THE  BASS  ROCK: 
 
 ITS 
 
 BY  THE  REV.  THOMAS  M'CRIK  1).  I). 
 
 BY  HUGH  MILLER 
 
 PartDrdogij 
 
 RY  THE  REV.  TAMES  AXDERSON 
 
 BY  PROFESSOR  ELEMINT,  ANM)  PROFESSOR  BALFOUR 
 
 KDINBURGH:  JOHN  (i  UK  I G  SON. 
 LONDON:  HAMILTON,  ADAMS  k  CO. 
 
EDI.Nlil  RGII  :  PRINTED  UY  JOHN  GBEIG  AND  SON,  LAWNMARKKT- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Preface. 
 
 "Civil  and  Eccr  p.siastic  History  of  the  Bass  :  by  the  Rev. 
 
 Thomas  M-CiuE,      .         .         .         .         .         •  I 
 
 Geology  OF  THE  Bass  :  BY  Hugh  MiLLKR,  .         .         .  [4i»l 
 
 The  Martyrs  of  the  Bass  :  by  t;ik  Rev.  Jamks  Andeiison,     .  I 
 
 Zoology  of  the  Bass:  by  John  Fleming,  D.D.,  F.R.S.E.,  Pro- 
 fessor OF  Natural  Scie.sce  in  the  Nt:\v  CollE(u<,  Edin- 
 burgh, ....... 
 
 Botany  OF  the  B.vss:  by  .john  Hutton  Balfour,  M.D.,  F.K.S.E.. 
 
 Professor  of  Botany  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  -U'.i' 
 
LIST  OF  PLATES,  &c. 
 
 Thk  BASti  IN  ITS  FORTIFIED  STATE  IN  1690,       .  .  Frontispiece. 
 
 The  Bass  in  1847,         ......  Page  [61] 
 
 Pedkn  at  Camehon's  Grave,    .....  47 
 
 Torture  of  the  Boots,          .....  69 
 
 Blackadder's  Tomb,     ......  360 
 
 Alphabetical  List  of  the  Martyrs,            .         .         .  382 
 
 Solan  (tOOse,  old  and  young,           ...            .  409 
 
 The  Tree  Malloav,      ......  427 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 N  these  days  of  joint-stock  speculation,  it 
 will  not  excite  surprise  that  a  literary  work 
 should  be  got  up  on  a  principle  somewhat 
 similar.  We  see  no  reason  why  authors 
 may  not  invest  their  wits,  as  merchants  do  their 
 wealth,  in  a  common  capital,  nor  why  a  good  book 
 may  not  be  produced  by  a  judicious  combination  of 
 scrip  and  division  of  labour.  The  only  feature  of  the 
 present  undertaking  which  seems  to  require  explana- 
 tion, is  the  limited  dimensions  of  the  ground  selected 
 for  our  operations.  We  must  confess  that  it  has  been 
 barely  sufficient  to  afford  room  for  five  of  us,  and  that 
 we  have  been  in  danger  occasionally  of  jostling  and 
 tripping  each  other  in  the  course  of  our  proceedings. 
 But  it  would  ill  have  become  us  to  quarrel  with  this, 
 when  we  reflected  how  very  different  our  confinement 
 
vi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 has  been  from  that  of  the  unhappy  prisoners  formerly 
 doomed  to  languish  on  this  barren  rock,  more  especially 
 when  we  were  not  only  allowed,  what  they  were  often 
 denied,  "  the  liberty  of  the  whole  island,''  but  invited 
 to  extend  our  researches  as  far  back  as  the  time  when 
 rocks  and  islands  in  general  came  into  existence. 
 Nor  is  the  narrowness  of  the  spot,  which  may  be  re- 
 garded as  the  terminus  of  our  diverging  lines,  alto- 
 gether without  its  advantages.  A  larger  field,  embrac- 
 ing other  castles  formerly  devoted  to  the  same  purposes 
 with  the  Bass,  might,  no  doubt,  have  furnished  ampler 
 materials  for  illustration ;  but  by  confining  ourselves 
 to  one,  we  secure  unity  of  design,  and  what  the  scene 
 lacks  in  point  of  grandeur,  it  gains  in  point  of  interest 
 — on  the  same  principle  that  Sterne  "  took  his  single 
 captive,  and  having  first  shut  him  up  in  his  dungeon, 
 looked  at  him  through  the  twilight  of  his  grated  door, 
 to  take  his  picture." 
 
 The  volume  opens  with  the  Civil  and  Ecclesiastic 
 History  of  the  Bass, — a  precedence  which  this  portion 
 owes  to  its  partaking,  more  than  any  of  the  other  parts, 
 of  an  introductory  character.  Here  the  reader  may  be 
 reminded,  perhaps,  of  the  clergyman  that  was  compelled 
 to  preach  a  sermon  on  a  single  short  word  as  a  text ; 
 he  will  therefore  make  some  allowance,  should  he  find 
 a  superfluous  display  of  knowledge  where  little  can 
 be  known,  and  a  good  deal  of  talking  where  little  can 
 be  told.  The  writer  claims  no  more  than  the  humble 
 merit  of  stringing  together  the  few  facts  scattered  over 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Vll 
 
 the  surface  of  history,  and  which,  like  the  ruins  that 
 attest  them,  were  fast  hastening  into  decomposition 
 and  "  dumb  forgetfulness/' 
 
 The  Geological  description  of  the  rock  which  follows, 
 comes  from  the  pen  of  one  of  whom  it  may  be  truly 
 said,  as  it  was  of  Goldsmith,  that  "  there  was  nothing 
 he  touched  that  he  did  not  adorn/'  It  would  be  mere 
 affectation  in  one  who  can  hardly  boast  of  having  mas- 
 tered the  nomenclature  of  the  science  which  Mr  Miller 
 has  done  so  much  to  popularize  and  advance,  to  pretend 
 to  act  as  his  cicerone.  And,  indeed,  I  feel  very  much 
 in  the  predicament  of  the  servant  who,  after  in  vain 
 attempting  to  enunciate  the  name  of  a  Russian  noble- 
 man at  a  party,  begged  as  a  particular  favour  that  his 
 Excellence  would  "  show  up"  himself 
 
 The  Historical  Notices  of  the  prisoners  confined  in 
 the  Bass,  as  they  necessarily  form  the  longest,  will 
 not,  it  is  hoped,  prove  the  least  interesting  portion  of 
 the  volume.  It  was  impossible,  within  shorter  com- 
 pass, to  do  any  measure  of  justice  to  so  many  names. 
 A  slight  inspection  of  these  biographies  will  show  that 
 they  are  no  hasty  compilations,  nor  one-sided  pictures, 
 but  an  accurate  and  impartial  collection  of  facts,  the 
 result  of  laborious  and  intelligent  inquiry  into  the 
 most  authentic  sources.  The  Records  of  the  Privy 
 Council  and  the  Justiciary  Courts  have  been  carefully 
 examined,  and  the  facts  thus  elicited  have  been  pre- 
 sented exactly  as  they  appeared  when  disinterred, 
 many  of  them  for  the  first  time,  from  the  archives  of 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the  Register  Office,  being  left,  in  a  great  measure,  to 
 tell  their  own  tale,  and  teach  their  own  lessons. 
 
 The  volume  closes  with  notices  of  the  Natural  His- 
 tory of  the  rock,  as  it  now  appears,  since  it  has  reverted 
 into  the  possession  of  its  original  proprietors,  the  solan 
 geese  and  other  sea-fowl,  and  in  the  upper  dress  in 
 which  it  presents  itself  to  the  admirers  of  nature.  It 
 can  hardly  fail  to  enhance  the  interest  of  our  book, 
 that  it  affords  its  readers  the  rare  treat  of  a  zoological 
 and  botanical  survey  of  the  island,  in  the  company  of 
 such  men  as  Professors  Fleming  and  Balfour,  both  of 
 whom  are  so  celebrated  in  their  respective  walks,  and 
 so  well  fitted  to  communicate,  in  the  best  spirit,  the 
 stores  of  their  varied  information. 
 
 It  only  remains  for  me  to  add,  that  the  whole  work 
 was  originally  projected  by  a  gentleman,  whose  warm 
 interest  in  the  history  of  the  Bass  Rock  is  strengthened 
 by  local  associations — Mr  James  Cra"v\^ord,  jun.,  W.S., 
 — to  whose  indefatigable  exertions  in  securing  the  ser- 
 vices of  those  employed  in  the  literary  department, 
 and  in  providing  materials  and  embellishments  for 
 the  volume,  the  public  are  mainly  indebted  for  its 
 appearance. 
 
 Thomas  M'Crie. 
 
 Edinburgh,  December  1847. 
 
CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC  HISTORY 
 OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 BY  THK  REV.  THOMAS  M'CKIE. 
 
 a 
 
CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC  HISTORY 
 OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 LD  Hector  Boece,  speaking  of  the  Bass  as 
 it  appeared  in  his  day,  describes  it  as  "  ane 
 wounderful  crag,  risand  within  the  sea,  with 
 so  narrow  and  strait  hals  (passage)  that  na 
 schip  nor  boit  may  arrive  bot  allanerlie  at  ane  part 
 of  it.  This  crag  is  callet  the  Bas  ;  unwinnabill  by 
 ingine  of  man.  In  it  are  coves,  als  profitable  for 
 defence  of  men,  as  (if)  thay  were  biggit  be  crafty  in- 
 dustry. Every  thing  that  is  in  that  crag  is  ful  of  ad- 
 miration and  wounder."*  Such  as  the  Bass  stood  in 
 the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  when  Boece 
 flourished,  so  docs  it  stand  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
 unaltered  in  a  single  feature,  and  still  "  ful  of  admira- 
 tion and  wounder."  Rising  abruptly  to  the  height  of 
 four  hundred  and  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
 about  two  miles  from  the  shore,  and  three  miles  east 
 from  the  ancient  royal  burgh  of  North  Berwick,  it  pre- 
 
 •  Bollendon's  Boece,  vol.  i.  p,  37. 
 
I 
 
 [4]  CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 sents  to  the  stranger  one  of  the  most  striking  objects 
 on  entering  the  mouth  of  the  Firth  ;  and  to  the  visitor 
 in  summer,  when  the  dark-browed  rock  is  encircled 
 with  myriads  of  sea-fowl,  wheeling  around  it  in  all  va- 
 rieties of  plumage,  and  screaming  in  all  the  notes  of  the 
 aquatic  scale,  when  it  may  be  said. 
 
 The  Isle  is  full  of  noises, 
 Sounds,  and  ivild  airs,  that  give  delight,  and  hurt  not, 
 
 the  scene  appears  like  enchantment,  and  leaves  an  im- 
 pression not  easily  forgotten. 
 
 But  leaving  to  be  described  by  more  competent 
 hands,  those  natural  features  of  the  Bass  which  have 
 remained  unchanged  by  the  lapse  of  ages,  it  falls  to  my 
 lot  to  record  scenes  and  events  connected  with  its  his- 
 tory which  are  past  and  gone — never,  we  hope,  to  re- 
 turn. About  half  way  up  the  southern  slope  of  the  rock, 
 are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  chapel,  pointing  to  an  early 
 date,  and  associated  with  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
 into  Scotland.  At  the  base  of  the  same  slope,  clinging 
 as  it  were  to  the  sides  of  the  precipice,  are  the  moulder- 
 ing walls  of  a  fortification,  within  which  a  number  of  our 
 pious  countrymen  were  incarcerated  during  the  reigns 
 of  the  last  Stuarts.  These  two  ruins,  between  which, 
 judging  even  from  their  outward  aspect  and  structure, 
 there  occurs  a  chasm  of  some  duration,  are  curiously 
 enough  suggestive  of  the  two  periods  to  which  our  re- 
 searches extend  ;  the  interval  between  the  first  and 
 the  second  embracing  what  have  been  truly  called  the 
 dark  ages — dark  in  an  hirstorlcal  as  well  as  religious 
 sense  ;  for  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  lights  of 
 history  shine  more  brightly  on  our  earlier  annals,  when 
 the  simplicity  of  the  Christian  faith  was  retained,  than 
 on  later  times  when  the  Pope  reigned  paramount  in 
 
 I 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [5] 
 
 OUT  land.  The  old  chapel  carries  us  back  to  these 
 times  of  primitive  simplicity  ;  while  to  the  associations 
 connected  with  the  battered  fortress  at  its  base,  this 
 rock,  barren  and  insignificant  in  itself,  is  mainly  in- 
 debted for  the  interest  it  now  possesses  in  the  eyes  of 
 Scotsmen. 
 
