast our eyes on all sides, and beheld the scattered villages and the rising smoke of the farms, but saw not a dwelling wo could venture to api»roach, nor a roof that our fears, and the woeful end of poor Nahum Cliapelrig, did not teach us to think covered a foe. While we were sitting communing on these things, we discovered, at a little distance on the left, an aged woman hirpling aslant the route wo intended to take. She had a porringer in tlie one hand, and a small kit tied iu acloute in tlie other, by which we dis- cerned that she was j^robably somo labourer's wife conveying his break- fast to him iu the fiehf. We botli rose, and going towards her, Mr Witherspoon said, " For the love of God have compassion on two famishing Christians." The old woman stopped, and look- 142 KINGAN GILIIAIZE. ing round, gazed at us for a spaco of time, with a conntenauco of compas- sionate reverence. " liech, sirs ! " she then said, " and has it come to this, that a minister of tlie gospel is obligated to beg an alm- ous fnie Janet Armstrong ? " And she set down the porringer on the ground, and began to untie the clouto in which she carried the kit, saying, " Little did I think tiiat sic an homage was in store for me, or that the merci- ful Heavens would e'er requite my sufferings in this world, Avi' the honour of placing it in my power to help a persecuted servant of the living God. JNIr Witherspoon, I ken ye weel ; meikle sweet counselling I got frae you when ye jireached for our minister at Camrachle in the time of the great covenanting. I was tiien as a lanerly widow, for my gudeman was at the raid of Dunse-hill, and my heart was often sorrowful and sinking wi' a sinful misdootiug of rrovidence, for I had twa wee bairns and but a toom garnel." She then opened the kit, which contained a providing of victual that she was carrying, as we had thought, to her husband, aquarrierin a neigh- bouring quarry ; and bidding \xa par- tiike, she said — " This will be a blithe morning to John Armstrong, to think that out of our basket and store, we hae had for once in our day, the blessing of gi'eiug a pick to ane o' God's greatest (lorbies ; and he'll no fin' his day's darg ae hue the dreigher for wanting his breakfast on account of sic a cause." So we eat down, and began to par- take of the repast with a greedy appetite, and the worthy woman con- tinued to talk. " Aye," said she, " the country- side has been in a consternation ever since Dalziel left Glasgow; — we a' jealouscd that the Lanark Covcnau- tcrs wouldna be able to withstand his power and the king's forces ; for it was said ye hadna a right captain of war among you a'. — llut, Mr Wither- spoon, ye could ne'er be ane of the minister's that were said to meddle with the battering-rams o' battle. — No : weel 1 wat that yours is a holier wisdom — ye would be for peace ; — blessed are the i)iuce-makev3." Seeing the honest 'vomau thus iur cliued to prattle of things too high for her to understand, Mr Witherspoon's hunger being somewhat abated, he calmly interposed, and turned the discourse into kind inquiries concern- ing the state of her poor soul and her straitened worldly circumstances ; and he was well content to find that sho had a pleasant vista of the truths of salvation, and a confidence in the un- ceasi'^g care of Providence. "Tiie same gracious hand that feeds the ravens," said she, " will ne'er let twa auld folk want, tiiat it h.ns been at tiie trouble to provide for so long. Its true we had a better proa-* pek in our younger days ; but our auld son was slain at the battle of Wor^ cester, when he gaed in to help to put the English crown on the head of tha^ false Ciiarlie Stuart, who ha.s broken his oath and the Covenant ; and my twa winsome lassies diet in their teens, before they were come to years o' disi cretion. But ' few and evil are the days of man that is born of a woman,* as I hae heard you preach, Mr Witherspoou, which is a blessed truth and consolation to those who have not in this world any continued city." We then enquired what wag the religious frame of the people in that part of the country, in order that wo might know how to comport ourselves; but she gave us little heartening. " The strength and wealtii o' tho gentry," said she, " is just sooket awa wi' ae fine after anither, and it's no in the power of nature that they can TTNGAN fillJIATZK 143 nioiklu laiiyer staud out against the prelacy.'' " I hope," replied MrWitherspoon, " that there's no syniptoni of a laxity of principle among tliem ? " " I doot. I doot, Mr Uitherspoon," said Janet Arnistronia;, " we canna hae a groat dependence either on principle or doctrine when folk arc driven dc- iiiented Avi' ojtpression. !Many tliat were ancc godly among lis can thole no more, and they begin to fash and turn aw;V at the sight of their perse- cuted friends." l\Ir AVitherspoou sighed with a heavy heart on hearing this, and mournfully sliook his head. We then thanked Janet for her hospitable kindness, and rising, were moving to go away. " [ hope, Mv Witherspoon," said she, "that we're no to part iu sio a knotless manner. Bide here till I gang for John Armstrong and the otlier twa men that howk wi' him in the quarry. They're bearing plants o' liie vineyard, — tarry, I pray you, and water them wi' tiio water o' the Word." And so Siiying, she hastened down tlic track she was going, and we con- tinued on the spot to wait her return, " liingan,'' said Mr Witherspoon to me, " I fear there's owre meikle truth iu what slie says concerning the state of religion, not only here, but among all the commonalty of the hind. 'I'lie poor beast that's overladen may be stubborn, and refuse for a time to draw ; but the whip will at last pre- vail, until, worn out and weary, it meekly lies down to die. In like manner, the stoutness of the cove- nanted heart will be overcome." Just as he was uttering these words, a whiz in a whin bush near to wlierc we were standing, and the souiul of a gun, startled us, and on looking round we saw five men, and one of the black-cuiFa with his firelock etill fit Lia shoulder, looking towards ug from behind a dyke that ran along the bottom of the brae. There wn.s no time for consultation. We fled, cower- ing behind the whin bushes till we got round a turn iu the hill, Avhich, protecting us from any immediate sliot, enabled us to run in freedom till we reached a hazel wood, which having entered, we halted to take breath, " Wii must not trust ourselves long liere, Mr Witherspoon," said 1. " Let us go forward, for assuredly the bloodhounds will follow us in." Accordingly we went on. Lut it is not to be told what we suffered in passing through that wood ; for the boughs and branches scourged us in the face, and the ground beneath our feet was marshy and deep, and griev- ously overspread with brambles that tore away our very flesh. After enduring several hours of unspeak.'iblo suffering beneath those wild and unfrequented trees, we camo to a little glen, down whicli a burn ran, and having stopped to consult, wo resolved to go up rather iliau down the stream, in ord'.-r that wo might not be seen by the pursuers, whom we supposed would naturally keep the hill, liut by this time our strength was iu a manner utterly gone with fatigue, in so much tiiat Mr Witherspoon said it would be as well to fall into th^ hands of the enemy as to die in the wood. I, how- ever, encouraged him to be of good clieer; and it so happened, in that veiy moment of despair, that I ob- served a little cavern nook aneath a rock that overhung the burn, and thither I proposed we should wade and rest ourselves in the cave, trusting that Providence would bo pleased to guide our persecutors into some other path. So we passed tlic water, and laid ourselves down under the shelter of the rock, where we soon after fell asleep. 144 HINOAN GILHATZE. ^Ve were graciously protected for the space of four hours, wliile wo lay asleep under the rock. Mr Withcr- spoou was the first who awoke, and he sat watching me for some time, in great anxiety of spirit, as ho after- wards told me ; for the day wfvs far spent, and the weather, as is often the custom in our climate, in the wane of the year, when the morning rises bright, hiid become coarse and drunily, threatening a rough night. At last I awoke, and according to what wo had previously counselled together, we went up the course of the burn, and so got out of that afUict- ing wood, and came to an open and wide moorland, over which we held our journeying westward, guided by the sun that with a sickly eye was then cowering through the mist to his chamber ayont the hill. But though all around us was a pathless scene of brown heather, here and there patched with the deceitful green of some perilous well-e'e ; though the skies were sullen, and the bleak wind gusty, and every now and then a straggling flake of snow, strewed in our way from the invisible hand of the cloud, was a token of a coming drift, still a joyous encourage- ment was shed into our bosoms, and we saw in the wildness of the waste, and the omens of the storm, the bles- sed means with which Providence, in that forlorn epoch, was manifestly de- terring the pursuer and the perse- cutor from tracking our defenceless flight. So we journeyed onward, dis- coursing of many dear and tender cares, often looking round, and listen- ing when startled by the wind whis- pering to the heath and the waving fern, till the shadows of evening began to fall, and the dangers of the night season to darken around us. When the snow hung on the hea- ther like its own bells, we wished, but we feared to seek a place of shelter. Fain would wo have gone back to tho home for the fugitive, which we had found under tho rock, but we kntiw not how to turn ourselves ; for the lights of tho moon and stars were deeply concealed in the dark folds of the wintry mantle with which tho heavens were wrapt up. Our hearts then grew weary, and more than onco I felt as if I were very willing to die. Still wo struggled on ; and when it had been dark about an hour, wo came to the skirts of a field, where tho strips of the stubble through tho snow showed us that some ho'ise or clachan could not be far o'' Wo then consulted together, r to make our place of rest in th„ . ol a stack, or an outhouse, than to apply to the dwelling ; for the thought of the untimely end of harmless Nahum Chapelrig lay like clay on our hearts, and we could not but be sorry that, among the other woes of the vial of the prelatio disi)ensation, the hearts of the people of Scotland should be turned against one another. Accordingly going down tho riga, with as little interchange of discourse as could well be, we descried, by tho schimmer of the snow, and a ghastly streak of moonlight that passed over the fields, a farm-steading, with seve- ral trees and stacks around it, and thither we softly directed our steps. Greatly, however, were we surprised and touched with distress, when, as we drew near, we saw that there was no light in tho house, nor the sign of fire within, nor inhabitant about tho place. On reaching the door wo found it open, and on entering in, everything seemed as if it had been suddenly abandoned; but by the help of a pistol, which I had taken in the raid from one of Turner's disarmed troopers, and putting our trust in the protection we had so far enjoyed, I struck a light and llTNfiAN OTLITATZK. 14; kiiidk'd tlio fire, over wliicli tlioro was Ktill Iiiiiif,'iii.i,'. o!i the HWec, a kuil-pot, Avlicniii till' family at tlio time of tlioir ili;.r|it ii.adljL'uii jtrcpariiif,' their dinner; iind we judged l)y tliiH token, and liy tlie vi.silde desertion, that we were in tlie lioiise of some of (iod's people wlio had lieon .suddenly sealtereil. Aecordinyly we scrupled not to help oiirselvi's from the aunirie, knowinj,' how readily they would pardon the freedom of need in a gos^jel minister, and a covenanted brotiicr dejected with want and much suffering. Havinpr fmished our supper, iu- fitoad of sitting by the fire, as wo at first proposed to do, we thought it would be safer to take the blankets from the beds and make our lair in tlie barn ; so wo accordingly retired Ihitlier, and lay down among some untlireshed corn that w.-xs lying ready on tile floor for the flail. lUit we were not well down when we heard the breathings of two per- sons near us. As there was no light, and Mr "NVitii'-rspoon guessing by what Avc had seen, and by this con- cealment, that they must be some of the family, he began to pray aloud, thereby, without letting wot they were discovered, making them to under- stand what sort of guests wo were. At the conclusion an old woman spoke to us, telling us dreadful things which a gang of soldiers had com- mitted that afternoon. •' lUit what has become of our men, or where the bairns liae fled, we know not," said that aged person, in a voice of settled grief, an<l all the sacred exhortations that IMr VVither- spoon could employ softened not the obduracy of her inward sorrowing, lie, however, persuaded them to re- turn ■with us to the house ; for the enemy having been there, wo thought it not likely he would that night come again. As for mc, during the dismal recital, I could not epcak. The eye of my spirit was fixed on the trcnsuro I had left at home. Every word I heard was like the sting of an adder. My horrors and fears rose to such a pitch, that I could no longer master them. 1 started up and rushed to the door, as if it hail been possible to arre.ot the imagined rage of the per- secutors in my own unprotected dwelling. IMr Witherspoon followed me, tliinking I had gone by myself, and caught mc by the arm and entreated me to bo composed, and to return with him into the house. But while he wii thus kindly remonstrating with me, something took his foot, and he stumbled and fell to the ground. The accident served to check the frenzy of my thoughts for a moment, and I stooped down to help him up ; but in the same instant he uttered a wild howl that made niu start from him ; and ho then added, awfully — " In the namo of Heaven, what is this ? " " What is this? " said I, filled with unutterable dread. " Hush, hush," ho replied as ho rose, " lest the poor women hear us ; " and he lifted in his arms the body of a child of some four or five years old. I could endure no more ; 1 thougiit the voices of my own innocents cried to me for help, and in the frenzy of the moment I left the godly man, and fled like a demoniac, not knowing which way I went. A keen frost had succeeded the snow, and the wind blew piercingly cold ; but the gloom had passed away. The starry eyes of the heavens were all wakefully bright, and the moon was moving along the fleecy edge of a cloud, like a lonely barque that navigates amidst the foaming perils of some dark inhospitable shore. At the time, however, I was in no frame of thought to note these 146 RINCrAN GILHATZE. tilings, but I know that sucli wnB then the aspect of tliat iiifrht; for as often ,yot, as the freezinij M'ind sweeps over the fields strewed with snow, and the stars are shining vigilantl)', and the moon hastily travels on the skirts of the cloud, the ]>a.ssion of that liour, at the sigiit thereof, revives in my spirit ; and the mourning Avomen. and tlie perished child iit the arms of Mr Witherspoon, appear like palpable imagery before the eyes of my remem- brance. The speed with which I ran soon exhausted my strength. — 1 began to reflect on the unavailing zeal witli which I was then hastening to the Buccour of those for Avhom my soul was suffering more than the tongue of the eloquent orator can express. — I stopjied to collect my reason and my thoughts, which, I may well say, were scattered, like the wrack that drifts in the tempestuous air. — I considered, that I knew not a footstep of the road, that dangers surrounded me on all sides, and tliat the precipitation of my haste niight draw me into acci- dents, whereby the very ol)ject would be lost which I was so eager to gain ; and the storm within me abated, and the distraction of my bosom, which had BO well nigh ship-wrecked my unfhT- fitanding, was moderated, like the billows of the ocean when the blasts are gone by ; so that, after I was some four or five miles away from yon house of martyrdom and mourn- ing, a gracious dispensation of com- posure was poured into my spirit, and I was thereby enabled to go forward on my journey with the circumspec- tion so needful in that woeful time. I'ut in projiortiou as my haste slackened, and the fi'ry violence of the fears snl)sided wherewith I was liurried on, the icy tooth of the winter grew feller in the bite, and I became in a manner almost helpless. The mind within mo was as if the faculty of its thinking had been frozen np, and about the dawn of morni;ig E Avalked in a willcss manner, the blood in my veins not iiDre henumbcd in its course than was the fluency of my spirit in its power of resolution. I had now, from the time tliat our covenanted host w;is scattered ou Uullion-green, travelled many miles; aiul though like a barque drifting rudderless on the ocean tides, as the stream flows and the blast blows, I bad held no constant course, still my progress had been havenward, in-so- nuich that about sunrise I found my- self, I cannot well tell how, on the heights to the south of Castlemilk, and the city of Ciasgow, with her goodly array of many to'.vcrs glittering in the morning beams, lay in sight Koine few miles off on the north. I knew it not ; but a herd I fell in with on tlie hill told me what town it was, and the names of divers claclians, and the houses of men of substance in tho lowlands before me. Among others he pointed out to me Kether Pollock in the midst of a .'ikirting of trees, the seat and -^'astlo of that godly and much-persecuted C'hri-tian and true Covenanter, Sir George ]\Iaxwell, the savour of whoso piety was sjiread far and wide ; for ho had sulTer(<d much, both from sore im- prisonment and the heavy fine of four thousand pounds imposed u]ion him, shortly after tliat conclave of Satan, Middleton's sederunt of tho pvivy council at Glasgow. Heiiig tlion hungered and very coll., after discoursing with the poor lierd. who was a simple stripling in the ignorance of innocence, T resolved to liiiid my way toward Nether i'ol- lock, in the confident failii that the master thereof, having suffered HO much himself, would know how to compassionate a persecuted brother. And often since I have tiiougiit that there WJia something higher than rea- RINGAN GILHAIZE. 147 son in the instinct of this confidence ; for indeed, liad I reasoned from what was conunonly said— and, . -lias ! owro truly — that the covenanted s])irit was bent, if not broken, 1 •\voiihl have feared to seek tlie pates of ISir (Jeor;,'e Maxwell, lest the love he had once borne to our cause liad been converted, by his own sutVeriiigs and apprehen- sions, into dread or aversion. Ikit I was encouraged of the Spirit to pro- ceed. .lust, however, as T parted from the herd, he cried after nie, and pointed to a man coming up the hill at some distance, Avith a gun in his hand, and a bird-bag at his side, and two dogs at his heel, saying, "Yon'er's Sir (ieorge IMaxwell himsel ganging to the moors. lOh ! but ho has luul his ain luck to fill his poek so weel already." Whereupon I turned my stei)S toward Sir tieorge, and, on api)roaeli- iiighim, bcseeclied him to have coui- |)a.ssion on a jjoor famished fugitive from tlie I'entlands. lie stoppeil, and looked at me in a most piiiful maimer, ami shook iiis head, and said, Avitii a tender grief in his voice, " It wa^^ a hasty buj^iness, and the worst of it no yet either heard nor over; but let us lose no time, for you are in much danger if you tarry so near to (Jlasgow, where Colonel Drummond came yesterday with a detachment of soldiers, and has already spread them over tho coun- try." In saying these words the worthy gentleman opened his bag, Avhieh. in- steiul of being filled with game, as the ninrvelling stripling had supposed, contained a store of provi.'iions. " r came not for pastime to the moor this morning."' sai.l he, ])resi'nt- ing to me something to eat, "but be- cause last night 1 he.'ird that many of th(! onleasts had been seeu yesterday Unking about thuu hills, and as 1 could not give them harbour, nor even let them have any among my tenants, I have come out with some of my men, .is it were to the shooting, in order to succour them. But we must not remain long to.!,'ether. Take with you what you may require, and go away quickly ; an<l J conn:<el you not to t:ikc the road to Raisley, Init to cross witii what speed you can to tho western parts of the shire, where, as the [leople have not been concerned iu the raid, there's the less likelihood of Druuimond sending any of his force in that direction." Accordingly, being thus plentifully supplied by the providence of that worthy, my strength was wonderfully recruited, and my heart cheered. \\"ith many thanks I then hastened from him, praying that his private charitable intents might bring him into no trouble. And surely it was a thing hallowing to the affections of iiie i.tflicted Scottish nation to meet with audi Christian fellowship. For to the perpetual renown of many honourable West- country families bo it s])oken, both mast.r and men were daily in the nioois at that time suc- ccuiring the persecuted, like the ravens that fed Elijah in the wilderness. After i)artiiig from Sir George jNIaxweli, I continued to bend my course straight Avestward, and having cro "d the road from Glasgow to Pait:.ey, I directed my steps to tho li! 'Her' parts of tho cotmtry, being minded, according to the suggestions of that excellent person, to find my way by the coast side into the shire of AyV. 'l)Ut tliouuh my anxiety con- cerning my family was now sharpened as itweroAvith the anguksh of tire, I Ix'gan to rea.son with myself on llio jeoiiardy I niijiht bring upon tin m, were I to return wiiile the light wa,s so fierce ; and in the end 1 came to the detiTmination only to seek to know how it fared with them, and what hud 14d RiNGAN GILHAIzm. become of my brother in the battle, trusting tliat in due season the Lord would mitigate the ire and the cruelty that was let loose on all those who had joined in the Protestation and re- newed the Covenant at Lanark. CHAPTER XX. Towards the afternoon I found my- self among the solitudes of the llen- frewshire moors. Save at times the mclancholious note of the peeseweep, neither the sound nor the voice of any living thing was heard there. Being then wearied in all my limbs, and willingly disposed to sleep, I laid myself down on a green hollow on the banks of the Gryitfe, where the sun shone with a pleasing warmth for so late a period of the year. I was not, however, many minutes stretched on the grass when I heard a shrill whistle of some one nigh at hand, and pre- sently also the barking of a dog. From the kindly cxperiouce I had re- ceived of Sir George ISIaxwell's care this occasioned at first no alarm ; but on looking up I beheld at some dis- tance three soldiers with a dog, on the other side of the river. Near the spot where I lay there was a cloven rock overspread with brambles and slae-bushos. It seemed to me as if the cleft had been pre])ared on purpose for a hiding ])lace. 1 crept into it, and forgetting Ilim by whom I was protected, I trembled witli a base fear. But in that very moment lie at once reV)uked my infirmity, and gave mo a singuhir assurance of His holy wardeiisliip, by causing an adder to come towards me from tlie roots of the bushes, as if to force mo to lleo into tiie view of the pursuers. Just, however, as in my horror 1 was on tlie point of doing so, tlie reptile looked nt me with its glittering eyes, and then suddenly leaped away into the brake ; — at the same moment a hare was raised by the dog, and the sol- diers following it with shouts and halloes, were soon carried, by the im- petuosity of the natural incitement which man has for tlie chase, far from the spot, and out of siglit. This atlventure had for a time tliO effect of rousing me from out tiie weari- ness with wliicli I had been ojipressed, and I rose and continued my course westward, over the hills, till I came in sight of the Shaws-water, — the stream of which I followed for more than a mile with a beating heart ; for the valley through which it Hows is bare and open, and had any of tlie perse- cutors been then on the neighbouring hills, I must have soon been seen ; but gradually my thoughts became more composed, and the terrors of the poor hunted creature again became changed into confidence and liope. In this reiK'Aved spirit I slackened my pace, and seeing, at a short dis- tance down the stream, before me a tree laid across for a bridge, I was comforted with the persuasion tiiat some farm-town could not be far off, so I resolved to linger about till the gloaming, and then to follow the path wliich led over the bridge. For, not knowing how the inhabitants in those parts stood inclined in their con- sciences, I was doubtful to trust myself in their power until 1 had made some espionage. Accordingly, as the sun was still high above tlie hills, I kept the hoUowest track by tiie river's brink, and went down its co'.u'se for some little time, till I arrived where the hills come forward into the valley ; tiien I climbed up a steep hazel bank, and sat down to rest myself on an open grt'cn plot on the brow, wliere a gentle Avest wind shook tiie boughs around me, as if the silent spirits of the solitude were slowly puhising by. In this place I had not been long when I heard, aa if it were not far off, KINGAN GILHAIZE. 149 a sullen roar of fallinrj waters rising hoarsely with the breeze, and listening again, anotlier sound came solemnly mingled witli it, which 1 had soon the del iglit to discover was the holy har- mony of Avorship, and to my cars it was as the first sound of the rushing water which INIoses brought from the rock to those of the thirsty Israelites, and 1 was for some time so ravished with joy that I could not move from the spot where I was sitting. At last the sweet melody of the psalin died away, and 1 arose and went towards the airt from which it had come ; but as 1 advanced, the noise of the roaring waters grew loud- er and deeper, till they were as the breaking of tiio summer waves along the Ardrossan shore, and presently I found myself on tiie brink of a cliff, over which the river tumbled into a rugged clinsni, wiierc the rocks were skirted witli lealluss brambles and hazel, and garmented with ivy. On a green sloping bank, at a short distance below the waterfall, screened by tlie rocks and trees on the one side, and by the rising ground on the other, about tlurty of the Lord's ilock, old and young, were seated around the feet of an aged grey-haired man, who was preaching to them, — his left hand resting on his stall", — his riglit was raised in exhortation, — and a Bible lay on the ground beside him. I stood for the space of a minute looking at the mournful yet edifying sight, — mournful it was, to think how (lod's people were so afflicted, ihat they durst not do tlieir Heavenly King homage but in secrecy, — and edifying, that their constancy was of such an enduring nature that ])ersecntion served but to test it, as lire does the purity of gold. As 1 was so standing on the rock above the linn, the preacher happened to lift his eyes towards mo, and the hparers, who were looking at him, turned round, and hastily rising, be- gan to scatter and flee away, I at- tempted to cry to them not to be afraid, but the sound of the cataract drowned my voice. I then ran as swiftly as I could towards the spot of worship, and reached the top of tlic sloping bank just fis a young man was assisting Mr Swinton to mount a horse which stood ready saddled, tied to a tree ; for the preacher was no other than that godly man ; but tho courteous reader must from his own kind heart supply what passed at our meeting. Fain he was at that time to havo gone no farther on with the exercise, and to have asked many questions of ;ne concerning the expedition to the Pentlands ; but I imj^ortuned iiim to continue his blessed work, for I longed to fast.' the sweet water of life once more from so hallowed a fountain; md, moreover, there was a woman ith a baby at her bosom, which she Jiul brought to be baptized from a neigh t)Ouring farm, called tho Kil- locheun, — !uid a young couple of a composeil and -ohv aspec from tho Back-o'- the - \\orld, waitm:,' to bo joined together, with his blessiIll-^ in marriage. Wlien he had clos* 1 hia sermon and done these thing- I went with him, walking at the side of his horse, discoursing of our nu.ny grievous anxieties ; and ho told me th '. after being taken to (llasgow aiil 'ufined in prison there like a \i: .actor for tliirteen days, he had been examined by the 15ishop's court, and through the mediation of one of tho magi- strates, a friend of his own, wlio had a soft word to say witli the Bishop, he was set free witli only a menace, and an admonition not to go within twenty miles of his own jiarish, under pain of being dealt with according to the edict. Couversing iu this manner, and 150 RING AN GILTIAIZE. followed by divers of those wlio had been Folaced Avitli his proaoliiiijCf, for the most p;ivt pious folic bcloiiginjf tu the town of Invcikip, we caino to a bridge over the river. " Hero, liiiiuaii," said he, •' wc must jiart for the present, for it is not meet to create susjticion. Tliero are mauy of the faithful, no doubt, in thir parts, but it's no to bo denied tiiat there are likewise fifoat.^ among the sheep. The liady of Dunrod, where I am now going, is, without question, a precious vessel free of crack or flaw, but the Laird is of a courtly com- plioncy, and their neighbour. Cars- well, she tells me, is a man of the dourest idolatry, his mother having been a papistical woman, and his father, through all the lime of the First King Charles, an eydeut ettler for preferment." So we then parted, he going his way to Dunrod Ca.stlc, and one of the hearers, a farmer hard by, offer- ing me shelter for the night, I went with hiin. The decent, thoughtful, elderly man, who so kindly invited me to his house, was by name called Gideon Kemp ; and as we were going towards it together, he told me of tlivers things that worthy ]\Ir Swinton had not time to do ; among the rest, that tin; preaching I had fallen in with at the linn, which should thenceforth be called the Covenanters' Linn, was the first taste of Gosjiel-fother that the scattered sheep of those parts liad tasted for more than eigiit months. "Wiiat's to come out o' a' this oppres.sion," said he, "is wonderful to think o'. It's no in the jiower of nature that ony government or earthly institution framed by the ^\it and will o' man can withstand a whole jieople. The jirelates may ])ersecutc, and the King's jiower nuiyback tlieir ini<;uitics, but the day and the hour cannot bo fur off when both the power and tho persecutors will be set at nought, and the sense of Avhafc is needful and right, not what is fantastical and arbitrary, govern agaiii in tho councils of this reahn. I say not this in the boast of ])redietion and ])r()t)hecy, but as a tiling that inust come to jiass ; for no man can say, that the peace- ful worshipping according to tlio Word is either a sin, a shame, or an offence against reason ; but the ex- tortioning of lines, and the desolation of families, for attending the same, is manifestly guilt of a dark dye, and tho Judge of llighteousncss will avenge it." As we were thus walking sedately towards his dwelling, 1 observed and pointed out to him a lassie coming running towards us. It was his daughter ; and when she came near, panting and out of breath with her haste, she said — " (), father, ye maunnagang hamo ; — twa of Carswell's men hae been spooring for you, and they had swords and guns. They're o'er the hill to tiie linn, for wee Willie tolt thtni ycwere gano there to a preaching." "Tins comes," said the afllioted (lideon, " of speaking of secret things before bairns ; wlia could hae thought, that a creature no four years old would have been an instrument of discovery ? — I fill no be safe now for you to come hanie wi' me, which I'm wae for, as ye're sac sorely weary't ; but there's a frien o' ours that lives ayont tlio II()lin«tono-hill, aboon the ;udd kirk ; I'll convey you thjther, and she'll gi'e you a shelter for the night." .So wo turned back, and again cross( the bridge before spoken of, and held our course towards the housi of Gideon Kemp's wife's step- mot hor. lUit it was not ordain'd that 1 Mas yet to enjoy the protection of a raftered dwelling ; for just as wo cam(! to the Daffburn, down the glen of which my godly guide was mindct to niNGAN GILHAIZE. 151 conduct me, as being a leas observable way tliau the open road, lie saw one of Ardgowan's men coming towards lis, and tliat family being of the pio- geny of the Stewarts, were inclined to the ])ri'latic side. " Hide yoursel," said lie, " among the bushes." And I den't myself in a nook of the glen, where I overheard what pn8(0 1. '• 1 thought, Gideon," said the lad to him, "that ye Avould hao been at the conventicle this afternoon. We liao heard o't a' ; and Carswell has sworn that he'll liae baith doited Swinton and Dunrod's leddy at (Glas- gow afore the morn, or he'll mak a tawnle o' her tower." '• Carswell shouldna crack sao croose," replied Gideon Kemp; "for though his castle stands proud in the green valley, the time may yet come when lior.-ses and carts will be driven through his ha', and the foul toad and the cauld snail be the only visitors around the unblest hearth o' Cars- well." The way in which that gifted man said these words made my heart dinlc; but I hae lived to hear tliat the spirit of prophecy was assuredly in them : for, since the llevolution, Carswell's family has gone all to drift, and liis house become a wastage ; — folk say, a new road that's talked o' be- tween Inverkip and Greenock, is to go through the very middle o't, and HO mak' it an awful monument of what awaits and will betide all those who have no mercy on their fellow- creatnres, and would exalt themselves by abetting tlie .strength of the god- less aiid the strength of the oppres- sors. Ardgowan's man was daunted by the words of (iideon Kemp, and re- plied in a subdued manner, "It's really a mehincholious thing to think that folk should hae gone so wud about ministers and religion ; — but tak' care of yoursel, Gideon, for a party of soldiers hae come the day to Cartsdj'ke to take up ony of the Kullion-Green rebels that hae fled to thir ])arfs, cind they catcht, I hear, in a j.ublic in the Stenners. three men, and iiave sent them to Gla.'-gow to be hanged." 1 verily thought my heart would at this have leaped out of my bosom. " Surely," replied Gideon Kemp, "the wrath of government is not so unquenchable, that a' the misguided folk concernt in the rising are doom't to die. IJut hae ye heard the names of the prisoners, or where they belong to?" " They're o' the shire o' Ayr, some- where frae the skirts o' Irvine or Kil- winning ; and I was likew'ise told their names, but they're no of a familiarity easy to be remembered." The horror which fell upon me at hearing this made me forget my own peril, and I sprung out of the place of my concealment, and cried — " Do you ken if any of them was of the name of Gilhaize? " Ardgowan's nnn was astounded at seeing me standing before him in so instanter a manner, and before making any response, he looked at (iideon Kemp Avith a jealous and troubled eye. "Nay," said I, "you shall deal honestly with me, and from this spot you shall noi depart till you have promised to use nae scaith to this worthy man."' So I took hold of him by the skirts of his coat, aiul added, — '• Ye're in the hands of one that tribulation has made desperate. I, too, am a rebel, as ye .«ay, from riidlion-green, and my life is forfiired to tlio ravenous de-ires of those who made the laws that have created our ofTence. IJut fear no wrong, if you have aught of Christian compassion in you. Was Gilhaize the name of any of the prisoners V " 152 EINGAN GILHATZE. " I'll no swear't," was his answer ; "but I tliink it was sometliing like that; — one of them, I think, they called Finnie." " Robin Finnie," cried I, dropping^ his coat, " he was wi' my brother ; I caima doubt it ; " and the thouffht of their fate flooded my heart, and the tears flowed from my eyes. The better nature of Ardgowan's man was moved at the sight of my distress, and ho said to Gideon Kemp — " Ye needna bo fcar't, Gideon ; I liope ye ken mair o' me than to think I would betray cither friend or nc- quaintance. 13ut gang na' to the toun, for a' yon'er's in a state o' imco wi' the news o' Avhat's being done the day at Cartsdyke, and everybody's in the hourly dread and fear o' some o' the blackeuffs coming to devour them." " That's spoken like yoursel', Johnnie Jamioson," said Gideon Kemp ;" but this poor man," mean- ing mo, " has iiad a day o' weary travel among the moors, and is greatly in need of refreshment and a place of rest. Wlien the sword, Johnnie, is in the hand, it's an honourable thing to deal stoutly wi' the foe ; but when forlorn and dejectit, and more house- less than the beasts of the field, he's no longer an adversary, but a man that we're bound by the laws of God and nature to help." Jamieson remained for a short space in a dubious manner, aiW look- ing mildly toward me, he said, " Gang you your ways, (iideon Kemp, and I'll ne'er say I saw you ; and let your friend den himsel' in tiic glen, and trust me : naebody in a' Inverkip will jealouse that ony of our house would help or harbour a covenanted rebel ; so I'll can bring him to some place o' succour in the gloaming, wiiere he'll be safer than he could wi' you." Troubled and sorrowful as I was, I could not but observe the look of soul-searching scrutiny that Gideon Kemp cast at Jamieson, who himself was sensible of his mistrust, for ho replied— "Dinnamisdootme, Gideon Kemp; I would sooner put my right hand in the fire, and burn it to a cinder, than harm tlic hair of a man that was in my power." " And I'll believe you," said I ; "so guide me wheresoever you will." " Ye'll never thrive, Johnnie Jamieson," added honest Gideon, " if ye're no sincere in tiiis trust." So after some little furtlier com- muning, the worthy farmer left us, and 1 followed Jamieson down tho ])iiff-bnrn, till we came to a mill that stood in the hollow of the glen, tho wheel Avhercof was happing in the Avater with a pleasant and peaceful din tliat sounded consolatory to my hearing after the solitudes, the storms and tlie accidents, I liail met with. " Bide you here," s^aid Jamieson ; " the gudeman's ane o' your folk, but his wife's a thought camstrarie at times, and before I tak you into tho mill I maun look thatsiie's no there." So he hastened forward, and going to tiie door, went in, leaving mo standing at the sluice of tlie mill- lade, where, however, I had not occa- sion to wait long, for presently he came out, and beckoned to me with his hand to come quickly. Sauners I'aton, as the miller was called, received me in a kindly nuiu- ner, saying to .Famieson — "I aye thought, Johnnie, that some day ye would got a cast o' grace, and the Lord has boon bountiful to you at lasit, in putting it in your power to be aiding in such a Samaritan work. IJut, " he added, turning to me, "it's no just in my power to do for you what I could wis ; for, to keep peace in the house, I'm at times, like many other married men, obligated to let the gudewifo tak her ain way ; RINGAN GILHAIZE. 15^ for wliich reason, I doubt ye'U liae to iiiak your bed here in the mill." While he wjis thus speaking', we heard the tongue of Mrs Patou ring- ing like a bell. " For Heaven's sake, Johnnie Jamieson," cried the miller, "gang out and stop lier frae coming Iiitlicr till I get the poor man hiilden in the loft." Jamieson ran out, leaving us to- gether, and the miller placing a ladder, I mounted up into the loft, where he spread sacks for a bed to me, and told me to lie quiet, and in the dusk he would bring mo something to eat. Ikit before he had well descended, and removed the ladder from the trap- door, in came his wife. " Jsoo, Sauners Faton," she ex- claimed, " ye see wliat 1 liae aye pro- ])lu'sied to you is fast coming to pass. 'I'lie King's forces are at Cartsdyke, and tliey'U be here the morn, and Aviiat's to come o' you then, wi' your covenanted havers? Ikit, Sauners Taton, I hae ae thing to tell ye, and that's no twa : ye'U this night flit your camp ; ye'U tak to tiie liills, as I'm a living woman, and no bide to be hang't at your ain door, and to get your right Iiand chappit aff. and sent to Lanark for a show, as they say is done an doing wi' a' the Covenanters." *' Naebody, Kate, will meildle wi' mo, diuna ye bo fear't," replied the miller; "I hae done nae ill, but pntiently follow't my calling at home, so what hae I to dread? " " Did na ye sign the remonstrance to the laird against the curate's com- ing; ca' ye that naething? Ye'U to the caves this night, Sauners Paton, if tliu life bide in your body. What a sight it would be to me to see you ])Ut to death, and m.aybe to lin a sword of caiild iron running through my ain body, for being colleague wi' you ; for ye ken that it's the law now to mak wives responsible for their gudemen." "Kate Warden," rcpUed the inUler, with a sedate voice, "in sma.' things 1 hae ne'er set myse\ vera obdoorately against you." "Na! if I e'er heard the like o' that!" exclaimed Mrs Paton. "A cross-graint man, that has just been as a Covenant and Kemonstrance to hap{)iness, submitting hinisel in no manner o' way, either to me or those in authority over ns, to talk o' sma' things ! Banners Paton, ye're a born rebel to your King, and kintra, and wife. But this night Pll put it out of your power to rebel on me. Stop the mill, Sauners Paton, and come out, and tak tlie door on your back. I hae owre n)eikle regard for you to let you bide in jeopardy ony langer here." " Consider," said Sauner.s, a littlo dourly, as if lie meditated rebellion, " that this is the season of December ; and where would yc hae me to gang in sic a niglit? " " A grave in the kirk-yard's caulder than a tramp on the hills. 'My jo, ye'U hae to conform ; for, posittevely, Sauners Paton, I'm positive, and for tliis niglit, till the blast has blawn by, ye'U hae to seek a refuge out o' the reach of the troopers' spear. — liae yc stoppit the mill ? " Tlie mistress was of so propugna- cious a temper, that the poor man saw no better for't than to yield obedience so far, as to pull the string that turned off the water of the mill-lade from the wheel. "Noo," said he, "to pleasure you, Kate, I hae stoppit the mill, and to pleasure me, I hope ye'U consent to stop your tongue ; for, to be plain wi' you, frae my ain house I'll no gang this night ; and ye shall hae't, t-inco ye will iiae't, I hae a reason of my ain for biding at hame, and at Iiame I will bide ; — na, what's mair, Kate, it's a reason that I'll no'tell to you." " Dear pity me, Sauner.s Paton ! " cried his wife; "ye're surely grown o' late au unco reasonable man. llut 154 RINGAN GILHAIZE. Lcddy Stuart's quadroopod bird they ca' a parrot, can come o'er and o'er again ony word as weol as you can do reason ; but reason liere or reason there, I'll ne'er consent to let you stay to bo put to tlie swoi'd before my e'en ; so come out o' the mill and lock the door." To this the honest man made no immediate answer ; but, after a short (silence, he said — " Kate, my queen, I'll no say that what ye say is far wrang ; it may be as weel for me to tak a dauner to the top o' Dunrod : but some providing should be made for a sojourn a' night in the wilderness. The sun has been set a lucky hour, and ye may as weel get the supper ready, and a creel wi' some vivers prepared." "Noo, that's like yoursel, Sauners Paton," replied his wife ; " and surely my endeavour shall not be wanting to mak you comfortable." At these words Jamicson came also into the mill, and said, " I hope, mil- ler, the wife lias gotten you persuaded o' your danger, and that ye'il conform to her kind wishes." . By which I dis- cernt, that ho had purposely egget her on to urge her guderaan to take the moors for the advantage of me. " O, aye," replied the miller ; '' I could na but be consenting, poor queen, to lighten Iier anxieties ; and though for a season," he added, in a way that I well understood, " the eyes above may be closed in slumber, a watcii will be set to gi'e the signal when it's time to be up and ready ; tliorcfore let us go info tlio house, and cause no further molestation here." The three then retired, and. com- forted by the words of this friendly mystery. I confided myself tothecnre of the defenceless sleeper's ever-Avake- fid Sentinel, and for several hours enjoyed a refreshing oblivion from all my troubles and fears. Considering the fatiguo I had undergone for so many days and nights togetlier, my slumber might have been prolonged perhaps till morning, but the worthy miller, who withstood the urgency of his terrified wife to depart till he thought I was rested, soon after the moon rose came into the mill and wakened me to make ready for the road. So I left my couch in the loft, and came down to him ; and he conducted me a little way from the house, where bidding me wait, ho went back, and speedily returned with a small basket in his hand of the stores which the mistress had provided for himself. Having put the handle into my hand he led me down to a steep shoul- der of a precipice nigh the sea-shore, where, telling me to follow the patii along the bottom of the hills, he shook mo with a brotherly affection by the hand, and bade me farewell, — saying, in a joco.'o manner, to lighten the heaviness with whicli he saw my sjiirit was oppressed, — that tho gudewifo would make baith him and Johnnie Jainieson suffer in tho body for tlio fright she had gotten. '• For ye should ken," said he " that the terror she was in was a' bred o' Johnnie's pawkerie. lie knew that she was aye in a di'ead that I would be laid hands on ever since I signed the remonstrance to tiie laird ; and Joiinnio tiiought, that if he could get her to send me out pro- vided for the hills, we would find a way to make the provision yours. So, gude be wi' you, and dinna be overly downhearted, when ye see how won- derfully ye are ta'en care o'." Being thus cherished, cheered, and exhorted, by the worthy miller of In- verldp, I went on my way with a sense of renewed hope dawning upon my heart. Tho night was frosty, but clear, and the rippling of the sea glit- tered as with a sparkling of gladness in the beams of tlio moon then walking in tho fulness of her beauty over those RINOAN GILHAIZE. 165 fii'Idfl of liolincss whoso perennial ilowcvs are tlH> ovcrlastin^' stars. IJut tlioiii,'li for u little •wiiilu my floul par- look of tlio biossL'tl tranquillity of tiio iiiiilit, 1 had not travilled far wian tliu lieavcn of my liiouj,'iit3 was over- cast, (iiief for my brother in the lianils of tlio oppressors, and anxiety for tlio treasures of my lieartli, whose danj^vrs were doubtless increased by the part 1 had taken in the raid, cloiuled my reason with many fearful auuuries and doleful anticipations. All care for my own safety was lost in those ov'i whelming reflections, in so much that when tho morning air breatlicd upon mo as I reached the brow of Kilbride Hill, had I been tlien (jnestioned as to the manner I had come there, verily I could have given no account, for I saw not, neither did 1 hear, for many mih-S, auglit, 1)ut only the dismal tragedies Avith which liusy imagination rent my heart with aftlic- tioii, and flooded my eyes with the gushing streams of a softer sorrow. ihit though my journey was a con- tinued experi((nce of iinvard suffering, I met with no cause of dread, till I Avas witln'n sight, of Kilwinning. 1 laving purposed not to go home until 1 should learn wliat liad taken place iu my absence, I turned aside to the house of an acqnaintnnce, one William iirekenrig, a covenanted Christian, to inquire, ami to rest myself till the evening. Scarcely, however, had I entered on the path that led to his door wlien a misjiiving of mind fell upon me, and 1 halted and looked to sec if all about the mailing was in its Monted state. His catlle were on tlie stubble — the smoke stood over the lunihead in the lown of the morning — the pldugli lay unyoked on the croft, Imt it had been latelynRed,ftnd the fur- 1 ows of part of a rig were newly turned. Still thero was a something that sent polenniity and coldness into my soul. J saw nobody about the farm, which at that time of tho day was strange and unaccountable ; nevertlieless I hastened forward, and coming to a park-yett, I saw my old friend leaning over it with his head towards me. I called to him by name, but he heeded me not ; I ran to him and touched him, but he was dead. The ground around where he liad rested himself and expired was covered with his blood ; and it was plain he had not been shot long, for he was warm, and the stream still trickled from the wound in his side. I have no words to tell what 1 felt at the sight of this woeful murder ; but I ran for help to the house ; and just as I turned the corner of tlic barn, two soldiers met me, and I became their prisoner. One of them was a ruthless repro- bate, who wanted to put me to death ; but the other beggit my life : at the moment, however, my spirit was as it were in the midst of thunders and a whirlwind. They took from me my pistols and my grandfather's sword, and I could not speak ; and tied my hands behind me with a cutting string, and I thought it was a dream. The air I breathed was as suffocating as suli)hur; I gasped with the sandy thirst of the burning desert, and my throat was as the drowth of tho parched earth in the wilderness of Kedar. Soon after this other soldiers came from another farm, where they had been committing similar outrages, and they laughed and were merry as they rehearsed their exploits of guilt. They taunted me and plucked mo by tho lip ; but their boasting of what they had done flaslied more iiercely over my spirit than even these indigni- ties, and I inwardly chided the slow auger of the mysterious Heavens for permitting the rage of those agents of the apostate Jafnes Sharp and compeers, whom a jnaU-sworn 156 rjNGAN GTLHAIZE. king had so cruelly dressed with hia authority. But even in the midst of tUeso re- pinings and bit*:er breathings, it was whispered into the cars of my under- standing, as with the voice of a sera[)h, that the Lord in all things movetli according to His established laws ; and I was comforted to think that in the enormities whereof I was a wit- ness and partaker, there was a tempering of the hearts of the people, that they might become as swords of steel, to work out the deliverance of the land from the bloody methods of prelatic and arbitrary domination ; in 80 much, that when the soldiers pre- pared to return to their quarters in Irvine, 1 walked with them — their captive, it is true ; but my steps were firm, and they marvelled to one another at the proudness of my tread. There was at the time a general sorrowing throughout the country, at the avenging visitations wherewitli all those who had been in the raid, or ■who had harboured the fugitives, were visited. Hundreds that sympathized ■with the sufferings of their friends, flocked to the town to learn who had been taken, and Avho were put to death or reserved for punishment. The crowd camo pressing around as I ■was conducted up the gait to the tolbooth ; the women wept, but the men looked doure, and tlie children wondered whatfor an honest man should be brought to punishment. Some who knew me, cheered me by name to keep a stout heart ; and the soldiers grew fear't for a rescue, and gnrled at the crowd for closing so closely upon us. As I was ascending the tolbooth- stair, I heard a shriek ; and I looked around, and beheld Michael, my first- born, a stripling then only twelve years old, amidst the crowd, stretching out his hands and crying, "O, my father, my father ! " I lialted for a moment, and the sohliers seemed to thawwitii compas- sion ; l)ut my haiiils wore tied, — I was a captive on the tlireshold of the dungeon, and T coidd only shut my eyes and bid the stern agents of tlio persecutors go on. Still the cry of my distracted child knelled in my ear, and my agony grew to such a pitcli, that 1 Hew forward up the steps, and, in the dismal vaults within, souglit refuge from the misery of my child. CHAPTER XXI. I WAS conducted into a straight and dark chamber, and the cord where- with my hands were bound was un- tied, and a shackle put upon my right wrist ; the flesh of my left was so galled Avith the cord, that the jailor was softened at the siglit, and from the humanity of his own nature, refrained from placing the iron on it, lest the rust should fester tlie quick wound. Then I was loft alone in the gloomy solitude of the prison-room, and the ponderous doors wore shut upon me, and the harsh bolts driven with a horrid grating noise, that caused my very boms to dinle. Jjut even in that dreadful hour an un- speakable consolation camo with tho freshness of a breathing of the airs of paradise to my soul. Methought a wonderful liglit slione around mc, that I heard melodious voices bidding me be of good cheer, and tliat a vision of my saintly grandfather, in the glorious vestments of his heavenly attiri!, stood before me, and smiled upon me with that holy comeliness of countenance which has made his image in my remembrance ever that of the most venerable of men ; so that, in the very depth of what I thought would have been the pit of despair, I had a delightful taste of lUNflAN GILHATZE. m those blcssi'd experiences of Divino aiil, by which the holy iiuvrtyra ucro sustained in tlio liours of trial, and cheered amidst the torments in which tlicy sealed the truth of their testi- mony. After the favour of that sweet and celestial encoura^'enient, I laid my- self down on a pallet in the corner of tlie room, and a gracious sleep des- cended upon my eyelids, and steeped tiie sense and memory of my griefs in fnrgetfulness. When 1 awoko the day Avas far spent, and tlie light tiirongli the iron staiuchers of the little Avindow showed that the shadows of the twilight were darkening over tlio world. I raised myself on my elbow, and listened to the murmur of the multitude that I heard still linger- ing around the prison ; and sometimes 1 thought that I discovered the voice of a friend. In that situation, and thinking of all tiiose dear ones which tilled my heart with tenderness and fear, and of the agonizing grief of my little boy, the sound of whose cries still echoed in my bosom, I rose upon my knees and connnitted myself entirely to the custody of llini that can give the light of liberty to the captive even in the gloom of the dungeon. And when I liad done so I again ])repared to lay myself on the ground ; but a rustle in the darkness of the room drew my attention, and in the same moment a kind hand was laid on mine. "Sarah lioclirig," said I, for I knew my wife's gentle pressure, — " How is it that you are with me in this doleful place ? J low got you en- trance, and I not hear you come in ? " lUit before slie had time to make any answer, another's fond arms were around my neck, and my affectionate young Michael wept upon my shoulder. Bear with me, courteous reader, when I think of those things,— that wife and that child, and all that I loved so fondly, are no more ! JJut it is not meet that I should yet tell how my spirit was turned into iron and my heart into stone. Therefore will 1 still endeavour to relate, as with the equanimity of one that writes but of indifferent things, what further ensued during the thirteen daj-s of my captivity. Sarah Lochrig, with the mildness of her benign voice, when we had mingled a few tears, told me that, after 1 went to (ialloway with Martha Swinton, she had been moved by our neighbours to come with our children into the town, as being safer for a lanerly woman .and a family left with- out its head, and a providential thing it was that she had done so ; for on the very night that my brother came off with the men of tlie parish to join \i^, aa 1 have noted down in its proper place, a gang of dragoons plundered both his house and mine, and but that our treasures had been timeously removed, his family having also gone that day into Kilmarnock, the out- rages might have been unspeakable. We then had some household dis- course, anent what was to be done in the event of things coming to the worst with me ; and it was an admira- tion to hear with what constancy of reason, and the gifts of a supported judgment, that gospeldiearted woman spoke of what she would do with her cliildren, if it was the Lord's pleasilre to honour me with the crown of mar- tyrdom. " But," sai>' she, " I hae an assur- ance within *:i-»t some great thing is j'et in store for you, thougli the hope be clouded with a doubt that I'll no be spar't to see it, and therefore let us not despond at this time, but use the means that Providence may atlord to effect your deliver.ance." While we were thus conversing to- 15S HINOAN GILIIATZK. gcthcrtbo doors of the prison-room Wore oponcd, and a man was let in who liad a cruiciic' iu tlio one iwiud and a basket in tlio otiicr. lie waa loan and pale-faced, bordering on forty years, andof amelaneliolyconiplexion; liis eyu wa.s quick, deep set, and a tliouj.(iit wild ; his longhair was care- fully combed smoot' , and his apparel was sini,'i\larly well composed for a person of his desreo. Having set down the himp on the floor, he came in a very reverential manner towards whore 1 was sitting, with my right hand fettered to the ground, between Sarah liOelirig and Michael our son, and ho said, with a remarkable and gentle simplicity of voice, in the Iligldand accent, tiiat he had been requested by a righteous woman, I'rovost llcid's wife, to bring me a bottle of cordial wine and some little matters that I might require for bodily consolation. " It's that godly creature, Willie Sutherland, the hangman," said my wife. "Though rrovidcnco has dealt hardly with him, poor man, in this life, everybody says he has gotten arles of a servitude in glory hereafter." When he had placed the basket at the knees of Michael, he retired to a corner of the room, and stood in the shadow, with his face turned towards the wall, saying, " I'm concern't that it's no in my power to leave you to yoursels till Mungo Robeson come back, for he has lockit me in, but I'll no hearken to what you may say ; " and there was a modesty of manner in the way that he said this, which made me think it not possible he could be of so base a vocation as the public executioner, and I whispered my opin- ion of him to Sarah Lochrig. It w;is however the case ; and verily iu the life and conduct of that simple and pious man there was a manifesta- tion of the trutii, that to him whom the Lord favours it significth not whatsoever his earthly condition may be. After 1 had partaken with my wife and son of some refreshment whieli they had brought with them, and tasted of the wine that I'rovost Ucid's lady had sent, we lieant tlie bolts nf the door drawn, and liie clanking of keys, at which Willie Sutheilan<l came forward from the corner where ho had stood daring the whole time, and lifting the lamp from the floor, jind wetting his fore-finger with spittle as he did so, ho trinuued the wick, and said, " The time's come when a' iier- sons not prisoners must dejiart forth the tolbooth for the night ; but, JNIaster Gilhaize, bo none discom- forted thereat, your wife and your little one will come back in the morn- ing, and your lot is a lot of pleasure ; for is it not written in the book of Ecelesiastcs, fourth and eighth, ' Tiiero is one alone, and there is not a second ; yea, he hath neither child nor brother?' and such an one am I." The inner door was thrown open, and INIungo Robeson, looking in. said, " I'm wae to molest you, but ye'll hao to come out, Mrs (iilhai?*." So that night Avo were separ/ited ; and when Sarah Lochrig was gone. I could not but ofYer thanksgiving that my lines had fallen in so pleasant a place, compared with the fate of my jioor brotlier, suffering among strangers in the doleful prison of (Jlnsgow, undiT the ravenous eyes of the prelate of that city, then scarcely less hungry for the bodies of the faithful and the true, than even the apostate James' Sliarp himself. The deep sleep into which I had fallen when Sarah Lochrig and my son were admitted to see mo, and during the season of Avliich Ihey had sat in silence beside mo till revived nature again unsealed my eyes, was so re- freshing, that after they were gono away I was enabled to consider my EINOAN nilJIAIZE. 159 cojidition Avitli a cnnipoaod mind, nnd frcM! from the lii'iits of nnRsion and mixicty Avlici(;\villi J IkuI pruvioiialy l)t'eii Ko p-oatly tossed. And oiiUin.!,' to mind all tluit liad taken ])laco, and tlio iiitldt'ss rt'VC'nf(o witli wliicli tlio cruel i)relatc3 wore actuated, I saw, iiH it were written in a book, that for my part and conduct I was (loomed to die. I felt not, however, the sense of fjuilt in my conscience ; nnd I said to myself that this sore thinjj ought not to be, and that, aa .in innocent man and tlie head of a family, I was obli- pited by all expedient ways to escape, if it were possible, from the grasps of the tyranny. It seemed to mc, lliat in the piety and simplicity of Willie Sutherland, instruments were given by which I mi;,'ht break througli the walls of my j)ri3on ; and accordingly, when he next morning came in to see me, I failed not to try thtir edge. I entered into dis- course with him, and told him of many tilings wiiich 1 have recorded in this book, and so won upon his confidence and the singleness of his heart, tiiat he shed t<.'ars of grief at the tiiouglit of so many blameless men being or- dained to an untimely end. . "It has pleased God," said he, " to make me as it Avere a leper and an exconnnnnicant in this wnrlJ, by the constraints of a low estate, and with- out any fault of mine. Ikii for this temporal ignominy, lie will, in His own good time, bestow an exceeding great reward ; — and though I may be called on to fulfil tlie work of the per- secutors, it shall yet be seen in me, that J will abide by the integrity of my faith, and that, poor desjnsed hangman as I am, I have a conscience that will not brook a task of inicpiity, whatsoever the laws of man may de- termine, or the King's judges decree," J was, as it were, rebuked by this proud religious declaration, and I gently inquired how it was that he came to fall into n condition so rejec- ted of the world. " Deed, sir," said lie, " my talc ia easy told. ]\ly parents were very poor needful people in Stratlinavar, and no able to keep me ; and it happened that, being cast on the world, I be- came a herd, and year by year, having a desire to learn the Lowland tongue, 1 got in that way as far as Taisley, where I fell into extreme want and was almost famished ; for the ma.stcr that I served there being in debt, ran away, by which cause I lost my penny- fee, and was obligated to beg my bread. At that time many worthy folk in the shire of Renfrew having suffered great molestation from witch- craft, divers malignant women, sus- pected of that black art, were brought to judgment, and one of them being found guilty, was condemned to die. But no executioner being in the town, I was engaged, by the scriptural coun- sel of some honest men, Avho quoted to me the text, ' Suffer not a witch to live,' to fultil the sentence of the law. After that I bought a Question-book, having a mind to learn to read, that I might gain some knowledge of tiik AVoim. Finding, however, the people of I'aisley scorn at my company, so that none would give me a lesson, I came about live years 8ince to Jrviue, where the folk are more charitable ; and here I act the part of an execu- tioner when there is any malefactor to put to death. Hut my Bible has instructed m.e, that I ought not to execute any save such as deserve to die." I was moved with a tender pity by the tale of the simple creature ; but a strong necessity was upon i;ie, nnd it was needful that I should make use of his honesty to help me <'Ut of prison. 8o I spoke still more kindly to him, lamenting my sad estate, and that in the little time 1 had in all likelihood to live, the rigour of the jailor would allow IGO ^JNGA^^ GILTTATZE. but little intercourse with my family, wishing some compassionate Cliristiau friend would intercede with him in order that my wife and children, if not permitted to bide all night, might be allowed to remain with me as long and as late as possible. Tlic pious creature said that lie would do for me in that respect all in liis power, and that, as Muugo Ilcbe- son was a sober man, and aye wanted to go home early to his family, he would bide in the tolbooth to let out my wife, though it should be till ten o'clock at night — "for," said he pit- eously, "I hae nae family to care about." Accordingly, he so set himself, that Mungo Kobeson consented to leave the keys of tlie tolbooth with him ; and for several nigiits evorytliing was so managed that ho liad no reason to suspect what my wife and I were plotting ; for lie being of a modest and I'ctiring nature, never spoke to iier when she parted from me, save when she tlianked liim <as lie let her out ; and that she did not do every night, lest it slionld grow into a habit of expectation with him, and cause him to remark when the civility was omitted. In the meantime all things being concerted between us, through the mean of a friend a cart was got in readiness, loaded Avitii seemingly a liogget of tobacco and grocery wares, but the hogget was empty and loose in the head. This was all settled by the nine- teenth of D'jcember ; on the twenty- fourth of the month the Commission- ers a[)poii'.ted to try the Covenanters in the prisons tliroughout the shire of Ayr were to open their court at Ayr, and I was, by all who knew of me, regarded in a manner as a dead man. On the night of the twentieth, how- ever, shortly before ten o'clock, James Gottera, our friend, camo with the cart in at the town-head port, and in going down the gait stopped, as had been agreed, to give iiis beast a drink at the trough of the cross-well, oppo- site the tolbooth-stair foot. When the clock struck ten, tho time appointed, I was ready di'essed in my wife's apparel, having, in tho course of the day, broken the chain of the shackle on my arm ; and the door being opened by Willie Sutherland in the usual manner, I came out, holding a napkin to my face and weeping in sincerity very bitterly, with tho thought of what might ensue to Sarah Lochrig, whom I left behind in my place. In reverence to my grief the honest man .said nothing, but walked by my side till he had let me out at the outer stairhead door, where he parted from me, carrying the keys to Mungo Robeson's house, aneatli the tolbooth, while I walked towards James Cot. tera's cart, and Avas presently in tho inside of the hogget. With great presence of mind and a soldierly self-possession, tliat ventu- rous friend then drew the horse's head from the trough, and began to drivo it down the street to the town-end port, striving as he did so to whistle, till he was rebuked for so doing, as I heard, by an old womnn then going home, who said to him that it was a shame to hear such profanity in Irvine wiien a martyr doomed to die was lying in the tolbootii. To the whieli he replied .scoliingly, " that martyr was a new name for a sworn rebil to king and country," — wonls wliieii so kindled the worthy wom;iii's ire, that she began to ban his prelatic ungodji- ness to such a degree that a crowd collected, which made nic tremble. For the people sided with the /falous carlin, and spoke fiercely, threatening to gar tfames (Jotteia riilo the stang for his sinfulness in so traducing per- secuted Christiana. ^Vhat might havo EINGAN GILHAIZE. 161 come to pass is hard to say, had not Providence been pleased, in that most critical and perilous time, to cause a foul luin in a tliackct house in the Seagate to take fire, by which an alarm was spread that drew off the mob. and allowed James G ottera to pass without farther molestation out at the town- end port. From the time of my eva&ion from the tolbooth, and during the contro- versy between James Gottera and the mob in the street, there was a whirl- wind in my mind that made rae in- capable of reason. But when we had passed through the town-end port, and the cart had stopped at the minis- ter's carse till I could throw off my female weed.s and put on a sailor's garb, provided for the occasion, tongue nor pen cannot express the passion wherewith my yearning soul was then affected. Tlic thought of having left Sarah Lochrig within bolts and bars, a reaoy victim to the tjTanny which so thirsted for blood, lightened within me as the lightnings of heaven in a storm. I threw myself on the ground, — I grasped the earth, — I gatlicred myself as it were into a knot, and howled with horror at my own selfish baseness. I sprung up and cried, " I will save her yet! " and I would liave run in- stanter to the town ; but the honest man who was with mi laid his grip firmly upon my arm, au^ aaid in a solenni manner — "Tl.'s is no Christian conduct, Eingan Gilhaize ; the Lord has not forgotten to be graciou.s." I glowered upon hiin, as he has often since told me, with a shudder, and cried, " lUit I hao left Sarah Lochrig in their hands, and, like a coward, run away to save myself." " Compose yoursel', Kingan, and let us reason together," Avas his dis- creet reply. " It's vera true ye hae come away and left your wifo aa it were an hostage in the prison, but the persecutors and oppressors Avill respek the courageous affection of a loving wife, and Providence will put it in their hearts to spare her." "And if they do not, what shall I then be? and what's to become of my babies? — Lord, Lord, thou hast tried me beyond my strength ! " And I again threw my'^lf on the earth, and cried that it mij,ht open and swallow me ; for thinking but of myself, I was become unwortliy to live. The considerate man stood over mo in compassionate silence for a season, and allowed m., to rave in a frenzy till I had oxhans'ied myself. " JRingan, ' said he at last, " yo were aye respekit as a thoughtful and discreet character, and I'll no blame you for this sorrow ; but I entreat you to collek yoursel, and think Avhat'a best to be done, for what avails in trouble the cry of alas, alas ! or the hhcdding of many tears? Your wife is in prison, but for a fault that will wring compassion even frae the brazen heart of the remorseless James Sharp, and bring back the blood of humanity to the mansworn breast of Charles Stuart. But tiiough it were not so, they daurna harm a hair of her head ; for there are things, man, that the cruellest dread to do for fear o' the world, even when they hae lost the fear o' God. I count her far safer, Ilingan, frae the rage of the perse- cutors, where she lies in prison a- ueath their bolts and bars, than were she free in her own house ; for it obligates them to deal wi' her openly and afore mankind, whose good-will the worst of princes and prelates are from an inward power forced to respek : whereas, were she sitting lanerly and defenceless, wi' naebody near but only your four helpless wee birds, there's no saying what tie gleds might do. Theiefore bo counselled, my frien', and dinna gi'e 162 RINGAN GILHAIZE. yourscl up utterly to despair ; but, liko a man, for whom the Lord has already done great thinofs, mak use of tlie moans which, in this jeopiinly of a' tiiat's sae dear to you, ho lias so gra- ciously put in your power." I felt niytself in a measure heartened by this exhortation, and rising from the {.'round completed the cliango I Jiad begun in my apparel ; but I was still unable to speak, — which he ob- Berving, said — ♦' Hae yo considered the airt ye aught now to take, for it canua be that ye'Il think of biding in this neighbourhood ? " "No; not in this land," I ex- claimed ; " would that I might not even in this life ! " "Whisht! Ringan Gilhaize, that's a sinful wish for a Christian," said a compassionate voice at my side, which made us both start ; and on looking round we saw a man who, during the earnestest of our controversy, had ap- proached close to us unobserved. It was that gospel -teacher, my fellow-sufferer, Mr Witherspoon ; and his sudden apparition at that time was a blessed taccident, whicii did more to draw my thoughts from the anguish of my affections than any tiling that it was possible for James Gottera to have said. lie wastlien travelling in the cloud of night to the town, having, after I parted from him in Lanarksliire, en- dured many hardships and perils, and his intent was to pass to his friends, in order to raise a trille of money, to transport himself for a season into Ireland. Hut James Gottera, on hearing this, interposed his ouiiiion. aiidsaiil, a rumour was abroad that in all ports and towns of embarkation ordiTH were given to stay the departure of passen- gers, so tliat to a surety he would be taki'n if ho attempted to quit the kingdom. By this time my mind had returned into sometliing like a state of sobriety; so I told him how it had been con- oei'ted between me and Sarah Lochrig tiiat I should pass over to the wee Cumbrae, there to wait till the de- stroyers had passed by ; for it was tliought not possible that such an inordinate thirst for blood, as had followed upon our discomfiture at KuUion-green, could bo of a long continuance ; and I bcseeched him to come with me, telling him that I was provided with a small purse of money in case need should require it, but in the charitable hearts of the pious wo might count on a richer store. Accordingly, wo agreed to join our fortunes again, and, having parted from James Gottera at Kilwinning, wo went on our way together, and my heart was refreshed by the kind admonitions and sweet converse of my companion, tliough ever and anon the thought of my wife in prison, and our defenceless lambs, shot liko a fiery arrow through my bosom. But man is by nature a sordid creature, and the piercing December blast, the threatening sky, and the frequent shower, soon knit up my thoughts with tlio care of my worthless self: maybe tiiere was in that tlie temper- ing hand of a beneficent Providence ; for when I have at divers times since considered how much the anguish of my inner sufferings exceeded the bodily molestation, I could not but confess, though it was with a humbled sense of my own selfishness, that it was well for me, in such a time, to bo so respited from the upbraiilings of my tortured affections. Hut, not to dwell on tiicspeciaUies of my own ferliiigs on lliat iiU'iii()ral)lo night, let it siiHici!, that after walking some four or five miles towards l\'n- corse ferry, where we meant to jiass to the island, I became less and less attuutiyg to tUo edifying discourse u{ " we it's n he hol( tlic him RINGAN GILHATZE. 163 ^Ir Witlicrspoon, and his nature aJso yielding to the influence of the time, wc travelled along the bleak and sandy shore between Ardrossan and Kilbride hill witliouttlio interchange of eonver- Bation. Tlie wind came wild and gurly from the sea, tlie waves broke heavily on tlie shore, Jind the moon, swiftly wading the cloud, threw over tlie dreary scone a wandering and ghastly light. Often to the blast we were obligated to turn our backs, and, the rain being in our faces, wo little heeded each other. In that state, so like sullenness, we had journeyed onward, it might be better thau a mile, when, happening to observe something lying on the shore, as if it l)ad been cast out by the sea, I cried, under a sense of fear, " Stop, Mr Witherspoon ; what's that?" In the same moment he uttered a dreadful sound of horror, and, on looking round, I saw we were three in company. " In the name of Heaven," ex- claimed Mr Witiierspoon, " who and what are you that walk with us'? " But in.stanter our fears and the mystery of the appearance were dis- pelled, for it Avus my brother. CIIAPTEil XXTI. "Wkel, Hingan," said my brother, " we have met again in this world ; it's a blessing I never lookeil for," and he held out ids two hands to take hold of mine, but the broken links of the shackle still round ray wrist made him cry out : " \V hat's this? Wharn liao ye come frae ? I'ut I noc'diia inquire." '• I have broken out of the tolliooth o' Irvine," said I, "and I am lieeing here with Mr Witherspoon." " I, too,''roplicd my brother mouru- fully, " hae escaped from the hands of the persecutors." We then entered into some con- vci'sation concerning what had hap- pened to us respectively, from the fatal twenty-eighth of November, when our power and host were scat- tered on Jiullion-green, wherein Mr NN'itherspoon, with me, rehearsed to him the accidents herein set forth, with the circumstantials of somethings that befel the godly man after I left him with the corpse of the baby in his arms ; but which being in some points less of an adventurous nature than had happened to myself, I shall be par- doned by the courteous reader for not enlarging upon it at greater length. I should however here note, that iMr Witherspoon was not so severely dealt Avith as I was ; for though an outcast and a fugitive, yet he was not a prisoner ; on the contrary, under the kindly cover of the Ijady Aiich- terfardel, whose excellent and truly covenanted husband was a sore suf- ferer by the fines of the year WCd, ho received great hospitality for tlie space of sixteen days, and was saved between two feather beils, on the top of which tlie laird's aged mother, a bedrid wo- man, was laid, when some of Drum- niond's men searched the house on an information against him. But disconsolatory as it was to hear of such treatment of a gospel- minister, though lightened by the re- ilection of the S'.iintly constancy that was yet to be found in the land, and among jiersons too of the Lady of Audi ter fardel's degree, and severe as the trials were, both of body and mind, which I had my.self undergone, yet were they all as nothing conipareil to the hardships of my brother, a man of a temperate sobriety of yianner, bear- ing all changes with a perene coun- tenance and a placable mind, Avhile feeling them in the uttermost depths of Ilia capacious affectious. IGi PJNGAN GILHATZE, " On the night of the battle," said he, " it would not be easy of me to tell which way 1 went, or what en- sued, till I found myself Avith three destitute companions on the skirts of the town of Falkirk, liy that time the morning was beginning to dawn, and we perceived not that we had ap- proached so nigh into any bigget land ; as the day, however, broke, the steeple caught our eye, and we halted to con- sider what we ought to do. And .as we were then standing in a field diffi- dent to enter the town, a young wo- man came from a house that stands a little way off the road, close to Graham's dyko. driving a cow to grass with a long staff, which I the more re- marked as such, because it was of the Indian cane, and virled with silver, and headed with ivory. " ' Sirs,' said 7Ienio Adams, for that was the damsel's name, ' I see what ye are, but I'll no speir ; hows- ever, be ruled by me, and gang na near the town of Falkirk this morning, for atwecn the hours of dark and dawn there has been a congregationing o' horses and men, and other sediments o' war, that I hae a notion there's owre meiklo o' the King's power in the place for ony Covenanter to enter in, save under the peril o' penalties. But come wi' me, and Fll go back wi' you, and in our hay-loft you may scog yoursels till the gloaming.' " Who could have thought," said my brother, " that in such discourse from a young woman, not passing four and twenty years of ago, and of a pleasant aspect, any guilty stratagem of blood was hidden ! " He and iiis friends never questioned her trutii, but went with liei', and she con<l\icted them to her father's house, and lodged tliera iu the h<iy loft. It seems that Menie Adams was, however, at the time betrotlied to the prelatic curate tliat had been laid upon the parish, and that, in conseriuei-CP, aneath her courtesy, she had concealed a very treacherous and wicked intent. For no sooner had she got my bro- ther and his three companions into tho hay-loft, than she hies herself away to the town, and, in the hope of pleasing her prelatic lover, informs the captain of the troop there of the birds she had ensnared. As soon as the false woman had thus committed the sin of perfiily, she went to the curate to brag how she had done a service to his cause ; but he, though of the prelatic germina- tion, being yet a person who had some reverence for truth and the gentle mercies of humanity, was so disturbed by her unwomanly disposition, that he bade her depart from his presence for ever, and ran with all possible speed to waken the poor men whom she had so betrayed. On his way to the house he saw a party of the soldiers, whom tlieir officer, as in duty bound, was sending to seize the unsuspecting sleepers, and running on before them, he just got forward in time to give the alarm. My brother and one of them, Esau Wardrop, the wife's brother of James Gottera, who had been so instrumen- tal in my evasion, were providentially enabled to get out and flee ; but the other two were taken by the soldiers and carried to prison. The base conduct of that Menie Adams, as wc some years after heard, did not go long imvisited by the dis- pleasure of Heaven, for, some scent of her guilt taking wind, tiie whole town, in a sense, grew wud against her, and she was mobbet, and tiio wells pumped upon her by the en- raged multitude ; and she never re- covered from the handling that she therein suffered. My brother and Esau Wardrop, on getting into the open fields, made all the speed they could, like the panting hart when pursued by the hunter, and KINGAN GILHATZE. 1G3 distrustinor the people of tliat part of the country, they travelled all day, not venturinp to approach any reek- ing house. Towards gloaming, how- ever, being hungry and faint, the craving of nature overcame their fears, and they went up to a liouse where they saw a light burning. As tliey approached the door they faltered a little in their resolution, for they heard the disonance of riot and revelry within. Their need, however, was great, and the importunities of hunger would not be pacified, so they knocked, and the door was opened by a soldier, the party within being a horde of Dalziel's men, living at free quarters in the hoiLse of that excel- lent Christian and much-persecuted man, the Laird of llinglewood. The moment that the man who came to the door saw, by the glimpse of the light, that both my brother and Esau Wardrop had sworda at their sides, he uttered a cry of alarm, think- ing the house was surrounded, at which all the riotous soldiers within flew to their arms, while the man Avho opened the door seized my brother by Ihe throat and harl't him in. The panic, however, was but of short duration, for my brother soon ex- pounded that they were two perish- ing men who came to surrender them- selves ; so the door was again opened, and Esau Wardrop commanded to come in. " It 8 but a justice to say of those rampageous troopers,"' said my brother, " that, considering us as prisoners of war, they were free and kind enough, though they mocked at our cause, and derided the equipage of our warfare. But it was a hu- miliating siglit to see in what manner they deported themselves towards the unfortunate family." llinglewood himself, who had re- monstrated against their insolence to bis aged leddy, they had tied in his arm -chair and placed at the head of his own table, round which they sat carousing, and singing the roister ribaldry of camp songs. At first, when my brotlier was taken into this scene of military domination, he did not observe the laird ; for in the up- roar of the alarm the candles had been overset and broken, but new ones being asked for and stuck into the necks of the bottles of the wine they were lavishly drinking, he discovered him lying as it were asleep where he sat, with his head averted, and his eyes shut on the iniquity of the scene of oppression with which he was opjiressed. Some touch of contrition had led one of the soldiers to take the aged matron under his care ; an:' on his intercession she was not placed at tiie table, but allowed to sit in a corner, where she mourned in silence, with her hands clasped tO(;ether, and her head bent down over them upon her breast. The laird's grandson and heir, a stripling of some fifteen years or so, was obligated to bo page and butler, for all the rest of the house had taken to the hills at the a^iproach of the troopers. As the drinking continued the riot increased, and the rioters growing heated with their drink, they began to quarrel : fierce words brought angry answers, and threats were fol- lowed by blows. Then there was an interposition, and a shaking of hands, and a pledging of renewed friend- ship. But still the demon of the drink continued to grow stronger and stronger in their kindling blood, and the tumult was made perfect by one of the men, in the capering of his inebriety, rising fro!u his seat, and taking the old leddy by the toupie to raise her head as he rudely placed his foul cup to her lips. 