 The  first  notice  of  the  Bass  in  our  ancient  records, 
 is  in  connection  with  one  of  those  religious  hermits, 
 who  at  a  very  early  period,  driven  probably  by  perse- 
 cution, or  by  the  wars  between  the  Scots  and  the  Picts, 
 selected  it  as  his  place  of  retreat.  The  name  of  this 
 hermit  of  the  Bass  was  Saint  Baldred.  He  was  of 
 Scottish  descent,  and  flourished  at  the  end  of  the  sixth 
 and  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  having  died 
 in  the  year  of  our  Lord  606  Our  information  concern- 
 ing him  is  not  only  meagre,  but  so  mixed  up  with  the 
 legends  of  superstition,  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
 between  the  true  and  the  fabulous.  He  has  been 
 termed,  for  example,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  and  the  suc- 
 cessor of  St  Kentigern  or  Mungo,  the  patron  saint  of 
 that  city.*  Whereas,  so  far  as  authentic  history  goes, 
 there  is  no  evidence  that  Mungo  was  a  bishop  at  all, 
 any  more  than  St  Columba,  who  is  acknowledged  on 
 all  hands  to  have  been  no  more  than  a  Presbyter, 
 though  he  was  the  head  of  the  monastery,  or  religious 
 college  of  Iona.t  This  fact,  resting  on  the  authority 
 of  the  venerable  Bede,  has  sadly  puzzled  our  episcopal 
 antiquaries,  who  have  been  obliged  to  resort  to  the  ex- 
 traordinary supposition,  that  St  Columba  must  have 
 kept  a  bishop  in  his  monastery,  as  a  gentleman  may 
 keep  a  family  doctor,  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
 ferring holy  orders  on  those  whom  he  sent  forth  to 
 
 •  Thorn.  Dempsteri  Hist.  Eccl.  Gent.  Scot.  torn.  i.  p.  65. 
 t  Dalryraple's  Collections,  p.  13G. 
 
[6] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 preach  the  gospel  !*  Of  one  thing  wq  may  be  certain, 
 that  until  Palladius  was  sent  by  the  Pope  in  420,  the 
 Scots  knew  nothing  about  bishops.  "  Before  his  arri- 
 val," says  Fordun,  "  the  Scots  had  presbyters  and  monks 
 only,  as  teachers  of  the  faith  and  ministers  of  the  sacra- 
 ments, following  the  rule  of  the  primitive  church/'t 
 And  it  was  long  after  this  before  they  could  be  prevailed 
 on  to  part  with  their  ancient  pastors,  to  whom  they 
 were  naturally  attached  as  having  been  chosen  by 
 themselves  ;  "  for/'  says  Bale,  they  had  their  bishops 
 and  ministers  formerly  elected  according  to  the  "Word, 
 hy  the  votes  of  the  people,  as  appears  to  have  been  prac- 
 tised in  Britain  after  the  manner  of  Asia :  But  this 
 did  not  please  the  Romans,  who  were  fonder  of  cere- 
 monies and  disliked  the  Asiatics/'^ 
 
 In  all  probability,  therefore,  the  veritable  St  Bald- 
 red  of  the  Bass  was  a  simple  Culdee  presbyter,  re- 
 siding for  safety  and  retirement  in  the  island,  as  Co- 
 lumba  did  In  lona,  and  Adamnan,  another  presbyter, 
 in  Inchkeith,  but  sallying  forth  occasionally  to  teach 
 the  rude  natives  on  the  mainland  the  doctrines  of 
 
 •  Lloyd,  bishop  of  St  Asaph,  Historical  Account,  p.  102.  Keith's  Ca- 
 talogue of  Scottish  Bishops,  pref.  20.  In  Spotswood's  list  of  the  bishops 
 of  Glasgow,  St  Baldred  is  omitted,  and  from  St  Mungo,  the  first  bishop  in 
 599,  there  is  a  total  blank  to  John  Achaian  in  1129 — the  small  space  of 
 about  five  centuries  and  a  half!  And  yet  Keith  could  be  "  pretty  positive 
 that  St  Mungo  was  truly  a  bishop."  Spotswood's  Hist.  App.  p.  46. 
 Keith's  Cat.  p.  137.  This  is  as  good  as  his  setting  down  Amphibalm  as 
 the  first  archbishop  of  St  Andrews,  when  it  turns  out  that  this  amphibalus 
 was  the  Latin  or  rather  Greek  for  the  shaff-cloak  of  a  certain  abbot, 
 whirh  had  been  mistaken  by  some  blundering  monk  for  the  proper  name 
 of  n  bishop  !    Usser.  Antiq.  p.  281.    Lloyd,  p.  151.    Dalrymple,  p.  119. 
 
 t  Joan.  Fordun,  Scotichronicon,  lib.  iii.  ch.  viii.  His  words  are,  "  Ante 
 cujus  adventum,  habebant  Scoti  fidei  doctores,  ac  sacramentorum  minis- 
 triitores,  j)resbyteros  solummodo  vcl  monachos,  ritum  sequentes  ecclesise 
 primitivaj." 
 
 ♦  Balwi  Scrip.  Brit,  apud  Usser.  Brit.  Eccl.  Ant.  p.  417. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [7] 
 
 Christianity.  "  Impelled/'  says  Bishop  Lesley,  "  with 
 an  ardent  desire  for  propagating  religion,  he  devoted 
 himself  to  the  Picts,  and  instructed  them  in  the  way 
 of  Christ."*  According  to  a  still  more  ancient  autho- 
 rity, Simeon  of  Durham,  "  the  bounds  of  his  pastoral 
 care  embraced  the  whole  county,  from  Lammermoor  to 
 Inveresk/'t  "  In  these  days,''  says  Bede,  "  people  never 
 came  into  a  church  but  only  for  hearing  the  word  and 
 prayer.  All  the  care  of  these  Doctors  was  to  serve 
 God,  not  the  world, — to  feed  souls,  not  their  own  bodies. 
 Wherefore  a  religious  habit  was  then  much  reverenced  ; 
 and  if  any  priest  entered  a  village,  incontinently  all 
 the  people  would  assemble,  being  desirous  to  hear  the 
 word  of  life  ;  for  the  priests  did  not  go  into  villages 
 upon  any  other  occasion,  except  to  preach,  or  visit  the 
 sick,  or  in  a  word — to  feed  souls."  J 
 
 But  only  mark  how  our  simple  hermit  becomes  trans- 
 mogrified, when  viewed  through  monkish  spectacles  at 
 the  distance  of  some  centuries.  "  This  suffragan  of  St 
 Kentigern,"  says  one  of  these  chroniclers,  "  flourished 
 in  Lothian,  in  virtues  and  in  illustrious  miracles.  Being 
 eminently  devout  he  renounced  all  worldly  pomp,  and 
 following  the  example  of  John  the  Divine,  resided  in 
 solitary  places,  and  betook  himself  to  the  islands  of  the 
 sea.  Among  these,  he  had  recourse  to  one  called  Basa, 
 where  he  led  a  contemplative  life,  in  which,  for  many 
 years,  he  held  up  to  remembrance  the  most  blessed  Ken- 
 tigern  his  instructor."  Then  come  the  "  illustrious  mi- 
 racles," of  which  the  following  is  a  specimen  :  "  There 
 was  a  great  rock  between  the  said  island  (the  Bass)  and 
 the  adjacent  land,  which  remained  fixed  in  the  middle 
 
 ♦  Lesl.  Hist.  lib.  iv.  p.  14.>. 
 
 t  Statistical  Account,  parish  of  Whitekirk,  vol.  ii.  38. 
 \  Bed.  Hist.  lib.  iii.  c.  26.    Petrie'.«  Hist.  p.  til. 
 
[8] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 of  the  passage,  often  causing  shipwrecks.  The  blessed 
 Baldred,  moved  by  piety,  ordered  himself  to  be  placed 
 on  this  rock  ,  which  being  done,  at  his  nod  the  rock 
 was  immediately  lifted  up,  and  like  a  ship  driven  by 
 the  wind,  proceeded  to  the  nearest  shore,  and  thenceforth 
 remained  in  the  same  place  as  a  memorial  of  this  mi- 
 racle, and  is  to  this  day  called  St  Baldred's  Coble  or 
 Cock -boat.''*  And,  indeed,  we  are  informed  by  a  mo- 
 dern writer  who  has  made  St  Baldred  the  hero  of  a 
 poem,t  that  a  small  rock  at  the  mouth  of  Aldhame  Bay 
 still  bears  the  name  of  Baudrons  Boat.  We  have  also 
 St  Baldred's  Cradle,  another  rock,  "  which  tradition 
 says  elegantly  is  rocked  by  the  winds  and  the  waves," 
 — Baldred's  Well,  and  Baudron's  (the  Scotch  name  for 
 Baldred's)  Statue,  which  was  demolished  by  "  an  irre- 
 verent mason."  All  this  certainly  proves  the  existence 
 of  such  a  personage,  and  the  high  repute  in  which  he 
 was  held  in  that  neighbourhood.  But,  at  the  risk  of 
 incurring  the  epithet  bestowed  on  the  iconoclastic  ma- 
 son, we  must  say,  with  all  respect  for  St  Baldred's  nod, 
 that  the  agency  of  a  good  sea-storm  or  flood-tide  ap- 
 pears to  us  a  more  probable  explanation  of  the  cock- 
 boat story. 
 
 St  Baldred,  it  would  seem,  died  on  the  Bass,+  on  the 
 6th  of  March  in  the  year  606.  Even  at  that  early  age, 
 Christians  had  begun  to  pay  a  superstitious  veneration 
 to  the  relics  of  distinguished  saints ;  and  the  honour 
 of  having  the  dead  body  of  the  revered  anchorite  depo- 
 sited among  them  might  naturally  become  an  object  of 
 competition  among  his  rude  and  half-civilized  disciples. 
 
 *  Jamieson's  Hist.  Culdees,  p.  190. 
 
 t  St  Baldred  of  the  Bass,  and  other  Poems;  by  James  Miller.  Edin. 
 1824. 
 
 J  This  at  least  is  stated  by  Boece,  though  other  accounts  mention  Ald- 
 hame as  the  place  of  his  death. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [9] 
 
 A  story  is  told,  however,  relating  to  his  burial,  which, 
 though  not  without  its  parallels  in  after  times,  bears 
 too  strong  an  impress  of  its  monkish  origin,  to  be  re- 
 ferred so  far  back  as  the  early  date  to  which  it  lays 
 claim.   The  legend,  originating  probably  in  some  pious 
 fraud  of  subsequent  contrivance,  "  to  avoid  scandalous 
 divisions,''  grows  in  pomp  and  circumstance  even  before 
 our  eyes,  in  the  ancient  records  which  have  transmitted 
 it.    The  first  version  of  the  story  is  very  simple,  being 
 to  the  eiFect,  "  that  the  people  waxing  wroth,  took  arms, 
 and  each  of  them  sought  by  force  to  enjoy  the  same  ; 
 and  when  the  matter  came  to  issue,  the  said  sacred 
 body  was  found  all  whole  in  three  distinct  places  of  the 
 house  where  he  died  ;  so  as  all  the  people  of  each  vil- 
 lage coming  thither  and  carrying  the  same  away,  placed 
 it  in  their  churches,  and  kept  it  in  great  honour  and 
 veneration  for  the  miracles  that  at  each  place  it  pleased 
 God  to  work/'  The  next  version  is  more  in  accordance 
 with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  :  "  The  inhabitants 
 of  the  three  parishes  which  were  under  his  charge  (Ald- 
 hame,  Tynningham,  and  Preston),  as  soon  as  they  knew 
 of  his  death,  assembled  in  three  different  troops  at  Ald- 
 hame,  where  he  breathed  his  last,  severally  begging  his 
 body.    But  as  they  could  not  agree  among  themselves, 
 they,  by  the  advice  of  a  certain  old  man,  left  the  body 
 unburied,  and  separately  betook  themselves  to  prayer. 
 Morning  being  come,  they  found  three  bodies  perfectly 
 alike,  and  all  pre})ared  with  equal  pomp  for  interment." 
 So  saith  the  Breviary  of  Aberdeen.    Time  advances, 
 and  the  wonder  gathering  in  bulk,  and  catching  up 
 more  rubbish  in  its  way  as  it  rolls  down  the  dark  ages, 
 we  arc  informed  by  Hector  Bocce  in  1  r)2(),  tliat  the  three 
 bodies  were  found  hy  the  priests,  when  it  was  luirdly 
 daAvn  (sub  dubiam  lucem) ;  and  that,  by  orders  of  the 
 
[10] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 bishop,  they  were  conveyed,  amidst  the  devout  accla- 
 mations of  the  multitude,  to  the  three  neighbouring 
 churches.*  Another,  improving  on  the  miracle  still 
 farther,  assures  us  that  it  was  effected  "  by  the  prayers 
 of  the  saint  himself and,  to  crown  the  whole,  John 
 Major  adduces  it  as  an  irrefragable  proof  of  transubstan- 
 tiation, — a  doctrine,  by  the  way,  not  even  broached  in 
 the  Church  of  Rome  till  three  centuries  after  the  death 
 of  Baldred  !t  This  ridiculous  story,  fit  only  for  the 
 regions  of  romance,  has  been  rendered  into  verse  bv 
 the  poet  already  referred  to  : 
 
 Each  load  was  borne  most  pompously, 
 Decked  with  its  cross  and  rosary  ; 
 AVhile,  one  by  one,  three  corpses  lay 
 Like  twin-brothers,  transformed  to  clay, 
 Moulded  so  nicely  to  each  other, 
 The  eye  no  difference  might  discover. 
 And  as  the  tapers  flickered  dim, 
 
 The  features  looked  uncouth — 
 They  raised  the  sheet  from  Baldred's  face, 
 
 They  turned  the  corpses  where  they  lay ; 
 In  each  his  features  clearly  trace, 
 
 Crowned  with  a  tuft  of  silvery  grey. 
 They  deemed  his  bright  etherial  flame, 
 
 Which  mortal  form  could  not  control. 
 From  heaven  had  held  a  trio  frame 
 
 To  suit  his  zealous  warmth  of  soul.  J 
 
 With  regard  to  the  old  Chapel  of  the  Bass,  though  it 
 may  mark  the  spot  of  Baldred's  humble  cell,  there  is 
 reason  to  believe  that  it  is  of  comparatively  modern 
 
 •  H.  Boeth.  lib.  ix. ;  Dempster,  Ilist.  Eccl.  i.  65. 
 
 t  Jamieson's  Culdees,  188.  Bishop  Lesley  seems  half-ashamed  of  the 
 story,  (De  Reb.  Gest.  lib.  iv.  145).  Archdeacon  Nicolson,  speaking  of  the 
 credulity  of  Boece,  says,  "  His  terrible  story  of  a  monstrous  otter,  which 
 struck  down  oaks  with  its  steer, — the  sea-monks  of  the  Isle  of  Bass, — and 
 the  wild  men,  who  could  pull  up  the  tallest  fir  with  as  much  ease  as  an 
 ordinary  body  can  root  up  a  turnip, — are  proper  companions.  (Scottish 
 Hist.  Library,  p.  9.) 
 
 *  St  Baldred  of  the  Bass,  part  i.  19,  21. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 date.  It  would  appear  that  this  island  at  one  time 
 formed  a  parish,  and  that  the  "  parish  kirk  in  the  craig 
 of  the  Bass"  was  consecrated,  in  honour  of  St  Baldred, 
 so  late  as  1542,  when  it  is  more  than  probable  the 
 structure  was  first  erected,  under  the  patronage  of  that 
 notorious  enemy  of  the  Reformation,  Cardinal  Beaton.* 
 Should  any  of  our  readers  be  curious  to  know  the 
 subsequent  history  of  this  Chapel,  we  fear  they  will 
 be  disappointed.  All  we  can  say  about  it  is,  that  it 
 may  have  been  occasionally  frequented  as  a  place  of 
 worship  till  the  Reformation.  Tradition  says  that  it 
 was  customary  for  the  Cistercian  nuns  of  the  neigh- 
 bouring abbey  of  North  Berwick,  to  pay  an  annual 
 pilgrimage  to  another  old  chapel  in  the  adjacent 
 island  of  Feddery,  the  ruins  of  which  still  remain. 
 They  may  have  sometimes  visited  the  Bass  chapel  also. 
 In  1544,  there  were  twenty-two  of  these  nuns,  as  we 
 learn  from  a  document  which  not  one  of  the  poor  crea- 
 tures was  able  to  subscribe ;  each  of  them,  from  the 
 prioress  downwards,  having  this  added  to  her  signa- 
 ture by  the  notary,  "  With  my  hand  at  y®  pen.^'t  They 
 must  have  been  reduced  to  great  poverty  too  by  this 
 time,  for  their  convent  had  been  pillaged,  burnt,  and 
 destroyed  in  1529,+  full  thirty  years  before  the  Refor- 
 mation, which  has  been  unjustly  made  the  scape-goat 
 of  a  great  many  offences  of  this  kind.    Our  Reformers 
 
 •  The  following  is  our  authority  :— "  1542.  The  v.  d.  of  .Tany.  M.  Vil- 
 lielm  Gybsone,  byschop  of  Lilmriensis  and  SufFraganeus  ti»  Dawid  Heton, 
 Cardynall  and  Archebysschop  of  Santandros,  consecrat  and  dedirat  the 
 paris  kirk  in  the  craig  of  the  Bass,  in  honor  (*f  Sant  Baldred,  bysschop 
 and  confessor,  in  presens  of  niaister  Jhon  Lawder,  arsdone  in  Teuidaill, 
 noter  publict."  (Kxtracta  ex  Chronicis  Scocie,  p.  lioij.  Printed  by  the 
 Abbotsford  Club,  1842). 
 
 t  Carte  Monialium  de  North  Berwic.  juinted  for  the  B.iniiatvne  Club, 
 
 p.  eo. 
 
 ♦  Ibid,  p.  47. 
 
[12] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 were  exceedingly  desirous  to  keep  up  all  the  "  kirks  of 
 the  nunneries,"  or  places  of  worship  connected  with 
 these  establishments,  and  to  have  them  supplied  with 
 "  qualified  ministers/'  And  it  is  remarkable  how  soon 
 they  provided  all  the  parishes  of  Scotland,  either  with 
 ministers  or  with  readers,  a  humbler  class  of  officials, 
 whose  duty  it  was  to  read  the  scriptures,  and  the 
 simple  prayers  of  Geneva  prefixed  to  the  psalms.  But 
 they  had  no  notion  of  keeping  up  service  at  useless  and 
 empty  shrines,  where  there  was  no  population  ;  and 
 little  did  they  reck  where  St  Baldred  died,  or  in  how 
 many  places  he  was  buried.  As  the  Bass,  therefore, 
 could  furnish  few  or  no  hearers,  we  are  not  surprised 
 to  find  in  the  "  Bulk  of  Assignations  of  the  Ministers 
 and  Reidars  Stipends  for  the  year  1576,''  the  following 
 entry,  "  Bass  and  Auldhame  neidis  na  reidaris."*  All 
 we  can  say  of  its  future  fate  is  comprehended  in  one 
 sentence,  written  by  Eraser  of  Brea  in  1677:  "Below 
 the  garden,  there  is  a  chapel  for  divine  service  ;  but  in 
 regard  no  minister  was  allowed  for  it,  the  ammunition 
 of  the  garrison  was  kept  therein."  Notwithstanding 
 this  "  desecration,"  we  are  informed  that  a  "  young 
 lady,  in  the  presence  of  her  father,  was  here  solemnly 
 confirmed  in  her  Romish  faith  and  profession,  and  the 
 due  ritual  services  were  gone  through  in  the  presence 
 of  the  keeper  of  the  Bass  and  his  boat  assistant."t 
 
 The  earliest  proprietors  of  the  island  on  record  were 
 the  ancient  family  of  the  Landers,  who  from  this  were 
 usually  designated  the  Landers  of  the  Bass.  A  charter 
 of  it  in  favour  of  Robert  Lauder  from  William  de  Lam- 
 })ert,  bishop  of  St  Andrews,  dates  as  far  back  as  1316. 
 According  to  Henry  the  Minstrel,  Robert  Lauder  ac- 
 
 *  Register  of  Ministers  15G7,  printed  for  Bann.ityne  Club,  p.  74. 
 t  Statistical  Account,  North  Berwick,  vol.  ii.  p.  331. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [is: 
 
 compauied  Wallace  in  many  of  his  exploits.  In  the 
 aisle  of  the  lairds  of  the  Bass,  in  the  old  church  of 
 North  Berwick,  a  tombstone  once  bore  the  following 
 inscription,  in  Latin-Saxon  characters, — Here  lies  the 
 good  Robert  Lauder,  the  great  Laird  of  Congalton  and 
 the  Bass,  who  died  May  1311."  The  crest  they  assumed 
 from  it  was  quite  characteristic, — a  solan  goose  sitting 
 on  a  rock  ;  but  the  motto  was  rather  a  burlesque  on 
 the  original,  Sub  umbra  alarum  tuarum*  The  island 
 continued  in  the  possession  of  this  ancient  family  for 
 about  five  centuries.t 
 
 It  does  not,  however,  appear  when  it  first  began 
 to  be  used  as  a  "  strength"  or  fortified  place.  The 
 first  time  we  hear  of  it  having  been  thus  employed 
 is  in  the  year  1405,  when  it  afforded  a  temporar}' 
 retreat  to  James,  the  youngest  son  of  Robert  III., 
 before  embarking,  under  the  guardianship  of  the 
 Earl  of  Orkney,  on  that  ill-fated  expedition,  which 
 issued  in  his  being  taken  by  the  English,  and  detained 
 nineteen  years  in  captivity.  That  even  at  that  early 
 period  there  was  a  castle,  or  some  fortification  on  the 
 island,  is  a  supposition  strengthened  by  another  fact. 
 On  the  return  to  Scotland  of  that  young  prince,  now 
 James  the  First,  in  the  year  1424,  we  are  informed 
 that  "Walter  Stewart,  eldest  son  of  Murdac  or  Murdo, 
 Duke  of  Albany,  Avho  had  acted  as  Regent,  was  arrested 
 and  "  sent  prisoner  to  the  Castle  of  the  Bass  /'^  and  soon 
 after,  his  father  was  committed  to  Carlraverock  Castle, 
 and  his  mother,  the  duchess,  to  Tantallan,    places  re- 
 
 •  Jamieson's  Illustrations  of  Slezer. 
 
 t  In  the  Appendix  to  this  part,  the  reader  •will  find  the  above  mentioned 
 charter,  and  a  full  account  of  the  family  of  Lauder,  kindly  furnished  for 
 our  volume  by  the  lineal  descendant  and  representative  of  the  family, 
 Sir  Thomas  Dick  Lauder. 
 
 I  Leslsei  Uistoria,  lib.  vii.  p.  262. 
 
CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 mote  from  the  seat  of  tlieir  feudal  influence/'*  This 
 Walter  Stewart  was  the  first  prisoner  of  the  Bass  that 
 we  read  of  in  history, — a  very  different  character,  in- 
 deed, from  those  whom  my  friend  Mr  Anderson  has  in- 
 troduced to  the  readers  of  this  volume.  He  was  a  spoilt 
 child,  and  a  profligate  youth,  having,  with  his  brothers, 
 abandoned  himself  to  every  kind  of  licentiousness  dur- 
 ing the  loose  administration  of  his  father,  who,  like  old 
 Eli,  connived  at,  and  ultimately  sufi'ered  for,  their  mis- 
 conduct. "  The  old  man  had  a  bird,''  says  Buchanan, 
 "  which  he  highly  prized,  of  the  falcon  species,  which 
 Walter  having  often  asked  from  his  father,  and  having 
 been  unable  to  obtain,  at  last,  in  contempt,  snatched 
 from  his  feeble  hand,  and  wrung  ofl"  its  neck.  To  which 
 outrage,  his  father  thus  replied,  '  Since  you  cannot  sub- 
 mit to  obey  me,  I  shall  bring  another,  whom  both  you 
 and  I  will  be  forced  to  obey :'  and  from  that  time  he 
 bent  his  whole  mind  to  restore  his  relation  James.'^f 
 Within  a  year  the  father  and  two  of  his  sons  were  be- 
 headed at  Stirling.  A  lively  fancy  might  draw  an 
 affecting  picture  of  the  old  duchess,  as  she  gazed  from 
 the  opposite  towers  of  Tantallan  on  the  ocean  prison 
 that  held  her  wayward  son,  and  describe  her  feelings 
 as  she  saw  him  conveyed  away  to  suff'er  an  ignominious 
 death.  But  our  Scottish  ladies  of  that  period  were 
 made  of  sterner  stuff"  than  we  are  apt  to  imagine. 
 