'Ihis called up the ire of the fellow who had sworn 166 HINGAN GILHAIZE. to protect her, and he, not less m- toxicated than the insulter, cunio, stiigijcring to defend her; a sculHe ensued, the insulter was cast with a swing away, and falling against the laird, who still remained as it were asleep, with his head on his shoulder, and his eyes shut, he overthrew the chair in whicli the old gentleman sat fastened, and they both fell to the ground. The soldier, frantic with wine and rage, was soon, like a tiger, on his adversary; the rest rose to separate them. Some took one side, some another ; bottles were seized for Aveapons, and the table was over- thrown iu the hurricane. Tlieir Ser- jeant, who was as drunk as the worst of them, tried in vain to call them into order, but they heeded not his call, which so enraged liiin, that he swore they should shift tlu'ir quarters, and with that seizing a burning brand from the chumla, he ran into a bed- chamber that opened from the room wliore the riot was raging, and set fire to the curtains. ^ly brother seeing the flames rising, and that the infuriated war- wolves thought only of themselves, ran to extricate Ringlewood from the cords wiiii which he was tied; and calling to the leddy and her grandson to quit the burning house, every one was soon out of danger from the fire. The sense of the soldiers was not so overborne by their drink as to pre- vent them from seeing tiio dreadful extent of their outrage ; but instead of trying to extinguish the flames, tliey marched away to seek quarters in some other jilace, cursing the Serjeant for having so unhoused them in such a niglit. At first they thouglit of carrying my brother and Esau \Vardrop with them as prisoners ; but one of them said it would be as well to give the wyte of tiie burning, at head-quarters, to the rebels ; so they left them be- hind. Esau Wardrop, witli the young laird and my grandfather, seeing it was in vain to stop the progress of tlio lire, did all in them lay to rescue some of the furniture, while poor old Ringle- wood and his aged and gentle lady, being both too infirm to lend any help, stood on the green, and saw the devouring element pass from room to room, till their anci»nt dwelling was utterly destroyed. Fortunately, how- ever, the air was calm, and the out- houses escaping the ruinous conta- gion of the flames, there was still a beild left in the barn to which they could retire. In the meantime the light of the burning spread over the country ; but the people knowing tliat soldiers were quartered in Kinglewood, stood aloof on the dread of fire-arms, thinking the conlhigration might bo caused by some contest of war ; so that the mansion of a gentleman much beloved of all his neighbours was al- lowed to burn to the ground before their eyes, without any one venturing to come to help him, to so great a degree had distrust and the outrages of military riot at that epoch altered the hearts of men, My brother and Esau Wardrop staid with Ringlewood till the morn- ing, and had, for the space of three or four hours, a restoring sleep. Fain would they have remained longer there, but the threat of the soldiers to accuse tliem as the incendiaries made Kinglewood urge them to depart; saying, tiiat maybe the time would come when it would bo in his power to thank them for their help in that dreadful night. J Jut he was not long exposed to many sufl'erings; for the leddy on the day following, as iu after-time we heard, was seized with her dead-ill, and departed this lifo in RINGAN GILHAIZE. 167 tliuy the course of threo days; and tlic laird also, in less than a month, was laid in tlie kirk-yard, with his an- cestors, by her side. After leaving liiiip;lewood, the two fugitives, by divers journeyings and fioro pasnagos through moss and moor, crossed the Balloch ferry, and coming down the north side of the Clyde iirtli to Ardniorc, they boated across to Greenock, where, in little more tlian an hour after their arrival, tlicy were taken in Euphan Blair's public in Cartsdyke, and the same night marched off to Glasgow ; of all which 1 have already given intimation in re- cording my own trials at luverkip. lint in that march, as my brother and Esau Wardrop were passing with tlieir guard at the Inchinnan ferry, the soldiers heedlessly laying their firelocks all in a heaj) in the boat, the tiiought came into my brother's head, that maybe it might be turned to an advantage if he was to spoil the powder in the firelocks ; so, as they were sitting in the boat, lie, with seeming innocence, drew his hand several times through the water, and in lifting it in, took care to drop and sprinkle the powder-pans of the fire- locks, insomuch, that by the time they ferried to the Renfrew pide, they were spoiled for innuediate use. " Do as I do," said ho softly to Esau "Wardrop, as they were stepping out, and with that he feigned some small expedient for tarrying in the boat, while the soldiers, taking their arms, leapt on shore. 'I'he ferryman also was out before them ; and my brother seeing this, took up an oar, seemingly to help him to step out ; but pretending at the same time to stumble, caught hold of Esau's shoulder, and pushing with the oar, shoved off the boat in such a manner, that the ro))0 was pulled out of the ferryman's hand, who was in a great cousteruatiou. The soldiers, Lowerer, laughed at seeing how the river's current Avas carrying away their jjrisoners ; for my brother was in no hurry to make use of the oar to pull tlie boat back ; on the contrary, ho pushed her farther and farther into the river, until one of the guards, beginning to suspect some stratagem, levelled his firelock, and threatened to shoot. Whereupon my brother and Esau quickened their exertions, and soon reached the oppoiite side of the river, while the soldiers were ban- ning and tearing with rage to be so out- witted, and their firelocks rendered useless for the time. As soon as the fugitives were with- in wadeal le reach of the bank, they jumpit out of the bont and ran, and were not long within the scope of their adversaries' fire. By this time the sun was far in the west, and they knew little of tho country about where they were ; but, before embarking, the ferryman had pointed out to them the abbey towers of i'aisley, and they knew that, for a long period, many of the humane inhabitants of that town had been among the faithfuUest of Scotchmen to the cause of the Kirk and Cove- nant; and therefore, they thought that, under the distraction of their circumstances, maybe it would bo their wisest course to direct their steps in the dusk of the evening towards the town, and they threw aside their arms, that they might pass as simple wayfaring men. Accordingly, having loitered in the way thither, they reached Paisley iibout the heel of the twilight., and searching their way into the heart of the town, they found a rcspectabhi public near tlie Cross, into which they entered, and ordered some con- sideration of vivers for sujtper, just as if they had been on marki-t busi- ness. In so doing nothing particular was remarked of them ; and my 168 RINGAN QILHAIZE. brother, by way of an entertainment before bed-time, told his companion of my grandfather's adventure in Paisley, the circumstantials whereof are already written in this book ; drawing out of what had come to pass with him, cheering aspirations of happier days for themselves. While they were thus speaking, one of the town council. Deacon Fulton, came in to have a cup and a crack with any stranger that might be in tlie house. — This deacon was a man who well represented and was a good swatch of the plain honesty and strict principles which have long governed within that ancient borough of re- gality. He seeing them, and being withal a man of shrewd discernment, eyed them very sharply, and maybe guessing what they were and where they had come from, entered into a discreet conversation with them auent the troubles of the time. In this he showed the pawkrie, that so ^vell becomes those who sit in council, with a spicerie of that wholesome virtue and friendly sympathy of which all the poor fugitives from the Pentland raid stood in so great need. For, without pretending to joalouse any thing of what they were, he spoke of that business as the crack of the day, and told them of many of the afflict- ing things which had been perpetrated after the dispersion of the Cove- nanters, saying " It's a thing to be deplored in all time coming, that the poor misguided folk, concern't in that rash wark, did- na rather take refuge in the towns, and amang their brethren and fellow- subjects, than flee to the hills, where they are hunted down wi' dog and gun, as beasts o' an ill kind. Really every body's wao for their folly ; though to be sure, in a Government sense, their fault's past pardon. It's no indeed a thing o' toleration, that subjects are to rise against rulers." " True," said my brother, " unless rulers fall against subjects." The worthy magistrate looked a thought seriously at him ; no in re- proof for what he had said, or might say, but in an admonitory manner, saying — " Ye're owre douce a like man, I think, to hae been either airt or pairt in this headstrong Reformation, un- less ye had some great cause to pro- voke you; and I doubt ua ye hao discretion enough no to contest with- out need points o' doctrine ; at least for me, I'm laith to cuter on ony sort o' polemtic, for it's a Gude's truth, I'm nae deacon at it." My brother discerning by liis manner that he saw through them, would have refrain't at the time from further discourse; but Esau Ward* rop was, though a man of few words, yet of such austerity of faith, that ho could not abide to have it thought he was in any time or place afraid for himself to bear his testimony, even when manifestly uncalled on to do; so he here broke in upon the con- siderate and worthy counsellor, and said — "That a covenanted spir't was bound, at a' times, and in a' situa- tions, conditions, and circumstiinces, to uphold the cause." " True, true, we are a' Covenan- ters," replied the deacon, "and Gude forbid that I should e'er forget the vows I took Avhen I was in a manner a bairn ; but there's an unco differ- ence between the auld covenanting and this Lanark New-light. In the auld times, our forbears and our fathers covenanted to show their power, that the King and Government might consider what they were doing. And they betook not themselves to the sword, till the quiet warning of almost all the realm united in one league had proved ineffectual; and when at last there was nae help for't, RINGAN GILHAIZE. m " Hoot counsellor, and they were called by their con- ecicuce and dangers to gird them- selves for battle, they went forth in the miijht and power of the arm of flesh, ns weel as of a righteous cause. 13ut, sirs, this donsie business of the J'entland raid was but a splurt, and tlie publishing of the Covenant, after the poor folk had made themselves rebels, was, to say the least o't, a weak conceit." " We were not rebels," cried Esau Wardrop, toot, friend," said the "ye're owre hasty, I did na ca' the poor folk rebels in the sense of a rebellion, where might takes the lead in a controversy wi' right, but because they bad risen against the law." "There can be nae rebellion against a law that teaches things over which man can have no control, the thought and the conscience," said Esau Wardrop. " Aye, aye," replied the counsellor, "a' that's .vera true; but if it please the wisdom of the Iving, by and with the advice of his privy counsellors, to prohibit certain actions — and surely actions are neither thoughts nor con- sciences, — do ye mean to say that the subject's no bound to obey such royal ordinances ? " " Aye, if the acts are in themselves harmless, and trench not upon any man's rights of property and person." "Weel, I'll no debate that wi' you," replied the worthy counsellor ; " but surely yc'U ne'er maintain that conventicles, and the desertion of the regular and appointed places of wor- ship, are harmless; nor can it be denied that sic things do not tend to aggrieve and impair the clergy baith in their minds and means ? " ♦' I confess that," said Esau ; " but think, that the conventicles and desertions, whereof ye speak, sprang out of an arbitrary and uncalled-for disturbance of the peaceful worship of (iod. Evil-counsellingcausedthem, and evil-counselling punishes them till the punishment can be no longer endured." " Ye're a doure-headed man," said Deacon Fulton, "and really ye hae gi'en me sic a cast o' your knowledge, that I can do no less than make you a return ; so tak' this, and bide nae langcr in Paisley than your needs call." With that he laid his purse on the table and went away. But scarcely had he departed the house, when who should enter but the very soldiers from whom my brother and Esau had bo marvellously escaped. CHAPTER XXIII. The noise of taking up my brother and Esau Wardrop to the tolbooth by the soldiers bred a great wonder- ment in the town, and the magistrates came into, the prison to see them. Then it was that they recognised their friendly adviser among those in authority. But he signified, by wink- ing to them, ti at they should not know him ; to wh;ch they comported themselves so, that it passed as he could have wished. "Provost," said he to the chief magistrate, who was then present with them, "though thir honest men be concerned in a fret against the King's Government, they're no just iniquitous malefactors, and therefore it behoves us, for the little time they are to bide here, to deal compas- sionately with them. This is a damp and cauld place. I'm sure we might gi'e them the use of the council- chamber, and direk a bit spunk o' fire to be kindl't. It's, ye ken, but for this night they are to be in our aught ; and their crime, ye ken, Provost, was mair o' the judgment than the heart, m RINGAN GILHAIZE. and therefore wo should think how we are a' prone to do evil." 13y this sort of petitionary exhort- ing, that worthy man carried liis puiut ; and the Provost consented that the prisoners should bo rcnioved to the council-cliainbor, whore lie directed a fire to be lighted for their Bolace. "Noo, honest men," said their friend the deacon, when lie was taking leave of them, after seeing them in the council-room, "I hope ye'll make yoursels as comfortable as men in your situation can reasonably be ; and look ye," said ho to my brother, "if the wind should rise, and the smoke no vent sae wool as ye could wis', whicli is sometimes tlio case in blowy weather when the door's shut, just open a wee bit jinkie o' this window, and he gave him a squeeze on the arm — it looks into my yard. — Heh ! but it's wool mindet, the bar on my back-yott's in the want o' reparation — I maun see til't the morn." There was no difficulty in reading the whumplet meaning of this couthi- nessanentthe reeking o' the chamber; and my brother and Esau, when the door was locket on them for the night, soon found it expedient to open the window, and next morning the kind counsellor had more occasion than ever to get the bar o' his back-yett repaired ; for it had yielded to the grip of tlie prisoners, who, long afore day, were far beyond the eye and jurisdic- tion of the magistrates of Paisley. Tlioy took tlie straight road to Kil- marnock, intending, if possible, to hide themselves among some of my brother Jacob's wife's friends in that town. He liad himself been dead some short time before ; but in the course of their journey, in eschewing the high road as much as possible, they found a good friend in a cottar who lived on the edge of the Mearns moor, and with him they were per- suaded to bide till the day of th;it night Avhen we met in so reiniirkablo a manner on the sands of Ardrossaii ; and the cause that brought him tlu re was one of tlie severest trials to which he had yet been exposed, as 1 shall now rehearse. James Greig, the kind cottar who sheltered them for the better part of three weeks, was but a poor man, and two additional inmates consumed til meal which he had laid in for liiiioelf and his wife, so that he was obligated to apply twice for the loan of some from a neighbour, which caused a suspicion to arise in that neighbour's mind ; and ho being loose -tongued, and a talking man, let out what he thought in a public at Kilmarnock, in j)resence of some one connected with the soldiers then quartered in the Doan Castle. A party, in consequence, had that morn- ing been sent out to search for them; but the thoughtless man who had done the ill was seized with a remorse of conscience for his folly, and came in time to advise them to flee ; but not so much in time as to prevent them from being soon by the soldiers, who no sooner discovered them than they pursued them. What became of Esau Wardrop was never known ; ho was no doubt shot in his flight ; but my brother was more fortunate, for he kept so far before those who in particular pursued him, tlutt, although they kept him in view, they could not overtake him. Running in this way for life and liberty, he came to a house on the road-side, inhabited by a lanerly wo- man, and the door being open he darted in, passing through to the yard behind, where he found himself in an enclosed place, out of whicli ho saw no other means of escape but through a ditch full of water. The depth of it at the time he did not HINOAN GILHAIZE. 171 think of, but pliinf:jing in, he found himself up to tlio chin ; at that mo- ment he heard the soldiers at hand ; 80 tlio thou<j;lit struck him to remain where he was, and to go under a bramble-busli that overhung,' the wa- ter, Hy this means he was so effect- ually concealed, that the soldiers, losing sight of him, wreaked their anger and disappointment on the poor woman, dragging her with them to the Dean Castle, where they threw her into the dungeon, in the darkness of Avhich she perished, as was after- wards well known through all that country side. After escaping from the ditch, my brother turned his course more north- erly, and had closed his day of suffer- ing on Kilbride-hill, where drawn by his affections to seek some knowledge of his wife and daughter, ho had re- solved to risk himself as near as pos- sible to Quharist that night; and coming along with the shower on his back, which blew so strong in our faces, he saw us by the glitapses of the temjiostuous moonlight as we were approaching, and had denned himself on the road-side till we should pass, being fearful we might prove enemies. Some accidental lament or complaint, uttered unconsciously by me, made him, however, think he know the voice, and moved thereby, he started up, and had just joined us when he was discovered ia so awakening a manner. Thus came my brother and I to meet after the raid of Pentland ; and having heard from mo all that he could reasonably liopo for, regarding the most valued casket of hi.s affec- tions, he came along with Mr Wither- spoon ; and we were next morning safely ferried over into the wee Cum- raes, by James Plowter, the ferryman, to whom we were both well known. There was then only a herd's house OQ the island ; but there could be no truer or kinder Christiana than tho herd and his wife. We stayed with them till far in the year, hearing often, through James Plowter, of our friends; and above all tho joyous news, in little more than a week after our lauding, of Sarah Lochrig having boon ]>ernuttcd to leave tho tolbooth of Irvine, without further dulo than a reproof from Provost Reid, that had more in it of commen- dation than roiiroach. It is well set forth in all the various histories of this dismal epoch, that the cry of blood had gone so vehe- mently up to heaven from the graves of the martyred Covenanters, that tho Lord moved tii heart of Charles Stuart to more merciful measures, but only for a season. The apostate James Sharp and the other counsel- lors, whose weakness or wickiilness fell in with his tyrannical proselytis- ing purposes, were wised from the rule of power, and the Earl.s of Tweeddale and Kincardine, with that learned sage and philosopher. Sir John Murray, men of more beneficent dispositions, were appointed to sit in their places in the Privy Council at Edinburgh ; so that all in our condition were heartened to return to their homes. As soon as we heard that the ravenous soldiery were withdrawn from the shire of Ayr, my brother and I, with Mr Witherspoon, after an abode of more than seven months in yon solitary and rocky islet, returned to Quharist. But, O courteous reader, I dare not venture to tell of the joy of the meeting, and the fond inter- mingling of embraces, that was too great a reward for all our suflFerings ; for now I approach the memorials of those things, by which the terrible Heavens have manifested that I was ordained from the beginning to launch the bolt that was chosen from tho quiver in the armory of the Almighty avenger, to overthrow the oppressor 172 EINGAN GILHAIZB. y jind oppression of my imtive laud. It is therefore enough to state that, upon my return homo, where I expected to find my lands Wiasto and my fences broken down, I found all things in better order tlian they maybe would have been had the eye of the master been over them ; for our kind neigh- bours, out of a friendly consideration for my family, had in tiie spring tilled tlie ground and sown the seed, by day-and-day-about labour ; and surely it was a pleasant thing, in the midst of such a general depravity of the human heart, so prevalent at that period, to hear of such constancy and christian -miudedness ; for it was not towards my brother and me only that such things were done : the same was common throughout the country to- wards the lands and families of the persecuted. But the lown of that time was Jis a f)et day in winter. In the harvest, lowever, when the proposal came out that we should give bonds to keep the peace, I made no scruple of signing the same, and of getting my wife's father, who was not out in the raid, to be my cautioner. In the doing of this I did not renounce the Covenant; but, on the contrary, I considered that by the bonds the King was as much bound to preserve things in the state under which I granted the bond, as I was to remain in the quiet condition I was when I signed it. After the bonds of peace came the indulgence, and the chief heritors of our parish havirg something to say with the Lord Tweeddale, leave was obtained for Mr Swinton to comeback, and we had made a paction with Andrew Dornock, the prelatic curate and incumbent, to let him have his manse again. But although Mr Swinton did return, and his family were again gathered around him, he would not, as he himself said to me, so far bow the knee to Baal as to bring the Church of Christ in any measure or way into Erastian dependence on the civd magistrate. So lie neither would return to the manso nor enter the pul- pit, but continued, for the space of several years to reside at (iuhaii8t,and to preacli on the summer Sundays from the window in the gable. In the spring, however, of the year 1G71: he, after a lingering illness, closed his life and ministry. For sometime he had felt himself going hence, and the tenor of his prayers and sermons had for several months been of a higli and searching efficacy ; and he never failed, Sabbath after Sabbath, just before pronouncing the bles- sing, to return public thanks that the Lord was drawing him so softly away from the world, and from the storms that were gathering in the black cloud of prelacy which still overhung and darkened the ministry of the Kirk of Scotland, — a method of <idmonition that was awfully awakening to the souls of his hearers, and treasured by them as a solemn breathing of the inspiration of prophecy. When he was laid in the earth, and Mr Witherspoon, by some hand- ling on my part, was invited to fill the void which his removal had left among us, the wind again began to fisle, and the signs of a tempest were seen in the changes of the llo3'al Councils. The gracious-hearted statesmen be- fore spoken of were removed from their benignant spheres like falling stars from the firmament, and the Duke of Lauderdale was endowed with the power to persecute and do- mincer. Scarcely was he seated in the Council when the edicts of oppression were renewed. The prelates became clamorous for his interference, find the penalties of the bonds of peace pre- sented the means of supplying the inordinate wants of his rapacious wife. Steps were accordingly soon taken to KTNGAN OTLHATZ-R. 173 ap|)ea80 and pleasure botli. The court- contrived crime of liearing the gospel prcacbed in the fields, as it was by John in the Wilderness and Jesus on the Mount, was again prohibited with new rigour ; and 1 for one soon felt that in the renewed persecution of those who attended tho conventicles, the King had again as much broken the conditions under which I gave the bond of peace, as he had before bro- ken the vows of the Solemn League and Covenant ; so that when the guilty project was ripened in his bloody councils, that the West Coun- try should be again exasperated into rebellion, that a reason might be pro- cured for keeping up a standing army, in order that the three kingdoms might be ruled by prerogative instead of parliament, I freely confess that I was one of those who did refuse to sign tho bonds that were devised t o provoke the rebellion, — bonds, the terms whereof sufficiently manifested the purpose that governed the fram- ers in the framing. We were required by them, under severe penalties, to un- dertake that neither our families, nor our servants, nor our tenants, nor the servants of our tenants, nor any others residing upon our land, should with- draw from the churches or adhere to conventicles, or succour field preach- ers, or persons who had incurred the penalties attached to those prelate- devised offences. And because we refused to sign these bonds, and con- tinued to worship God in the peace- fulness of the gospel, the whole country was treated by the Duhe of Lauderdale as in a state of revolt. The English forces came muster- ing against us on the borders, the Irish garrisons were drawn to the coast to invade us, and the lawless Highlanders were tempted, by their need and greed, and a royal promise of indemnity for whatsoever outrages they might commit, to come down ui)on us in all their fury. By these means ten thousand ruthless soldiers and unreclaimed barbarians were let loose upon us, while we were sitting in the sun listening, I may say truly, to those gracious counsellings which breathe nothing but peace and good- will. When, since the burning days of Dioclesian, the Roman Emperor, — when since tho massacre of the Protestants by orders of the French king on the eve of St. Bartholomew, was 80 black a crime ever porpetrated by u guilty Government on its own subjects? But I was myself among the greatest of the sufferers ; and it is needful that I should now clothe my thoughts with sobriety, and restrain the ire of the pen of grief and re- venge. — Not revenge ! No ; let tho word be here — justice. The Highland host came on us in want, and, but for their license to destroy, in beggary. Yet when they returned to their wild homes amony tho distant hills, they were laden as with the household wealth of a realm, in so much that they were rendered defenceless by the weight of their spoil. At the bridge of Glasgow the students of the College and the otiier brave youths of that town, looking on them with true Scottish hearts, and wrathful to see that the barbarians had been such robbers of their fellow- subjects, stopped above two thousand of them, and took from them their congregations of goods and wares, wearing apparel, pots, pans, and grid- irons, and other furniture, wherewith they had burdened themselves like bearers at a flitting. My house was stript to a wastage, and everything was taken away ; what was too heavy to be easily transported was, alter being carried some distance, left on the road. The very shoes were taken off my wife's feet, and "ye'U no be a refuse to gi'e me that," said a red- haired reprobate as he took hold of 174 RINGAN GILHAIZE. Snrali Tjochriir's hand and robbed licr of her weddinrf-ring. I was present and saw the deed ; I felt my liands clench, but in my spirit 1 discovered that it was then the Jiour of outrage, and that the Avenger's time was not yet como. Itarely has it fallen to the lot of man to be so blessed with such chil- dren as mine ; but surely I was un- worthy of the blessing. And yet, though maybe unworthy, Lord, thou knowest by the nightly anthems oi thankfulness that rose from my hearth, that the chief sentiment in my breast, in those moments of melody, was my inward acknowledgment to Thee for having made this world bo bright to me, with an ofTspring so good and fair, and with Sarah Lochrig, their mother, she whose life was the sweet- ness in the cup of my felicity. Let me not, however, hurry on, nor for- get that I am but an historian, and that it befits not the juridical pun of the character to dwell upon my own woes wlien I have to tell of the suffer- ings of others. Tlio trials and the tribulations which I had heard so much of, and whereof I had witnessed so many, made me in a sense but little liable to be moved when told of any new out- rage, lint the sight of tliat Iligh- lauder wrenching from Sarah Loch- rig's finger our wedding ring did, in its effects and influences, cause a change in my nature as sudden and as wonderful as that which the rod of !Moses underwent in being quickened into a serpent. For eotno time T sat as I was sitting wiiilo tlie deed was doing ; and when my wife, after tlio plun- derers liad departed, said to me, soothingly, that w; had reason to be thankful for liaving endured no other loss than a little world's gc;ir, she was surprised at the scdateness with which I responded to her pioua cou- dolem^nts. Michael, our first-born, then in the prime beauty of his man- hood, had been absent when tho robbery wprj connnitted, and coming in, on heiuing what had been done, flamed with the generous rage of youth, and marvelled tliat I had been so calm. ^ly blithe and blooming ^lary joined her ingenuous admiration to theirs, but my mild and sensible ^largaret fell upon my neck, and weeping, cried, " (), father, it's no ,. 3rth the doure thought that gars your brows sac gloom ; " while Joseph, the youngest of the flock, then in liis twelfth year, brought the Bible and laid it on my knees. I opened the book-, and would havo read a portion, but the passage which caught my eye was tliC beginning of the sixth chapter of Jeremiah, " O ye children of Uenjamin, gather your- selves to flee out of the midst of Jer- usaleui, and blow the trumpet in 'i'ekoa, and set up a sign of fire iu Beth-haccerem ; for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction." And I thought it was a voice calling me to arm, and to raise the banner against the oppressor ; and thercupou I shut the book, and retii.'ng to tho fields, communed with myself for some time; Having returned into tho house, and sent Michael to my brotlier's to inquire Iiow it had fared with him and Ids family, I at tiie same time directed Joseph to go to Irvine, and tell our friends thereto help us with a 8up[)ly of blankets, for the HIghlan(l(!rs had taken away my horses Jind driven olT my cattle, and wo had no means of bringing any thing. But Joseph was not long gone when Michael can.o flying back from my brother's, and 1 saw by his looks that something very dreadful had been committed, and said — • " Are they all in life ? " "Aye, iu lifel" and, the teara RING AN firLFTATZE. 176 in-!liin<,' into \m oyt's, he oxcljiimed, " l?iit O ! I wish that my coiisia Ikll had boon (loa<l and buri(!d !" 1)1 '11 Gilhaize, my brothor's only dnufjl'.tor, was tl"^, ]ij,'htost-hoartf d maiden in all our parish. It had loi u boon a ])leasurc both to hor fatiier and me to obyurve a minf,din^' of aft'eotioiis between hor and Michael, and the year following had been fixed for their marriage. " The time of weeping, Michael," said I, "is ^ast, and the time of war- ring will soon oomo. It is not in man to bear always aggression, nor can it bo required of him ever to endure contumely." "What has befallen Bell?" said his mother to him ; but instead of making li " any answer he uttered a dreadful sound, like the howl of mad- ness, and hastily quitted the house. Sarah Lochrig, who was a woman of a serene reason, and mild and gracious in her nature, looked at mo Avitii a silent sadness, that told all tlie angui.sh with which tiie hoi.xr that slie guessed had darted into her soul ; and tiien, with an energy that I never sa,v in her before, folded her own tvo daughters to her bosom, as if she wan in terror for tiiom, and bathed their necks with tears. Wiiilo wo were in this state my brother himself came in. lie was now a man well stricken in years, but of a halo appearance, and usually of an open and manly countenance. Nor on this occasion did he appear greatly altered ; but there was a lire in his eye, and a severity in his aspect, such as I had never seen before, yet withal a fortitude tliat showed how strong the self-po«session was, which kept the tempest within him from breaking out in word or gesture. " Ilingan," said ho, " we have met with a misfortune. It's the will of IVovidence, and wo maun bear it. But surely in thy ouggr ti^ati k ca,uaQd by provocation, our Creator tells U3 to resent. From this hour, all obli- gation, obedience, allegiance, all wliat- .so'.vor that as a subject I did owe to Charles Stuart is at an end. I am hia foe ; and the Lord put strength into my .irm to revenge the ruin of my bairn ! " There was in the utterance of these words a solemnity at first terrifying to hear ; but his voice in the last clause of the sentence faltered, and ho took off his bonnet and held it over hia face, and wept bitterly. I could make him no answer for some time ; but I took hold of hia hand, and when ho had a little mastered his grief, I said, "Brother, we are children of the same parents, and the wrongs of one are the wrongs of both. But let us not be hasty." He took the bonnet from his face, and looked at me sternly for a little while, and then he said — " Ringan (Jilhaizo, till you have felt what 1 feel, you ne'er can know that the speed o' liglitning is slow to the wishes and the will of revenge." At that moment his daugliter Bell was brought in, led by my son JMichael. Her father, at the sight of her, clasped hu hands v/ildly .above his head, and rushed out of the house. My wife went towards her, but stopped and fell back into my arms at the sight of her demented look. My daughters gazed, and held up their trembling hands. "Speak to her," said IMichael to his sisters; "she'll maybe heed you;" and ho added, " Bell, it's Mary and Peggy," and dropping her hand, ho went to lead Mary to her, while sho stood like a statue on the spot. " Dear J5ell," said I, as I moved mvself gently from the arms of my alllictcd wife, "come wi' me to tho open air;" and I took her by the hand which poor Michael had dropped, aud k<^ iier out to the green, but still 176 RINGAN GILHAIZE. shu looked the same demented creature. Her father, who had by this time again overcome his distress, s-ieingus on the green, camo towards us, while my wife and daughters also came out; but Michael could no longer endure the sight, and lie remained to hide his grief in the house. " Her mind's gone, Ringan," said my brother, "and she'll ne'er be better in this world ! " Nor was she ; but she lived many months after, and in all the time never shed a tear, nor breathed a sigh, nor spoke a word ; where she was led, she went ; where she was left, she stood. At last she became so weak that she could not stand; and one day, as I was sitting at her bedside, I observed that she lay unusually still, and touching her hati, found that all her sorrows were over. CHAPTEK XXIV. From that day my brother seldom held any communion with me; but I observed that with Michael he had much business, and though I asked no questions, I needed not to bo told that there was a judgment and a doom in what they did. I was therefore fearful that some rash step Avould lie taken at the burial of Bell : ior it was understood that all the neighbours, far and near, intended to be present to testify their pity for her fate. So I spoke to IVIr "Witlierspoou concern- ing my fears, and by his exhortations the body was borne to the kirkyard in a solemn and peaceable manner. Hut just as the colUn was laid in the grave, and before a spadeful of earth was thrown, a boy came running crying, " Sliarp's kill't ! — tlie apos- tate's dead ! " which made every one turn round and pause ; and while we were thus standing, a horseman came riding by, who confirmed the tidings, that a band of men whom his perse- cutions had made desperate, had ex- ecuted justice on the apostate as ho was travelling in his carriage with hia daughter on Magus-moor. While tho stranger was telling the news, tho corpse lay in the grave unburied ; and dreadful to tell ! when ho had mado an end of his tale, there was a shout of joy and exultation set up by all present, except by Michael and my brother. They stood unmoved, and I thought — do I them any wrong? — that they looked disconsolate and disappointed. IJut though the judgment of James Sharp was a cause of satisfaction to all covenanted hearts, many were not yet so torn by the persecution as en- tirely to applaud the deed. 1 shall not therefore enter upon the particulars of what was done anent those wlio dealt his doom, for they were not of our neighbourhood. The crime, however, of listening peacefully in the fields to the truths of the Gospel became, in the sight of the persecutors, every day more and more heinous, and they gave them- selves up to the conscience-soothing tyranny of legal ordinances, as if tlio enactment and execution of bloody laws, contrary to those of God, and .igainst the imoffcnding privileges of our nature, were not wickedness of as dark a stain as the murderer's use of his secret knife. Edict and proclama- tion against field-preachings and con- venticles came following each other, and the latest was the fiercest and fellest of all which had preceded. l?ut tho cause of truth, and the right of communion with the Lord, was not to be given up : " It is not for glory," wo said in the words of those bravo Scottish barons that redeemed, with King Kobert the Bruce, their native land from the thraldom of the English Edward, " nor is it for riches, neither TvIN^-iAJT GILHATZE. Ill is it for honour, but it is for liberty alone we oonteiul, wliicli no true man will lose but witli his life;" and there- fore it was that we would not yield obedience to the tyranny, which was revived with new strengtii by the death of James .Sharp, in revenge for his doom, but sought, in despite of de- crees and statues, to hear thk Word where we believed it was b(.fit spoken. The laws of God, which are above all human authority, require that we should worship Him in truth and in holiness, and we ' "^olvcd to do so to tlie uttermost, aiul prepared ourselves witli arms to resist whoever might be sent to molest us in the performance of that tlie greatest duty. But in so exercising the diviije right of resis- tance, we were not called upon to harm those whom we knew to be our adversaries. Belting ourselves for defence, not for war, we went singly to our places of secret meeting in the glens and on the moors, and when the holy exercise was done, wc returned to our homes as peacefully as we went thitlier. Many a time I have since thought, that surely in no otiier age or land was ever such a solemn celebration of tlie Sabbath as in those days. The very dangers witli whicii we were en- vironofl exalted the devout heart ; verily it was a grand sight to see the fearless religious man moving from his house in the grey of the morning, with the Bible in his hand, and his sword for a staff, walking towards the hills for many a weary mile, hoping the jireaclier would be there, and praying as he went that there might be no molestation. Often and often ontiiosc occasions has tlie Lord been pleased to shelter his worshipjiers from their persecutors by covi '. iig them with the mantle of his tempest; and many a time at the dead of niglit, when the winds were soughing around, and the moon was bowling through the cloud?, we have stood on tlie lieatli of the hills and the sound of our psalms has been mingled with the roaring of tho gathering waters. The calamities which drove us thus to worship in the wilderness, and a- midst the storm, rose to their full tide on the back of tiie death of the arch- apostate James Sharp ; for all the re- ligious people in the realm were in a manner regarded by the Government as participators in the method of his punishment And Claverhouse, whom 1 have Jiow to speak of, got that special commission on which he rode so wickedly, to put to the sword whomsoever he found with arms at any preaching in the fields ; so that we had no choice in seeking to ob- tain the consolations of religion, which we then stood so much in need of, but to congregate in such num- bers as would deter the soldiers from venturing to attack us. Thus it waa which caused the second rising, and led to tho fatal day of Bothwell- brigg, whereof it is needful that I should particularly speak, not only on account of the great stress that was thereon laid by the persecutors, in making out of it a method of liery ordeal to afflict the covenanted, but also because it was the over- flowing fountain-head of the deluge that made me desolate. And here- in, courteous reader, should ought of a fiercer feeling than belongs to tiie sacred sternness of truth and justice escape from my historical pen, thou wilt surely pardon the same, if there be any of the gnacious ruth of Christian gentleness in thy bosom ; for now I have to tell of things that have made tlie annals of the land as i-i'd as crimson, and filled my house with the blackness of ashes and universal death. For a long period there had been, from the causes and circumstances 178 RINGAN GTLHAIZE. premised, sore (lifRculties in the as- sembling of coiigre<jations, and the sacrament of the Supper had not been dispensed in mnny parts of the shire of Ayr from the time of the Higiiland liost ; so that there was a grta:; longing in the hearts of tlie coveuMntcd to partaiie once again of that holy refreshment ; and shortly after the seed-time it began to be concerted, that eirlj in the summer a day should be set apart, and a place fixed for tiie celebration of tiie same. About the time of the interment of my brother's daughter, and the judg- ment of the deatli executed on James Sharp, it was .settled that the moors of liOiidon-hill should be the ])lai;e of meeting, and that the first S;ibbatli of June should be the day. But what ministers would be tliere was not set- tled; for who could tell wiiich, in those times, would be spared from prison ? It was, however, forethought and foreseen, that the assemblage of com- municants would be very consider- able ; for, in order that there might be the less risk of molestation, a wish that it should be so was put forth among us, to the end that the king's forces miglit swither to dis- perse us. Accordingly, with my disconsolate brother and son, I went to be present at thjit congrega- tion, and we carried our arms with us, as we were then in the habit of doing on all occasions of public testi- mony by worship. In the mewntimc a rent had been made in the Covenant, partly by the over zeal of certain young preaeheis, who. not feeling, as we did. that tlie duty of rresl)yferians went no fai ther than defence and resist.'ince, strove, with all the pith of an effectual elo- quence, to exasperate the minds of their hearers into hostility again.st those ill authority ; and it happened that sevwal of those who had executed the judgment on James Sharp, seeing no hope of pardon for what they had done, leagued themselves with this party, in the hope of thereby making head against their pursuers. I have been the mure strict in set- ing down the.sc circumstantials, be- cause in the bloody afterings of that meeting they were altogether lost sight of ; and also, because the implacable rage witii which Claver- house persecuted the Covenanters haa been extenuated by some discreet historians, on the plea of his being an honourable officer, deduced from his soldierly worth elsewhere ; whereas the truih is, that his cruelties in the shire of Ayr, and other of our western parts, were less the fruit of his instruc- tions, wide and severe as they were, than of his own mortified vanity and malii:nant revenge. It was in the cool of the evening, on Saturday the last day of May, when my brother came over to my hou.se, where, with Michael, T had prepared myself to go with him to Loudon-hill. Our intent was to walk that night to Kilmarnock, and abide till the morning with our brother Jacob's widow, not having seen her for a long time. We had in the course of that day heard .something of the publication of "The Declaration and 'JVstimony," which, througli the vehemence of th-. preachers before spoken of, had been rashly coun.selltMl at Uuglen, on the iiOtli of the month ; l)Ut there was ?io jiarticulars, and what we did hear w.u, like, a.s all such things ar", grt'atly magnified beyond the truth. We, how- ever, wt re grieved by the tidings ; for we fe.ired soii"> cause of tribulation would be tiiereb}' engendered detri- mental to the religious purposes of our journey. 