 There  is  a  report  current,"  says  Buchanan,  "  although 
 I  do  not  find  it  mentioned  by  any  historian,  that  the 
 king  sent  the  heads  of  her  father,  husband,  and  chil- 
 dren, to  Isab'ella,  on  purpose  to  try  whether  so  violent 
 a  woman,  in  a  paroxysm  of  grief,  as  sometimes  happens, 
 might  not  betray  the  secrets  of  her  soul ;  but  she,  though 
 
 »  Pinkorton,  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  113, 
 t  Bnch.  Hist.,  lib.  X.  §  2.5. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [15] 
 
 affected  at  the  unexpected  sight,  used  no  intemperate 
 expressions/'  I  have  an  old  manuscript  which  records 
 this  piece  of  savage  brutality,  and  adds  that  the  old 
 lady  "  said  nothing,  but  that  they  worthilie  died,  gif 
 that  whilk  wes  laid  against  them  were  trew!" 
 
 That  the  Bass  continued  as  one  of  the  strengths  or 
 fortresses  of  Old  Scotland,  during  the  sixteenth  century, 
 we  have  abundant  evidence.  Boece  describes  it  in  his 
 day  (1526)  "  as  a  castle  in  Lothian,  fortified  by  nature 
 in  the  most  extraordinary  manner,  being  situated  on  a 
 very  high  rock,  more  than  two  miles  from  the  shore, 
 and  surrounded  on  every  side  by  the  sea.''*  In  1548, 
 after  the  treaty  of  peace,  Lesley  says,  the  French  offi- 
 cers, "  Monsieur  de  Termes,  de  la  Chapelle,  and  sundrie 
 utheris  capitanis,  remanit  still  in  the  countrey,  and 
 travellit  throughout  the  most  pairt  of  the  realme,  visit- 
 ing the  situation  of  the  townis,  the  strengthis  of  Dum- 
 bartane,  Edinburgh,  Tamptallon,  the  Bas,  Dumbar, 
 Fast  Castell,  Dunnottar,  Phindlatir,  and  many  utheris, 
 as  well  boith  upone  the  coast  of  the  eist  and  west  seyis. 
 They  affearmed  they  had  never  sene  in  ony  countrey 
 so  mony  strengthis  to  natour,  within  ane  prince's  domi- 
 nion, as  was  within  the  realme  of  Scotland. "t  The 
 island,  with  its  castle,  appears  still  to  have  remained 
 the  private  property  of  the  Landers.  In  1581,  James 
 the  Sixth  paid  a  visit  to  the  Bass,J  and  seems  to  have 
 conceived  a  strong  desire  to  obtain  possession  of  it  for 
 
 •  Bi)Oce's  Chronicles,  as  quoted  by  Dempster,  and  repul>li'-hed  by  Ilnlin- 
 fihcd,  chap.  ix. 
 
 t  Bishop  Lesley's  Historic,  Bannatyne  Club  edit.  p.  2.'3.3. 
 
 J  In  the  Treasurer's  Accounts,  in  the  reign  of  James  VI.,  under  tlie 
 above  date,  is  entered  as  paid : — 
 
 "  ftem,  To  Alexander  Zoung,  his  Ilicnes  scrvitour  for  his  f« race's  ex- 
 traordinar  expenses  in  his  joniaij  townrdis  the  D"ki>,  ccinfoniie  to  his  Ilienos 
 proceprt,  as  the  saniin  with  his  acquittance  profhu  it  vpon  conipt  proportip, 
 xl.li."  (€40:0:0.) 
 
[16] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 the  crown.  It  is  said  he  offered  the  laird  whatever  he 
 pleased  to  ask  for  it ;  upon  which  Lauder  replied, 
 "  Your  Majesty  must  e'en  resign  it  to  me,  for  I'll  have 
 the  auld  crag  back  again."*  Shortly  after  this,  how- 
 ever, it  fell  into  other  hands.  In  1626,  Charles  I.,  for 
 what  reason  we  do  not  learn,  but  very  likely  on  no 
 better  ground  than  his  own  sovereign  pleasure,  insti- 
 tuted a  claim  to  the  possession  of  the  rock,  which  was 
 destined  to  share  the  fate  of  many  other  claims  made 
 by  that  infatuated  monarch.! 
 
 In  the  course  of  this  century,  there  occurs  a  curious 
 episode  in  the  history  of  the  Bass,  connected  with  the 
 public  records  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  In  conse- 
 quence of  the  English  invasion  under  Cromwell  in  1650, 
 it  was  thought  advisable  to  seek  a  shelter  for  these  va- 
 luable documents  in  the  fortress  of  the  Bass  ;  and  in 
 April  1651,  a  requisition  was  sent  to  the  keeper,  "  that 
 the  Bass  might  be  made  secure  for  the  registers,  as  it 
 had  been  in  a  former  day  of  calamity."  And  moreover, 
 "  the  Laird  of  Wauchton,  to  whom  that  strength  be- 
 longs, being  personallie  present,  most  gladlie  offered  to 
 receave  them,  promising  his  outmost  care  to  secure  and 
 preserve  them  from  all  danger."  But  alas  !  the  Bass, 
 as  well  as  all  the  other  "  strengths"  of  Scotland,  had  to 
 surrender  to  the  indomitable  Cromwell  before  that  year 
 had  expired ;  and  in  April  27,  1652,  his  Parliament 
 order,  That  Major-General  Dean  cause  the  public  Re- 
 cords of  the  Kirk,  taken  in  the  said  isle  (the  Bass),  to 
 be  packed  up  in  cask,  and  sent  to  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
 don, there  to  remain  in  the  same  custody  that  the  other 
 
 *  History  of  Dunbar,  by  James  Miller. 
 
 t  Among  his  Instructions  to  the  President  of  the  SessioD,  10th  Novem- 
 ber 1626,  is  the  following : — "  That  you  causse  prosecute  our  right  con- 
 cerning the  Bass,  with  all  expedition,  for  effectuatting  of  that  end  you 
 have  from  us."    Balfour's  Annales,  voL  ii.  p.  150. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Records  that  came  from  Scotland  are/'  These,  it  is 
 believed,  were  the  same  records  which,  after  travelling 
 back  to  Scotland,  were  again  conveyed  to  England,  and 
 perished  in  the  conflagration  which  occurred  in  the 
 House  of  Commons,  October  1834.* 
 
 But  in  the  progress  of  events,  "  the  auld  crag"  was 
 destined  to  change  both  masters  and  inmates.  Hav- 
 ing fallen  into  the  possession,  first  of  the  Laird  ot 
 Waughton,  and  thereafter  of  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay- 
 Provost  of  Edinburgh,  it  was,  in  October  1671,  pur- 
 chased from  the  latter  by  Lauderdale,  in  the  name 
 of  the  Government,  to  become  a  state  prison  ;  and,  as 
 Kirkton  observes,  "  a  dear  bargain  it  was/'  t  The  trans- 
 action is  thus  referred  to  in  one  of  the  brochures  of  that 
 period  :  — "  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay,  having  neither  for  a 
 just  price,  nor  by  the  fairest  means,  got  a  title  to  a  bare 
 insignificant  rock  in  the  sea,  called  the  Bass,  and  to  a 
 public  debt,  both  belonging  to  the  Lord  of  Wachton  ; 
 my  Lord  Lauderdale,  to  gratifie  Sir  Andrew,  moves 
 the  king,  upon  the  pretence  of  this  public  debt,  and 
 that  the  Bass  was  a  place  of  strength  (like  to  a  castle 
 in  the  moon),  and  of  great  importance  (the  only  nest 
 of  solan  geese  in  these  parts),  to  buy  the  rock  from  Sir 
 Andrew  at  the  rate  of  ^4000  sterling,  and  then  obtains 
 the  command  and  profits  of  it,  amounting  to  more  than 
 o£?100  sterling  yearly,  to  be  bestowed  upon  himself 
 
 *  Booke  of  the  Univorsull  Kirk,  (Bannatyne  edition).  v«)l.  iii. :  Preluve. 
 G  ;  Ai.i)ondix,  30. 
 
 t  Kirkton's  History,  ])y  Sluirpe,  p.  361. 
 
 I  An  Acconipt  of  Scotland's  (rrievanccs,  by  reason  of  the  Duke  of  Lnn- 
 derdale's  Mlnistrie,  p.  18.  Sir  George  Mackenzie,  coiniiienting  on  thif' 
 transaction  between  Lauderdale  and  Ramsay,  wlu»  at  the  same  time  "  oh- 
 tained  200  lib.  sterling;  per  annum  settle*!  upon  the  Provost  of  E<lin- 
 burf^h,"  observes,  "  Thus  thoy  wore  kind  to  one  another  upon  his  Majes- 
 ty's expenses,"  Hist,  of  Scotland,  p.  247. 
 
 b 
 
[18] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 Lauderdale  thus  became,  among  his  many  other  titles 
 of  honour,  Captain  of  the  Bass/'  "  But/'  says  honest 
 Kirkton,  "  the  use  the  king  made  of  it  was,  to  make  it 
 a  prison  for  the  Presbyterian  ministers  ;  and  some  of 
 them  thought,  when  they  died  in  the  prison  (as  ^Ir 
 John  Blackadder  did),  they  glorified  God  in  the  islands. 
 But  it  became  a  rule  of  practice  among  that  sort  of 
 people,  whenever  any  of  them  was  called  before  the 
 Councill,  that  either  they  behoved  to  satisfie  the  bishop, 
 which  never  ane  of  them  did,  or  else  goe  to  the  Bass  ; 
 so  all  of  them  refused  to  appear ;  and  our  governors 
 expected  no  more  respect  or  obedience  to  their  sum- 
 monds."  * 
 
 Having  now  brought  down  the  history  of  the  Bass 
 Castle  to  the  time  when  it  was  devoted  to  this  base 
 use,  let  us  endeavour  to  transport  ourselves  back  to 
 the  days  when  this  Rock,  now  the  undisputed  abode  of 
 the  wild  bu'ds  of  the  ocean,  was  the  Patmos  of  so  many 
 <i;odly  men,  and  when  these  walls,  now  mouldering  into 
 decay,  formed  their  dungeon. 
 
 The  reign  of  persecution  has  commenced — a  perse- 
 cution which,  in  various  respects,  stands  without  a 
 parallel  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  The  parties  were 
 Protestants ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  partial  doings 
 of  Elizabeth  and  Laud,  it  may  be  said  to  have  enjoyed 
 the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  only  bona  fide 
 instance  of  Protestant  persecution  on  record.  The  ca- 
 reer of  the  Romish  Church  has  been  so  marked  with 
 blood,  that  we  are  no  more  surj^rised  at  the  recital  of 
 her  atrocities,  than  at  those  of  a  beast  of  prey  ;  while, 
 on  hearing  of  Protestants  embruing  their  hands  in  the 
 ])lood  of  martyrs,  we  are  shocked  and  startled  as  at  the 
 murderous  deeds  of  the  frenzied  maniac.     To  look 
 