'i'hi.s sentiment pressing b^avi';,' on our hearts, we parted from my f;imily with many misgivings, and tho bode- RINGAN GILHAIZB. 179 on merits of further sorrows. But tlie out- ward expression of vvliat we all felt was the less remiirkable, on account of what so lately had before hai)pcne<l in my brolliei's house. Kor iu'V'ed did I think .ittiie time, that the foretaste of what was ordained so speedily to come to a heail was at all so lively in his spirit, or that of my son, as it was in mine, till, in passin^r over tlie tdp of the (rowan-brae, he looked round on the lands of Quhari?t, and said — " I care iiae, Kiuiran, if I ne'er come back ; for though we hae lang dwelt in affection together yon'er, thae that were most precious to me are now both aneath the sod," — allud- ing to his wife who had been seveiiJ yeans dead, — and poor Bell, his daughter. "I feel," said IMichael, "as if I ■were going to a fun ign land, there is sic a farewell sadness upon me." But we strove to oveicome this, and walked leisurely on the high road towards Kilnwirnock, trying to dis- course of indifferent tilings ; and as the gloaming faded, and the night be- gan to look forth, from her watch- tower in the heavens, with all lier eyes of beautiful light, we comnumed of the friends that we trusted were in glory, and marvelled if it could be that they saw us after death, or ever revisited the persons and the scenes that they Icved in life. Kebellion or treason, or any sense of thoughts and things tliat were not i; dy, had no jiortion in our conversation : we were going to celebrate the redemj)tion of fal'en man ; and we were mourning for friends no more; our discourse was of eternal things, and the mysteries of the stars and the lights of that world which is ab^ve the firmament. ^^'lHn we reach I <l Kilmarnock we found that Jacob's widow lia<l, with several odier godly women, set out towards the place of meeting, to Bojouru with a relation that night, in order that they might bo tlie abler to gather the manna of the Word in the morning. Wo therefore resolved not to halt there, but to go forward to the ajipoiuted pilacc, and rest upon the .spot. This accordingly doing, we came to the eastern side of Loudo"n-liil],thetrysted place, tburtly after the fiistscad of the dawn. I\lany were there before us, both men and women and little children, and horses intermingled, some slum- bering, and some communing with one anotiier; and as the morning brightened, it was a hallowed sight to behold from that rising ground the blamele.'-s persecuted coming with se- date steps to worship their JNIaker on the mountain. The Itevciend ^Ir Thom.is Dou- gliis, who was to open the action, ar- rived about the rising of the sun with several other ministers, and beiund them four aged men belonging to Strathaven bearing the eh nients. A j)ious la<ly, whose nanie 1 never heard, owing to what ensued, sjiread with her own hands a damask table- cloth on the ground, and the bread and wine were jtlaced upon it with more reverence than ever was in kirk. Mr Douglas having mounted upon a rock nigh to where this was done, was about to give out the psalm, when we observed several country lads, that were stationed as watch* is afar off, coming with great ha-ste in ; and they broug!it w(;rd, that C'lavor- house and his dragoons were coming to disperse us, bringing with tinni tiie Beverend Mr King, a preachi r of the gospel at llamiilon, ami others that they had made prisoners, tied witii cords two and two. The tidings for a moment caused jianic and eiiisternation ; luu as the men were armed, and resolved to re- sist, it was thought, in etnsideration of tUo wowcu a.yd childrcu, that wo ISO EINGAN GILHAIZE. oiifflit to fjo forward, and prevent ttic adversaries from advaneiii?. Accor- dinf,'ly, to the number of forty horse- men, and maybe near to two hundred foot, -we drew ourselves apart from the congregation, and marched to meet Claveriiouse, thinking, perhaps, on seeing us so numerous, that lie would not come on, — while Mr Douglas proceeded with the worship, the piety of none with him being a- bated by this grievous visitation. Mr William Clelland, with ]Mr Hamilton, who had conio with Mr Douglas, were our leaders, and wo met Claverhouse on the moor of Drumclog. The dragoons were the first to halt, and Claverhouse, having ordered liis prisoners to be drawn aside, was the first who gave the word to fire. This was without any parley or re- quest to know Avhether we came with hostile intent or no. Clelland, on seeing the dragoons make ready, cried to ns all to den ourselves among the Uvafln.r; by which forethought tkff aAiot flew harml("<fl. Then wr ted up, and every one, wi i the St aim he could, fired at the dra- as they were loading their c ara^tn cs. Several rnt-n and horses ■were killed, and many wounded. Cla- verhouse seeing this, conmianded his men to -hargo upon us ; but the ground was rough, the heather deep, and the moss broken where peats had been dug. and the horses floundered, and several threw their riders, and fell themselves. We had now loaded again, and the second fire wa^i more deadly than the first. Our horsemen also seeing how the driigoons were scattered, fell in the confusion a.s it were man for man upon them. Claverhouse raged and <-ommanded, but no one now could or would obey. In that extremity his horse was killed, and, being thrown down. I ran forward to seize him, if I could, prisoner ; but he still held his sword in his hand, and rising as I came up, used it man- fully, and with one stroke almost hewed my right arm from my shoulder. As he fled I attempted for a moment to follow, but staggered and fell. He looked back as he escaped, and I cried — " Blood for blood ; " and it has been so, as I shall hereafter in tho sequel relate. When the day w.as won, we found wo numbered among the slain on the side of the vanquished nearly twenty of the dragoons : on our side we lost but one man, John Morton — a ripe saint ; but several were wounded ; and John Weir and William Daniel died of their wounds. Such was tho day of Drumclog. Being wounded, I was carried to a neighbouring farm, attended by my brother and son, and there put upon a cart and sent home to (iuharist, as it was thought I would bo best attended there. They then returned to the rest of the host, who, seeing themselves thus brought into open war, resolved forthwith to proceed to (ilasL^'ow, and to raise again tho ban- ner vi the Covenant. But Claverhouse having fled thither, burning with the thought of being so shorn in his military pride by raw and undi.sciplined countrymen, whom, if we had been bred soldiers, maybe he would have liotioured, but })eing what we were, though our honour was the greater, ho hated us witii tho deadly aversion that is begott( n of vanity chastised; for that it was which incited him to ravage the West conn- try with such rcmorselessness, and which, when our men were next day repulsed at (ilasgow with the loss of lives, made him hinder the removal of the bodies from tho streets, till it was said the butchers' dogs began to prey upon them. But not to insist on matters of PJNGAN GILHAIZE. 181 hearsay, nor to dwell at any greater length on those afflieting events, I must refer the courteous reader to the history of the thnes for what followed, it being enough for me to state here, that as soon as the news spread of the battle and the victory, the persecuted ran flocking in from all quarters, by which tiie rope of saiRl, that the Lord permitted Mon- mouth to break at Bothwell-brigg, was soon formed. My brother and my son were both there, and there my gallant Michael lies. ^ly brother, then verging on threescore, being among the prisoners, was, after sore sufferings in the Greyfriars church- yard of Edinburgh, sent on board a vessel as a bondsman to the planta- tions in America. His wrongs, how- ever, were hapjjily soon over ; for the Bhip in which he was embarked perished among the Orkney islands, and he, with two hundred other sufferers, received the crown of mar- tyrdom from the waves. O Cliarles Stuai t, king of Scotland ! ami thou, James Sharp ! — false and cruel men. But ye are called to your account; and what avails it now to the childless father to rail upon your memory ? lief ore proceeding further at this present time with the doleful tale of my own sufferings, it is required of me, as an impartial historian, to note here a very singular example of the spirit of piety which reigned in the hearts t)f the Covenanters, especially as 1 shall luive to show tliat such was the cruel and implacable nature of the Persecutiou, that time had not its wonted iufhience to soften in any degree its rii,'our. Tliirteen years had passed from the time of the Pentlaiul raid ; and surely the manner in which the cotmtry luid sufficed for that rising might, in so long a course of years, have subdued the animosity with which wo were pursued, espe- cially, as during the Earl of Tweed- dale's administration the bonds of peace had been accepted. But Laud- erdale, now at the head of the coun- cils, was rapacious for money; and therefore all offences, if I may em- ploy that courtly term, by vhich otir endeavours to taste of the truth were designated — all old offences, as I was saying, were renewed against us as recent crimes, and an innocent charity to the remains of those who had suffered for the Pentland raid was made a reason, after the battle of Bothwell-brigg, to revive the perse- cution of those who had been out in that affair. The matter particularly referred to arose out of tlie following circum- stances : The number of honest and pious men wlio were executed in difierent places, and who had their heads and their right hands with which they signed tiie Covenant at Lanark cut off, and placed on the gates of towns and over the doors of tolbooths, had been very great. And it was very grievous, and a sore thing to the friends and acquaintances of those martyrs, when they went to Glasgow, or Kilmarnock, or Irvine, or Ayr, on their farm business, to tryst or mar- ket, to see the remains of persons, whom they so loved and respected in life, bleaching in the winds and the rains of Heaven. It was. indeed, a matter of great hcart-sadmss, to be- hold such auimosity carried beyond the grave; and few they wtre who coidd withstand the sight of the orphans that came thither, pointing out to one another their fathers' bones, and weeping as they did so, and vowing, with an innocent indig- nation, that they would avenge their martyrdom. Well do I remember the great sor- row that arose one market-day iu Irvine, some five or six years after 182 niNGAN GlLHATZE. the Pentland raid, wlien Mrs ^M'Coul camo, with her four woaiis and Iter affi'd gudcm )llior, to look at tlic relics of her husband, who Avas inarfyrcd for Ill's ]iarc in that risinj,'. The bones AVero Htaniiin<r, with those of another luarfyr of that time, on a shelf which had been ])ut up for tlio purpose, below the tirst wicket-hole in the steeple, just above the door. Tlie two women were very decent in their apparel, rather more so than the com- mon country wives. The gudemothcr, in particular, had a cast of fjentility both in her look and <,'arments ; and I have heard the cause of it expounded, from her havinfj; been tlie dau<Thter of one of the Reformation prcaciiers in the gospi'l-sjireadiiifr epoch of John Knox. Slie had a crimson satin plaid over her head, and she Avore a black silk apron and a grey camlet gown. Willi the one hand she held the plaid close to her neck, and the youngest child, a las>ic of scA'en years or so, had hold of her by the forc-ling'.T of the other. ]\Iis M'Coul was more of a robust fabric, and sheAvas without any plaid, soberly dre?sed in the Aveeds of a Avidow, Avith a clean cambric handker- chief very snodly preened over her bre;ist. The children Avere hkewise beinly apparelled, and the tAvo sons AVere buirdly and brave laddies, the one about nine, and the other maybe eleven years old. It Avould seem that this had been the first of their pilgrimage of sor- row; for tliey stood some time in a row at the foot of the tolbooth stair, looking up at tlie remains, and Avondering, Avith tears in their eyes, which were those they had come to see. Their appcnrnnco drcAV around them many onlookers, both of the country folk about the Cross and in- habitants of the town ; but every one cspectcd their sorrow, and none ventured to disturb them Avith any questions, for all saAV that they were kith and kin to the godly men Avho had testified to the truth and the Covenant in death. It haiipencd. however, that I had occasion to pass by, and Fonie of tlio tOAvn's folk Avho recollected me, said Avhisperingly to one anotlier, but loud enough to be heard, that I Avas one of the persecuted ; Avhereujion i\Irs M'Coul turned round and said to me, A\'itli a constrained composure : " Can ye tell me A\'hilk o' yon'.s the head and hand o" John IM'Coul, that Avas executed for the covenanting at Lanark ? " 1 knew the remains well, for they had been pointed out to me, and I had seen them very often, but really the sight of the two Avomen and the fatherless bairns so overcame mo, that I Avas unable to answer. " It's the head and tlie hand beside it, that has but twa finger.^ left, on the Kirkgate end o' the skelf ! " replied a person in the crowd, whom 1 knew at once by his A'oice to be Willy Sutherland the hangmm, although I had not seen him from the night of my evasion. And hero let me not forget to set down the Christian Avorth and constancy of that simple and godly creature, Avho, rather than be instrumental in the guilty judgment by Avhich John M'Coul and his fel- low-sufTerer Avere doomed to die, did himself almost endure martyrdom, and yet noA'cr swerA'ed in his pur{)0se, nor was abated in his integrity, in so much, that Avhen questioned there- after anent the same by the Earl of Kglinton, and iiis lordship, being moved by the simph'city of his piety, said, " Poor mnn, you did well in not doinix Avhat they Avoidd have had you to do." '•My Lord," replied Willy, "you are speaking treason ! and yet you persecute to the uttermost, Avhich RTNOAN OILHAIZE. 183 sliows tliat you po against the liglit of yrdir consciciice." " Do you say so to mo, after T kopt you from being hanged?" siiicl his lordsliip. " Keep mo from being drowned, nnd 1 will still tell you the verity." 'Jiio which honesty in that poor man begat for liim a compfirsionate regard that the dignities of many great and many nol)le iu that time could never command. \\ hen the sorrowful ^I'Couls had indulged themselves in their melan- choly contemplation, they went away, followed l)y the multitude with silence and sympathy, till they had mounted upon the cart which they had brought with them into the town. IJut from that time every one began to speak of the impiety of leaving the bones so woefully exposi'd ; and after the Bkirmish at Drumclog, where Hobin ^I'Coul, the eldest of the two strip- lings above spoken of, hapjiened to be, when Mr John W elsii, with the Carriik men that went to Ilothwell- brigg, was sent into (ilasgow to bury the heads and hands of tiie martyrs there, Hobin M'Coul came witli' a party of his friends to Irvine to bury his father's bones. I was not myself f)rtsent at the interment, being, as I lave narrated, confined to my bed by reason of my wound. I?ut I was told by the neighbours, that it was a very solemn and affecting scene. The prieved lad carried the relics of his father in a small box in his hands, covered with a white towel : and the godly inhabitants of the town, young mid old. and of all denominations, to the number of several hundreds, Al- lowed him to the grave where the body was lying; and Will}' v^uther- laml. moved by a simple sorrow, was the last of all ; and he walked, as I was told, alone. beliin<l. with his bonnet in his hand; for, from his calling, he counted himself not on an erpiality with other men. Rut it is time that I shoidd return from this digression to the main account of my narrative. CHAPTER XXV. Being wounded, as I have rehearsed, at Drumclog, and carried to my own house, Sarah Lochrig, while she grieved with a mother's grief for the loss of our first-born an<i the mourn- ful fate of my honest brother, ad- vanced my cure more by her loving ministrations to my aching miind, than by the medicaments that were applieil to the bodily wound, in so much that something like a dawn of comfort was vouchsafed to me. Our parish was singularly allowed to remain unmolested when, .after the woeful day of Bothwell-brigg, Claver- house came to ravage the shire of Ayr. and to take revenge for the dis- comfiture which he had suffered, in his endeavour to disturb the worship and s.^crament at Loudon-hill. Still, however, at times clouds overcame my spirit ; and one night my daughter Margaret had a remarkable dream, which taught us to expect some par- ticular visitation. It was surely a mysterious reserva- tion for the greater calamity -which ensued, that while the vial of wrath was pouring out around us, my house should have been allowed to rcatiain so unmolested. Often indeed, when in our nightly worship I returned thanks for a blessing so wonderful in that time of general woe, has a strange fear fallen upon me. and I have trembled in tlionglit, as if the thing for which I sent up the incense of my thanks to Heaven, was a device of the Enemy of man, to make me think myself more deserving of favour than the thousands of covenanted brethren 184 RINGAN r.ILHAIZE. who theu, in Scotland, were drinking of the bitterness of the suffering. I5ut in proportion us I was then spared, the heavier afterwards was my trial. Among the prisoners taken at IJotii- well-brigg were many persons from our parish and neighbourhood, who, after their unheard - of sufferings among the tombs and graves of the Greyfriars church-yard at Edinburgli, were allowed to return home. Though in this there was a show of clemency, it was yet but a more subtle method of the tyranny to reach new victims. For those honest men were not long home till grievous circuit-courts were Bet agoing, to bring to trial not only all those who were at Bothwell, or approved of that rising, but likewise those who had been at the Pcntland raid ; and the better to ensure con- demnation and punishment, sixteen persons were cited from every parish to bear witness as to who, among their neighbours, had been out at Bothwell, or had harboured any of those who were there. The wicked curates made themselves, in this grievous matter, engines of espionage, by giving in the names of those, their parishioners, whom they knew could bear the best testimony. Thus it was, that many who had escaped from the slaughter — from the horrors of the Greyfriars church -yard — and from the drowning in the Ork- neys, — and, like myself, had resumed their quiet country labour, were marked out for destruction. For the witnesocs cited to Ayr against us were persons who had been released from the Greyfriars church-yard, as I have said, aud who, being honest men, could not when put to their oaths^ but bear witness to the truth of the matters charged against us. And nothing surely could better show the devilish spirit with which those in authority were at that time actuated, nor the unchristian nature of the prelacy, than that the prisoners siiould thus have been set free to be made tlio accusers of their neiglibours ; and that tlio curates, men i)rofess- ing to be ministers of the Gospel, should have been such fit instruments for such uniieard-of machinations. But to hasten forward to the fate and issue of thib solf-consuining tyranny, I shall leave all generalities, aud pro- ceed with the events of my own case ; and, in doing so, I shall endeavour what is in mo to inscribe the par- ticulars with a steady hand ; for I daro no longer now trust myself with look- ing to the right or to the left of tho field of my matter. I shall, however, try to narrate things just as they happened, leaving the courteous reader to judge what passed at the time in the suffocating tiirobs wherewith my heart was then affected. It was tho last day of February, of the year following Bothwell-brigg, that, in consequence of these subtle and wicked devices, I was taken up. I had, from my wound, been in au ailing state for many months, and could then do little in the field ; but the weather for the season was mild, and I had walked out in the tran- quillity of a sunny afternoon to give my son Joseph some instructions in the method of ploughing ; for, though he was then but in his thirteenth year, he was a by-common stripling in capacity and sense. He was indeed a goodly plant ; and I had hoped, in my old ago, to have sat beneath tho shelter of his branches ; but the axe of the feller, was untimely laid to the root, and it was too soon, with all the blossoms of the fairest promise, cast down into the dust. But my now task is of vengeance and justice, not of sorrowing, and I must more sternly grasp the iron pen. A party of soldiers, who had been that afternoon sent out to bring in certain persons (among Avhom I was KINGAN GILHAIZE. 185 one) ill a list iiialigiiaiitly transmitted to the Archbishop of Glasgow, by- Andrew Dornoch, tlio prolatic usurper of our ministers place, as I was leaviu),' the field where my son was ploui,'iiinj,', saw nie from the road, and ordered me to halt till they came up, or they would fire at me. It would have been unavailing of mo, in the state I tiien was, to liave attempted to flee, so I halted ; and, after tome entreaty with the soldiers, got permission from tiiem to ha/o my liorse and cart yoked, as 1 was not very well, and so to be carried to Ayr. And hero I should note down tliat, altliougii there was in general a coarse spirit among tlie King's forces, yet in tliese men there was a touch of com- mon humanity. This was no doubt partly owing to their having been some months quartered in Irvine, wliero tiiey became naturally softened by the friendly spirit of the place. It was not. however, ordained that men so merciful should be permitted to remain long there. As it was an understood thing that tlie object of the trials to which tiie Covenanters were in this manner sub- jected was chiefly to raise money and forfeitures for the rapacious Duke of Lauderdale, then in the rule and j)Ower of tlie council at Edinburgh, my being corried away prisoner to Ayr awakened less grief and conster- nation in my family than might have been exjiected from the e\eut. 'J'hrougii ihe humane permission of my guard, ''aviu ;r a little titne to con- fer with Si.r.il: '^oclirig before going away, it was settled between us that she should gather together what money she could ])rccure, either by loan or by selling our corn and cattle, in order to provide for the [)ayment of the fine that we countetl would be laid upon us. I was then taken to the tolbooth of Ayr, where many other covcuauted brethren were lying to await tlio proceedings of tho circuit-court, which was to be opened by the Lord Kelburne from Glasgow, on tlie second day after I had been carried thither. Among the prisoners were several who knew me well, and who con- doled as Christians with me for tho loss 1 had sustained at IJothwell; so, but for tho denial of the fresh and heavenly air, and the freedom of tho fields, the time of our captivity might have been a season of mucli solace ; for they were all devout men, and tho tolbooth, instead of resounding with the imprecations of malefactors, be- came melodious with tiie voice of psalms and of holy communion, and the sweet intercounse of spirits that delighted in one anotiier for tiie con- stancy with which they had boruo their testimony. When the Lord Kelburne arrived, on the first day that the court opened, 1 was summoned to respond to tho offences laid to my charge, if any charge of offence it may be called, wherein tho purpose of the court was seemingly to search out opinions that migiit serve as matter to justify the infliction of the fines — the whole end and intent of those circuits not being to award justice, but to find tho means of extorting money. In .some respects, however, I was more merci- fully dealt by than many of my fellow-sufferers ; but in order to show how, even in my case, the laws were jHTverted, I will here set down a brief record of my examination or trial, as it was called. The council-room was full of people when I was taken thither, and the Lord Kelburne, who sat at the head of the table, was abetted in the proceedings by INlurray, an advocate from Edinburgh. They were sitting at a wide round table, within a fence which prevented the spectators from pressing in upon them. There were v«>, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^/ ,^. .«^ <r^ 1.0 I.I 2.2 t ^ m 1.8 1^ 1^ L25 i_U IIIIII.6 V] <^ /^ ^;; V /^ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WtiT MAIN STRBIT WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4^ ^1^ 186 RING AN GiLHAtZE many papers and letters folded up in bundles lying before them, and a candle burning, and wax for sigilla- tion. Besides Lord Kelburne and liis counsellor, there were divers gentle- men seated at tlio table, and two clerks to inake notations. Lord Kelburne, in his appearance, Avas a mild -looking man, and for his years his hnir was very hoary ; for though he was seemingly not passing fifty, it was in a manner quite blanched. In speech he was mode- rate, in disposition indulgent, and verily towards mo he acted in his harsh duty with much gentleness. But Murray had a doure aspect for his years, and there was a smile among his features not pleasant to behold, breeding rather distrust and dread, than winning confidence or affection, which are the natural fruit of a ccur^enanoo rightly gladdened. lie looked at me from aneath his blows as if 1 had been a malefattor, and turning to the Lord Kelburne, said — " lie has the true fanatical yellow look." This was a base obseive ; for natu- rally I was of a fresh complexion, but my long illness, and the close air of the prison, had made me pale. After some more impertinences of that sort, he then said — " llingan (iilhaize, you were at the battle of Bothwell-brigg." "I was not," said I. "You do not mean to say so. surely?" " I have said it," was my answer. Whereupon one of the clerks whispered to him that there were three of the name in the list. •'O!" cried he, "I crave your pardon, Riiigan, there are several persona of your name ; and though you were not at Bothwell yourself, maybe ye ken those of your name who were there, — Do you?" "I did know two," was my calm answer; "one was my brother, and the other my son." All present remained very silent as I made this answer ; and the Lord Kelburne bending forward, leant his cheek on his hand as he rested his elbow on the table, and h)()ke.i very earnestly at me. Murray resinned — "And pray now, lliii<ran, tell us whet has become of the two rebels? " "'J'hey were covenanted Chris- tians," said I; "my son lies buried with those that were slain on that sore occasion." "But your brother; ho was of course younger than you ? " "No ; he was older." " AVell, well, no matter as to that ; but where is he ? " " I believe he is with his IMaker ; but his body lies among the rocks at the bottom of the Orkney seas.*' The steadiness of the Lonl Kel- burne's countenance sadilened into tlio look of compassion, aijd he said to Murray — " Tliere is no use in asking liini ;iny more questions about them, proecL'd with the ordinary interroj.ratorie.-'." There was a murmur of sati-fiiction towards his Lordship at this ; and Murray said — " And so you say tliat those in the late rebellion at Bothwell were not rebels?" " I said, sir, that my son and my brother were covenanted Christians." This I delivered with a firm voice, which seemed to produce some effeel on the Lord Kelburne, who threw himself back in his chair, and crossing his arms over his breast, looked still more eagerly towards me. " Do you niuan tiien to deny/' said Murniy, "that tlic late rebeJion was not a rebellion?" " It would be hard, sir, to say what it was ; for the causes thereto leading," replied I, "were jirovocations con- cerning things of God, and to those wh( the' ite; wer don fane was l?lKfiAN GILHAIZE. 187 vlio wore for Ihut rejison religiously tliiri', I (io not tliiiik, in a. rijrht sense, it can 1)0 cilkd rebellion. 'I'liosc who weiv tliere for carnal niotives, .and I doubt not tliore wore many such, I fancy every honest nian may say it ■WHS with them rebellion." " 1 must deal more closely with liim." said Murnay to his Lord^hip•, but his Lordship, before allowing him to jiut any more questions, said him- self to me — " Hut you know, testate the thing plaiidy, that the misguided people who were at liothwell, had banded them- selves against the laws of the realm, ■whether from religious or carnal mo- tives is not the business we are liere to sift, that point is necessarily remit- ted to God and tlieir consciences." Murray added, "It is most un- reasonable to suppose, that every subject is free to determine of Avhat is lawful to be (beyed. The thougiit is ridiculous. It would destroy the end of all lavvs which are for the advantage of commuinties, and which fifieak the seii.sc of the generality, touching the matter and things to ■which they refer." " My Lord," said I, addressing myself to Lord Kelburne, " it surely ■will ne'er be denied, that every sub- ject is free to exercise his discretion ■\vith respek to his ain conduct; and your Lordship kens vera weel, that it is the duty of subjects to know the laws of the land ; and your Lordship like- wise knows, that God has given laws to nil rulers as well jis subjects, and both may and ought to know His laws. Kow if I, knowing both the laws of God and the laws of the land, find the one contrary to the other, un- doubtedly God's laws ought to hae the preference in my obedience." His Lordship looked somewhat satisfied with this answer; but Mur- ray said to him — *' I will pose him '^h this ques- tion. If preflbyterian government ■were established, as it was in the year Ifi^H, and some ministers were not free to comply v .h it, and a law were made that none should liear them out o' doors, would ydu jiulge it reasonable that such ministers or their people should be at liberty to act in contempt of that law." And he looked mightily content with himself for this subtlety; but I said — " Really, sir, T canna see a reason why hearkening to a preaching in the fields should be a greater guilt than doing the same thing indoors." " If I were of your principles," said the advocate, "and thought in my conscience that the laws of the land were contrary to the laws of God, and that I could not conform to them, I would judge it my duty rather to go out of the nation and live else- where, than disturb the peace of the land." " That were to suppose two things," said I ; "first, that rulers n.ay make laws contrary to the laws of God, and when such laws are cnce made, they ought to be submitted to. Hut I think, sir, that ruhrs being under the law of God act wickedly, and in rebellion to Ilim, when they make enactments contrary to 11 is de- clared will ; and surely it can ne'er be required that ■we should allow wickedness to be done." " I am not sure," said Murray to his Lordship, " that I do right in continuing this irrelevant conversa- tion." " I am interested in the honest man's defence," replied Lord Kel- burne, " and as 'tis in a matter of con- selence, let us hear what makes it 80." " 'Well, tlien." resumed the advo- cate, " what can you say to the barbarous murder of Archbishop Sharp? — You will not contend that 188 RINGAN GILHAIZE. murder is not contrary to tho law of God ? " "I ne'er contended," said I, "that any sin was permitted by tho law of God— fivr less murder, wliich is ex- pressly forbidden in the Ten Com- mands." " Then yc acknowledge the murder of the Archbishop to havo been murder." " That's between those that did it and God." " Hooly, hooly, friend!" cried Murray; "that, liingan, winna do; was it or was it not murder." " Can I tell, who was not there?" " Then to satisfy your conscience on that score, Ilingan, I would .ask you, if a gang of rutiiaus slay a de- fenceless mau, do or do they not commit murder ? " *' I can easily answer that." Lord Kelburne again bent eagerly forward, and rested his chctk again on his hand, placing liis elbow on the table, wliile I continued — " A gang of ruffians coming in wantonness, or for plunder, upon a defenceless man, and putting him to death, there can be no doubt is mur- der; but it has not yet been called murder to kill an enemy in battle ; and tliorefore, if the captain of a host go to war without arms, and thereby be defenceless, it cannot be said that those of the adverse party, v. ho may liappcn to slay him, do any murder." " Do you mean to justify the man- ner of the death of the Archbishop ? " exclaimed the advocati', starting back, and spreading out his arms in wonder- ment. " 'Deed no, sir," replied I, a little nettVed at the construction ho would put upon what I said; "but I will say, even here, what Sir Davie Lindsay o' tiio Mount said on the sin)ilar event o' Cardinal Beaton's death— ' As for this Cartflnal, I graut IIo was tho iiiau wo iniglit well want ; Goii will forgive it sr ja: But of a truth, tlio sootli to say. Although tho loon bo well away, Tho fact was foully done.' " There was a rustle of gratification among all in the court as I said tho rhyme, and Lord Kelburne smiled; but Alurray, somewhat out of humour, said — "I fancy, my Lord, we must consider this as an admission that the killing of the Archbishop was murder ? " *' I fear," said his Lordship, " that neither of the two questions have been so directly put as to justify me to pronounce any decision, though I am willing to put the most favourable construction on what has passed." And then his Lordship, looking to me, added — " Do you consider the late re- bellion, being contrary to the King's authority, rebellion ? " "Contrary to the King's right authority," replied I, " it was not rebellion, but contrary to an authority, beyond the right, taken by him, de- spite the law of God, it was rebellion," " Wherefore, honest man,"rejoined his Lordship kindly, "would you make a distinction that may bring harm on your own head ? Ls not tho King's authority instituted by law and prerogative, and knowing that, cannot yc say, that those who rise in arms against it are rebels? " " My Lord," said I, " you have my answer ; for in truth aiid in conscienco I can give none other." There was a pause for a sliort sp.ace, and one of the clerks looking to I ord Kelburne, his Lordship said, with a plain reluctance, "It must even bo so ; write down that he is not clear the late rebellion should bo called a rebellion ; " and casting his I eyes eutreatingly towards me, ho RINGAN GILTIAIZE, 189 re- added — " But I t'ink you acknow- ledge that the assassination of Ai'ch- bishop Sharp was a murder ? " " My Lord," said I, " your ques- tions are propounded as tests, and therefore, as an honest man, I cannot suffer that my answers should be scant, lest I might be thought to waver in faith and was backward in my testimony. No, my Lord, I will not call the killing of Sharp murder ; for, on my conscience, I do verily think he deserved the death : First, because of his apostacy ; second, be- cause of the laws of which he was the instigator, whereby the laws of God have been contravened ; and, third, for the woes that those laws have brought upon the land, the which stirred the hearts of the people against him. Above all, I think his death was no murder, because he was so strong in his legalities, that he could not be brought to punishment by those to whom he had caused the greatest wrong ; " and I thought, in saying these words, of my brother's daughter — of his own sad death in the stormy seas of the Orkneys — and of my brave and gallant Michael, that was lying in his shroudless grave in the cold clay of Hothwell. Lord Kelburne was troubled at my answer, and was about to remonstrate; but seeing the tear start into my eye as those things came into my mind, he said nothing, but nodding to tlie clerk, he bade him write down tliat I would not acknowledge the killing of the Archbishop a murder, lio^ then rose and adjourned the court, re- manding mo to prison, saying that he would send mo word what would be the extent of my punishment. The same night it was intimated to me that I was fined in five hundred marks, and tliat bonds were required to be given for the payment; upon the granting of which, in considera- tion of my ill health, the Lord Kel- burne had consented I should be set free. Tiiis wfis, in many respects, a more lenient sentence tlian I had expected; and in the hope that periiaps Sarah Lochrig might have been able to pro- vide the money, so as to render the grantingof thebondsandtheprocuring of cautioners unnecessary, I sent over a man on horseback to tell her the news, and the man in returning brought my son Joseph behind him, sent by his snother to urge me to give the bonds at once, as she had not been able to raise so much money; and the more to incitj me, if there iiad been need for incitement, she had willed Joseph to tell me tiiat a party of Ciaverhouse's dragoons had been quartered on tiie house that morning, to live there till the fine was paid. Of the character of those freeboot- ers I needed no certificate. They had filled every other place wherever they had been qurrtered with sham' and never-ceasing sorrow, and therefore I was indeed roused to hear that my defenceless daughters were in their power, so I lost no time in sending iny son to entreat two of his mother's relations, wlio were bein merchants in Ayr, to join me in the bond — a thing which they did in the most com- passionate manner, and, the better to expedite the business, I got it to be permitted by the Lord Kelburne that the bonds should be sent the same day to Irvine, where I hoped to be able next morning to discharge them. All this was happily concerted and brought to a pleasant issue before sunset, at which time I wfvs discharged from the t.olbooth, carrying with me many pious wislies from those who were there, and who had not been so gently dealt by. It was my intent to have proceeded home the same night, but my son was very tired with the many errands ho had mn that day, and by his long 190 RINGAN GILHAIZE. ride in the morning ; moreover, I was myself in need of repose, for my anxiety bad brought on a disturbaiici' in my blood, and my limbs shock, and I was altogether nnable to under- take any journey. I was therefore too easily entreated of Archibald Lochrig, n)y wifi's cousin, and one of my cautioners, to stop in his liouse that evening. But next morning, being much refresiied with a pleasant sleep and the fallacious cheering of happy dreams, I left Ayr, with my son, be- fore the break of day, and we travelled with light feet, for our hearts were lifted up with hope. Though my youth was long past, and many things had happened to sadden my s]iirit, I yet felt on that occasion an unaccon?i tabic sense of kindlini'SS and joy. The flame of life was as it were renewed, and brightened in the pure and breezy air of the morning, and a bounding gladness rose in my bosom as my eye expatiated around in the freedom of the spacious fields. On the left-hand the living sea seemed as if the pulses of its moving waters were in unison with the throbbings of my spirit ; and, like jocund maidens disporting themselves in the flowing tide, the gentle waves, lifting their heads, and spreading out their arms and raising their white bosoms to the rising sun, came as it were happily to the smooth sands of the sparkling shore. Tho grace of enjoyment brightened and blithened all things. There was a cheerfulness in the songs of the little birds that enchanted the young 1 eart of my blooming boy to break lorth into singing, and his carol was gayer tiian the melody of tho lark. But that morning was tho last time that either Oi us could ever after know pleasure any more in this world. Eager to be home, and that I might share with Sarah Lochrig and our children the joy of thankfulness for my deliverance, I had resolved to call, in passing through Irvine, at the clerk's chamber, to inquire if tho bonds had been sent fiom Ayr, that my cautioners might be as soon as possible discharged. But wo had been so early a foot that we reached the town while tho inhabitants were yet all asleep, so tiiat we thought it would be as well to go straight home; and accordingly we passed down the gait and through tho town-end port without seeing any person in the street, save only the town-herd, as he was going with his horn to sound for the cows to bo sent out to go with him to the moor. Tho sight of a town in the peaceful- ness of the morning slumbers, and of a simple man going forth to lead the quiet cattle to jia>ture, filled my mind with softer thoughts than 1 had long known, and I said to my son — "Surely those who would molest the peace of the poor hae ne'er rightly tasted the blessing of beholding tho confidence with which they tt ist themselves in the watches of the night and amidst the perils of their barren lot." And I felt my heart thaw again into charity with all men, and I was thankful for the delight. As I was thus tiisting again the luxury of gentle thoughts, a band of five dragoons came along the road, and Joseph said to me that they were the same who had been quartered in our house. I looked at them as they passed by, but they turned their heads aside. "I wonder," said my son, "that they did na speak to me : I thought they had a black look." "No doubt, Joseph," was my answer, " tho men are no lost to a' sense of shame. They canna but bo rebuked at the sight of a man that, maybe against their will, poor fellows, they were sent tc oppress.'' *' I dinna like them the day, father, RINGAN GILHAIZB. 101 they're unco like ill-doers," said the thoughtful end observing stripling. lint my spirit was .at the time full of goodwill towards all men, and I reasoned with him against giving way to unkind thoughts, expounding, to the best of my a')ility, the nature of gospel-charity, and the heavenliuess of good-will, saying to him — " The nature of charity's like the light o* the sun, by which all things are cherished. It is the brightness of the soul, nnd the glorious quality •which provi our celestial descent. Our other feoi ga are common to a' creatures, but l le feeling of charity is divine. It's the only thing in which man partakes of the nature of God." Discoursing in this scriptural man- ner, we reached the (iowan-brao. My heart beat high with gladness. My 6on bounded forward to tell his mother and sisters of my coming. On gaining the brow of the hill he leapt from the ground with a fnantic cry and clasped hia hands. I ran to- wards him — but I remember no more — though at times something crosses my mind, and I have wild visions of roofless walls, and a crowd of weep- ing women and silent men digging among ashes, and a beautiful body, all dripping wet, brought on a deal from the mill-dam, and of men, as it was carried by, seizing me by the arms and tying my hands — and then I fancy myself in a house fastened to a chair; — and sometimes I think I was lifted out and place I to beak in the sun and to taste the fresh air. But what tiiese things import I dare only guess, for no one has ever told me what became of my benign Sarah Lochrig and our two blooming daughters ; — all is phantasma that I recollect of the day of my return home. I said my soul was iron, an<l my heart converted into stone. O that they were indeed so I But eor- rowing is a vain thing, and my task must not stand still. When I left Ayr the leaves were green, and the fields gay, and the waters glad; and when the yellow leaf rustled on the ground, and the waters were druuily, and the river roaring, I was somehow, i know not by what means, in the kirk-yard, and the film fell from the eyes of my rea- son, and I looked around, and n)y little boy had hold of me by the hand, and I said to him, " Joseph, what's yon sae big and green in our lairV " and he gazed in my face, and the tears came into bis eyes, and ho replied — '• Fatiier, they are a' in the snmo grav(;." I took my hand out of his ; — I walked slowly to the green tomb ; — I knelt down, and I caused mv son to kneel beside me, and I vowjd enmity forever .against Charles Stuart and .dl of his line ; and prayed, in the words of the Psalmist, that when he was judged he might be coudeniued. Then we rose ; but my son said to me — " Father, I canna wish his con- demnation ; but I'll fight by your side till we have harlt him down from lus bloody throne.' And I felt that I had forgotten I was a Christian, and I again knelt down and prayed, but it was for the sin I had done in the vengeance of the Latter clause. " NevertheleHS, Lord," I then cried, " as Thou Thyself didst ' take the sceptre from Saul, and g.ave the crown to David, make me an in- strument to work out the purposes of Thy drcadfu' justice, which in time will come to be." Then I arose ag<ain, ami went to- wards the pla'io where my home had been ; but when I saw the ruin-i I ran back to the kirkyard, and threw myself on the grave, and cried to the earth to open and receive nic. But the Lord had heard my prayer, and while I lay there He sent 192 RINGAN GILHAIZE, >^ down tho consoling angel, and the whirlwind of my spirit was calmed, and I remembered tho promise of my son to fight by ray side, and I arose to prepare myself for tho warfare. While I was lying on the ground several of the neighbours had heard my wiM cries, and came into the kirk- yard ; but by that time tho course of the tempest had been stayed, and they stood apart with my son, who told them I was come again to myself, and they thought they ought not to dis- turb me ; when, however, they paw me rise, they drew near and spoke kindly to me, and Zachariah Smylie invited me to go back with him to his house ; for it was with him I had been siieltercd during the phrenzy. But I said — " No : I will neither taste meat nor drink, nor seek to rest myself, till I have again a sword." And I entreated him to give mo a little money, that, with my son, we might go into Irvine and provide ourselves with weapons. The worthy man looked very sor- rowful to hear me so speak, and some of the others, that were standing by, began to reason with me, and to re- present the peril of any enterprise at that time. But I pointed to the grave, and said — " Frien's, do you ken what's in yon place, and do ye counsel me to peace ? " At whicli words they turned aside and shook their heads ; and Zacliariali Smylie went and brought me a purse of money, which having put into my bosom, 1 took my son by the hand, and bidding them all fare- wtll, wo walked to tlie town silently together, and I thought of my brother's words in his grief, that the speed -f lightning was slow to the wishes of revenge. CHAPTER XXVI. On arriving in Irvine, wo v/ent to the shop of Archibald Macrusty, a dealer in iron implements, and I bought from him two swords without hilts, which he sold, wrapt in straw- rope, as scythe-blades — a method of disguise that tho ironmongers were obligated to have recourse to at tiiat time, on account of the search now and then made for weapo is by the soldiers, ever from the time that Claverhouse came to disarm the people ; and when I had bought the two blades we went to Bailie Girvan's shop, which was a nest of a' things, and bought two hilts, without any questions being asked ; for the baUie was a discreet man, with a warm heart to the Covenant, and not sellir.g whole swords, but only hilts and hefts, it could not be imputed to him th.it he was guilty of selling arms to suspected persons. Being thus ^)rovided with two swords, we went into James Glassop's public, where, having partaken of some refreshment, we remained so- lemnly sitting by ourselves till to- wards the gloaming, when, recollect- ing that it would be a comfort to us in the halts of our undertaking, I sent out my son to buy a Bible, and while ho was absent I fell asleep. On awaking from my slurriber I felt greatly composed and refreshed. I reflected on the events of the day, and the terrible truths that had broken in upon me, and I was not moved with the same stings of despe- ration that, on my coming to myself, had shot like fire through my brain ; so I began to consider of tho purpose whereon I was bowne, and that I had formed no plan, nor settled towards what airt 1 should direct my stcj)S. But I was not the loss determined to proceed, and I said to my son, who was sitting very thoughtful with the RINGAN GILHAIZB. 193 BnoK lying on the table before him — " Olten the liible, and see what the Lord instructs us to do at this time." And he opt ned it, and the first words bo saw and read were those of the nineteenth verse of the forty-eighth chapter of the Prophet Jeremiah — '• O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and espy; ask him that fleeth, and lier that escapetb, and say, What is done?" So I rose, and bidding my son close the Book, and bring it with him, we went out, with our sword-hilts, and the blades still with the straw- rope about them in our hands, into the street together, where we had not long been when a soldier on horse- back passed us in great haste; and many persons spoke to him as he rode by, inquiring what news he had brought ; but he was in trouble of mind, and heeded them not till he reached the door of the house where the captain of the soldiers then in Irvine was abiding. When he had gone into the house and delivered his message, he returned to the street, where by that time a multitude, among which we wci-e, had assembled, and he told to the many, who inquired, as it were with one voice, — That Mr Cargill, and a numer- ous party of the Cameronians, had passed that afternoon through Galston, and it was thought they meditated some disturbance on the skirts of Kilmarnock, which made the com- mander of the King's forces in that town send for aid to the captain of those then in Irvine. As soon as I heard the news, I resolved to go that night to Kilmar- nock, and abide with my sister-in-law, the widow of my brother Jacob, by whose instrumentality I thought we might hear where the Cameronians then were. For, although I approved not of their separation from the general Presbyterian Kirk of Scotland, N nor was altogether content with their diclaration published at Sanquhar, tl ere was yet one clause which, to my spirit, impoverished of all hope, waa as food and raiment ; and that there may bo no perversion concerning the same in after times, I shall here set down the words of the clause, and the words are these :— " Although we be for government and governors such as the Word of God and our Covenant allows, yet we for ourselves, and all that will adhere to us, do, by thir presents, disown Charles Stuart, that has been reigning (or rather tyrannizing as we may say) on the throne of Britain these years bygone, as having any right or title to, or interest in, the crown of Scot- land for government, he having for- feited the same several years since by his perjury and breach of Covenant both to God and His kirk;" and further, I did approve of those pas- sages wherein it was declared, that he "should have been denuded of being king, ruler, or magistrate, or having any power to act or be obeyed as such : " as also, " we being under the standard of our Lord Jesus Christ, Captain of Salvation, do declare a war with such a tyrant and tisurper, and all the men of his practices, as enemies to our Lord." Accordingly, on hearing that the excommunicated and suffering society of the Cameronians were so near, I resolved, on receiving the soldiers information, and on account of that recited clause of the Sanquhar declara- tion, to league myself with them, and to fight in their avenging battles ; for, like me, they had endured irremedi- able wrongs, injustice, and oppres- sions, from the persecutors, and for that cause had, like me, abjured the doomed and papistical race of the tyrannical Stuarts. With my son, therefore, I went toward Kilmarnock, in the hope and with the intent ex- 104 RINOAN GILHATZE. fow these stone miud the ejup pressed; and though the road was five long miles, and though I had not spoken more to him nil day, nor for days, and wet-ks, and months before, than I have set down heroin, we yet continued to travel in silence. The night was bleak, and the wind easterly, but the road was dry, and my thoughts were eager ; and wo hastened onward, and reached tiie widow's door, without the interchango of a word in all the way. •' Wha do yo want ? " said my son, ** for naebody hae lived here since the death of aunty." I was smote upon the heart, by words, as it were with a t had not come into my >.k of inquiring how long ! of my reason had lasted, nor of what had happened among otir friends in the interim. This shock, however, had a salutary effect in staying the haste which was still in my thoughts, and I conversed with my son more collectedly than I could have done before it, and he told me of many things very doleful to hear, but I was thankful to learn that the end of my brother's widow had been in peace, and not caused by any of those grievous unchances which darkened the latter days of so many of the pious in that epoch of the great displeasure. But the disappointment of finding that Death had barred her door against us, made it needful to seek a resting-place in some public, and as it was not prudent to carry our blades and hilts into any such place of pro- miscuous resort, we went up the town, and hid them by the star-light in a field at a dyke-side, and then returning as wayfarers, we entered a public, and bespoke a bed for the night. While we were sitting in that house by the kitchen fire, I betliought me of the Bible which ny son had in his band, and told him that it would do us good if he would read a chapter ; but just as he was beginning, the mistr(>.«is said — " Sirs, dinna expose yoursels ; for wha kens but the i-nemy may come in upon you. It's an unco tiling nowa- days to be seen reading the Bible in a change-hour<e." So, being thus admonished, I bado my son put away the Book, and we retired from the fireside and sat by oursels in the shadow of a corner; and well it was for us that we did so, and a providential thing that the worthy woman had been moved to give us the admonition ; for we wero not many minutes within the mirk and obscurity into wliicih we had removed, wlion two dragoons, who had been skirring the country, like blood-hounds, in pursuit of Mr Car- gill, came in and pat tluniselves down by the fire. Being sorely tired with their day's hard riding, they were wroth and blasphemous against all the Covenanters for the trouble tliey gave them; and I thought when I heard them venting their bittiTncss, that they spoke as with the voice of the persecutors that were the true cause of the grievances whereof they complained ; for no doubt it was a hateful thing to persons dressed in authority not to get their own way, yet I could not but wonder how it never came into the minds of such persons that if they had not trodden t.pon the worm it would never have turned. As for the Camcroniivns they were at war with the hoiiso of Stuart, and having disowned King Charles, it was a tiling to be looked for, that all of his sect and side would be their consistent enemies. So I was none troubled by what the soldiers said of them, but my spirit was chafed into the quick to hear the remorsele-s- nesa of their enmity against nil tho Covenanters and Presbyterians, re- specting whom they swore with the the l)ri;/h Irem pert. "I burnt W for at and conip.i tho ni< son, tered darter 'ih but ('o to pro ing, pn RINGAN GILHAIZE. 195 for lionrfleucRfi of rovonge, wishing in such a fnj;htful manner the wholo of 118 in tliu deptlia uf perdition, that i could no lonfjer hear them witliout rebukinp tiieir cruel hatred aud most foul iniiiicty. " What pars yon, yoiinp man," said I to the fiercest of tho two dragoons, an Knglisher, "what gars you in that dreadful manner hate and blaspheme honest men, who would, if they were permitted, dwell in peace with nil mankind? " '•Permitted!" cried he, turning round and placing his chair between me and the door, " and who does not permit them? Let them seek the way to heaven according to law, and no one will trouble them," " Tiie law, I'm thinking," replied I very mildly, " is mair likely to direct them to another pl.ace." "Here's a fellow," cried the soldier, riotously laughing to hia companion, "that calls the king's proclamation the devil's finger-])08t. I say, friend, eoinc a little nearer tho light. Is your name Cargill ? " "No," replied I; and the light of tho firo then happening to shine bright in his face, my son laid his trembling hand on mine, and whis- pered to me with ft faltering tongue — " O ! it's one of tho villains that burnt our house, and " AVhat more he added I know not, for at the word I lcai,t from my seat, and rushed upon the soldier. His companion flew in between us ; but the moment that the criminal saw my son, who also sprung forward, he ut- tered a fearfid howl of horror, and darted out of tho house. The ofl:er soldier was surprised, but ('ollected ; and shutting the door, to prevent us from pursuing or escap- ing, said — "What's all this?" " That's my father," said my son boldly, '* Ringau Gilhaiza of Quharist." 'I'ho dragoon looked at ''••.• for a moment, with concern in h.. v.ounte- nanee, and then rei)lied, ' I have heard of your name, but i was not oi tlie party. It was a very black job. But sit down, Ecclesfield wdl not ho back. lie has ever since of a night been afraid of gliusts, and he's ( flf as if he had seen one. So don't disturb yourself, but ho cool." I made no answer, nor could I ; but I returned and sat down in tho corner where we had been sitting, and my son, at tho same time, took his place beside me, laying his hand on mine ; and I heard his heart beating, but he too said not a word. It happened that none of tlio people belonging to the house were present at tho uproar; but hearing the noise, the mistress and the gude- man came rushing ben. The soldier, \vho still stood calmly with his back to the door, nodded to them to como towards him, which they did, and ho began to tell them something in a whisper. The landlord held up hia hands and shook his head, and tlie mistress cried, with tears in her eyes, " No wonder ! no wonder ! " " Had ye no beiter gang out and see for Ecclesfield ? " said the land- lord, with a significant look to tho soldier. The young man cast his eyes down, and seemed thoughtful. " I may be blamed," said he. " Gang but tho house, gudowife, and bring the gardivinc," resumed tho gudeman ; and I saw him touch her on the arm, and she immediately went again into the room whence they had issued. " Come into the fire. Jack Windsor, and sit down," continued he; and the soldier, with some re- luctance, quitted the door, and took his seat between me and it, ■where Ecclesfield had been sitting. " Ye ken. Jack," ho resumed when they were seated, "that unless there 10« ETNGAN QILHAIZE. arc two of you presont, yo cannn put any man to tlio tewt, bo tliat ovorj body wlio lias not In'cn tested is free to ^'o wheresoever it pleasures liini- Bel." The draffooii looked compassion- ately towards mc ; and tlio mistress comins; in at the time witii a case- bottle under her arm, and a ^Toen Dutch dram-plass in her hand she filled it with brandy, and ga*, it to her husband. " Here's to ••'ou, Jack Windsoi'," said the landloi-d, as ho put tho ghiss to his lii>s, " and I wish a' the Enf,'li5ii in Enj,'land were as orderly and good- hearted as yoursel', Jack Windsor." He tlion held the jjlass to the mis- tress, and she made it a lippy. " llae, Jack," said the landlord, " I'm sure, after your hard travail the day. ye'll no be the waur o' a dram." " Curse the liquor," exclaimed the drai^oon, " I'm not to be bribed by a dram." >' Nay," cried the landlord, " Gude forbid tliat I should be a briber," still holdin,ic the glass tow.ards the soldier, who sat in a thoughtful pos- ture, plainly switluiring. '• That fellow Kcelesfield," said he, as it were to himself, "the game's up with him in this world." " And in the next too. Jack Wind- sor, if he does na repent," replied the landlord ; and the dragoon put forth his hand, and, taking the glass, drank off the brandy. " It's a hard service this here in Scotland," sai<l Windsor, holding the empty glass in his hand. " 'Deed is't, Jack," said the land- lord, "and it canna be a pleasant thing to a warm-hearted lad like you, Jack Windsor, to be ravaging poor country folk, only because they hae gotten a bee in their boiinets about prelacy." " Curse the prelacy, says I," ex- claimed the dragoon. " VVhisht, whisht. Jack," said the landlord ; " but when a man's sac scomfisht as ye maun be the night after your skirring, a word o' ve.\a- tion canna be a great faut. (Judewife, fill Jai-k's glass again. Ye'll be a' the better o't. Jack ; " and he took the ghiHS from the dragoon's hand and held it to his wife, who again tilled it to the flowing eye. " I shouhi tiiink," said the dra- goon, " that Ecclesfield cannot be far off. lie ought not to have run away till we had tested the strangers." •' Ah ! Jack Windsor," replied the landlord, holding out the glass to him, "that's easy for you, an honest lad wi' a clear conscience, to say, but think o' what Ecclesfield was art and part in. Yo may thank your stars, Jack, that ye hae ne'er been guilty o' the fold things that he's Avyted wi'. Arc your father and mother living. Jack Windsor?" " I hope 60," said the dragoon ; " but the old man was a little so so when I last heard of 'em." " Aye, Jack," replied the landlord, " auld folks are failing subjects. Yo hae some brothers and sisters nae doubt ? They maun bo weel-looked an they're ony thing like you, Jack." " I have bat one sister," replied the dragoon, " and there's not a gooder girl in England, nor a lady in it that has the bloom of Sally Windsor." " Y'"e're braw folk, you Englishers, and ye're happy folk, whilk is far better," said the landlord, presenting the second glass, which Jack drank off at once, and returned to the mis- tress, signifying with his hand that he wanted no more ; upon which she retired with the gardivine, while the landlord continued, " it's weel for you in the south yonder. Jack, that your prelates do not harass ho jest folk." " We have no prelates m En thank God," said the dragooi : gi ,11(1. RINGAN OILHAIZE. 107 wouKln't Ii.ivo 'om ; our parsona arc other Hort o' tilings." " 1 tlioiiglit yo liad an Jiost o' bisliopH, Jack," saiil tlio l-mdlord, " 'J'riio, and good felluwH Homc on 'em aro ; but though prt-hites be bishops, bisiiops a'n't prelates, whicli makes a difference." " And a blessed difference it is ; for how would ye like to hear of your father's house being burnt and him in prison, and your bonny innocent sister? — Kh ! is nae that Kccieslield's foot elami .ling wi' his spurs at the door?" The dragoon listened again, and looked tlioughtful for a little time, and turned his eyes hiistily towards the corner where we were sitting. The landlord eyed him anxiously. ♦' Yes," cried the poor lellow, start- ing from his seat, and striking his closed riglit hand sharply into his left; " yes, J ought and 1 will ; ' adding oabnly to the landlord, "confound Ecclesfield, where is he gone? I'll go see ; " and ho instantly went out. The moment he had left the kitchen the landlord rose find said to us, " Flee, flee, and quit this dangerous town ! " Whereupon wo rose hastily, and my son lifting the Bible, wliich he had laid in the darkness of the corner, we instanter left the house, and, not- withstanding the speed th.it was in oar steps as we hurried up the street, I had a glimpse of the compass'ouato soldier standing at the corner of the house when we ran by. Thus, in a very extraordinary manner, was the dreadful woe that had befallen me and mine most won- derfully made a mean, through the conscience of Ecclesfield, to effectuate our escape. On leaving the public we went straight to the place where our blades and belts lay, and took then up, and proceeded in au easterly direction. Hut I soon found tliat T was no longer the n)an I had cnco been; siiffning and the fever ol my frenzy hiul im- paired my Btr» ngth, and the weight of four and (illy years was on my back ; so that I began to weary for a place of rest for the night, and I looked often aroiu to discover the star of any window , > ;'.tall was dark, and the bleak ea.'tTJy wind searched my very bones ; even my son, whoso sturdy healtl" and youmy blood made him abler to thole the niulitair, com- plained of the nipping cold. Many a time yet, when I remem- ber that night, do I think with wonder and reverence of our condition. An inlirin, grey-haired man, with a do- ranged heud and a broken he.irt, going fortli amidst the winter's wind, with a little boy, not passing thirteen years of age, to pull down from his throne the guarded King of three mighty kingdoms, — iind we did it. — such was the doom of avenging jus- tice, and such the pleasure of Heaven. Hut let me proceed to rehearse the trials 1 was required to undergo be- fore the accomplishment of that high predestination. AVeary, as 1 liavc said, very cold and disconsolate, wc walked hirpling together for some time ; at last wo heard the rumbling of wheels before us, and my son running forward came back and told me it was a carrier. I hastened on, and with great satisfac- tion found it was liobin Hrown, the Ayr and Kilmarnock carrier. I had known him well for many years, and surely it was a providential thing that we met him in our distress, for he was the brother of a godly man, on whose head, while his family were around him, Claverhouse, with his own bloody hands, placed the glorious diadem of martyrdom. lie had been told what had befal- len me and mine, and was greatly a- mazed to hear my voice, and that I 198 niNGAN GILHAIZE. was agah. come to myself ; and ho helped both my son and mo into tho cart ; and, as he walked by the wheel, he told nic of many things wliich had hcappened durinj!: "ly eclipse, and of the dreadful executions at Edinburfifh, of the prisoners taken at Airsmoss, and how that papist Jiimes Stuart, Duke of York, the Kind's brother, was placed at the head of the Scottish councils, and was then rioting in the delights of cruelty, with the use of the torture and the thunibkins upon prisoners suspected, or accused of being honest to their vows and their religious profession. liut my mind was unsettled, and his tale of calamity passed over it like the east wind that blew that night so freezingly, cruel to the sense at the time, but of which the morrow showed no memorial. I said nothing to Robin lirown of what my intent was, but that I was on my way to join the Cameronians, if I knew where they might be found ; and he informed me, that after the raid of Airsmoss they had scattered themselves into the South country, where, as Ciaverhouse had the chief command, the number of their friends was likely to be daily increased, by the natural issue of his cruelties, and that vindifitive exasperation, which was a passion and an affection of his mind for the discomfiture he had met with at Drumclog. "But," said the worthy man, "I hope, Ringan Gilhaize, ye'll yet con- sider the step before ye tak it. Ye're no at this time in a condition o health to warsle wi' hardship, and your laddie there's owre young to bo o' ony fek in the way o' war ; for, ye ken, the Cameronians hae declar't w.ir against the King, and, being few and far apart, they're hunted down in a' places." " If I canna fight wi' men," replied my brive striplinfj, " I can help my father; but I'm no fear't. David was but a herd laddie, maybe nae aulder nor bigger than me. when he feirt tho muckle Philistine wi' a stane." I made no answer myself to Robin Brown's remonstrance, because my resolution was girded as it were with a gir of brass and adamant, and there- fore, to reason more or farther con- cerning aught but of the means to achieve my purpose, was a thing I could not abide. Only I said to him, that being weary, and not in my wonted health, I would try to com- pose myself to sleep, and he would waken me when he thought fit, for that I would not go with him to Glasgow, but shape our way towartla the South country. So I stretched myself out. and my dear son laid him- self at my back, and the worthy man happing us with his plaid, we soon fell asleep. When the cart stopped at tlie Kingswell. where Robin was in tho usage of halting half an hour, ho awoke us; and there being no strangers in the house we alighted, and going in, warmed ourselves at the fire. Out of a compassion for me tho mistress warmed and spiced a ]iint of ale ; but, instead of doing me any good, I had not long partiiken of tho same when I experienced a great cold- ness and a trembling in my limbs, in so much that I felt myself very ill, and prayed the kind woman to allow me to lie down in a bed ; which she consented to do in a most rharitable manner, causing her iuisliMnd, who was a oovenantt'd man, iis T after- wards fnunri, to rise out of his, and give me their own. The cold and tho tremblings were but the symptoms and beginnings of a fiore malady, which soon rose to such a head that Robin Brown taiglet more th<in two hours for me ; but Btill I grew worse and worse, and RINGAN GILHAIZE. 199 could not be removed for many days. On the fiftli I wfis bronglit so nigh unto tlie gates of death that my son, ■\vlio never lift the bed-stock, thought at one time I had been released from my trouble. JJiit I was reserved for the task that the Lord bad in store for me, and from that time 1 began to recover; and nothing could ex- ceed the tenderness wherewith I was treated by those Samaritan Christians, the landlord and his wife of the public at Kingswell. This distemper, how- ever, left a great imbecility of body behind it; and I wondered whether it could be of ^'rovidencc to prevent mo from going forward with my avenging purpose against Charles Stuart and ids counsellors. Being one day in this frame of dubiety, lying in the bed, and my son sitting at my pillow, I said to him, " Get THE Book, and open and read," which ho accordingly did; and the fir-st verse that he cast his eye upon was tiic twenty-fourth of the seventh chapter of Isaiah, " With arrows and with bows shall men come." "Stop," said I, "and go to the window and see who are coming; " but when he went thither and looked out he could sec no one far nor near. Yet still I heard the tramp of many feet, and I said to him, " Assuredly, Joseph, there are many persons coming towards tiiif house, and I think they are not me)i of war, for their steps are loose, and tiioy march not in the order of battle." This I have thought was a wonder- ful sharpness of hearing with which I was for a Kcason then gifted ; for soon after a crowd of persons were dis- covered conung over tlie moor towards the house, find it proved to be Mr ("ar^ill, with about some sixty of the C.imoronians, who had been hunted from out their liidiug-plaoes iu the south. CHAPTER XXVII. It is surely a mo.st strange matter, that whenever I come to tiiink and to write of the events of that period, and of my sickjiess at Kingswell, my thoughts relapse into iufii'mity, and all which then passed move, as it were, before me in mist, disorderly and fantastical. But wherefore need I thus descant of my own estate, when so many things of the highest con- cernment are pressing upon my tablets for registration? Be it therefore enough that I mention here how much I was refreshed by the prayers of Mr Cargill, who was brought into my sick-chamber, where he wrestled with great efficacy for my recovery ; and that after he had made Jin end, I felt so much strengthened, tliat I caused myself to be raised from my bed and placed in a chair at the open window, that I might see the men who had been heartened from on High, by the sense of their suflFerings, to proclaini war against the man-sworn King, our common foe. They were scattered before the house, to the number of more than fifty, some sitting on stones, oth«rs stretched Jie heather, and a few walking about by themselves, stimi- natiug on mournful fancies. Their appearance was a thought wild and raised, — their beards had not been shaven for many a day, — their apparel was also much rent, and they had all endured great misfortunes in their families and substance. Their homes had been made desolate ; some had seen their sons put to death, and not a few the ruin of their innocent daughters and the virtuous wives of their bosome,— all by the fruit of laws and edicts which had issued from the councils of Charles Stuart, and were enforced by men drunken with the authority oi Im wUtxsa^ will 200 RINGAN GILHAIZE). But though my spirit clove to theirs, and was ia unison with their intent, I could not but doubt of so poor a handful of forlorn men, though it be written, that the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong, and I called to my son to bring me the Book, that I might be instructed from the Word what I ought at that time to do ; and when he had done so I opened it, and the twenty-second chapter of Genesis met ray eye, and I was awed and trembled, and my heart was melted with sadness and an agonizing grief. For the command to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his only son, whom he so loved, on the moun- tains in the land of Moriah, required of me to part with my son, and to send him with the Cameronians ; and I prayed with a weeping spirit and the imploring silence of a parent's heart, that the Lord would be pleased not to put my faith to so great a trial. I took the Book again, and I opened it a second time, and the com- mand of the sacred oracle was pre- sented to me in the fifth verse of the fifth chapter of Ecclesiastes — »« Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay." But still the man and the father were powerful with my soul ; and the weaknesd of disease was in me, and I called my son towards me, and I bowed my head upon his hands as he stood before me, and wept very bit- terly, and pressed him to my bosom, and was loath to send him away. He knew not what caused the struggle wherewith he saw me so moved, and he became touched with fear lest my reason was again going from me. But I dried my eyes, and told him it was not so, and that maybe I would be better if I could compose myself to read a chapter. So I again opened the volume, and the third command was in the twenty-sixth verse of the eighth chapter of St Matthew : " Why are ye fearful, O yo of little faith ? " But still notwithstanding my re- bellious heart would not consent, and I cried, " I am a poor, infirm, deso- late, and destitute man, and he ie all that is left me. O that mine eyes were closed in death, and that this head, which sorrow and care, and much misery have made untimely grey, were laid on its cold pillow, and tlie green curtain of the still kirk-yard were drawn around me in my last long sleep." Then again the softness of a mother's fondness came upon my heart, and I grasped the wondering stripling's hands in mine, and shook them, saying, " But it must be so. It is the Lord's will ; thrice has he com- manded, and I dare not rebel thrice." •' What has He commanded, father?" said the boy, "what is His will ? for ye ken it maun be done." " Read," said I, " the twenty- second chapter of Genesis." " I ken't, father ; it's about Abra- ham and wee Isaac ; but though ye tak me into the land of Moriah, and up to the top of the hill, maybe a ram will be catched by the horns in a whin-bush for the burnt-offering, and ye'U no hae ony need to kill me." At that moment Mr Cargill came again into the room to bid me fare- well; but seeing my son standing with the tear of simplicity in his eye, and me in the weakness of my infirm estate weeping upon his hands, he stopped and inquired what then had so moved us ; whereupon I looked towards him and said — "When I was taken with the malady that has thus changed the man in me to more than the gentle- ness of woman, ye ken, as I have already told you, we were bowne to seek your folk out and to fight on RINGAN GILHATZE. 