 •  Kirktun's  Hist.,  p.  361. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 upon  the  struggle  merely  as  the  result  of  a  mad  at- 
 tempt, on  the  one  hand,  to  enforce  Prelacy  on  an  un- 
 willing people,  and  of  a  bigoted  adherence,  on  the 
 other  hand,  to  the  Presbyterian  polity,  is  to  take,  not 
 only  a  superficial  and  unphilosophical,  but  a  most  erro- 
 neous view  of  the  matter.  True,  the  contending  parties 
 may  be  ranged  under  the  general  distinction  of  Pre- 
 latists  and  Presbyterians  ;  but  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
 crusade  against  the  latter,  there  was  a  combination  of 
 the  elements  of  evil,  and  an  exhibition  of  the  darkest 
 and  the  meanest  passions  of  our  nature,  seldom  if  ever 
 equalled.  Presbytery,  no  doubt,  was  never  a  favourite 
 with  oar  Scottish  rulers,  from  the  time  that  it  began 
 to  assert  the  supremacy  of  Christ  as  the  Head  of  the 
 Church,  and  the  consequent  independence  of  the  courts 
 of  his  house.  Yet  it  admits  of  being  demonstrated, 
 that  it  was  not  the  government  but  the  godliness  oi 
 Presbytery,  not  the  mere  form  of  its  polity  but  the 
 fidelity  of  its  moral  discipline,  that  rendered  it  odious 
 to  those  in  power.  It  is  said  that  James  the  Sixth 
 never  forgave  the  rough  handling  of  his  barons  at 
 the  Raid  of  Rutliven,  and  more  especially  the  speech 
 of  the  Master  of  Glamis,  when  placing  his  foot  at  the 
 door  to  prevent  the  egress  of  tlie  weeping  young  mo- 
 narch, he  said,  "  It  is  no  matter  of  his  tears :  better 
 that  bairns  should  weep  than  bearded  men."  And 
 there  is  good  reason  for  thinking  that  he  would  sooner 
 forget  the  rude  shaking  of  his  sleeve  by  Andrew  Mel- 
 ville, Avhen  he  called  him  "  God's  silly  vassal,"  than  he 
 would  the  faithful  rebukes  of  the  princely  Robert 
 Bruce,  before  whom  he  trembled  as  a  naughty  urchin 
 under  the  rod  of  his  teacher.  That  his  dissolute  grand- 
 son, Charles  Second,  had  his  eye  more  on  the  unaccom- 
 modating discipline  of  Presbytery,  than  on  the  plain- 
 
[20] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 ness  of  its  ritual,  when  he  pronounced  it  "  not  a  fit 
 religion  for  a  gentleman,"  *  it  would,  be  equally  easy 
 to  prove.  Nor  need  it  be  matter  of  surprise  that  our 
 proud  nobility  and  gentry,  bred  up  with  all  the  ideas 
 of  feudal  dignity  and  importance,  should  have  winced 
 under  a  regimen  which  bore  with  equal  pressure  on 
 them  and  the  meanest  of  their  dependents.  By  these 
 classes,  and  by  the  great  bulk  of  the  community,  which 
 then  as  well  as  now,  though  nominally  Christian,  had 
 not  been  brought  under  the  sanctifying  influence  of  the 
 truth,  the  Restoration  must  have  been  hailed  as  a  happy 
 relief  from  all  moral  restraint.  In  the  Prelatic  Church 
 of  Charles,  there  was  not  (as,  indeed,  how  could  there 
 be  under  such  a  Head  ?)  any  ecclesiastic  discipline. 
 It  was  the  age  of  political  thraldom  and  moral  liber- 
 tinism. The  Church  was  powerless  for  good,  and  con- 
 tented herself  with  shaking  her  palsied  arm  in  the  faces 
 of  a  few  unfortunate  witches.  The  irreligious  and  pro- 
 fane, formerly  the  objects  of  her  discipline,  remained 
 unmolested ;  while  all  the  power  of  the  Church,  trans- 
 ferred to  the  civil  government,  was  bent  against  the 
 pious  and  the  faithful. 
 
 With  this  prevailing  current  of  prejudice  against  god- 
 
 *  As  a  specimen  of  the  "gentlemanly"  spirit  of  Charles'  friends,  tho 
 following  trick,  practised  by  the  Lord  Advocate  on  an  Edinburgh  mer- 
 chant, Robert  Gray,  who  was  brought  before  the  Council,  on  the  accusa- 
 tion of  a  worthless  woman,  as  a  harbourer  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers, 
 may  be  given.  Gray  refused  to  implicate  any  ;  upon  which  the  advocate 
 took  his  ring  from  his  finger,  on  pretence  «)f  looking  at  it,  and  sent  it  to 
 his  wife,  instructing  the  messenger  to  tell  her  that  her  husband  had  dis- 
 covered all  he  knew,  and  desired  her  to  do  tho  same,  in  token  of  which  he 
 had  sent  his  ring.  The  consequence  was,  that  Mrs  Gray  made  disclosures 
 which  involved  some  excellent  ladies  in  town  ;  nn  hearing  of  which  her 
 husband  sickened  and  died.  One  of  these  ladies,  a  minister's  widow,  was 
 actually  threatfmed  with  the  torture  of  the  boots,  which  v/ero  laid  before 
 her.  She  stood  resolute,  and  would  have  suffered  had  not  Rothes  inter- 
 posed, and,  in  his  jeering  way,  remarked  to  the  Council,  that  it  iva»  iivt 
 proper  for  l.idics  to  wear  hoott. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 l21] 
 
 liness,  there  was  conjoined,  in  the  case  of  some  of  the 
 persecutors,  all  the  bitterness  of  partisans,  and  the  ma- 
 lignity of  self-convicted  apostates  ;  and  these  feelings, 
 meeting  like  two  conflicting  tides,  were  chafed  into 
 absolute  fury  by  the  opposition  made  to  their  measures 
 on  the  part  of  thoh-e  with  whom  they  had  once  co- 
 operated, and  whose  testimonies  to  the  truth,  held  up 
 before  them  as  they  sat  on  the  bench,  and  sealed  by 
 death  on  the  scaffold,  must  have  rung  in  their  ears 
 like  the  voice  of  the  accusing  angel  before  the  throne 
 of  Heaven.  In  no  other  way  can  we  account  for  the 
 atrocious  conduct  of  Sharpe  and  his  brother  prelates. 
 But  these  feelings  of  guilty  consciousness  appear  to 
 have  been  shared,  more  or  less,  by  the  whole  of  the 
 unprincipled  junto  to  whom  the  administration  of  af- 
 fairs in  our  country  was  then  entrusted  ;  and  they  were 
 exasperated,  in  no  small  degree,  by  the  high  ground 
 which  the  martyrs  assumed.  Unlike  the  Hugonots  of 
 France,  who  sought  only  toleration  for  their  religion, 
 the  Covenanters  of  Scotland  pled  for  the  ascendancy 
 of  theirs,  and  that,  not  only  on  the  ground  of  its  in- 
 trinsic truth,  but  on  what  their  enemies  must  have  felt 
 much  more  keenly,  "  even  as  a  sword  in  their  bones," 
 on  the  ground  of  the  national  pledge  in  the  Covenant, 
 which  they  had  perfidiously  violated,  and  ignominiously 
 burnt. 
 
 Another  feature,  pre-eminently  visible  in  this  per- 
 secution, was  its  cool  unprinci})led  villany.  Under 
 the  pretext  of  fines  and  confiscations  for  treason,  this 
 bloated  vampire  sat  for  twenty-eight  years  fattening 
 on  the  spoil,  and  sucking  the  ])lo()d  of  a  i)r()strate  na- 
 tion. A  spirit  of  insatiable  avarice,  too  ravenous  to 
 think  of  concealing  itself,  seized  on  all  the  function- 
 aries ol'  Government,  from  tlic  bench  of  ju.^tice,  where 
 
[22] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 Lauderdale  sat  with  an  indulgence  in  his  pocket, 
 chuckling  at  the  gentlemen  brought  before  him  to  pay 
 their  fines  for  accession  to  conventicles,  and  crying, 
 "  Now,  gentlemen,  ye  know  the  price  of  a  conventicle, 
 and  shame  fall  them  that  tires  first down  to  the 
 military  rufiian,  who,  on  being  asked  by  the  gentleman 
 he  was  robbing,  why  he  was  thus  treated,  replied, 
 "  Because  ye  have  gear,  and  I  maun  ha'  a  share  o't." 
 Add  to  all  this,  the  total  perversion  of  justice,  by  con- 
 verting acts  of  religion  into  acts  of  treason — the  em- 
 ployment of  spies  and  informers — imprisonment  for 
 years  without  any  cause  being  assigned  or  crime  sub- 
 stantiated— witnesses  suborned — juries  packed,  and 
 browbeaten  into  a  verdict  against  their  conscience, — 
 tortures  inflicted  with  the  view  of  inculpating  the  pri- 
 soner or  his  friends, — confessions  made  upon  security 
 of  the  public  faith  and  the  king's  honour,  and  after- 
 wards shamelessly  adduced  upon  oath  against  the  cri- 
 minal,— multitudes  indicted,  tried,  and  executed  upon 
 the  same  day,  and  intercessions  met  with  the  reply, 
 that  "  they  should  have  no  time  to  prepare  for  heaven, 
 for  hell  was  too  good  for  them," — drums  ordered  to  be 
 beat  at  the  execution,  to  drown  the  dying  words  of  the 
 martyrs  ;  and  the  least  expression  of  sympathy  in  the 
 crowd,  exposing  the  individual  to  be  dragged  to  the 
 scaffold,  with  other  traits  too  tedious  even  to  enumerate. 
 Such  a  scene  of  complicated  villany  and  cruelty,  under 
 mask  of  law,  it  is  believed,  has  never  been  surpassed. 
 
 In  fine.  Popery, — as  if  it  could  not  be  absent  from 
 a  scene  so  congenial  to  its  spirit, — Popery,  in  the  per- 
 son of  James,  Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  VII., 
 must  lend  its  aid  to  finish  the  tragedy.  This  person- 
 age, himself  the  greatest  criminal  in  the  kingdom,  must 
 stigmatise  the  Presbyterians  as  caitiffs,  not  fit  for  hu- 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 man  converse,  and  propose  to  eradicate  them  entirely  ; 
 affirming  withal,  that  "it  never  would  be  well  with 
 Scotland  till  all  the  country  on  the  south  of  the  Forth 
 were  made  a  hunting  field."  And,  truly,  what  with 
 leaving  them  to  be  butchered  in  the  open  fields  by  his 
 soldiers  without  form  or  process  of  law, — transporting 
 them  as  slaves  to  Virginia,  and  occasionally  scuttling 
 a  ship  on  its  passage,  and  thus  saving  the  expense  of 
 the  freight  by  drowning  the  passengers  wholesale, — he 
 bade  fair  soon  to  realise  his  expectations. 
 
 Base  and  barbarous  as  these  measures  were,  we  form 
 a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the  misery  they  occasioned, 
 if  we  look  no  farther  than  the  victims  who  suffered 
 under  them,  to  the  spoiling  of  their  goods  or  the  loss 
 of  their  lives.  These  were  comparatively  few,  and 
 honour  to  their  memory  !  But  Avhat  shall  we  think  of 
 the  multitudes,  who,  to  escape  these  sufferings,  "  made 
 shipwreck  of  the  faith  and  a  good  conscience,"  by 
 swearing  illegal  and  ensnaring  oaths,  renouncing  the 
 Covenant,  and  owning  the  usurped  authority  of  the 
 King  in  the  matters  of  God  ?  The  moral  and  spiritual 
 mischief  thus  wrought  is  not  so  easily  calculated  ;  ljut 
 the  melancholy  truth  is,  that  in  this  way  the  con- 
 sciences of  entire  districts  of  the  country  were  de- 
 bauched, in  consequence  of  which  the  public  spirit  of 
 Scotland  was  broken,  and  losing  the  self-respect  that 
 attends  conscious  integrity,  as  she  would,  but  for  Eng- 
 land, have  lain  at  the  feet  of  the  despot,  so  she  Avas 
 hardly  able,  even  after  her  deliverance  at  the  Revolu- 
 tion, to  assert  her  just  rights,  either  in  Church  or  State. 
 
 For  the  stringent  and  sanguinary  enactments  passed 
 «gainst  conventicles,*  a  poor  plea  may  be  set  u})  on  the 
 
 •  These  will  I*..-  found  rinti.c.l  in  tlx-  Intn-lnrtion  t<-  the  "  Martyrp  of 
 the  BabS." 
 
CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 ground  of  maintaining  the  public  peace  ;  but  these  exe- 
 crable bonds  imposed  on  the  consciences  of  good  men, 
 admit  of  not  the  shadow  of  apology.  Yet  were  they 
 enforced  with  the  most  unrelenting  severity.  When  a 
 deputation  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  west  Avaited  on  the 
 Council,  protesting  their  loyalty,  but  petitioning  against 
 this  imposition,  Burnet  informs  us  that  "  this  put  Duke 
 Lauderdale  in  such  a  frenzy,  that  at  the  Council  table, 
 he  made  bare  his  arms  above  his  elbows,  and  swore  by 
 Jehovah,  that  he  would  make  them  enter  into  these 
 bonds  I"  Now,  if  we  take  into  view,  what  is  not  gene- 
 rally known,  that  at  this  time  our  rulers  were  so  con- 
 scious the  public  mind  had  been  thoroughly  vitiated 
 by  false  swearing,  that  they  passed  a  law  rendering- 
 parole  evidence  inadmissible  in  civil  matters  affecting 
 property, — what  are  we  to  think  of  these  same  men 
 imposing  their  bonds  on  others,  who,  they  well  knew, 
 ^'  feared  an  oath''  so  much  that  some  of  them,  even  to 
 save  themselves  from  death,  would  scruple  to  say 
 "  God  save  the  king,''  lest  this  should  be  understood 
 to  involve  them  in  the  guilt  of  perjury  !  The  meshes 
 of  the  legal  net  were  admirably  contrived  to  catch  the 
 good  fish,  and  allow  the  bad  to  escape. 
 
 Some  have  represented  these  odious  impositions 
 as  a  just  retaliation  on  the  Presbyterians  for  having, 
 in  their  day  of  power,  enforced  the  Covenant.  But, 
 without  vindicating  that  step,  we  can  hardly  suppose 
 that  any  candid  person  would  seriously  state  a  compa- 
 rison between  the  two  cases.  The  Jews  were  far 
 mistaken  when  "  their  fear  of  God  was  taught  by  the 
 commandment  of  men ;"  but  how  different  was  this  from 
 "  compelling  the  Christians  to  blas])liemc  ?"  Among 
 those  who  may  have  taken  the  Covenant  against  their 
 will,  liow  few  could  say  that  they  had  taken  it  against 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [25] 
 
 their  conscience  ?  How  much  fewer,  that  they  had  suf- 
 fered for  refusing  to  take  it  ?  And,  however  far  wrong 
 it  may  have  been  to  urge  the  irreligious  to  come  under 
 an  engagement  to  maintain  a  profession  which  they  dis- 
 liked (which  was  very  rarely  done),  can  this  for  a  mo- 
 ment be  compared  with  forcing  a  conscientious  people 
 to  forswear  themselves,  by  renouncing  a  solemn  obli- 
 gation which  they  had  voluntarily  incurred  ? 
 
 To  return  from  this  digression,  we  may  now  observe 
 that,  among  the  other  methods  of  extermination  to 
 which  the  enemies  of  the  Presbyterians  resorted,  one  of 
 the  most  effectual,  and  least  merciful,  was  imprison- 
 ment In  these  days,  the  deprivation  of  personal  liberty 
 formed  the  most  tolerable  portion  of  the  prisoner's 
 doom.  Immured  in  cells  of  the  most  diminutive  pro- 
 portions, and  often  crowded  to  excess, — in  living  sepul- 
 chres, from  which  both  light  and  air  were  systemati- 
 cally excluded,  and  where  damp  and  cold,  the  squalor 
 carceris,  and  every  species  of  discomfort,  were  consi- 
 dered essential  parts  of  the  punishment, — multitudes, 
 it  may  be  easily  believed,  perished,  unpitied  and  un- 
 known, in  these  frightful  abodes,  under  the  hands  of 
 brutal  jailors,  and  amidst  untold  privations.  But,  at 
 the  time  we  write  of,  all  the  prisons  and  tolbooths  of 
 Scotland  were  filled  to  overflowing ;  it  was  found  ne- 
 cessary to  provide  more  accommodation  for  the  increas- 
 ing numbers  of  delinquents ;  and  the  Bass,  from  its 
 proximity  to  the  capital,  its  security,  and  perhaps  its 
 dignity  as  a  castle,  was  selected  as  a  fitting  recei)tacle 
 for  the  leading  men,  and  more  especially  the  Presby- 
 terian ministers. 
 
 A  slight  survey  of  the  ruins  of  the  fortress,  as  they 
 now  stand  in  naked  desolation,  is  sufficient  to  corrobo- 
 rate the  testimonies  of  the  prisoners,  and  to  shew  that 
 
 c 
 
[261 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 they  had  little  reason  to  congratulate  themselves  on  the 
 selection  of  their  marine  prison-house.  Placed  near  the 
 base  of  the  overhanging  precipice,  it  must  have  formed 
 a  sort  of  tank  or  reservoir  for  the  perpetual  drippings 
 from  above,  while  it  was  washed  by  the  spray  from  the 
 ocean  below,  and  entitled  by  exposure  to  the  full  bene- 
 fit of  the  eastern  blasts.  What  is  still  pointed  out  by 
 some  as  "  Blackadder's  cell,''  is  a  dormitory  about  seven 
 feet  by  eight,  situated  on  the  ramparts,  with  a  small 
 window  facing  the  south.  If  so,  he  was  better  appointed 
 than  his  brethren  in  the  inner  prison,  the  remains  of 
 which,  though  unroofed  and  unfloored,  may  be  still 
 traced.  On  a  late  visit  to  the  ruins,  I  was  struck  by 
 observing,  that  in  the  western  gable  of  this  room  is  one 
 small  window  which  had  served  for  light,  but  which  is 
 placed  at  such  a  height  above  the  floor  that  the  prison- 
 ers could  see  neither  earth  nor  sky  from  it ;  while  in 
 the  eastern  gable,  there  is  another  window  placed  at  a 
 lower  elevation,  but  so  contrived  that  it  had  looked 
 only  into  a  narrow  passage,  formed  by  a  wall  built  up 
 against  it,  and  enlightened  by  a  higher  aperture  in  that 
 wall.  By  this  piece  of  ingenious  cruelty,  the  poor  pri- 
 soners within  would  be  furnished  with  a  dim  and  bor- 
 rowed light,  and  at  the  same  time  prevented  from  be- 
 guiling their  captivity  by  gazing  "  on  mountain,  tower, 
 or  town,''  or  even  on  that  heaven  to  which  all  their 
 hopes  were  turned,  and  the  straggling  beams  of  which 
 were  so  scantily  aiforded  them.  At  the  same  time,  the 
 sentries  or  keepers  might  at  any  time,  by  creeping  along 
 this  passage,  manage,  through  the  inner  grating,  to  ob- 
 serve the  movements,  and  hear  the  conversations  of  their 
 prisoners.  There  can  be  no  question  regarding  "  the 
 lowest  cell  in  the  dungeon,"  to  which  Thomas  Hog  of 
 Kiltcarn  was  consigned,  through  the  tender  mercies  of 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [27] 
 
 Archbishop  Sharp.  An  arched  stair-case,  part  of  which 
 still  remains,  leads  down  under  ground  from  the  east 
 end  of  the  castle,  to  what  was  anciently  called  the  Bas- 
 tion, on  arriving  at  which,  the  visitor  finds  himself  in 
 a  hideous  cavern,  arched  over-head,  dank  and  dripping, 
 with  an  opening  towards  the  sea  which  dashes  within 
 a  few  feet  below.  It  was  in  this  "  horrible  pit,''  then, 
 obviously  the  "  dungeon-keep"  of  the  old  castle  in  the 
 days  of  its  glory,  that  the  good  man  was  deposited  ;  and 
 no  wonder  that  when  his  enfeebled  frame  was  dragged 
 down  that  subterranean  passage,  and  stretched  in  this 
 dismal  den,  he  should  have  concluded  that  his  ene- 
 mies had  done  their  worst, — had  reached  the  end  of 
 their  chain, — and  that  the  deepening  darkness  of  the 
 night  betokened  the  near  approach  of  the  dawn.* 
 
 But  let  us  hear  the  description  of  the  rock,  as  given 
 by  one  of  the  sufferers  themselves,  Mr  Fraser  of  Brea : 
 — "  The  Bass  is  a  very  high  rock  in  the  sea,  two  miles 
 distant  from  the  nearest  point  of  the  land  which  is 
 south  of  it ;  covered  it  is  with  grass  on  the  uppermost 
 parts  thereof,  where  is  a  garden  where  herbs  grow,  with 
 some  cherry-trees,  of  the  fruit  of  which  I  several  times 
 tasted.  Below  which  garden  there  is  a  chapel  for  di- 
 vine service  ;  but  in  regard  no  minister  was  allowed 
 for  it,  the  ammunition  of  the  garrison  was  kept  there- 
 in. Landing  here  is  very  difficult  and  dangerous  ;  for 
 if  any  storm  blow  ye  cannot  enter,  because  of  the  vio- 
 lence of  the  swelling  waves,  which  beat  with  a  wonder- 
 ful noise  upon  the  rock,  and  sometimes  in  such  a  vio- 
 lent manner,  that  the  broken  waves,  reverberating  on 
 the  rock  with  a  mighty  force,  have  come  up  the  walls 
 of  the  garrison,  on  the  court  before  the  })ri.soners'  cham- 
 bers, which  is  above  twenty  cubits  height :  and  with  a 
 
 *  See  the  Martyrs  of  the  Bass,  p.  191. 
 
 I 
 
[28] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 full  sea  must  you  land ;  or  if  it  be  ebb,  you  must  be 
 either  cranned  up,  or  climb  with  hands  and  feet  up 
 some  steps  artificially  made  on  the  rock,  and  must  have 
 help  besides  of  those  who  are  on  the  top  of  the  rock, 
 who  pull  you  up  by  the  hand.  Nor  is  there  any  place 
 of  landing  but  one  about  the  whole  rock,  which  is  of 
 circumference  some  three  quarters  of  a  mile.  Here  may 
 you  land  in  a  fair  day  and  full  sea  without  great  hazard, 
 the  rest  of  it  on  every  side  being  so  high  and  steep. 
 Only  on  the  south  side  thereof  the  rock  falls  a  little 
 level,  where  you  ascend  several  steps  till  you  come  to 
 the  governor's  house,  and  from  that  some  steps  higher 
 you  ascend  to  a  level  court,  where  a  house  for  prisoners 
 and  soldiers  is ;  whence  likewise,  by  windings  cut  out 
 of  the  rock,  there  is  a  path  leading  you  to  the  top  of 
 the  rock,  whose  height  doth  bear  off  all  north,  east  and 
 west  storms,  lying  open  only  to  the  south  :  and  on  the 
 uppermost  parts  of  the  rock  there  is  grass  sufficient  to 
 feed  twenty  or  twenty-four  sheep,  which  are  there  very 
 fat  and  good.  In  these  uppermost  parts  of  the  rock 
 were  sundry  walks  of  some  threescore  foot  length,  and 
 some  very  solitary,  where  we  sometimes  entertained 
 ourselves.  The  accessible  places  were  defended  with 
 several  walls,  and  cannon  placed  on  them,  which  com- 
 passed only  the  south  parts.  The  rest  of  the  rock  is 
 defended  by  nature,  by  the  huge  height  and  steepness 
 of  the  rock,  being  some  forty  cubits  high  in  the  lowest 
 place.  It  was  a  part  of  a  country  gentleman's  inheri- 
 tance, which  falling  from  hand  to  hand,  and  changing 
 many  masters,  it  was  at  last  bought  by  the  king,  who 
 repaired  the  old  houses  and  walls,  and  built  some  new 
 houses  for  prisoners ;  and  a  garrison  of  twenty  or  twenty- 
 four  soldiers  therein  are  sufficient,  if  courageous,  to  dc- 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [29] 
 
 fend  it  from  millions  of  men,  and  only  expugnable  by 
 hunger."* 
 
 Such  was  the  "  melancholy  place''  selected  by  govern- 
 ment as  a  state-prison,  and  in  which  some  forty  good 
 men,  whose  biographies  are  given  in  this  volume,  were 
 incarcerated,  during  periods  varying  from  a  few  months 
 to  upwards  of  six  years  !  The  rigour  of  their  con- 
 finement was  enhanced  by  the  most  vexatious  and 
 arbitrary  treatment  on  the  part  of  their  keepers.t 
 The  liberty  of  taking  air  and  exercise  on  the  hill 
 was  often  wantonly  denied  them,  or  obtained  as  a 
 great  favour  by  the  intercession  of  a  friend.  "  My 
 lord  M'Leod,  coming  from  his  travels,  went  to  see  the 
 Bass,  and  procured  some  more  liberty  to  Mr  M'Gilli- 
 gen,  so  that  at  some  times  he  was  permitted  to  come  out 
 upon  the  rock." I  "  The  Bass,''  says  one  of  Blackadder's 
 sons,  "  was  a  base,  cold,  unwholesome  prison ;  all  their 
 rooms  ordinarily  full  of  smoke,  like  to  suffocate  and 
 choke  them,  so  as  my  father  and  the  other  prisoners 
 were  necessitate  many  a  time  to  thrust  head  and 
 shoulders  out  of  the  windows  to  recover  breath.  They 
 were  obliged  to  drink  the  twopenny  ale  of  the  governor's 
 brewing,  scarcely  worth  a  halfpenny  the  pint,  and 
 several  times  were  sore  put  to  it  for  want  of  victual 
 for  ten  or  twelve  days  together  ;  the  boats  not  daring 
 to  venture  to  them  by  reason  of  stormy  weather."§  No 
 wonder  that  in  such  a  place,  and  under  such  treatment, 
 
 *  Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  James  Fraser,  ("VVodrow  Society  edition,) 
 pp.  344,  345.  The  reader  may  compare  the  above  description  with  tlie 
 old  sketch  of  "  The  Bass  in  its  Fortified  State,  1690,"  inserted  at  tlio  end 
 of  the  present  dissertation,  which  is  taken  from  Slezcr's  Illustrations. 
 
 t  See  some  account  of  this  in  "  The  Martyrs  of  the  Bass,'' pp.  114-116. 
 