201 yonr side. But when I beheld your dejected and much-persecuted host, a doubt came to mo, that surely it could not be that the Lord intended through them to bring about the deliverance of tlie land ; and under this doubt as to what I should now do, and my limbs being moreover still in the fetters of sickness, I consulted the oracle of God." " And what has been the answer? " " It has instructed me to send my son Avith you. But O, it is a terrible probation." " You have done well, my friend," replied the godly man, " to seek ad- vice from THE WoHD ; but apply again, and maybe — maybe, Ringan, yell no be put to so great a trial." To this I could only say, " Alas ! sir, twice have I again consulted the oracle, and twice has the answer been ail exhortation acd a reproach that I should be f^o loath to obey." " But what for, father,'" interposed my son, " need ye be sae faslied about it. I would ne'er refuse. I'm ready to gang if ye were na sae weakly; and though the folk afore the house arc but a wee waflf-like, ye ken it is written in the Book that the race is ^lot to the swift, nor the battle to the strong " Mr Cargill looked with admiration at the confidence of this young piety, and, laying his hand on the boy's head, said, " I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. The Lord is in thia, Ringan, put your trust in ilim." Whereupon I took my son's hand and I placed it in the martyr's hand, and I said, " Take him, lead him wheresoever ye will. I have sinned almost to disobedience, but the confi- dence has been renewed within me." " Rejoice," said Mr Cargill, in words tljat were as the gift of health to my enfeebled spirit, " Rejoice, and be exceeding' glad ; for great is your reward in heaven ; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'= As he pronounced the latter clause I felt my thoughts flash with a wild remembrance of the desolation of my house ; but he began to return thinks for the comfort that he himself enjoyed in his outcast condition, of beholding so many proofs of the unshaken con- stancy of faith still in the land, and prayed for me in words of such sweet eloquence, that even in the parting from my son, — my last, whom I loved so well, they cherished me with a joy passing all understanding. At the conclusion of his inspired thanksgiving, I kissed my Joseph on the forehead, and bidding him remem- ber what his father's house had been, bade him farewell. His young heart was too full to reply ; and Mr Cargill too was so deeply affected that he said nothing ; so, after shaking me by the hand, ho led him away. And if I did sin when they were departed, in the complaint of my childless desolation, for no less could I account it, it was a sin that surely will not be heavily laid against me. " O Absalom, my son, my son, — would I had died for thee," cried the warlike King David, when Absalom Avas slain in rebellion against him, and he had still many children ; but my innocent Absalom was all that I had left. During the season that the malady continued upon me, through the un- suspected agency of Robin Brown, a paction was entered into with certain of niy neighbours, to take the lands of Quharist on tack among them, and to pay mo a secret stipend, by which, means were obtained to maintain me in a decency when I was able to be removed into Glasgow. And when my strength was so far restored that I could bear the journey, the same 202 RINGAN GILHAIZE. good luau entered into a stipulation with Mrs AJrd, the relict of a gospel minister, to receive mo as a lodger, and he carried nie in on liis cart to her honae at the foot of the Stockwell. With that excellent person I con- tinued several months unmolested, but witliout he:iring any tidings of my son Afllicting tales were however of frequent occurrence, concerning the rigour wherewith the Cameronians were hunted ; so that what with anxiety, and the backwardness of nature to rally in ailments ayont fifty, I continued to languish, incapable of doing anything in furtherance of the vow of vengeance tliat I had vowed. Nor should I suppress, tliat in my infirmity there was often a wildness about my thoughts, by which I was unfitted at times to hold communion with other men. On tl- ?se occasions 1 sat wonder- ing if tiie thintfs around me were not the substanciless imageries of a dream, and fancying that those terrible truths whereof I can yet only trust myself to hint, niiglit bo the fallacies of a diseased sleep. And I contested as it were with the reality of all that I saw, touched, and felt, and strugj,ded like one oppressed with an incubus, that I miglit awake and find myself again at (^uhaiist in the midst of my family. At other times I felt all th 3 loneli- ness of the solitude into which my lot was then cast, and it was in vain that I tried to appease my craving affec- tions with the thought, that in parting will) my son I had given him to the Lord. I durst not say to myself there was aught of frenzy in that con- secratiim ; but wlien I heard of CamiTonians shot on the hills or brougiit to the scaffold, I prayed that I might receive some token of an accepted offering in what I had done. Sterner feelings too had their turns of predominance. I recalled the maul* fold calamities which withered my native land — the guilty jirovocations that the people had received — the merciless avarice and rapacious prufli- gacy that had ruined so many worthies — the crimes that had tcattcred so many families— and the contempt with which all our wrongs and woes were regarded ; and then I would remem- ber my avenging vow, and BU])plicute for health. At last, one day Mrs Aird, who had been out on some household cares, returned home in great distress of mind, telling me that the soldiers had got hold of Mr Cargill, and bad brought him into the town. This happened about the ninth or tenth of .July, in the afternoon ; and the day being very sultry, the heat had oppressed me with langour, and I was all day as one laden with sleep. But no sooner had Mrs Aird told me this, than I felt the langour depart from nie, as if a cunibro\ia cloak had been taken away, and I rose up a recruited and ic-aniniated mail. It was so much the end of my deb lity of body and sorrowing of mind, that she was loquacious with her surprise when she saw me, as it were, with a miraculous restoration, prc- i)are myself to go out in order t<f earn, if possible, some account of my SOD. When, however, I went into the street, and saw a crowd gathered around the guardhouse, my heart failed me a little, not for fear, but because the shouts of the multitude were like the yells and de'-iaions of insult ; and I thought they were poured upon the holy sufferer. It was not, however, so ; the (Jospel- taught people of Glasgow were, not- withstanding their prelatic thraldom, moved far othtrwiae, and their shouts and scoffings were against a towns- man of their own, who had reviled the man of God on seeing him a EINGAN GILHAIZE. 203 the soldiers in the prisoner amoug guardhouse. Not thou knowing tliis I halted, dubious if I should go forward ; and wliile st^mding in a swither at the corner of the Stockwill, a cart came up from the bridge, driven by a strip- ling. I saw that the cart and horse were Robin IJrown's, and before I had time to look around, my son had me by tlie hand. We said little, but rejoiced to see each other again, I observed, how- ever, tliat his apparel was become old, and that his eyes were grown quick and eager like those of the hunted Cameronians whom I saw at Kingswell. " Wo hae ta'en Robin Brown's cart frae liim," said he, " that I might come wi't unjealoused into the town, to hear what's to be done wi' the minister; but I maun tak it back the night, and maybe we'll ta' in thegither again when I hae done my errand." Willi tiiat he parted from me, and giving the liorse a touch with his whip, drove it along towards tlie guardhouse, whistling like a blithe country lad that had no care. As soon as he had so left me I went back to Mrs Aird, and providing ray- sHf with what money I had in tlie LvyU. c, I went to a sliop and bought certain articles of apparel, which hav- ing been r.ade up into a bundle, I requested, the better to disguise my intent, the merchant to carry it him- self to Robin Brown the Ayr carrier's cart, and give it to the lad who was with it, to take to Joscpli (iilliaize — a thing easy to be done, both the horse and cart being well known in tliose days to the cliief merchants then in Glasgow. When I had done this, I went to the bridge, and leaning over it, looked into the peaceful flowing tide, and there waited for nearly an hour before I saw my soa returning, and when at last ho came, 1 could perceive, as he was approaching, that he did not wish I should speak to him, while at the same time lie edged towards me, and in passing, said as it were to himself, "The bundle's safe, and he's for Edinburgh ; " by which I knew that the apparel I had bought for him was id his hands, and that he had learnt Mr Cargill was to bo sent to Edin- burgh. This latter circumstance, however, opened to me a new light with respect to the Cameronians, and I guessed that they had friends in the town with whom they were in secret correspon- dence. But, alas ! tiie espionage was not all on their part, as I very soon was taught to know by exjjerience. Though the interviews with Joseph my sou passed, as I have ' "oin nar- rated, they had not escaped obser- vance. For some time before, though I was seen but as I was, an invalid man, somewhat inis-ettled in his mind, there were persons who marvelled wherefore it was that I dwelt in such sequestration with Mrs Aird. and their marvellings set the espial of tho prelacy upon me. And it so fell out that some of those evil persons, who, for hire or malice, had made them- selves the beagles of the persecutors, happened to notice the manner in which my son came up to me when he entered the city driving Robin Brown's cart, and they jealoused somewhat of the truth. Tliey followed him unsuspected, and saw in what manner he mingled with the crowd, and they traced him returning out of the town witli .seem- ingly no other cause for having come into ir, than to receive the little store of apparel that I had provided for hii',1. This was ground enough to justify any molestiition against us, and accordingly the same night I was ar- rested, and carried next morning to Edinburgh. The cruel oUicers would 204 niNGAN GILHAIZE. have forced me to walk with the sol- diers, but every one who beheld my pale face and emaciated frame, cried out against it, and a cart was allowed to me. On reaching Edinburgh I was placed in the tolbooth, wliere many other sufferers for the cause of the Gospel were then lying. It was n foi»l and an unwholesome den ; many of the guiltless inmates were so wasted that they were rather like frightful effigies of death than living men. Their skins were yellow, and their bands were roped and warpt witli veins and sinews in a manner very awful to see. Their eyes were livid with a strange distemperature, and there was a charnel-house anatomy in the me- lancholy with which they welcomed a new brother in affliction, that made me feel, when I entered among them, as if I had come into the dark abode of spectres, and manes, and dismal shadows. The prison was crowded over-much , and though life was to many not worth the care of preservation, they yet esteemed it as the gift of their Maker, and as such considered it their duty to prolong for His sake. It was, therefore, a rule with them to stand in successive bands at the windows, in order that they might taste of the living air from without ; and knowing from dismal experience, that those who came in the last suffered at first more than those who were before, it was a charitable self-denial among them to allow to such a longer period of the window, their only solace. Thus it was that on the morning of the third day after I had been im- mured in that doleful place, I was standing with several others benind a party of those who wore in possession of the enjoyment, in order that we might take their places wlien the hour expired, and while we were thus awaiting in patience the tedious elapse of the weary moments, a noise was heard in the streets as of the approach of a multitude. There was something in the coming sound of that tuumlt unlike the noise of any other multitude ; — ever and anon a feeble shouting, and then the roll of a drum ; but the general sough was a murmur of horror followed by a rushing, as if tiie people were scared by some dreadful sight. The noiso grew louder and nearer, and hoarse bursts of aversion and anger, mingled with lamentations, were distinctly heard. Every one in the prison pressed to tlie window, wondering what hideous procession could occasion the expression of such contrarious feelings in the populace, and all eager to catch a glimp.se of the dismal pageant, expecting that it was some devoted victim, who, ac- cording to the practice of the time, was treated as a sentenced criminal, even as he was conveyed to his trial. "What do you see?" said I to one of the prisoners who clung to the bars of iron with which the window near where I stood was grated, and who thereby saw farther down the street. " I can see but the crowd coming,'' said he, "and every one is looking as if he grewed at something not yet in sight." At that moment, and while I was speaking, there was a sudden silence in the Btreet. " What has happened? " said one of the sufferers near me: my heart beat so wildly that I would not my- self inquire. "They have stopped," was the answer ; " but now they come. I see the magistratesi. Their guard is be- fore them, — the provost is first — they .are coming two and two — and they look very sorrowful." " Are tiiere but the magistrates? " said I, making an effort to press in closer to the window. niNGAN GTLHATZE. 205 " Aye, now it is at liaiul," said the man who was clinjojing to the grating of the window. " Tlie soldiers are marching on each side — I see the f)risoners ; — tiicir hands are tied bo- und, ilk loaded wi' a goad of iron — they are bareheaded — ane — twa — three — four — five — they are five fatherly-looking men." " They are Caraeronians," said I, somewhat released, I know not where- fore, unless it was because he spoke of no youth being among thein. "Ilush!" said he, "here is an- other — He is on horseback — I see the horse's head — Oh ! the sufferer is an old grey-headed minister — his head is uncovered — he is placed with his face to the horse's tail — his hands are tied, and his feet are fastened with a rope lieneath the horse's belly.— Hush ! they are passing under the window." At that moment a shriek of horror rose from all then looking out, and every one recoiled from the window. In the same instant a bloody head on a halbert was held up to us. — I looked — 1 saw the ghastly features, and I would have kissed those lifeless lips ; for, O ! they were my son's. I had laid that son, my only son, whom I so loved, on the altar of the Covenant, an offering unto the Ijord ; but still I did hope that maybe it would be according to the mercy of wisdom that lie would provide a lamb in the bush for the sacrifice ; and when the stripling had parted from me, I often felt as the mother feels when the milk of love is in her bosom, and her babe no longer there. I shall not, however, here relate how my soul was wounded at yon sight, nor ask the courteous reader to conceive with what agony I exclaimed, " Wherefore was it, Lord, that I was commanded to do that unfruitful thing ! " for in that very moment the cry of my fail- ing faith was rebuked, and the mys- tery of the required sacrifice was brought into wonderful effect, mani- festing that it was for no light purpose I had been so tried. Rly fellow- sufferer, who hung by the bars of the prison -window, was, like the other witnesses, so shaken by the woeful spectacle, that he suddenly jerked himself aside to avoid the sight, and by that action the weight of his body loosened the bar, so that when the pageantry of horrors had passed by, he felt it move in his grip, and ho told us that fcurely Providence had an invisible hand in the bloody scene; for, by the loosenin? of that stancher, a mean was given » hereby we might all escape. Accordingly it was agreed, that as soon as the night closed over the world, we should join our strengths together to bend the bar from its c "ket in the lintel. And then it was I told them that what they had seen was the last relic of my martyred family ; and we made ourselves wroth with the recital of our several wrongs ; for all there had endured the scourge of the perse- cutors; and we took each other by the hand, and swore a dreadful oath, never to desist in our endeavours till we had wrenched the sceptre from the tyrannical grasp of the Stuarts, and broken it into pieces for ever; and we burst into a wild strain of complaint and clamour, calling on the blood of our murdered friends to mount, Avith our cries, to the gates of Heaven ; and we sang, as it were, with the voices of the angry waters and the winds, the hundred and ninth Psalm ; and at the end of every verso we joined our hands, crying, " Upon Charles and James Stuart, and all their guilty line, O liord, let it be done ; " and a vast multitude gathered around the prison, and the lamenta- tions of many without was a chorus in unison with the dismal song of our vengeance and despair. At last the shadows of tho twilight 206 RINGAN GILHAIZU. began to darken in the town, and the lights of the wiudows were to us as the courses of the stars of that sky which, from our prison chamber, could not be seen. We watched their progress, from the earliest yel- low glimmering of the lamp in the darksome wynd, till the laat little twinkling light in the dwelling of the widow that sits and sighs corapanion- lesa with her distaif in the summits of the city. And we continued our vigil till they were all one by one extinguished, save only the candles at the bedsides of the dying. Then we twined a portion of our clothes into a rope, and, liaving fastened it to the iron bar, soon drew it from its place in the stone ; but just as we were preparing to take it in, by some acci- dent it ft-ll into tlie street. The panic which this caused pre- vented us from attempting anytliing more at that time; for a sentinel walked his rounds on the outside of tlie tolbooth, and we could not but think he must have heard the noise. A sullen despair in consequence en- tered into many of our hearts, and we continued for the remainder of the night silent. But though others were then shaken in their faith, mine was now confident. I sa'v, by what had happened in the moment of my remonstr.ince, that there was some great deliverance in reservation ; so I sat apart by myself, and I spent the night in inward thanksgiving for what had been al- ready done. Nor was this coniidcnce long without its reward. In the morning a brother of one of my fellow-sufferers coming to condole with him, it being generally reported that wo were all doomed to die, he happened to see the bar lying on the street, and, taking it up, hid it till he had gone into a shop and provided himself with a cord. lie then hastened to us, gave us the cord, and making what speed he could, brought the iron in his plaid ; and, we having lowered the string from the window, he fastened tlie bar to it, and we drew it up undiscovered, and rpsot it in its place, by which the defect could not be seen by any one, not even from the street. That morning, by the providence which was visible in this, became, in our prison, a season indeed of light and gratulation ; and the day passed with us as a Sabbath to our sjnrits. The anvils of Fear were hushed, and the shuttles in the looms of Anxiety were at rest, while Hope again walked abroad in those sunny fields wliere, amidst vernal blossoms and shining dews, fihe expatiates on the delights of the flowing cluster and the ripened fruit. Tlie young man, who had been so guided to find the bar of iron, con- certed with anotlier friend of his to be in readiness at night on a signal from us, to master the sentinel. And at the time appointed they did so; and it happened that tlie soldier was the same humane Englisher, Jack AVindsor, who had allowed me to escape at Kilmarnock, and he not only remained silent, but even when relieved from his po.st, said nothing; so that, to the number of more than twenty, we lowered ourselves into the street and escaped. But the city gates at that hour being shut, there was no egress from tlie town, and many of us knew not where to hide ourselves till the morn- ing. Such was my condition ; and wandering up and down for smiie time, at la.st I turned into the I'l ick- friars Wynd, where I saw a light in a window. On looking around I be- held, by that light, engraven on tho lintel of an opposite door, "In the Loim IS MY iiorE." Heartened by the singular provi- dence that was eo manifest in that RINGAN GILHATZE. 207 cheering text, I went to the door and knocked, and a maiden answered to the knocking. I told lier what I was, and whence I had come, and entreated her to have compassion, and shelter me for the night. " Alas j ■' said she, " what can hae sent you here, for this is a bishop's house?" I was astounded to hear that I had been so led into the lion's den ; but I saw pity in the countenance of the damsel, and I told her that I was the father of tlie poor youth whose head had been carried by the executioner through the town the day before, and that I could not but believe Provi- dence had sent me thither ; for surely no one would ever tliink of searching for me in a bishop's house. (Jreatly moved by what I said, she bade mo softly follow her, and she led me to a solitary and ruinous ciiambcr. She then retired, but pre- sently returned with some refresh- ment, which having placed on an old chest, slie bade God be with me, and went away. With a spirit of inexpressible ad- miration and thanksgiving I partook of that repast, and then laying myself down on the bare floor, was blessed with the enjoyment of a downy sleep. ^ ciiAPTEii xxvni. I SMPT in that ruinous room in the bisliop\s house till far in the morning, when, on going to the window with the intent of dropping myself into the wyiid, I saw that it was ordained and required of me to remain where I then was ; for tlie inmates of tlie houses foronont were all astir at their respec- tive vocations ; and at the foot of the wynd, looking straight up, was a change-house, into which there was, even at that early hour, a great re- sorting of beiii elderly citizens for their dram and snap. Moreover, at the head of the wynd, an aged carlin, with a distaff in her arms and a whorl in her hand, sat on a doorstep tending a stand of apples and comfits ; so that, to a surety, had I made any at- tempt to escape by the window, I must have been seen by some one, and laid hold of. I therefore retired back into the obscurity of the cham- ber, and sat down again on the old kist-Iid, to abide the issues that were in reservation for me. I had not, however, been long there, till I heard the voices of persons entering into the next chamber behind where I was sitting, and I soon discerned by their courtesies of speech, tli.it they were Lords of the Privy Council, who had come to walk with the bishop to the palace, where a council was summoned in sudden haste that morning. Tho matter whereof they discoursed was not at first easily made out, for they were conversing on it when they en- tered ; but I very soon gathered that it boded no good to the covenanted cause nor to the liberties of Scotland. "What you remark, Aberdeen," said one, "is very just; man and wifo are the same person ; and although Queensberry has observed, that the revenue requires the penalties, and that husbands ought to pay for their wives, I look not on the question in that light ; for it is not right, in my opinion, that the revenues of the crown should be in any degree depen- dent on fines and forfeitures. But tlie Presbyterians are a sect whose main principle is rebellion, and it would be haj)py for the kingdom wcro the whole race rooted out ; indeed, I am quite of the Duke of York's opinion, that there will be little peace among us till the Lowlands are made a hunting-field, and therefore am I as earnest as Queensberry that the fines should be enforced." 20S RINGAN GILHATZE. "Certainly, my Lord Perth," re- plied Aberdeen, "ii is not to be denied, that, what with their Cove- nants, and Solemn lioagues, and Gospel pretensions, the Presbyterians are dangerous and bad subjects ; and though I shall not go so far ns to say, with the Duke, that the Lowlands should be laid waste, I doubt if there be a loyal subject west the castle of Edinburgh. Still the odice which I have the honour to hold does not allow me to put any interpretation on the law different from the terras in which the sense is conceived." " Then," said Perth,' • if there is any doubt about the terms, the law must be altered ; for, unless we can effectually crush the Presbyterians, the Duke will assuredly have a rough accession. And it is better to strangle the lion in bis nonage than to encounter him in Lis full growth." " I fear, my lord," replied the Earl of Aberdeen, " that the Presbyterians are stronger already than we are will- ing to let ourselves believe. The attempt to make them accept the Episcopalian establishment has now been made, without intermission, for more than twenty years, and they are even less submissive than they were at the beginning." " Yes, I confess," said Lord Perth, "that they are most unreasonably stubborn. It is truly melancholy to see what fools many sensible men make of themselves about the forms of worship, especially about those of a religion so ungcntlemanly as the Pres- byterian, which has no respect for the degrees of rank, neither out nor in the Church." " I'm afraid, Perth," replied Aber- deen, laughing, " that what you say is applicable both to the King and his brother ; for, between ourselves, I do not think there are two persons in the realm who attach so much importance to forms as tliey do." " Not the King, my Lord, not. the King! " cried Perth ; '* Cliarles in too much a man of the world to trouble himself about any such trifles." "They are sun-ly not trifles, for they overturned his fatiier's tiirone, and are shaking his own," replied Aberdeen emphatically. " Pray, have you beard anything of Argyle lately ? " " O yes," exclaimed Perth merrily; " a capital story. lie has got in with a rich burgomaster's frow at Amster- dam ; and she has guilders enew to indemnify him for the loss of half tho Highlands." " Aye," replied Aberdeen, " I do not like that ; for there has been of late a flocking of the Presbyterian mal- contents to Holland, and the Prince of Orange gives them a better reception than an honest man should do, stand- ing as he does, both with respect to tho crown and the Duke. This, take my word for it, Perth, ia not a thing to be laughed at." " All that, Aberdeen, only shows the necessity of exterminating these cursed Presbyterians. We shall have no peace in Scotland till they are swept clean away. It is not to be en- dured that a King shall not rule his own kingdom as he pleases. How would Argyle, and there was no man prouder in his jurisdictions, have liked had his tenants covenanted against him as the Presbyterians have so insultingly done against his Majesty's Govern- ment? Let every man bring the ques- tion home to his own business and bosom, and the answer will be a short one, Down with the Pnshi/' terkins ! '' AVhile they were thus speaking, and I need not advert to what passed in my breast as I overheard them, Patterson the Bishop of Edinburgh came in ; and with many interjections, mingled with wishes for a calm pro- cedure, he told the Lords of our escape. He was indeed, to do him justice, a, RINGAN GILHAIZE. 209 nmn of some repute for plausibility, ftnd take Mm all in all for a prelate, ho ■was, in truth, not void of tlie charities of luunan nature, compared with otlicrs of his sect. »' Your news," said the Lord Perth to him, " does not surprise me. The societies, astheCameronians arc called, h.vo inserted their roots and feelers every where, llely upon't, Bishop Patterson, that, unless wo chop off the whole connexions of the conspiracy, you can hope neither for homage or reverence in your appointments." " I could wish," replied the Bishop, *' that some experiment were made of a gentler course tlian has hitherto been tried. It is now a long time since forcj was first employed : perhaps, were his Royal Highness to slacken the Bcverities, conformity would lose some of its terrors in the eyes of the mis- guided Presbyterians ; at all events, a more lenient policy could do no harm; and if it did no good, it would at least be free from those imputed cruelties, which are sujjposed to justify the long- continued resistance that has brought the royal authority into such difficul- ties." At this juncture of their conversa- tion a gentleman announced, that his master Avas ready to proceed with them to the palace, and they forth- witli retired. Thus did I obtain a glin pse of the inner mind of the Privy Council, by which I clearly saw, that what with those members who sa- tisfied their consciences as lo iniquity, because it was made seemingly lawful by human statutes, and what with those who, like Lord Perth, considered the kingdom the King's estate, and the people his tenantry, not the sub- jects of laws by which he was bound as much as they ; together with those others who, like the Bishop, con- sidered mercy and justice as expedients of state policy, that there was no hope for the peace and religious liberties of the Presbyterians, merely by resist- ance; and I, from that time, began to think it was only through the in- strumentality of the Prince of Orange, then heir-presumptive to the crown, failing James Stuart, Duke of York, that my vow could bo cffeclualiy brought to pass. As soon as those of the Privy Council had, with their attendants, left the house, and proceeded to join the Duke of York in the palace, tlio charitable damsel came to me, and conveyed me, undiscovered, through the hall and into the Cowgate, where she had provided a man, a friend of her own, one Charles Brownlee, who had been himself in the hands of tlie Philistines, to conduct me out of the town ; and by him I was guided in safety through the Cowgate, and put into a house just witliout the same, where his mother resided. "Here," said he, "it will be as well for you to bide out the daylight, and being now forth the town-wall, ye'U can gang where ye like unques- tioned in the gloaming." And so saying he went away, leaving me with his mother, an ancient matron, with something of the remnant of ladyness about her, yet was she not altogether an entire gentlewoman, though at the first glimpse she had the look of one of the very highest degree. Notwithstanding, however, that apparition of finery which was about her, she was in truth and in heart a sincere woman, and had, in the better days of her younger years, been, as she rehearsed to me, gentlewoman to the Countess of Argylc's mother, and was on a footing of cordiality with divers ladies of the bedchamber of what she called the three nobilities, meaning those of Scotland, England, and Ireland; so that I saw there might by her be opened a mean of espial into the camp of the adversaries. So I told her of my long severe 210 RINOAN GILHAIZE. mnlady, and tho shock I hnd aufPored by what I hud seen of my martyre<l 8on, and entrcatt'd that slio woiiUl ftUow me to abide with her until my spirits were more eomposed. Mrs Hrownlee havinf,' tho com- passion of a Cliristian, and tiic tender- ness of her gentle sex, was moved by my story, and very readily consented. Instead therefore of going forth at random iu the evening, as I was at one time mindet, I remained in her house ; where indeed could I at that titno flee in the hope of finding any place of refuge? But although this was adopted on the considerations of human reason, it was nevertheless a link in the chain of providential methods by which I was to achieve the fultiliiient of my vow. The house of Mrs JJrownlee being, ns I have intimated, nigh to the gate of the city, I saw from the window all that went into and came out there- from ; and the same afternoon I had visible evidence of tho temper where- with the Duke of York and his counsellors had been actuated that day at Holyrood, in consequence of the manner in which Ave had been de- livered from prison ; — for Jack Wind- sor, the poor sentinel who was on guard when we escaped by the win- dow, was brought out, supported by two of hi=) companions, his feet hav- ing been so cruslied in the torturous boots before the Council, during his examination anent us, that ho could scarcely mark them to tho ground ; liis hands were .ilso bound in cloths, through Avhich tiie blod was still oozing, from the pressure of those dreadful thumbikins of iron, that were so often used in those days to screw accusations out of honest men, A sympathising crowd followed the de- stroyed sufTerci, and tho sight for a little while afflicted me with sore re- gret. But when I considered the compassion that the people showed for him, I was filled with a strange satisfaction, deducing therefrom en- couraging persuasions, that every new sin of the persecutors removed a prop from their own power, making its overthrow more and more inevital)le. While 1 was peering from tlio window in these reflections, I saw Quintin FuUarton, the grandson of John Fullarton of Dykedivots, in tiie street, and knowing that from tlie time of Bothwell-brigg ho had been joined with that zealous and martyred youti), Kinhard Cameron, and was, as Kobin Brown told me, among otiier acquaintances at Airsmoss, I entreated Mrs Brownleo to go after liim and bid him come, to me, —which he readily did, nnd we had a mournful comnmu- ing for some time. He told me the particulars of my gallant Joseph's death, and that it wjis by tho command of Claverhouse himself that the brave stripling's head was cut off, and sent in ignominy to Edinburgh ; where, by order of the Privy Council, it was placed on tho Netherhow. " What I hao suffered from that man,'' said I, " Heaven may pardon, but I can neither forget nor forgive." "Vho judgment time's coming,'' replied Quintin Fullarton; "and your part in it, Ringan Gilhaize, as- suredly will not be forgotten, for in the heavens there is a Doer of justice and an Avenger of wrongs.' And then he proceeded to tell me, that on the following afternoon there was to be a meeting of tho heads of the Cameronian societies, with ilr Kenwick, in a dell of the Esk, about half a mile above Lasswade, to consult what ought to be done, the pursuit and persecution being so hot against them, that life was become a burden, and their minds desperate. '* We hae many friens," said he, ♦'in Edinburgh, and I am entrusted to warn them to tho meeting, which RINOAN GILHAIZE. 211 is tho end of my coming to tlio town ; and m.'iybo, Kinp^nn (iilliaizo, ye'U no cbjck yoursol to bu tliere ? " " I will be there, Qiiintin FuUar- ton," said I ; " and in tlie Htnnytii of the Lord I will como armed, witii a weapon of more mi;,'iit than the sword and more terrible than tho ball that flyeth unseen." " What mean you, Rinpan? " said he, compassionately ; for he knew of my infirmity, and thought that I was still fevered in tho mind. But I told him, that for some time, feeling my> self unable for warlike enterprises, I had meditated on a way to perplex our guilty adversaries, the which was to menace them with retaliation, for resistance alone was no longer enough. " We have disowned Charles Stuart na our king," said I, " and we must wage war accordingly. IJut go your ways and execute your purposes, and by the time you return this way I sliall have a i)aper ready, the sending forth of which will strike terror into the brazen hearts of our foes." 1 perceived that he was still dubious of mo ; but, nevertheless, he promised to call as he came back, and, having gone away, I set myself down and drew up that declaration, wherein, after a^ain cahnly disowning the royal authority of Charles Stuart, we ad- monished our sanguinary persecutors, that, for self-preservation, we would retaliate according to our power, and tho degree of guilt on such privy counsellors, lords of justiciary, ofli- cers and soldiers, their abettors and inforniera, whose hands should con- tinue to be imbrued in our blood. And on tho return of Quintin Fullar- ton, I gave tho paper to him, that it might be seen and considered by Mr llenwick and others, previous to offering it to the consideration of the meeting. Uo read it over very sedhtely, and folded it up and put it in the crown of his bonnet without saying a word ; but several times, while he was read- ing, he cast his eyes towards me, and when ho rose to go away lie said, '• liingan Gilhaize, you have endured much ; but verily, if this thing can bo brought to pass, your own and all our sufferings will soon be richly revenged." " Not revenged," said I; "revenge, Quintin FuUarton, becomes not Chris- tian men. liut wo shall be the exe- cutioners of the just judgments of Ilim whose ministers are flaming fires, and pestilence, and war, and storms, and perjured kings." With these words wo parted, and next morning, by break of day, I rose, after the enjoyment of a solacing sleep, such as I had not known for many days, and searched my way across tho fields towards Lasswado. I did not, however, enter the clachan, but lingered among tho woods till tho afternoon, when, descending towards the river, I walked leisurely up tho banks, where I soon fell in with others of the associated friends. The place where we met was a deep glen, the scroggy sides whereof were as if rocks, and trees and bram- bles, with here and there a yellow primrose and a blue hyacinth between had been thrown by some wild jirclii- tect into many a difficult and fanta.sti- cal form. Over a ledgo of rock fell tho bright waters of the Esk, and in the clear linn the trouts shuttled from stone and crevice, dreading the perse- cutions of the angler, who, in the luxury of his pastime, l.eedeth not what they may in their cool clement sufftr. It was then tho skirt of tho after- noon, about the time when the sweet breathing of flowers and boughs lirst begins to freshen to the gentle senses, and the shadows deepen in tho cliffs of the rocks and darken among tho 212 RINGAN GILTIAIZE. bushes. Tiio yellow sunbeams were still bright on the llickering leaves of a few trees, which here and there raised their tufty heads above the glen ; but in the hollow of the chasm tiie evening had commenced, and the sobriety of the fragrant twilight was coming on. As we assembled one by one, wc said little to each other. vSomo indeed said nothing, nor even shook hands, but went and seated themselves on the rocks, round which the limpid waters were swirling with a soft and pleasant din, as if they solicited tranquillity. For myself, I had come with the sternest intents, and I neither noticed nor .spoke to any one ; but going to the brink of the linn, I sat myaelf down in a gloomy nook, and was sullen, that the scene was not better troubled into nuison with the resent- ful mood of my spirit. At last Mr llenwick came, and when he had descended into the dell, where we were gathered together, after speaking a few words of courtesy to certain of his acquaintance, he went to a place on the shelvy side of the glen, and took his station between two birch trees. " I will be .short with you, friends,'' said lie; ''for here we are too nigh unto the adver.s;i.ries to hazard our- selves in any long debate ; and there- fore I will tell you, as a man sjieaking the honesty that is within liini, 1 neither can nor do approve of the paper tliat I understand some among you de.sire we should send forth. I have, however, according to what was txhibited to me in private, brought here a jiroclamatiou, such as those who are most vehement among us wish to projwund ; but I still leave it with yourselves to determine Avhetiier or not it should be adopted — entering, as 1 here do, my caveat as an indi- vidual against it. This paper will cut oil all hope of reconciliatiou — wc bavo already disowned King Charles, it is true ; but this implies, that we are also resolved to avenge, even unto blood and death, whatsoever injury we may in our own persons and friends bo subjected to suffer. It pledges us to a war of revenge and extermination ; and we have to consider, before wo wage the same, the strength of our adversary — the craft of his counsellors — and the malice with which their fears and their hatred will inspire them. For my own part, fellow-sufferers, I do doubt if there bo any warrandice in the Scriptures for such a defiance as this paper contains, and I would fain entreat you to reflect, whether it be not better to keep the door of reconciliation open, than to shut it for ev er, as the promulgation of this re- taliatory edict will assuredly do." The earnest maimer in which Mr Renwick thus delivered himself had a powerful effect, and many thought as he did, and several rose and said that it was not Christian to bar the door on peace, and to shut out even the chance of contrition on the part of tlie King and his ministers. I heard what they said — I listened to what they argued— and I allowed them to tell that they were willing to agree to more moderate counsels ; but I could abide no more. "Moderation! — You, Mr Ren- wick," said I, "counsel moderation — you rcconnnend the door of peace to be still kept open — you doubt if the Scriptures warrant us to imdertako revenge ; and you hope that our for- bearance may work to repentanco among our enemies. Mr Renwick, you have hitherto been a preacher, not a sufferer ; with you the resistiince to Charles Stuart's goveiinnent has been a thing of doctrine — of no more than doctrine, Mr Renwick— with us it is a consideration of facts. Judge yo therefore between yourself and us, — I suy between yourself and us ; for I rJNGAN GILHAIZE. 213 ask no other judge to decide, whether we are not, by all tlio laws of God and man, justified in avowing, that we moan to do as wo are done by. ''And. I\Ir Renwiclc, you will call to mind, that in this sore controversy, the cause of debate came not from us. AVo wore peaceable Christians, enjoy- ing the shade of tlie vine and fig-tree of the Gospel, planted by the care and cherished by the blood of our fore- fathers, protected by the laws, and gladdened in our protection by the oaths and the covenants which the King had sworn to maintain. The Presbyterian freedom of worship wa.s our property, — we were in possession and enjoyment, no man could call our right to it in question, — tlie King had vowed, as a condition before he was allowed to receive the crown, that he would preserve it. Yet, for more than twenty years, there has been a most cruel, fraudulent, and out- rageous endeavour instituted, and carried on, to dei)rive us of that free- dom and birthright. We were asking no new thing from Government, we were taking no step to disturb Government, we were in peace with all men, when (Jovernment, with the principles of a robber and the cruelty of a tyrant, demanded of us to sur- render those immunities of conscience which our fathers had earned and defended ; to deny the Gospel as it is written in the Evangelists, and to accept the commentary of Charles Stuart, a man who has had no respect to the most solemn oaths, and of James ISharp, the apostate of St Andrews, whose crimes provoked a deed, that but for tlieir crimson hue, no man could have doubted to call a most foul nuirdcr. Tlie King and his crew, Mr llenwick, are, to the in- dubitable judgment of all just men, the causers and tlie aggressors in the existing dillercnco between bis sub- jects and him. In so far, therefore, if blame there be, it lieth not with us nor in our cause. " But, sir, not content with at- tempting to wrest from us our in- herited freedom of religious worship, Charles Stuart and his abeUors have pursued the courageous constancy with which we have defended the same, with more animosity than they ever did any crime. I speak not to you, Mv Renwick, of your own out- cast condition, — perhaps you delight in the perils of martyrdom ; I speak not to those around us, who, in their persons, their substance, and their families, have endured the torture, poverty, and irremediable dislionour, — they may be meek and hallowed men, willing to endure. But I call to mind what I am and was myself. I think of my quiet home, — it is all ashes. I remember my brave first- born, — he was f^lain at Bothwell-brigg. Why need I speak of my honest brother; tlie waves of the ocean, commissioned by our persecutors, have triumphed over him in the cold seas of the Orkneys ; and as for my wife, what was she to you ? Ye can- not be greatly disturbed that she is in her grave. No, ye are quiet, cahn, and prudent persons ; it would be a most iudiscret thing of you, you who have suffered no wrong your.'