 \  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  335. 
 
 §  Crichton's  Memoirs  of  John  Blackaddor,  p.  296. 
 
30] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 many  of  them  contracted  diseases  which  embittered 
 and  shortened  their  lives. 
 
 But,  as  the  old  poet  sings  : — 
 
 Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make, 
 
 Nor  iron  bars  a  cage  ; 
 A  spotless  mind  and  innocent 
 
 Calls  that  an  hermitage.* 
 
 From  within  these  now  deserted  walls,  the  voice  of 
 praise  and  prayer  might  be  often  heard,  mingling  with 
 the  ribald  laughter,  oaths,  and  songs  of  the  reckless 
 sentinels  ;  and  the  souls  of  the  captives  were  borne,  on 
 the  wings  of  holy  meditation,  far  aloft  and  away  from 
 the  dreaiy  rock  within  which  their  bodies  were  pent. 
 "  Every  day,''  says  Fraser,  "  I  read  the  scriptures,  ex- 
 horted and  taught  therefrom,  did  sing  psalms,  and 
 prayed  with  such  of  our  society  as  our  masters  did  per- 
 mit to  worship  God  together,  and  this  two  times  a-day. 
 I  studied  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  gained  some  know- 
 ledge in  these  oriental  languages.  I  likewise  read  some 
 divinity,  and  wrote  a  Treatise  of  Faith,  with  some  other 
 miscellanies,  and  some  letters  to  Christian  friends  and 
 relations.  Thus  I  spent  my  time,  and  not  Avithout 
 some  fruit.''  Yes,  indeed,  "  not  without  some  fruit !" 
 And  who  can  peruse  that  "  Treatise  of  Faith,"  breath- 
 ing, with  some  unsoundness  in  its  theology,  so  much 
 sound  sense  and  orthodox  piety, — and  then  look  at  its 
 date,  "  Bass,  July  9.  1679," — without  being  impressed 
 with  the  utter  impotence  of  persecution  to  crush  the 
 spirit  or  intermeddle  with  the  joy  of  the  Christian 
 martyr  ?  "  Since  I  was  a  prisoner,"  says  another  of 
 them,  "  I  dwelt  at  ease,  and  lived  securely.  The  upper 
 springs  flowed  liberally  and  sweetly,  when  the  nether 
 springs  were  embittered,  and  I  have  had  the  experience 
 
 *  Richard  Lovelace,  1639. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  that  saying,  Tanta  est  dulcedo  ccelestis  gaudii,  ut  si 
 una  guttula  deflueret  in  infernum,  totam  amaritudinem 
 inferni  absorheret."* 
 
 Here  the  question  must  start  to  the  lips  of  every 
 reader,  For  what  cause  were  such  men  thrown  into 
 prison  and  thus  treated  ?  For  no  other  cause,  we  re 
 ply,  but  their  fidelity  to  their  engagements,  and  their 
 attachment  to  Scotland's  covenanted  reformation.  With 
 four  exceptions,  all  the  prisoners  confined  in  the  Bass 
 were  pious  and  peaceable  Presbyterians,  against  whom 
 no  crime  could  be  charged,  save  in  the  matters  of 
 their  God.  These  exceptions  consisted  of  a  quaker, 
 charged  with  disorderly  conduct — a  popish  priest  im- 
 prisoned for  some  cause  we  have  not  discovered — 
 a  curate,  whose  zeal  against  the  test  seems  to  have 
 carried  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  usual  mode- 
 ration of  his  class, — and  a  culprit,  whose  name  is 
 included  in  the  list  of  the  martyrs  merely  because 
 the  crime  he  committed,  and  the  sufferings  he  under- 
 went, illustrated  the  spirit  of  the  times — we  mean, 
 James  Mitchell,  who  attempted  to  assassinate  Sharp. 
 "  Misery,''  it  is  said,  "  acquaints  a  man  with  strange 
 bed-fellows."  But  with  these  exceptions,  the  rest 
 were  either  laymen  of  the  most  respectable  station  in 
 society  ;  or  clergymen,  who  would  hardly  have  owned 
 as  true  ministers  of  Christ  their  mitred  persecutors, 
 or  the  curates  they  had  intruded  into  their  pulpits  ; 
 and  who  had  much  sounder  reasons  for  questioning 
 the  commission  under  which  they  acted,  than  for  lay- 
 ing down  their  own  at  the  bidding  of  sucli  worthless 
 satraps  of  the  State.    The  immediate  and  ostensible 
 
 *  "  Such  is  the  sweetness  of  heaven's  joy,  tlmt  were  the  least  drop  of 
 it  to  fall  into  hell,  it  would  absorb  all  the  bitterness  of  hell."  Mr  M  (JiU 
 ligen,  "NVodrow's  Jlistory,  vol.  ii.  j).  335. 
 
[32] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 ground  of  their  suffering,  was  the  right  which  they 
 claimed  to  preach  the  everlasting  gospel,  without  sub- 
 mitting to  conditions  inconsistent  with  their  allegi- 
 ance to  the  King  of  Zion.  Nor  could  their  enemies 
 charge  them,  even  on  the  arbitrary  interpretation  of 
 law  which  they  applied  to  the  case  of  others,  with 
 holding  disloyal  principles.  Only  two  of  them — Gor- 
 don and  Shields — belonged  to  what  has  been  called  the 
 Cameronian  party.  With  these  two  exceptions,  they 
 all  owned  the  lawfulness  of  the  civil  government,  and 
 submitted  (too  slavishly  perhaps)  to  the  authority  of 
 the  king  in  all  civil  matters.  They  denied  his  juris- 
 diction only  in  matters  pertaining  to  conscience  and  to 
 the  church.  They  gave  unto  Caesar  the  things  that 
 were  Caesar's,  and  to  God  the  things  that  were  God's.* 
 While  they  condemned  and  deplored  the  public  viola- 
 tion of  the  covenant  by  all  classes,  they  disapproved  of 
 all  violent,  tumultuous,  or  unconstitutional  methods  for 
 reviving  or  re-enforcing  that  deed.  In  short,  they  were 
 the  most  moderate,  though,  at  the  same  time  firm  and 
 uncompromising,  of  the  Presbyterian  clergy  at  that 
 period. 
 
 Devoted  to  such  a  purpose,  it  might  be  supposed  that 
 the  Bass  Rock,  garrisoned  as  it  was  by  a  rude  and  li- 
 centious soldiery,  bristling  with  cannon,  and  frowning 
 defiance  on  the  surrounding  coast,  might  have  kept  its 
 immediate  neighbourhood,  at  least,  in  a  state  of  defe- 
 rential submission.  Let  the  following  scene  show  the 
 error  of  such  a  supposition,  and  the  utter  inefiiciency 
 of  the  measures  then  pursued  for  repressing  the  spirit 
 of  our  pious  forefathers. — On  the  fifth  of  May  1678, 
 
 *  In  fact,  the  generality  of  the  Presbyterians  at  that  period,  understood 
 their  privileges  as  Christians  better  than  their  rights  as  subjects;  and  were 
 disposed,  in  civil  things,  to  give  to  Ceesar  something  more  than  his  due. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [33] 
 
 being  Sabbath,  a  large  assembly  of  people,  amounting 
 to  a  thousand  or  thereby,  met  on  the  hills  of  White- 
 kirk,  immediately  opposite  the  Bass,  within  sight  of 
 the  garrison,  and  almost  within  range  of  its  guns.  It 
 was  soon  discovered  to  be  a  conventicle  !  Indignant 
 at  what  he  considered  an  insult  at  once  to  Government 
 and  to  himself,  the  deputy-governor,  Charles  Maitland, 
 sallied  out  with  forty  soldiers,  and  some  country-people 
 whom  they  forced  along  with  them,  and  boldly  ap- 
 proached the  obnoxious  assemblage.   Before  they  came 
 up,  a  young  man  on  horseback,  named  James  Lear- 
 month,  was  observed  riding  among  the  people,  and  say- 
 ing, "  Let  there  be  no  cowards  here  this  day,  sirs,  and 
 let  those  who  have  arms  go  out  foremost.''   On  the  ap- 
 proach of  the  soldiers  the  people  sat  close  together,  and 
 when  required  to  dismiss  in  the  king's  name,  one  of 
 them  replied,  "  that  they  honoured  the  king,  but  were 
 resolved  to  hear  the  word  of  God  when  preached  to 
 them."    Upon  this,  one  of  the  soldiers  struck  at  the 
 man,  but  he  was  immediately  felled  to  the  ground  by 
 the  staff  of  a  strong-bodied  countryman.   A  scuffle  en- 
 sued, in  the  course  of  Avhich  one  of  the  soldiers  was 
 unfortunately  shot,  and  the  rest  having  been  surrounded 
 and  disarmed,  betook  themselves  to  flight.   For  having 
 been  present  at  this  conventicle,  James  Learmonth, 
 though  he  was  proved  to  have  been  unarmed,  was  con- 
 demned, after  the  jury  had  been  thrust  back  into  the 
 box  for  the  third  time  to  amend  their  verdict,  and 
 threatened  with  an  assize  of  error ;  and  he  was  be- 
 headed in  the  Grassmarket,  on  the  27th  of  September 
 following.    Before  his  execution,  he  calmly  i)rotested 
 his  innocence — disavowed  the  charge  of  sedition  and 
 disloyalty — exhorted  the  people  to  submission  to  the 
 king  and  magistrates  in  all  their  just  and  lawful  com- 
 
CIVIC  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 mands  ;  and  declared  his  adherence  to  the  work  of  the 
 Reformation,  and  his  testimony  against  "  the  unjust 
 usurpation  of  the  crown  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  putting 
 it  upon  the  head  of  a  mortal  man  whose  breath  is  in 
 his  nostrils/'  He  also  declared  his  firm  hope,  that 
 "  though  it  please  the  Lord  to  let  them  triumph  and 
 insult  for  a  time,  yet  he  will  defend  and  revive  his  own 
 work,  and  the  spirits  of  his  own  oppressed  remnant 
 also  in  these  barren  places ;  and  that  the  seed  of  the 
 gospel  that  hath  been  sown  in  East  Lothian  shall  have 
 a  spring  season  and  a  harvest,  in  spite  of  devils  and 
 men,  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  comfort  of  his  own 
 people/'* 
 
 The  scene  shifts  to  the  tenth  of  December  1688. — 
 Beacons  may  be  observed  on  the  Bass,  North  Berwick 
 Law,  and  other  adjacent  heights,  erected  by  the  Scot- 
 tish Council  on  their  first  alarm  of  the  invasion  of  the 
 Prince  of  Orange,  at  the  firing  of  which  all  fencible 
 persons  were  to  turn  out  and  meet  at  Haddington  for 
 the  defence  of  the  kingdom.  But  the  Prince  has  landed 
 in  England,  the  government  of  James  has  fallen  with- 
 out a  struggle,  and  the  beacons  remain  unkindled.  The 
 inhabitants  of  Edinburgh  have  risen  this  day  in  a  tu- 
 mult, and  have  offered  four  hundred  pounds  for  the 
 Chancellor,  the  Earl  of  Perth,  dead  or  alive.  Mean- 
 while, a  small  suspicious-looking  sloop  may  be  observed 
 making  its  way  down  the  Firth.    That  vessel  contains 
 the  obnoxious  Earl,  who,  taking  the  alarm,  has  em- 
 barked at  Burntisland  for  France,  "  with  all  imaginable 
 secrecy,  himself  in  woman's  habit,  and  his  wife  in  man's 
 apparel," — a  sad  plight  for  the  Popish  Chancellor,  who 
 had  ridden  rough-shod  for  so  many  years  over  the 
 