^elves, to stir on her account ; antl then how unreasonable I sliould be, were I to speak of two fair and innocent maidens. — It is weak of me to weep, tiiough they were my daughters. O men and Christians, brothers, fuihers ! but ye are content to bear with such wrongs, and I alone of all here may go to the gates of the cities, and try to discover which of the martyred heads mouldering there belongs to a son or a friend. Nor is it of any ac- count whether the bones of tiioso who were so dear to us. be exposed with the remains of malefactors, or laid in tho sacred grave. To the dead all (tw RINGAN GILHAIZE. places are alike ; and to the slave ■what signifies who is master. Let us therefore forget the past, — letns keep open tlio door of reconciliation, — Bniother all the wrongs we have en- dured, and kiss the proud foot of the traniplor. \A'e have our lives ; we have been spared ; the merciless bloodhounds have not yet reached us. Let us tlicrefore bo Immble and thank- ful, and cry to Charles Stuart, O King, live for ever ! — for he has but cast us into a fiory furnace and a lion's den. "In truth, friends, MrRenwick is quite right. This feeling of indigna- tion against our oppressors is a most impruiicnt thin/?:. If we desire to en- joy our own contempt, and to deserve the derision of men, and to merit the abhorrence of Heaven, let us yield ourselves to all that Charles Stuart and his sect require. We can do nothing better, nothing so meritorious, nothing by •\vliich we can so rea.sou- ably hopci for punishment here and condemnation hereaftir. But if there is one man at this meeting, — I am not speaking of shapes and forms, but of feelings, — if there is one here that feels as men were wont to feel, ho will draw his sword, and say with me, Woo to the hou.-io of Stuart ! Woe to the oppressors ! Blood for blood ! Judge and avenge our cause, O Lord ! " CHAPTER XXIX. The meeting, with one accord, agreed that the declaration sl;;>u]d go forth ; ami certain of those who were ready writers, being provided with imple- niciits, retired apart to make copies, wliilo Mr Benwirk. witli the re- mainder, joined togctlier in prayer. By the time i)e had made an end, the task of the writers was finished, and then lots were cast to see whom the Lord woidd appoint to affix the declaration on the trones and kirk doors of the towns where the rage of the persecutors burnt the fiercest, and Ho being pleased to choose me for ono to do the duty at Edinburgh, I re- turned in the gloaming back to the house of Mrs Ikownlee, to abide tlio convenient season which I knew in tlie fit time would be prepared. Nor waa ifc long till the same came to pass, as I shall now briefly set down. Heron Brownlec, who, as I have narrated, brought me to his mother's house, was by trade a tailor, and kept his cloth shop in the Canongate, some six doors lower down than St Mary's Wynd, just after passing the flesher's stocks below the Netherbow ; for in those days, when tiie Court was at Holyrood, that part of the town was a place of great resort to the gallants, and all such as affected a courtly car- riage. And it happened that, on the morning after the meeting, a procla- mation was sent forth, describing the persons and clothing of the iirisoners who had escaped from the tol booth with me, threateninggrievous penalties to all who dared to harbour them. This Heron Browidee seeing aftixed on the cheek of the Netherbow, came and told me ; wliereupon, after con- ferring with him, it was agreed that he should provide for me a suit of town-like clothes, and at the second- hand, that they might not cause ob- servance by any novelty. This was in anotlier respect needful ; for my health being in a frail state, I stood in want of the halesome cordial of fresli air, whereof I couM not venture to taste but in the du.sk of the evening. Ho accordingly provided the ap- ]iarel, and when clothed therewith, I made bold to go out in the broad day- light, and even v(ntured to mingle with the multitude in the garden of the palace, who went daily there in the afternoon to sec the nobles and ladies of the court walking with their RINGAN GtLHAIZE. i^ pageantries, while the Duke's musi- cants solaced them with melodious airs and the delights of sonorous harmony. And it happened on the tliird time I went thither, that a cry rose of the Duke coming from the garden to the palace, and all the onlookers pressed to see him. As he advanced, T F^aAV several f)ersuns presenting petitions into his lands, which ho gave, without then looking at, to the Lord Perth, whom I knew again by his voice ; and I was directed, as by a thought of inspira- tion, to present, in like manner, a copy of our declaration, which I always carried about with me ; so placing myself among a crowd of petitioners, onlookers, and servants, that formed a^ avenue across tne road leading from the Canongate to the Abbey kirk-yard, and between the garden yett and the yett that opened into the front court of the palace. As the Duke returned out of the garden, I gave him the paper ; but instead of handing it to the Lord I'erth, as I had hoped he would do, he held it in his own hand, by which I perceived that if he had noticed by whom it was presented, and looked at it before he went into the palace, I would speedily be seized on the spot, unless I could accomplish my escape. 15ut how to effect that was no easy thing ; for the multitude around was very great, and but three narrow yetts allowed of egress from the enclosure — one hading into the garden — one to tiie palacu — and the other into the Canongnte. I tiierefore calmly put my trust in Him wlio alone cduld .save nil', and remained, as it were, an in- diifiTent sjuetator, following the Duke with ;in anxious eye. Having jiassed from tlie garden into tiie court, the multitude followed him with great eagerness, and I also went in with them, and walked very cleliberately across the front of the palace to the south-east corner, where there was a postern door that opened into the road leading to the King's park from the Cowgate port, along the outside or the town wall. I then mended my pace, but not to any re- markable degree, and so returned to the house of Mrs lirownlee. .Scarcely was I wi?ll in, when Heron, her son, came flying to her with a report that a man Avas seized in the palace garden who had threatened tiie Duke's life, and he was fearful lest it had been me ; and I was much grieved by these tidings, in case any honest man should be put to the torture on my account ; but the Lord had merci- fully ordained it otherwise. In the course of the night. Heron BroAvnlee, after closing his shop, came again and told me that no one had been taken, but tliat some person in the multitude had given the Duke a dreadful paper, which had caused great consternation aiid pojiic, and that a council Avas sitting at that late hour with the Duke, expresses having ai rived with accounts of the same paper having been seen on the doors of many churches both in Jsithsdalo and the shire of Ayr. The alarm, indeed, raged to such a degree among all those who knew in their consciences how they had merited the doom we had pronotmced, that it v/as said the very looks of many were withered as with a pestilent vapour. Yet, though terrified at the ven- geance declared against tluir guilt, neither the Duke nor the Privy Coun- cil were to be deterred from their malignant work. Tiie curse of in- fatuation was upcn tlicni. and instead of changing the rule which had caused the desperation that they dreaded, tliey heated llie furnace of ]ier.secutiou seven-fold, and voted, That whoso- ever owned or refused to dieown tho declaration sliould be put to death in the presence of two witnesaes, though 216 RINGAN GILHAIZE. unarmed when taken ; and the sol- diers were not only ordered to enforce the test, but were instructed to put such as adhered to the dechiration at once to the sword, and to slay those who refused to disown it ; and women Wire ordered to be drowned. But my pen sickens with the recital of horrors, and I sliall pass by the dreadful things that ensued, with only remarking that these bloody instructions consum- mated the doom of the Stuarts ; for scarcely were they well published when the Duke hastened to London, and soon after his man-sworn brother Charles, the great author of all our woes, was cut off by poison, as it was most currently believed, and the Duke proclaimed King in his stead. What change we obtained by the calamity of his accession will not require many sentences to unfold. As soon as it was known abroifa that Charles the Second was dead, tlie Covonanters, who had taken refuge in Holland from the Persecution, as- sembled to consult what ought then to be done ; for the papist, James Stuart, on tlie death of his brother, hail caused himself to be proclaimed King of Scotland, without taking those oatlis by whiclx alone he could bo en- titled to assume the Scottish crown. At the head of this congregation was the Earl of Argyle, who, some years before, had incurred the aversion of the tyrant to such a degree that, by certain of those fit tools for any crime, tiien in dismal abundance about the court of llolyrood, he had procured Ills condemnation as a traitor, and would have brought him to the scaf- fold, had the Earl not fortunately efTocted his escape. And it was re- solved by that congregation, that the principal personages tiien present fihould form themselves into a Council, to concert the requisite measures for the deliverance of their native land ; the immediate issue of which was, tiiat a descent should be made by Argyle among his vassals, in order to draw together a sudicient host to en- able tliem to wage war against the Usurper, for so they lawfully and rightly denominated James Stuart. The first hint that I gleaned of tliis design was tlirough the means of Mrs Brownlce. She was invited one after- noon by the gentlewoman of the Lady Sophia Lindsay, the Earl's daughter- in-law, to view certain articles of fe- male brawery whicli had been sent from Holland by his Lordship to her mistress ; and, as her custom was. she on her return home, descanted at large of all that she had seen and heard. Tlic receipt, at that juncture, of such gear from tlie Earl of Argyle, by such a Judith of courage and wisdom as the Lady Sophia Lindsay, seemed to me very remarkable, and I could not but jealouse that there was something about it like the occultatioa of a graver correspondence. 1 there- fore began to question Mrs Brownlee how tlie paraphernalia had come, and what the Earl, according to the last accounts, was doing ; which led her to expatiate on many tilings, though vague and desultory, that were yet in concordance with wliat I had over- heard the Lord Perth say to the Earl of Aberdeen in the Bishop's house. In the end, I gathered that the pre- sents were brought over by the skip- per of a sloop, one Roderick Macfar- lane, whom I forthwith determined to see, in order to pick from him what intelligence I could, without being at the time well aware in what manner the same would prove useful. I felt myself, however, stirred from within to do so ; and I had hitherto, in all that concerneil my avenging vow, obeyed every instinctive impulse. Accordingly, next morning, I went early to the shore of Leith, and soon found the vessel and Roderick Mac- RINGAN GILHATZE. 217 farlane, to whom I addressed myself, inquiring, as if I intended to go thither, when ho was likely to depart Pgain for Amsterdam. While I was speaking to him, I observed something in his mien above his condition ; and that his hands were fair and delicate, unlike those of men inured to maritime labour. He perceived that I was particular in my inspection, and his countenance be- came troubled, and he looked as if he wist not what to do. "Fcnr no ill," said I to him ; "I am one in the jaws of jeopardy ; in sootli, I have no intent to pass into Holland, but only to learn whether there be any hope that the Earl of Argyle and those with him will try to help their covenanted brethren at home." On hearing me speak so openly the countenance of the man brightened, and after eyeing me with a sharp scru- tiny, he invited me to come down into the body of the bark, where we had some frank communion, his con- fidence being won by the plain tale of who I was and what I had en- dured. The Lord indeed was pleased, throughout that period of fears and tribulation, marvellously to endow the persecuted with a singular and sympathetic instinct, whereby they were enabled at once to discern their friends ; for the dangers and difliculties, to which we were subject in our intercourse, afforded no time for those testimonies and experiences that in ordinary occasions are required to open the hearts of men to one another. After some general discouise, Roderick Macfarlane told me, that his vessel, though seemingly only for tralFio, had been hired by a certain Madam Smitli, in Amsterdam, and was manned by Highlanders of a de- gree above the common, for the pur- pose of opening a correspondence be- tween Argyle and his friends in Scot- land. Whereupon I proff(^red myself to assist in establishing a communication with the heads and leaders of tho Covenanters in the West Country, and particularly with Mr Renwick and his associates, the Cameronians, who, though grievously scattered and hun- ted, were yet able to do great things in the way of conveying letters, or of intercepting emissaries and agents of the Privy Council that miglit be employed to contravene the Earl's pro ects. Thus it was that I came to be con- cerned in Argyle's unfortunate expe- dition — if that can be called unfortu- nate, which, though in itself a failure, yet ministered to make the scattered children of the Covenant again co- operate for the achievement of their common freedom. Doubtless the ex- pedition was undertaken before the persecuted were sufficiently ripened to be of any effective service. The Earl counted overmuch on the spirit which the Persecution had raised ; he thought that the weight of the tyr- anny had compressed us all into one body. But, alas ! it had been so great, that it had not only bruised, but broken us asunder into many pieces ; and time, and care, and much per- suasion, were all requisite to solder the fragments together. As the spring advanced, being, in the manner related, engaged in fur- thering the purposes of the exiled Covenanters, I prepared, through the instrumentality of divers friends, many in the West Country to be in readiness to join the Earl's standard of deliverance. It is not however to be disguised, thai the work went on but slowly, and that the people he.-^rd of the intended descent with some- thing like an actionloss wonderment, in consequence of tliose by whom it bad been planned not sending forth any declaration of their views and 218 r.mGAN G1LHAI2E. ^i intents. And this indisposition, es- Eecially among the Canicronians, ccanie a settled reluctance, when, after the Earl liad readied Campbel- ton, ho pnbli-hed tliat purposeless proclamation, wherein, tliough the wrongs and woes of tlie kingdom were pithily recited, the nature of the redress proposed was in no manner manifest. It was plain indeed, by many signs, that the Lord's time was not yet come for the work to tiirive. The divisions in Argyle's councils were greater even than those among the different orders into which the Covenanters had been long split — the very Cameronians might have been sooner persuaded to refrain from in- sisting on points of doctrine and opinion, at least till the adversary was overthrown, than tiiose who were with the ill-fated Earl to act with union among themselves. In a word, all about the expedition was confusion and perplexity, and the omens and auguries of ruin, showed how much it Avanted the favour that is better than the strength of numbers, or the wisdom of mighty men. But to pro- ceed — Sir John Cochrane, one of those who were with Argyle, had, by some espial of his own, a correspondence with divers of the Covenanters in the shire of Ayr ; and he was so heartened by their representations of the spirit among them, that he urged, and ovo' .e the Earl, to let him make a iri u on the coast before waiting till the Highlanders were roused. Ac- cordingly, with the three ships and the men they liad brought from Hol- land, he went toward Largs, famed in old time for a great battle fought there ; but, on arriving oj)posito to tlie shore, he found it guarded by tlie pov.'crs and forces of the Government, in so much, that he was fain to direct his course further up the river ; and weighing anchor sailed for Greeno<i. It happened at this juncture, after conferring with several of weight among the Cameronians, that 1 went to (ireenock for the jmrpnse of taking shipping for any ])hiee whore 1 was likely to find Argyle, in order to re- present to iiim, tiiat. unless there was a clear account of what lie and otliers with iiim proposed to do, he ccndd expect no co-operation from tiie societies ; and I reached the town just as the three ships were coming in sight. I had not well alighted from my horse at Dugal M'Vicar the smitii's public, — the best house it is in the town, and slated. It stands beside an oak tree on the open shore, below the iSlansion-house-brae, above the place where the mariners boil their tar-pots. As I was saying, I had not well alighted there, when a squadron of certain time-serving and prelatic-in- clincd heritors of tiie shire of Renfrew, under the command of Houston of that ilk, came galloping to tlie town as if they would liave devoured Argyle, host, and siiips and all ; and they rode straight to the minister's glebe, where, behind the kirk- yard dyke, they set themselves in battle array with drawn swords, the vessels having in the meanwhile come to anchor foreneut the kirk. Like the men of the town I went to be an onlooker, at a distance, of what might ensue ; and a sore heart it was to me, to see and to hear that the Greenock folk stood so much in dread of their superior. Sir John Siiaw, that they durst not, for fear of his black-liolc, venture to say that day wlietlior they were I'aiiists, Prelates, or Presbyterians, he himself not being in the way to direct them. Shoitly after the ships had cast anchor. Major Fullarton, with a [ arty of some ten or twelve men, landed at the burn-foot, near the kirk, and having shown a signal for parley, RINGAK GlLHAIZE. 210 , after tvoight WL'llt tiiking 1 was I the town Houston and bis men went to him, and began to chafe and chide him for invacHng tlie country. " We are no invaders," said tlio IVIajur, " we have come to our native himl to preserve tlie Proteptant re- ligion ; and I am grieved tliat such brave gentlemen, as ye appear to be, should be seen in the cause of a papist tyrant and usurper." " Ye lee," cried Houston, and fired his pistol at the Major, the like did h's men; but they were so well aid quickly answered in the same lan- guage, that they soon were obligated to floe like drift to the brow of a hill, called Kilblain-brae, where they again showed face. Those on board the ships seeing what was thus doing on the land, pointed their great guns to the airt wiiere the cavaliers had rallied, and fired them with such effect, tliat the stoure and stones brattled about the lugs of the heritors, which so terrified them all that they scampered off ; and, it is said, some drew not bridle till they were in Pai.sley witli whole skins, though at some cost of leather. When these tyrant tools were thus discomfited. Sir John Cochrane came on shore, and tried in vain to prevail on the inhabitants to join in defence of religion and liberty. So he sent for the baron-bailie, who was the ruling power of the town iu the absence of their great Sir John, and ordered him to provide forthwith two hundred bolls of meal for the ships. But the bailie, a shrewd and gausie man made so many difficulties iu thj gatlieriiig of the meal, to waste time till help would come, that the kniglit ■was glad to content himself with little more than a fifth part of his demand. Meanwhile 1 had made my errand known to Sir John Cochrane, and when he went off with the meal-sacks to the ships I went with him, and we sailed the same uight to tho castle of Allengreg, where Argyle himself then was. Whatever doubts and f(>ars I had of the success of tlie expedition, were all woefully confirmed, when I saw how things were about that unfor- tunate nobleman. 'Jhe controversies in our councils at the Pentlaud raid were more than renewed ainong those who were around Argyle ; and it was plain to me that the sense of ruin was upon his spirit ; for, after I had told him the purport of my mission, he said to me in a mournful manner — " I can discern no party in this country that desire to be relieved ; there are some hidden ones no doubt, but only my poor friends here in Argyle seem willing to be free. God hath so ordered it, and it must be for the best. I submit myself to his will." I felt the truth of what he said, that the tyranny had indeed bred dis- trust among us, and that the patience of men was so worn out that very many were inclined to submit from mere weariness of spirit ; — but I added, to hearten him, if one of my condition may say so proud a thing of so great a person. That were the distinct ends of his intents made more clearly mani- fest, maybe the dispersed hearts of tho Covenanters would j'ct be knit to- gether. " Some think, my Lord, ye'ro for the Duke of Monmouth to bo king, but that will ne'er do, — tho rightful heirs canna be set aside. James Stuart may be, and should be, put down; but, according to the customs registered, as I hae read in the ancient chronicles of this realm, when our nation in olden times cut off a king for his misdeeds, the next lawful heir was aye raised to the throne." To this tho Earl made no answer, but continued some time thoughtful, and then said — " It rests not all with me, — those who are with me, as you may well 220 EINGAN GILHAIZE. note, take over much upon them, and will not be controlled. They are like the waves, raised and driven where- soever any blast of rumour wiseth theui to SO- I g''^vo a letter of trust to one of their emissaries, and, like the raven, he lias never returned. If, however, 1 could get to Inveraray, I doubt not yet that something might be done ; for I should then be in the midst of some that would reverence Argyle." But why need I dwell on these melancholious incidents? Next day the Earl resolved to make the attempt to reach Inveraray, and I went with him ; but after the castle of Arkinglass, in the way thither, had been taken, he was obligated, by the appearance of two English frigates which had been sent in pursuit of the expedition, to re- turn to AUengreg, for the main stores and ammunition broughtfrom Holland were lodged in that castle ; tlio ships also were lying there — all whicli, in a manner, were at stake, and no ;.jarri- Bon adequate to defend the same from so great a power. On returning to AUengreg, Argyle saw it would be a golden acliievement if, in that juncture, he could master the frigates ; so he ordered bis force, which amounted to about a thousand men, to man the ships and four prizes which he had, together with about thirty cowan boats belonging to his vassals, and to attack the frigates. But in this also he was disappointed, for those who were with him, and wedded to the purpose of going to the liowlands, mutinied against the scheme as too hazardous, and obliged him to give up the attempt, and to leave the castle with a weak and in- capable garrison. Accordingly, reluctant, but yield- ing to these blind counsels, after quitting AUengreg, we marched for tlie Lowlands, and at the head of the Gureloch, where we halted, tho garri' son which had been left at AUengreg joined us with the disastrous intelli- gence tliat, finding themselves unable to withstand the frigates, they had abandoned all. 1 was near to Argyle when the news of this was brought to him, and I observed that he said nothing ; but his check faded, and he hastily wrung his hands. Having crossed the river Levcn a short way above Dumbarton, without suffering any material molestation, we halted for the night; but as we were setting our watches a party of the Government force appeared, so that, instead of getting any rest after our heavy march, we were obligated to think of again moving. The Earl would fain have fought with that force, his numbers being superior, but he was again overruled, so that all we could do was, during the night, leaving our camp-fires burning for a delusion, to make what haste we could toward (Glasgow. In this the uncountenanced for- tunes of the expedition were again seen. Our guides in the dark misled us ; so that, instead of being taken to Glasgow, we were, after grievous tra- versing in the moors, landed on the banks of the Clyde near Kilpatrick, where the whole force broke up, Sir John Cochrane, being fey for the West Country, persuading 'nany to go with him over the water, in order to make for the shire of Ayr. The Earl, seeing himself thus de- serted, and but few besides those of his own kin left with him, rode about a mile on towards Glasgow, with the intent of taking some rest in the house of one who had been his servant ; but on reaching the door it was shut in his face and barred, and admission peremptorily refused. lie said no- thing, but turned round to us with a smile of such resigned sadness that it brought tears into every eye. RINGAN GILHAIZE. 221 Seeing that his fate was coino to such extremity, I proposed to ex- change ch)tho3 with him, that he migiit the better escape, and to con- duct him to the West Country, where, if any chance were yet left, it was to be found there, as Sir John Cochrane had represented. Whereupon he sent his kinsmen to make the best of their way back to the Highlands, to try what could be done among his clan, and, having accepted a portion of my apparel, he went to the ferry-boat with Major FuUarton, and we crossed the water together. On landing on the Renfrew side the Earl went forward alone, a little before the Major and me ; but on reaching the ford at luchinnan he was stopped by two soldiers, who laid hands upon him, one on each side, and in the grappling with one of them, the Earl fell to the ground. In a mo- ment, however, his Lordship started up, and got rid of them by presenting his pistols. But five others at the same instant came in siglit, and fired and ran in at liim, and knocked him down with their swords. "^Alas! unfortunate Argyle," I heard him cry as he fell ; and the soldiers were so astonished at having so rudely treated so great a man, tliat tliey stood still witli awe and dropped their swords, and some of them shed tears of sorrow for his fate. Seeing what had thus happened, Major Fullarton and I fled and hid ourselves behind a hedge, for we saw another party of troopers coming to- wards the spot, — we heard afterwards that it was Sir Jolin Shaw of Green- ock, with some of the Renfrewshire heritors, by whom the Earl was con- ducted a prisoner to (Jlasgow. But of the dismal indignities, and the degradations to which he was sub- jected, and of his doleful martyrdom, the courteous reader may well spare me the sad recital, as they are recorded in all true British histories, and ho will accept for the same those sweet but mournful lines which Argyle in- dited in the dungeon : — Thou, passenger, that sbalt have so much timo To view my grave, and ask what was my crime; No stain of error, no black vice's brand, Was that which chased me from my native laud. Love to my country — twice sentenced to die — Constrain'd my hands forgotten arms to try. More by friouds' fraud my fall proceeded hath Than foes, though now they thrice decreed my deatli. On my attempt though Providence did frown, IJis oppress'd people God at length shall own; Another hand, by more successful speed. Shall raise the remnant, bruise the ser- pent's head. Though my head fall, that is no tragic story. Since, going honce, I enter endless glory. CHAPTER XXX. The news of the fall of Ar^'-ylo was as gladdening wine to the cruel spirit of James Stuart. It Avas treated by him as victory was of old among the con- quering Romans, and he ordained medals of brass and of silver to be made, to commemorate, as a glorious triumph, the deed that was a crime. But ho was not content with such harmless monuments of insensate exultation ; he considered the blow as final to tlie Presbyterian cause, and openly set himself to effect the re- establishment of the idolatrous abomi- nations of the mass and monkrie. Tiie Lord Perth and his brother, the Lord Melford, and a black cata- logue of others, whose names, for the fame of Scotland, I would fain expunge with the waters of oblivion, consider* iug Religion as a thing of roy^ regu- 822 RINGAN GILHAIZE lation, professed themaelvea papisls, and got, as the price of their apostaey and perdition, certain places of jirofit in the (lovernnient. Clouds of the papistical locust were then allured into the land, to eat it up leaf and blade again. Schools to teach chil- dren the deceits, and the frauds, and the sins of the Jesuits, were established even in the palace of Ilolyrood-house ; and the chapel, which had been cleansed in the lime of Queen Mary, was a<,'ain defiled with the pageantries of idolatry. But the godlypcoplo of Edinburgh called to mind the pious bravery of their forefathers, and all that they had done in the Reformation ; and they rose, as it were with one accord, and demolished the schools, and purified tlic chapel, even to desolation, and forced the papist priest to abjure his own idols. The old abhorrence of the abominations was revived ; for now it was clearly seen what King Charles and his brother had been seeking, in the relentless persecution which they had so long sanctioned ; and many in consequence, who had supported and obeyed the prelatic apostaey as a thing but of innocent forms, trimbling at the share which they had taken in the guilt of that ag- gression, and their dismay was un- speakable. The tyrant, however, soon saw that he had over-counted the degree of the humiliation of the land; and being disturbed by the union which his open papistry was causing among all deno- minations of Protestants, he clianged his mood, and from force resorting to frand, publishing a general toleration, — a device of policy Avhich greatly di-hearttned the prelatic faction ; for they s.iw that they had only laboured to f-trengthen a prerogative, the first effectual exercise of which was directed against themselves, every one discern- ing that the iudulgence was framed to give head-rope to the papists. IJut the Covenanters made use of it to advance the cause of the Gofpel, as I shall now proceed to rehearse, as well as how through it I was enabled to perform iny avenging vow. Among the exiled Covenanters who returned with Argyle, and with whom 1 became acquaaited while with him, was Thomas Ardmillan, when, after my escape at the time when the Earl was taken, I fell in again with at Kirkintilloch, as I was making tho best of my way into the East country, and wo went together to Arbroath, where he embarked for Holland. Being then minded to return back to Edinburgh, and to abide again with Mrs Brownlee, in whose house 1 had found a safe asylum, and a convenient place of esjiial, after seeing him ou board the vessel, I also took shipping, and returned to Leith under an assur- ance that I should hear of him from time to time. It was not, however, until the indulgence w.is proclaimed that I heard from him, about which era he wrote to me a most Scriptural letter, by the reverend Mr Patrick Warner, who had received a call from the magistrates and inhabitants of tho covenanted town of Irvine, to tako upon him the ministry of their parish. Mr Warner having accepted tho call, on arriving at Leith sent to Mrs Brownlee's tnis letter, with a request that, if I was alive and there, ho would bo glad to see mo in his lodg- ing before departing to tho West country. As tho fragrance of Mr Warner's sufferings was sweet among all the true and faithful, I was much regaled with this invitation, and went forth- with to Leith, where I found him in a house that is clad with oyster-shells, in tho Tod's-hole Close. lie was sitting in a fair chamber therein, with that worthy bailie that afterwards was next year, at tho time of tho lievoli;-? RINGAN GILHAIZE. 223 tion, Mr Cornelius Ncilsono, and his no less excellent compeer on tlio same great occasion, Mr (Jeorgo Sanisono, both persons of godly repute. !Mr Cheyne, the town-clerk, was likewise K resent, a most discreet character; ut being a lawyer by trade, and como of an episcopal stock, he was rather a thouglit, it was said, inclined to the prelatic sect. Divers others, douce and religious characters, were also there, especially Mr Jaddua Fyfe, a merchant of women's gear, then in much renown for his suavity. Mr Warner was relating to them many consolatory things of the worth and piety of the Prince and Princess of Orange, to whom the eyes of all the Protestants, especially of the Presby- terians, were at that time directed. " Aye, aye," said Mr Jaddua Fyfe, ♦* nae doot, nae doot, but the Prince is a man of a sweet-smelling odour, — that's in the way of character, — and the Princess; aye, aye, it is well known, that she's a pure snowdrop, and a lily o' the valley in the Lord's garden,— that's in the way of piety." "They're the heirs presumptive to the crown," subjoined Mr Cheyne. "They're weel entitled to the reverence and respect of us a*," added Mr Cornelius Neilsone. "When I first got the call from Irvine," resumed Mr Warner, " that excellent lady, and precious vessel of godliness, the Countess of Sutherland, being then at the Hague, sought my allowance to let the Princess know of my acceptance of the call, and to in- quire if her Highness had any com- mands for Scotland ; and the Princess in a most grncious manner signified to her that the best thing I, and those wlio were like me, could do for her, was to bo earnest in praying that she might be kept firm and faithful in the reformed religion, adding many tender things of her sincere sympathy for the poor peraecuted people of Scotland, and recommended tliat 1 should wait on the Prince before taking my depar- ture. I was not, however, forward to thrust myself into such honour; but at last yielding to the" exhortations of my friends, I wont to the house of Mynheer IJentinck, and gave him my name for an audience ; and one nKjrn- ing, about eight of the clock, his ser- vant called for me and took mo to his house, and ho himself conveyed mo into the presence of the Prince, where, leaving me with him, we had a most weighty and edifying conversation." " Aye, aye," interposed Mr Jaddua Fyfe, "it was a great thing to con- verse wi' a prince ; and how did he behave himsel, — that's in the way o' manners ? " " Ye needna debate, Mr Fyfe,about that," replied Mr Sanisone," the Prince kens what it's to be civil, especially to his friends ; " and 1 tliought, in saying these words, that Mr Samsone looked particular towards me. "And what passed?" said the town-clerk, in a way as if he pawkily jealoused something. Mr Warner, however, in his placid and minister- like manner, responded — " I told his Highness how I had received the call from Irvine, and thought it my duty to inquire if there was anything wherein I could servo him in Scotland." "To this the Prince replied in & benign manner " — "Aye, aye," ejaculated !Mr Jaddua Fyfe, "nae doubt it was in a benig- nant ni.-inncr, and in a cordial manner. Aye, aye, ho has nae his ill-wand to seek when a customer's afore the counter, — that's in the way o' busi- ness." " ' I understand,' said his High- ness," continued ^Mr Warner, " ' you are called home upon the toleration lately granted ; but I can assure you, that toleration is not granted for any kindnesB to your party, but to favour 224 RINGAN GILHAIZB. the piipista, and to divide you atnon^r yoursi'lves; yet I think you nmy bo BO wise as to tiike pood of it, and pre- vent tiie evil tlc'signed, iind, instead of dividinff, come to a better luimiony amoii<,' yourselves wiien you havo liberty to see and meet more freely.' " "To which," said Mr Warner, " 1 answered, that I heartily wished it might prove so, and tliat nothing would bo wanting on ray part to make it so ; and 1 added, the I'resbyterians in Scotland, Great Sir, are looked upon as a very despicable party ; but those who do so meivsure thorn by the appearance at I'entland and Both- well, as if tho whole power of the Presbyterians had been drawn out there ; but I can assure your Highness that such are greatly mistaken ; for many firm rresbyterians were not satisfied as to the grounds and manner of those risings, and did not join ; and others were borne down by the Persecution. In verity 1 am per- suaded, that if Scotland were left free, of three parts of the people two would be found Presbyterians. We are in- deed a poor persecuted party, and havo none under God to look to for our help and relief but your Highness, on account of that relation you and the Princess have to the crown." " Tiiat was going a great length, Mr Warner," said Mr Chcyne, the town-clerk. " No a bit, no a bit," cried I ; and ^Ir Jaddua Fyfe gave me an approv- ing gloom, while Mr Warner quietly continued— " 1 then urged many things, hoping that the Lord would incline his High- ness' heart to espouse His interest in Scotland, and befriend the persecuted Presbyterians. To which tho Prince replied " — " Aye, aye, I like to hear what his Highness said, that's in the way of counselling," said Mr Jaddua Fyfe. " The Priace," replied Mr War. ncr, "tlien spoke to mo earnestly, saying— " ' I havo been educated a Presby- terian, and I hope .>-o to continue ; and I assure you, if over it be in my power, I siiall make the Presbyterian church-government the established church-government of Scotland, and of this you may assure your friends, as in prudence you find it convenient.' " Discerning the weight and intima- tion that were in these words, 1 said, when Mr Warner had made an end, that it was a great thing to know the sentiments of the Prince ; for by all signs the time coulil not be far off when we would maybe require to put his assurance and promise to the test. At which words of mine there were many exchanges of gathered brows and significant nods, and Mr Jaddua Fyfe, to whom I was sitting next, slyly pinched mo in the elbow ; all which spoke plainer than elocution, that those present were accorded with mo in opinion ; and I gave inward thanks that such a braird of renewed courage and zeal was beginning to Idtlw* among us. Uesides Mr Warner, many other ministers, who had taken refuge in foreign countries, were called liome, and it began openly to be tjviked that King James would to a surety bo set aside, on account of his malversations in the kingly office in England, and the even-down course he was pursuing there, as in Scotland, to abolish all property that tho subjects had in tho ancient laws and charters of the realm. But the thing came to no definite head till that jesuit-contrived device for cutting out the Protestant heirs to the crown was brought to maturity, by palming a man-child upon the nation as the lawful son of the Tyrant and his papistical ^vife. In the meantime, I had not been idle in disseminating throughout the laud, by the means of the Came- RINOAN GILITAIZE. Ulllg li all the talm. linito ivice Irs to r,by lition aud )een the roiii.ins, a fiiitliful account of what IMr WariRT liiid related of the pious character and Presbyterhin di.sposi- lionH of III I'riuoe of Orange; and tlirough a correspoudenco tliat I o])ened with Tlionias Anhnillan, IMyuheer IJentinck was kept so in- formed of tiie growing affection for his master in Scotland, as so em- boldened tiio Prince, with what he heard of the inclinations of tiie Eng- li.sii people, to prepare a great host and navy for the deliverance of the kingdoms. In tiio midst of these Inunan means and stratagems, the bright right hand of Providence was shiningly visible ; for, by the news of the Prince's preparations, it smote the councils of King James with confusion and a fatal distraction. 'Ihough he had so alienated the Scottish lieges, that none but the basest of men among us acknowledged liis authority, yet lie summoned all his forces into England, leaving his power to be upheld here by those only wlio were vile enough to wish for the continuance of slavery. Thus was the way cleared for the advent of the de- liverer, and the faithful nobles and gentry of Scotland, as the army was removed, came flocking into Edin- burgh, and the Privy Council, wliich had been so little slack in any crime, durst not molent them, though the purpose of their being there was a treason which the members could not but all well know. Everything, in a word, was now moving onward to a great event ; all in the land was as •when the thaw comes, and the ice is breaking, and the snows melting, and the waters flowing, and the rivers are bursting their frozen fetters, aud the sceptre of winter is broken, and the wreck of his domination is drifting and perishing away. To keep the Privy Council in the confusion of the darkness of ignorance, I concerted with many of the Came- rouians that they should spread them- selves along the highways, and inter- cept the Government expresses and emissaries, to the end that neither the King's faction in England nor in Scot- laml might kjiow aught of the under- takings of each otlier ; and when Thomas Ardmillan sent me, from Mynheer IJentinck, the Prince's de- claration for Scotland, I hastened into the West Country, that I might exhort the covenanted there to be in readiness, and from the tolbooth stair of Irvine — yea, on the very step where my heart was so pierced by the cries of my son — I was the first in Scotland to publish that glorious pledge of our deliverance. On the same d.ay, at the same hour, the like was done by others of our friends at Glasgow and at Ayr ; and there was shouting, and joy, and thanksgiving, and the magnificent voice of freedom resounded through- out the land, and ennobled all hearts again with bravery. When the news of the Prince's landing at Torbay arrived, we felt that liberty was come ; but long op- pression had made many distrustful, and from day to day rumours were spread by the despairing members of the prelatic sect, the breathings of their wishes, that made us doubt whether we ought to band ourselves into any array for warfare. In this state of swithering and incertitude we continued for some time, till I began to grow fearful lest the zeal which had been so rekindled would si^ik and go out if not stirred a^ain in some effectual manner ; so I conferred with Quintin Fullarton, who in all these providences had been art and part with me, from the day of the meeting with Mr Kenwick near Lasswade ; and as the Privy Council, when it was known the Prince had been invited over, had directed beacons to be raised on the tops of many mountains, to be fired as signals of alarm for the King's 226 RINGAN GTLHAIZE. party when tlio Dutcli fleet should bo Boon appi'oaching tiie coast, wo de- vised, as a means for calling fortii the strength and spirit of the Covenant- ers, that we should avail ourselves of their preparations. Accordingly we instructed four n- lert young men, of the Cnnieronian societies, severally and unknown to each other, to be iu attendance on the night of the tenth of December, at the beacons on the hills of Knock- dolian, Lowthers, Blacklarg, and Bencairn, that they night fire the same if need or signal should so require, (iuintin Fullarton having undertaken to kindle the one on Mystylaw himself. The night was dark, but it was ordained tiiat the air should bo moist and heavy, and in that state when the light of flume spreads farthest. Mean- while fearful reports from Ireland of papistical intents to maintain the cause of King James made the fancies of men awake and full of anxieties. The prelatic curates were also so heartened by those rumours and tid- ings, that they began to recover from the dismay with which the news of the Prince'a landing had overwhelmed them, and to shoot out again the horns of antichristian arrogance. But when, about three hours after sunset, the beacon on the Mistylaw was fired, and when hill after hill was lighted up, the whole country was flUed with such consternation and panic, that I WRS myself smitten wiUi the dread of some terrible consequences. Horse- men passed furiously in all directions — bells were rung, and drums beat- mothers were seen flying with their children they knew not whither — cries and lamentaiiuns echoed on every side. The skies were kindleii' with a red glare, and none could tell where the signal was first shown. Some said the Irish had landed and were buruiiig the towns iu the south, and no one knew Avhere to flco from tho unknown and invisible enemy. In the meantime, our Covenanters of the West assembled at their tryst- ing place, to the number of more than six thousand armed men, ready and girded for battle, and this appearance was an assurance that no power was then iu all the Lowlands able to gain- say such a force.; and next day, wiieu it was discovered that the alarm had no real cause, it was determined that the prelatic priests should be openly discarded from their parishes. Our vengeance, however, was not meted upon them by the measure of our sufferings, but by the treatment which our own pastors had borne ; and, considering how many of them had acted as spies and accusers against us, it is surprising, that of two hundred, who were banished from the parishes, few received any cause of complaint ; even the poor feckless thing, Andrew Dornock, was decently expelled from the manse of Quharist, on promising he would rover return. This riddance of the malignants was the first fruit of the expulsion of James Stuart from tho throne ; but it was not long till we were menaced with new and even greater sufferings than wo had yet endured. For though the tyrant had lied, he had left Claverhouse, under tho title of Viscount Dundee, behind him ; and in the fearless activity of that proud and cruel warrior, there was an en- gine sufficient to have restored iiim to his absolute throne, as I shall now proceed to rehearse. The true and faithful of tlie West, being so instructed with respect to their own power and numbers, stood in no reverence of any force that tho remnants of the Tyrant's sect and faction could afford to send against them. I tlioreforo resolved to return to Edinburgh ; for the longing of my grandfather's spirit to see the current RINGAN GILHAIZE. 22:7 and course of public events flowing from their fountain -hcacl, was upon ine, anil I liacl not yet so satisfied the yearnings of justice as to be able to look again on the ashes of my house and the tomb of Sarah Loci)rig and lur daugiiters. Accordingly, soon after the turn of the year 1 went thitlicr, where 1 found all things in uncertainty and conunotion. (;iaveriiou.sc, or, as he was now titled, Lord Dundee, with tliat scorn of public opinion and defect of all principle, save only a canine fidelity, a dog's love, to his papistical master, domineered with his dragoons, as if he himself had been regnant monarch of Scotland ; and it was plain and probable, that unless he was soon bridled, he would speedily act upon the wider stage of the kingdom the same Mahound-like part which he had played in the jirenticeship of his cruelties of the shire of Ayr. The peril, indeed, from his courage and activity, was made to me very evident, by a conversation that 1 had with one ])avid ^lidiUeton, who had come from Englimd on some business of the Jacobites there, in connection with Dundee. Providence led mo to fall in with this person one morning, as we were standing among a crowd of other onlookers, seeing Claverhouso review- ing his men iu the front court of Holyrood-house. I happened to re- mark, for in sooth it must be so owned, that the Viscount had a brave though a proud look, and that his voice had the manliness of one or- dained to command, " Yes,'" replied David IMiddleton, "he's a born soldier, and if the King is to be restored, he is the man that will do it. When his Majes'v was at liochester, Ix^fore going to France, 1 was there with my master, and being called iu to mend the fire, I heard Dundee aud my Lord, thcu with the King, discoursing concerning tho royal affairs. " ' The question,' said Lord Dun- dee to his ^lajesty, ' is, whether you shall stay in England or go to France? My opinion, sir, is, that you should stay in England, make your stand here, and sunnnon your subjects to your allegiance. 'Tis true, you have disbanded your army, but give mc leave, and 1 will undertake to get ten thousand men of it together, and march through all England with your standard at their head, and drive tho Dutch before you ; ' and," added David Middleton, " let him have time, and 1 doubt not, that, even without the King's leave, he will do as much." "Whether the man in this did brag of a knowledge that he had not, tho story seemed so likely, that it could scarcely be questioned ; so I con- sultetl with my faithful friend and companion, (^uintin Fidlarton, and other men of weight among the Camerouians ; and we agreed, that those of the societies who were scat- tered along the borders to intercept the correspondence between tiie Eng- lisii and Scottish Jacobites, should bo called into Edinburgh to daunt tho rampageous insolence of Claverhouso. This was done accordingly ; and from the day that they began to ap- pear iu the streets, the bravery of those who were with him seemed to slacken. Rut still he carried himself as boldly as ever, and persuaded the Duke of Gordon, then governor of the castle, not to surrender, nor obey any mandate from the Convention of the States, by whom, in that inter- regnum, the rule of the kingdom wa=i exercised. Still, however, the Came ronians were coming in, and their numbers became so manifest, tliatthe dragoons Avere backward to show themselves. Dut their commander affected not to value us, till one day a singular thing took place, which, iu 228 RINGAN GILHAIZE. its issues, ended the overawing inllu- enco of his presence in Edinburgh. I happened to be standing with Qiiintin FuUurton, and some four or five otiier Camoronians, at an entry- moutli forenent tiie Canongate-cro^s, •wlion Claverhouse, and that tool of tjM-anny, Sir George Mackenzie the advocate, were coming up from the pahice ; and as tliey passed, tiie Vis- count looked hard at me, and said to Sir George — " I have somewhere seen tliat doure cur before." Sir George turned round also to look, and I said — ■'It's true, Claverhouse, — we mot at Driiniclog ; " and I toui:hed my arm that he liad wounded there, adding, " and the blood shed that day has not yet been paid for." At tliese words ho made a rush upon me witii his sword, but my friends were nimbler with tlieirs ; and Sir George INIackcnzie interpos- ing, drew him off, and they went away together. The affair, however, ended not here. Sir George, with the subtlety of a lawyer, tried to turn it to some account, and making a great ado of it, as a design to assassinate I^ord Dundee r- 'l himself, tried to get the Conven- tion to order all strangers to remove from the town. This, however, Avas refused ; so that Claverhouse, seeing how the spirit of the times was going among the membo'-s, and tlie boldness with which tlie Presbyterians and tlie Covenanters were daily bearding his arrogance, withdrew with his dragoons from the city, and made for Stirling. In tills retreat from P'dinburgh lie blow the trumpet of civil war ; but in less than two iioursfrom the signal, a regiment of eiglit liundred Came- ronians wns arrayed in tlie High Street. The son of Argyle, who iiad taken his seat in the Convention as a peer, eoou after gathered three liuu- dred of the Campbells, and the safety of Scotland now seemed to be secured by the arrival of Mackay witli three Scotch regiments, tlien in tlie Dutch service, and which tlie Prince of Orange had brought with him to Torbay. By the retreat of Claverhouse the Jacobite party in Elinburfrh were so disheartened, and any endeavour wliich they afterwards made to rally was so crazed witli consternation, that it was plain the scejitre had de- parted from their master. The capacity as well as the jiower for any effectual action was indeed evidently taken from them, and the ploughshare was driven over the ruins of their cause on the ever-memorable eleventh day of Ajiril, when William and Mary were proclaimed King and (iueen. But though thus the oppressor waa cact down from his throne, and though thus, in Scotland, the chief agents in the work of deliverance were the out- lawed Cameronians, as instructed by me, the victory could not be complete, nor the trophies hung up in the hall, while the Tyrant possessed an instru- ment of such edge and temper as Claverhouse. As for myself, I felfc that wliile the homicide lived the debt of justice and of blood due to my martyred family could never be satis- fied ; and I heard of his passing from Stirling into the Highlands, and the wonders he was working for tlio .Jacobite cause there, as if nothing had yet been achieved toward the ful- filment of my avenging vow. CIIAPTEPv XXXI. Wm:\ Claverhouse left Stirbi..r, iio had but sixty lior.se. :n little '.I'.nro tiiaii a month he was at the he-.-l [ seventeen iiundred men. He obtained reinforcements from Ireland. The Macdoualds, aud tho Camerons, and TT ll HINGAN GILHATZE. 229 «■■■■ tlie Gordons, were all his. A vassal of tlio Alarquis of Athol had declared for iiim even in the castle of Blair, and defended it against the clan of liis master. An event still more stiange was produced by the spell of his presence, — the clansmen of Athol deserted their cliief, and joined his standard. lie kindled the hills in his cause, and all the life of the North was gathering around him. Mackay, with the Covenanters, the regiments from Holland, and the Cameronians, went from Perth to op- pose his entrance into the Lowlands. The minds of men were suspended. Should he defeat Al.ackay, it was plain that the crown would soon be restored to James Stuart, and the woes of Scotland come again. In tliat dismal juncture I was alone ; for (iuintin Fullarton, with all the Cameronians, was with INIackay. I was an old man, verging on threescore. I went to and fro in the streets of Edinburgh all day long, inquiring of every stranger the news ; and every ansAver that I got was some new triumph of Dundee. No sleej) came to my burning ^.lillow, or if indeed my eyelids for very weariness fell down, it was only that 1 might suffer the stings of an.xi'ly in some sharper form; for my drrams were of llames kindling around me, through which I saw be- hind tiie proud and exulting visage of Dundee. Sometimes in the deptlis of tlie night I rushed into the street, and I listened with greedy ears, tliinking I heard the trampling of dragoons and the heavy wheels of cannon ; and often in the day, when I saw three or four persons speaking together, I ran towards them, and broke in upon their discourse with some wild interrogation that made them answer mo with pity. liut tho haste and frenzy of thia alarm suddenly changed : I felt that I was a chosen instrument : I thought that the ruin which had fallen on me and mine was assuredly some great mystery of Providence : I remembered the prophecy of my grandfather, that a task was in store for me, though I knew not what it was ; I forgot my old age and my infirmities ; I hastened to my chamber; I put money in my purse ; I spoke to no one ; I bought a carabine ; and I set out alone to re- inforce Mackay. As I passed down the street, and out at the \\'est Port, I saw the people stop and look at me with silence and wonder. As I went along the road, several that were passing inquired where I was going so fast? but I waved my hand and hurried by. I reached the (iueensferry without, as it were, drawing breath. I em- barked ; and when the boat arrived at the northern side I had fallen asleep ; and the ferryman, in compassion, al- lowed me to slumber unmolested. AVhen I awoke I felt myself refreshed. I leapt on shore, and went again im- patiently on. I>ut my mind was then somewhat calmer; and when I reached Kinross I bought a little broad, and retiring to the briuk of the lake, dipped it in tho water, and it was a savoury repast. As I approached the Brigg of Earn I felt age in my limbs, and though the spirit was willing, the body could n(it ; and I sat down, find I mourned that I was so frail and so feeble. But a marvellous vigour was soon again given to me, and 1 rose refreshed from my resting place on the wall of the bridge, and the same night 1 reached Pertli. I sto[)j)ed iu a stabler's till the n'orning. At break of day, having hired a horse from him, L hastened forward to Dunkeld, Avhero he told me Alaokay liad encamped tiio day before, on his way to defend tho pass of Killicrankie. 230 RINGAN GILHAIZE. •iver, p of f liad iMackay The road was throntyed -with •u'onieii and children flocking into rortli in terror of the Iliglilanders, but I heeded them not. I had but one thought, and tliat was to reach the scene of war and C ' '(.'•house. On arriving at the 1( • the field in front of the Dunkeld's house, where the been encamped, was empty. had marched towards Blair- Athol, to drive Dundee and the Iligldanders, if possible, back into the glens and mosses of the North ; for he had learnt that his own force greatly exceeded his adversary's. On hearing this, and my horse being in need of bating, I halted at the ferry-house before crossing the Tay, assured by the boatman that I should be able to overtake the army long before it could reach the nieet- ing of ihe Tummel and the Gary. And so it proved ; for, as I came to that turn of the road where the Tum- mel pours its roaring waters into the Tay, I heard the echoing of a trumjiet among the mountains, and soon after saw the army winding its toilsome course along the river's brink, slowly and heavily, fis the chariots of Pliaroah laboured through the sands of the IJe.sert, and the appearance of the long array was as the many-coloured woods that skirt the rivers in autumn. On the right hand, hills, and rocks, and trees rose like the ruin?* of the ramparts of some ancient world, and I thought of the epochs when the days of the children of men were a thousand years, and when giants were on the earth, and all were swept away by the flood, an<l I ftlt as if I beheld the hand of the Lord in the cloiul weigh- ing the things of time in His scales, to see if the sins of the world were indeed become again so great as that the cause of (Jlaverhouso should bo suffered to prevail. For my spirit was as a flame that blazcth iu tho wind, and my thoughts as the sparks that shoot and soar for a moment towards the skies Avith a glorious splendour, and drop down upon the earth iu ashes. General Mackay halted the host on a spacious green plain which lies at the meeting of the Tummel and the Gary, and which the Highlander.^ call Faseali, because, as the name in their tongue signifies, no trees are growing thereon. This place is the threshold of the Pass of KiUicrankie, through the dark and woody chasms of which the impatient waters of the Gary come with hoarse and wrathful mutterings and murmurs. The hills and moun- tains around are built up in more olden and antic forms than tliose of our Lowland parts, and a wild and strange solemnity is mingled there with much fantastical beauty, as if, according to the minstreli^y of ancient times, sullen wizards and gamesome fairies had joined their arts and spells to make a common dwelling-place. As the soldiers spread themselves over the green bosom of Faseali, and piled their arms and furled their ban- ners, and laid their drums on the ground, and led their horses to the river, the General sent forward a scout through the Pass to discover the move- ments of Claverhouse, having heard that he was coming from the castle of Blair-Athol, to prevent his entrance into the Highlands. The ollicer sent to make the e?]-)ial had not been gone above half an hour when he came back in great liastc> to tell that the Highlanders were on the brow of a hill above the house of llin- rorie, and that unless the Pass was immediately taken possession of, it would be mastered by Claverhouse that night. Mackay, at this news, ordered tho trumpets to sound, and as the echoes multiplied and repeated the alarum, it was aa if nil the spirits of tho hills r niNGAN GILHAIZE. 231 called tho men to arms. Tho soldiers looked around as they formed tlicir ranks, listeniiiff with delight and won- der at tho universal bravery, and I thought of the sight, which Elisha the prophet gave to tho young man at Dothan, of the mountains covered with horses and cliariots of fire for Jiis defence against tlie iiost of tlie King of Syria, and I went forward with tho confidence of assured victory. As wc issued forth from tho Pass into tho wide country, extending to- wards Ludc and. Blair-Athol, we saw, as the ofiicer had reported, the High- land hosts of Claverliouse arrayed along the lofty brow of the mountain, above the house of llinrorie, their f)lai(l3 waving in tho breezo on the lill, and their arms glittering in the sun. ^Mackay directed tlie troops, at crossing a raging brook called Girnaig, to keep along a fiat of Imd above the house of llinrorio, and to form, in order of battle, on tlio field beyond tile garden, and under the hill v. lare tho Highlanders were posted ; tho baggage and camp equipages, ho at tho same time ordered down into a plain that lies between the bank on the crown of whicli the house stands and the river Gary. An ancient monunieutal stone in the middle of tho lower plain shows, that in some earlier age a battle had been fought there, and that some warrior of might and fame had fallen. In taking his ground on that ele- vated sliolf of land, IMackay was minded to stretch liis left wing to in- toreept the return of tho lligldanders towanla r>lair, atul, if po«sibIo, oblige tliem to enter tho I'ass of Killicrankie, by wl)ich ho would liavo cut thoni off from tlieir resoiirces in the iS'ortli, and so periiajis mastered tiiem with- out any great slaugliter. lint Claverhouse discerned the in- tent of his movement, and before our covenanted host had formed their array, it was evident that ho was pre- paring to descend ; and as a foretaste of the vehemence wherewith tho Highlanders were coming, we saw them rolling large stones to the brow of the hill. In the meantime the house of Rinrorie having been deserted by the family, the lady, with her children and maidens, had fled to Lude or Struan, Mackay ordered a party to take possession of it, and to post themselves at the windows which look up the hill. I was among tiiose who went into the house, and my station was at the eastermost window, in a small chamber which is entered by two doors, — the one opening from the stair-head, and the other from tho drawing-room. In this situation wo could see but little of tho distribution of the army or tlie positions tliat Mackay was taking, for our view was cont ed to the face of the hill whereon tho Highlanders were busily prejiaring for their descent. But I saw Claver- house on horseback riding to and fro, and plainly iuflaniing their valour with many a courageous gesture; and as* he turned and winded his prancing war-horse, his breastplate blazed to the setting sun like a beacon on the hill. When he had seemingly concluded his exhortation, the Highlanders stooped forward, .and hurled down tho rocks which they had gathered for their forerunners; and wliilo the stones came leaping and bounding with a noiso like thundor, tho men followed in thick and separate bands, and Mackay gave the signal to com- mence firing. Wc Haw from the windows many of the Highlanders, at the first volley, stagger and fall, but the others came furiously down ; and before tho sol- diers had time to stick their bayonet'^ into their guns, tho broad swords of 232 RING AN GILHATZE. the Clansmen hewed hundreds to the ground. Within a few minutes the battle was general between the two arniios ; but the smoke of the firing involved all the field, and we could see nothing from the windows. The ecb.oes of the mountains raged with the din, and the sounds were multiplied by them in so many diflfereut places, that we could not tell wliere the fight was hottest. The whole country around resounded as with the uproar of a universal battle. I felt the passion of my spirit return; I could no longer restrain myself, nor remain where I was. Snatching up my carabine, T left my actionless post at the window, and hurried down stairs, and out of tlie house. I saw by the flashes through the smoke, that t!ie firing was fpread- ing down into the plain where the baggage was stationed, and by this I knew that there was some movement in the battle; but whether tlie High- landers or the Covenanters were shift- ing their ground, I could not discover, for tiie valley was filled with smoke, and it was only at times that a sword, like a glance of liglitning, could be seen in the cloud wherein tlie thun- ders and tempest of the conflict were raging. As I stood on the brow of the bank in front of llinrorie-house, a gentle breathing of the evening air turned the smoke like the travelling mist of the hills, and opening it here and there, I had glimpses of tlie fighting. Sometimes 1 saw the High- landers driving the Covenanters down the steep, and sometimes I beheld them in their turn on the ground endea- vouring to protect their unbonneted heads with their targets, but to whom the victory was to l3e given I could discern no sign ; and I said to myself, the priz" at hazard is the liberty of the land and the Lord ; surely it shall not be permitted to the champion of bondage to prevail. A stronger breathing of the g<ale came rushing along, and the skirts of the smoke where the bafrgage stood were blown aside, and 1 beiield many of the Highlanders among the waggor.s plundering and tearing. Then 1 heard a great shouting on the right, and looking that Avay, I saw the children of the Covenant fleeing in remnants across the lower plain, and making towards the river. Presently I also saw Mackay with two regiments, all that kept the order of discipline, also in the plain. He had lost the battle. Claverhouse had won ; and tho scattered firing, Avliich was continued by a few, was to my ears as the rivet- ting of the shackles on the arms of poor Scotland for ever. My grief was unspeakable. I ran to and fro on tho brow of the hill — and I stamped with my feet — and I beat my breast — and I rubbeil my hands with the frenzy of despair — and 1 threw myself on the ground — and all the sufferings of which I have written returned njion me — and 1 started up and I cried aloud tho blasphemy of the fool, "There is no God." But scarcely had the dreadful words escaped my profane lips, when I heard, as it were, tlumders in the heavens, and the voice of an oracle crying in the ears of my soul, ''The victory of this (lay is given into thy hands ! " and strange wonder and awe fell upon me, and a mighty spirit entered into mine, and I felt as if I was in that moment clothed with the armour of divine might. I took up my carabine, which in these trans])orts had fallen from my hand, and 1 went round the gable of the house into llie garden— ami I saw Claverhouse with several of his ollicers coming along the ground by which our hosts had marched to their posi- RINGAN GILHATZE. 233 auon turning tion — and ever and round and exhorting his men to follow hirn. It was evident ho was making for the Pass to intercept our scattered fugitives frona escaping that way. The garden in which I then stood was surrounded by a low wall. A small goose-pool lay on tiio outside, between which and the garden I per- ceived that Claverliouse would pass. I prepared my Hint and examined my fire-lock, and I walked towards the top of the garden with a firm step. The ground was buoyant to my tread, and the vigour of youth was renewed in my aged limbs : I thought that those for whom 1 had so mourned walked before me — that they smiled and beckoned me to come on, and that a glorious light shone around me. Claverhouse was coming forward — several officers were near him, but liis men were still a little behind, and seemed inclined to go down the hill, and he chided at their reluctance. I rested my carabine on the garden-wall. I bent my knee and knelt upon the ground. I aimed and fired, — but when the smoke cleared away I be- held the oppressor still proudly on his war-horse. I loaded again, again I knelt, and again rested my carabine upon the wall, and fired a second time, and was again disappointed. Then 1 remembered that 1 had not implored the help of Heaven, and I prepared for the third time, and when all was ready, and Claverhouse was coming forward, I took off my bon- net, .and kneeling with the gun in my hand, cried, '' liOrd, reiiiembur David and all his aiUictions ; " and hav- ing so prayed, 1 took aim as I knelt, and Claverliouse raising his arm in connnand, I lired. In the same mo- ment I looked up, and there was a vision in the air as if all the angels of brightness, and tho martyrs in their vestments of glory, were assembled on the walls and battlements of heaven to witness the event, — and I started up and cried, "I have delivered my native land ! " But in the same in- stant I remembered to whom the glory was duo, and falling again on my knees, I raised my hands and bowed my h-jad as I said, "Not mine, O Lord, but thine is the vic- tory 1 " When tho smoke rolled away I belield Claverhouse in the arms of his oflicers, sinking from his horse, and the blood flowing from a Avouud be- tween the breast-plate and the arm- pit. The same night he was sum- moned te the audit of his crimes. It was not observed by the officers from what quarter the summoning bolt of justice came, but thinking ic was from the house, every window was instantly attacked, while I delibe- rately retired from the spot, — and, till the protection of the darkness enabled me to make my escape across the (jary, and over the hills in the direction I saw Mackay and the rem- nants of the flock taking, I concealed myself among the bushes and rocks that overhung tho violent stream of the Girnaig. Thus was my avenging vow ful- filled, — and thus was my native land delivered from bondage. For a time yet there may be rumours and blood- siied, but they will prove as the wreck which the waves roll to the shore after a tempest. The fortunes of tho papistical Stuarts are foundered for- ever. Never again in this land shall any king, of his own caprice and pre- rogative, dare to violate the conscience of the pi'ople. Qtt/iaviit, 5lh Xovember, 1000, POSTSCRIPT. i It does not seem to be, aa yet, very generally understood by the critics in the South, that, independently of phraseology, there is such an idiomatic difference in the structure of the national dialects of England and Scot- land, that very good Scotch might be couched in the purest English terms, mid without the employment of a single Scottish word. In reviewing the Memoirs of that worshipful personage. Provost Pawkie, some objection has been made to the style, as being neither Scotch nor English, — not Scotch, because the words are English, — and not English, because the forms of speech are Scottish. What has been thus re- garded as a fault by some, others acquainted with the peculiarities of tho language may be led to consider OS a beauty. But however proper the Scottish dialect may have been in a composi- tion so local as "The Provost," it may be urged, that, in a work like the present, Avbcre something of a histori- cal character is attempted, the English language would have been a more dignified vehicle. Why it should be BO is not very obvious ; at all events, the Author thinks the style he has adopted, in expressing sentiments and feelings entirely Scottish, ought not to be objected to in point of good taste. Should the objection, how- ever, be made, he has an answer in tho words of tho celebrated Titian :~ It happened one day, says Antonio Perez in his Memoirs, that Francisco de Vargas, ambassador from Charles V. to the Republic of Venice, remon- strated with the paihter against hia broad and coarse pencilling, so unlike tho delicate touches of the great artists of that time: — "Senor," re- plied Titian, " yo desconfi^ de llegar k la delicadeza y primor del pinzel do Michael Angelo, Urbino, Corregio, y Parmisano, y que quando bien llegasse, seria. estimado tras ellos, 6 tenido por imitador dellos ; y la ambi9ion natural, no menos a mi Arte que i\ las otras, me hizo echar por camino nuevo, quo me hi.^iesso 9elebre en algo, como los otros lo fueron por el que sig- nieron." Another misconception also pre- vails in the South, witn respect to tho Scottish political character. From the time of the North Briton of the unprincipled Wilkes, a notion has been entertained that the moral spine in Scotland is more flexible than in England. The truth, however, is that an elementary difference exists in tho public feelings of the two nations quite as great as in the idioms of their respective dialects. The English are a justice -loving people, according to charter and statute ; the Scotch are A wrong-resenting race, according to right and feeling; and the character of liberty among them takes ita Aspect from that peculiarity. Colonel Stewart, in his curious and complete work oa the Highlands, haA 236 POSTSCrlPT. shown, that even tlie clans, among whom tlie doctnuos and affections of hereditary rigiit i\rc still cherished more than ever they were ia England at any period, hold themselves free to change their chieftains. It is so with the nation in general. Monarchy is an indestructible principle in our notions of civil government; and though we anciently exercised tlie right of changing our kings pretty freely, Cromwell found it necessary to overrun the kingdom with an army to obtain the grudged acquiescence which was yielded to the Anglo-lie - publican phantasy of his time, liut in our natural attachment to monarchy and its various gradations, and in the homages which we in consequence freely perform, it does not follow that there should be any unmanly humility. On the contrary, servile loyalty is comparatively rare among us, and it was in England that the Stuarts first PArj'.i) to hroai'h the doctrine of the divine rigiit of kings. Tlie two most important public documents extant show the diffiTcnco between the national character of the Scotch and of the Englisli people iu a very striking light. In dictatiiig Magna Charta to the tyrant John, the English barons implied, that if he ob- served the conditions, they would obey him in all things else. lUit the Scot- tish nobles, in their Kemonstrance to the Pope, declared, that they con- sidered even their great and glorious Robert Bruce to be on his good be- haviour. The Kemonstraucc not being gen- erally known, a translation is subjoin- ed, of the time of llingan Gilhiiize — the sacred original ia in the llegister Office. TRANSLATION. To our most holy Father in Christ, and our Lord, John, by the divine providence, Chief Bishop of the most Holy Roman and Universal Church, your humble and devoted sons, Dun- can Earl of Fyfe, Thomas Randolph Earl of Murray, Lord Mannia and Annandale, Patrick do Dumbar Earl of March, Malisius Earl of Strathern, Malcolm Earl of Lennox, William Earl of Ross, Magnus Earl of Caith- ness and Orkney, William Earl of Sutherland, Walter Steward of Scot- land, William de Soulcs Buttelarius of Scotland, James Lord Douglas, Roger de Mowbray, David Lord Bre- chin, David de Grahame, Ingleramus de Umfraville, John de Monteith Warder of the county of Monteith, Alexander Frazer, Gilbert de Hay Constable of Scotlaml, Robert de Keith ^Marishal of Scotland, Mcnry de Sancto Claro, John de Graham, David do Lyndsay, AVilliam Oliphant, Patrick de Graham, John de Fenton, William de Abernetliie, David do Weyms, William de Monto fixo, Fergus de Ai'drossan. Eustachius de Maxwcl, William de RaniSiiy, William de Monte-alto, Allan de Murray, Donald Campbel, John Camburn, Reginald le Chone, Alexander de Seton, Andrew de Lescelyuo, and Alexander Straton, and the rest of the Barons and Freeholders, and whole Community, or Commons of tho kingdom of Scotland, send all man- ner of Filial Reverence, with devout stocl strain Ti these rcniai ation evide of after honoi (thou of th most Savio tho instn; Apos or t rOSTSCRIPT. 237 kisses of your blessed and happy feet. Most holy Father and Lord, we know and gather from ancient Acts and Records, that in every famous nation, this of Scotland hath been celebratwith many praises: this nation haviuf^ conio from Scytliia tlie greater, tlirough the Tuscan Sea, and by Her- cules Pillars, and having for many ages taken its residence in Spain in the midst of a most fierce people, could never bo brought in subjection by any i)Cople, how barbarous soever : and having removed from those parts, above 1200 years after the coming of the Israelites out of Egypt, did by many victories and much toil, obtain the parts in the West, which they still possess, having expelled the Uritous, and intirely rooted out the Picts, notwithstanding of the fre- quent assaults and invasions they met witli from the Norwegians, Danes, and English ; and these parts and possessions they have always retained free from all manner of aervitudc, and subjection, aa ancient histories do witness. This kingdom hath been govern'd by an uninterrupted succession of 113 kings, all of our own native and royal stock, without the intervening of any stranger. Tlie true nobility and merits of these our princes and people arc very remarkable, from this one consider- ation, (tho' there were no other evidence for it,) that the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, after his passion and resurrection, honoured them as it wore the first (though living in the utmost ends of the earth,) with a call to his most iioly Faith : neither would our Saviour have them confirmed in the Christian Faith, by any other instrument than his own first Apostle (tho' in order tho second or third,) St Andrew, the most worthy brother of the blessed Peter, whom he would always have to be over us, as our patron or pro- tector. Upon the weighty consideration of these things, tiie most holy Fathers your predecessors did, with many great and singular favours and pri- vileges, fence and secure tliis king- dom and people, as being the peculiar charge and care of the brother of St Peter; so that our nation hath hitherto lived in free- dom and quietness under their pro- tection, till the magnificent King Edward, father to the present king of England, did under the colour of friendship, and allyance, or coufedera- cie, with innumerable oppressions, infest us who minded no fraud or deceit, at a time when we were with- out a king or head, and when tho people were unacquainted with wars and invasions. It is impossible for any whose own experience hath not informed him to describe, or fully to understand, the injuries, blood, and violence, the depredations and fire, the imprisonments of prelates, tho burning, slaughter, and robberie com- mitted upon holy persons and religious houses, and a vast multitude c other barbarities, which that king execute on this people, without sparing of any sex, or age, religion, or order of men whatsoever. But at length it pleased God, who only can heal .if ter wounds, to restore us to libertie, from these innumerable calamities, by our most Serene Prince, King and Lord, Robert, who for tho delivering of his people and his own rightful inheritance from the enemies* hand, did, like another Josaa, or Maccabeus, most cheerfully undergo all manner of toyle, fatigue, hardship, and hazard. The Divine Providence, the right of succession by the laws and customs of the kingdom (which we will defend till death), and the POSTSCRIPT. due and lawful conaont nnd assent of nil tlio pcoplo, made him our king nnd priiico. To him wo aro obliged nnd resolved to adhere in all things, both upon the account of his right and hiu own mcriD, ua being the person •\vlio h.ith restored the people's safety, in defence of their liberties. But after all, if this prince shall leave the principles he hath so nobly pursued, and consent that wo or our kingdom be subjected to the king or the peoplo of England, wc will immediately en- deavour to expel him, as our enemy, and as the subverter both of his own nnd our rights, nnd will make another king, who will defend our liberties : for, EO long as there shall but one hundred of us remain alive, we Avill never subject ourselves to the do- minion of tlie English. For it is not glory, it is not riches, neither is it honour, but it is libertie alone that we fight and contend for, which no honest man will lose but with his life. For these reasons, most Reverend Fatiier and Lord, wo do with most earnest prayers, from our bended knees and hearts, beg and entreat your Holiness, that you may be pleased with a sincere and cordial piety to consider, that with Him, whose Vicar on earth you are, there is no respect nor distinction of Jew nor Greek, Scots nor English, and that with a tender and fatherly eye you may look upon the calamities and straits brought upon us and the Church of God by the English, and that you may ad- monish and exhort the king of England (who may well rest satisfied with his own possessions, .';iuce tliat kingdom of old used to be sullicient for seven or more kings) to suffer us to live at peace in that narrow spot of Scotland, beyond which we have no habitation, since we desire nothing but our own ; nnd we on our parts, as far as wc arc Able, with respect to our owu condi- tion, shall effectually ngrco to him in every thing that may procure our quiet. It is your concernment, most Holy Father, to interpose in this, when you see how far the violence and bar- barity of tho Pagans is let looso against Christendom for ^nniishing of tho sins of tho Cliristians, and how much they dayly^ encroach upon tho Christian Territories : And it is your interest to notice, that there bo no ground given for reflect- ing on your memory, if you should suffer any part of tho church to como under a scandal or cclipso (which wo pray God may prevent) during your time. liCt it therefore please your Holi- ness to exhort the Christian princes not to make tho wars betwixt them and their neighbours a pretext for not going to the relief of tho Holy Land, since that is not the true cause of tiio impediment : Tho truer ground of it is, that they have a much nearer jiro- spect of advantage, and fur less opposition, in the subduing of their weaker neighbours. And God (who is ignorant of nothing) knows, with how much cheerfulness both our king and we would go thither, if the king of England would leave us in peace, as wo do hereby testify and declare to tho Vicar of Christ, and to all Christendom. But, if your Holiness shall be too credulous of tho English misrepresen- tations, and not give firm credit to what wo have said, nor desist to favour the English to our destruction, we must believe that the ^lost High will lay to your charge all the blood lost of soul and other calamities that shall follow on either hand, betwixt us and them. Your Holiness in granting our just t -sires, will oblige us n\ cvevio case, where our dutie shall require it, ^ ende{iYOur your satiaf action, as be? POSTSCRIPT. coiiio the obedient sons of the Vicar of (Mirist. Wo commit the tlofenco of oiu cause to him who ia the Sovereign Kiiip; and Judjje ; wo cast the burden of our cares upon iiiin, and hope for such an issue us may fjive strength and counigo to us, and bring our enemies 23D God and to nothing. The Most Iligli lonj? preserve your Serenity Holiness to His holy Church. (liven at the I^lonasterio of Aber- brothock in Scotland, the sixth day of April, in theyear of Grace M.CCCXX. nn 1 of our said king's reign, the XV. year. * > BONN AKD WBIQBT, PIUSXM8, ai.A8aOW.