 *  FountainliaH's  Decisions,  vol.  i.  p.  13  ;  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii. 
 p.  476;  Naphtali,  pp.  414  424. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [35] 
 
 liberties  and  religion  of  his  country.  Following  hard 
 in  the  wake  of  the  sloop  is  a  light  war-boat,  manned 
 with  thirty-six  bold  sailors,  fully  armed,  under  the  com- 
 mand of  one  "Wilson,  who  had  once  been  a  buccaneer. 
 These  are  the  Kirkcaldy  seamen,  who  having  obtained 
 intelligence  of  the  prize  aboard  the  vessel  as  it  passed 
 their  harbour,  are  in  hot  pursuit  after  the  fugitive  Earl. 
 As  they  approach  the  Bass,  the  hardy  sailors  close  upon 
 their  prey,  and  just  opposite  that  castle  of  which  Perth 
 was  the  governor,  and  into  which  he  had  committed 
 so  many  of  our  worthies,  he  is  seized  in  his  disguise, 
 ignominiously  brought  back  to  Kirkcaldy,  and  thrown, 
 like  a  common  felon,  into  the  prison.* 
 
 Again  the  scene  changes.  The  rock,  after  holding 
 out  under  Charles  Maitland,  the  deputy-governor,  in 
 the  name  of  the  exiled  king,  till  1690,  is  surrendered 
 into  the  hands  of  the  new  government ;  but,  strangely 
 enough,  it  falls  again  into  the  temporary  possession  of 
 the  adherents  of  James.  A  few  daring  young  officers 
 who  had  been  taken  prisoners  at  Cromdale,  and  had 
 been  sent  to  the  Bass,  formed  a  plan  for  surprising  the 
 place,  which  succeeded.  Being  supplied  with  provi- 
 sions by  their  friends  on  shore,  and  receiving  reinforce- 
 ments from  abroad,  they  contrived,  with  a  prowess  and 
 perseverance  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  to  keep  their 
 ground  for  several  years.  They  plundered  various  mer- 
 chant vessels ;  made  all  of  them  pay  tribute  that  came 
 within  reach  of  their  guns  ;  and  craning  up  their  boats 
 to  the  rock,  bade  defiance  to  all  attemj)ts  to  dislodge 
 them.  One  Mr  Trotter  having  been  condemned  to  be 
 hanged  for  conveying  to  them  supplies,  they  discharged 
 
 •  Crawfurd's  Lives  of  the  Chancellors,  vol.  i.  p.  234;  History  of  the 
 lute  Revolution,  p.  26  ;  Wodrow's  Hibtory,  vol.  ii.  p.  404  ;  Balcarnu" 
 Memoirs. 
 
[36] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 a  gun-shot  among  the  crowd  met  to  witness  his  execu- 
 tion at  Castleton,  opposite  the  island,  which  dispersed 
 them,  though  it  did  not  prevent  the  execution  at  a  dif- 
 ferent place.  The  siege  cost  Andrew  Fletcher  of  Sal- 
 toun,  the  new  governor,  a  vast  amount  of  trouble  and 
 expense.  At  length,  irritated  at  the  pertinacity  of  the 
 rebels,  William  dispatched  two  ships  of  war,  which,  aided 
 by  smaller  vessels,  cut  off  their  supplies,  and  reduced 
 them  to  the  necessity  of  capitulating  in  April  1694. 
 The  governor,  it  is  said,  "  who  had  saved  some  bottles 
 of  the  best  French  wine  and  brandy,  and  some  fine 
 biscuit,  made  the  commissioners  sent  to  treat  with  him 
 drink  plentifully,  telling  them  there  was  no  scarcity  of 
 provisions,  and  unless  he  had  his  own  terms  he  would 
 not  surrender ;  and  after  they  were  gone,  he  ordered 
 all  the  caputs,  coats,  and  hats,  in  the  garrison,  to  be 
 put  on  the  muzzles  of  muskets,  to  make  them  believe 
 the  place  was  full  of  men  ;  upon  which  their  lordships 
 returned  to  the  Council,  and  reported  how  they  were 
 treated,  which  induced  them  to  comply  with  the  gover- 
 nor's articles/'*  Thus  the  Bass  had  the  distinction  of 
 being  the  last  place  that  held  out  for  James  in  Scot- 
 land. After  the  surrender,  an  order  was  given  to  the 
 commander-in-chief  to  demolish  all  the  fortifications 
 and  buildings  of  the  Bass,  and  to  remove  the  cannon 
 and  ammunition  ;  an  order  which,  not  having  been 
 punctually  fulfilled  at  the  time,  was  finally  carried  into 
 execution  by  the  command  of  King  William  in  I701.t 
 The  Revolution  has  come,  and  with  it  another  gene- 
 
 *  Miscellanea  Scotica,  voL  iii.  p.  35. 
 
 t  In  1706,  the  Bass  was  granted  by  the  Crown  to  President  Sir  Hew 
 Dalrymple,  reserving  the  power  of  re-fortifying  it  should  this  be  deemed 
 expedient;  and  it  remains  the  property  of  his  lineal  descendant,  Sir  Hew 
 Dalrymple  of  North  Berwick,  Baronet. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [37] 
 
 ration  has  sprung  up  that  has  lost  the  spirit,  as  they 
 knew  not  "  the  afflictions  of  Joseph/'  A  marked  dif- 
 ference may  be  observed  even  in  the  immediate  de- 
 scendants of  the  Covenanters.  Adam  Blackadder,  the 
 second  son  of  the  martyr  of  the  Bass,  followed  the  mer- 
 cantile profession.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
 the  world,  and  a  wag,  making  merry  at  the  remem- 
 brance of  the  hardships  to  which,  in  early  youth,  he 
 was  subjected  on  his  father's  account.  Provost  Russell 
 of  Stirling  arrested  him  when  he  was  an  apprentice. 
 "  The  first  word  he  spake  to  me,''  says  Adam,  "  w^as, 
 putting  on  his  breeches,  ^  Is  not  this  bra'  wark,  sirr, 
 that  we  maun  be  troubled  with  the  like  of  you  ?'  I 
 answered.  You  have  got  a  bra'  prize,  my  Lord,  that  has 
 clacht  a  poor  prentice."  Then,  when  in  prison,  "  the 
 Earl  of  Argyle's  two  daughters-in-law.  Lady  Sophia 
 and  Lady  Henrietta,  and  Lady  Jean,  his  own  daughter, 
 did  me  the  honour  to  come  and  see  me ;  when  I  re- 
 member. Lady  Sophia  stood  up  on  a  bench  and  ar- 
 raigned before  her  the  Provost  of  Stirling,  then  sen- 
 tenced and  condemned  him  to  be  hanged  for  keeping 
 me  in  prison  ;  which  highly  enraged  the  poor  fool 
 provost,  though  it  was  but  a  harmless  frolic."  Even 
 when  reciting  a  visit  he  paid  to  his  father  in  tlie  Bass, 
 he  does  it  more  in  the  spirit  of  mirth  than  of  martyr- 
 dom. "  We  went  from  that  to  the  Bass,  where  my  wor- 
 thy father  was  lying  prisoner,  and  had  been  there  for 
 some  years.  When  we  were  going  away  (my  father 
 convoying  us  to  the  gate),  the  governor  bid  me  halt  a 
 little ;  he  had  something  to  say  to  me  ere  I  went. 
 'What's  the  matter?'  says  I.  'You  must  hold  uj)  your 
 hand  and  swear.'  '  Ou,'  says  I,  '  Avho  em})owcred  you 
 to  be  a  judge,  and  impose  oaths?'  'I  have  my  orders,' 
 says  he.    My  father  (who  was  a  bold  man),  overhear- 
 
[38] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 ing  him,  said,  '  I  protest,  governor,  you  are  impertinent, 
 sir,  to  trouble  the  young  man  with  any  thing  of  that 
 nature/  To  which  the  governor  answered,  '  I  profess, 
 Mr  Blackadder,  sir,  I'll  commit  both  you  and  him  close 
 prisoners,  if  I  hear  any  more  of  your  talk/  '  Content,' 
 says  my  father ;  and  then  says  to  me,  '  Come  along 
 with  me,  sir  !'  I  thought  with  myself,  '  I  beg  your 
 pardon,  father, — not  so  long  as  I  can  do  better/  Then 
 I  began  to  argue  the  matter  with  the  governor,  by  tell- 
 ing him  I  was  an  utter  stranger  as  to  affairs  in  Scot- 
 land, and  knew  nothing  about  what  was  passing,  which 
 calmed  him  a  little.  At  last,  he  says,  '  Well,  sir,  I  will 
 not  trouble  you  at  this  time  ;  but,  I  assure  you,  I  have 
 such  orders,  and  that,  perhaps,  you  will  find  ere  you 
 come  the  length  of  Edinburgh  ;  for  every  sergeant  and 
 corporal  may  stop  and  challenge  any  man  on  the  road/ 
 So  I  thanked  him  and  came  off,  and  went  for  Edin- 
 burgh/'* 
 
 The  same  scene  was  revisited  by  his  brother  with 
 more  serious  feelings.  On  the  21st  of  April  1713,  a 
 grave,  military-looking  man,  might  have  been  observed 
 standing  by  the  sea-beach  of  Dunbar,  his  eyes  intently 
 fixed  in  the  direction  of  the  Bass.  This  is  Colonel 
 John  Blackadder,  the  youngest  son  of  the  same  worthy 
 sufferer,  "  a  brave  soldier  and  a  devout  Christian." 
 He  had  entered  the  army  in  1689,  as  cadet  in  the 
 Cameronian  Regiment  ;  had  distinguished  himself  in 
 Queen  Anne's  wars,  under  the  great  Duke  of  Marl- 
 borough ;  and  now,  disgusted  with  the  licentiousness 
 of  the  camp,  he  has  returned  to  his  native  country, 
 and  has  reached  Dunbar  on  his  way  home  to  spend  a 
 peaceful  life  as  an  elder  of  the  kirk  of  Scotland.  The 
 solitary  rock  where  his  venerable  father  had  languished 
 
 *  Crichton's  Memoirs  of  John  Blackadder,  pp.  328-338. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [39] 
 
 and  died  in  captivity,  and  which,  it  appears,  he  had 
 then  visited  occasionally  on  errands  of  filial  duty  and 
 affection,  stands  within  a  few  miles  of  that  town.  This 
 naturally  attracted  his  attention  ;  yet,  even  in  the  pious 
 reflections  to  which  the  sight  of  it  gave  birth,  we  may 
 observe  that  his  mind,  with  a  devout  egotism  common 
 to  many  other  good  men  of  the  period,  was  turned  less 
 to  the  public  cause  in  which  his  father  suffered,  than 
 to  the  workings  of  his  own  personal  experience.    "  In 
 the  evening,"'  says  he,  "  I  stepped  out,  and  walked  to- 
 wards the  sea-side,  in  sight  of  the  Bass  Island,  which 
 occasioned  serious  thoughts,  and  a  thankful  frame  of 
 mind,  to  think  of  the  long  train  of  mercy  and  goodness 
 that  has  followed  me  these  many  years  since  I  was 
 there,  when  there  was  far  from  any  appearance  or  ex- 
 pectation of  such  things  as  Providence  has  now  done 
 for  me."*  The  good  Colonel  was  a  type  of  the  incipient 
 moderatism  of  the  last  century — a  well-living,  well- 
 meaning  gentleman — himself  sound  as  a  bell  in  the 
 faith,  but  impatient  of  all  "  heats  and  discords,''  "  shun- 
 ning extremes  on  either  hand,"  and  who  had  seen  so 
 little  religion  of  any  sort  in  the  army,  that  he  could  ill 
 brook  to  see  good  men  striving  about  it  in  the  Church. 
 So  he  would  sometimes  stand  up  erect  in  the  church 
 courts,  and  deliver  pithy  orations,  plentifully  inter- 
 larded with  regimental  maxims,  sadly  to  the  annoy- 
 ance of  "  the  hot  stiff  men  on  both  sides,"  telling  the 
 Venerable  Assembly  that  "  they  should  not  spend  their 
 fire  upon  one  another," — that  "  they  should  not  be  like 
 a  general  or  an  army  that  sends  out  all  its  sentries  one 
 way,  and  while  they  are  looking  out  sharply  that  way, 
 the  enemy  comes  and  attacks  them  in  a  dilleront  quar- 
 ter, where  they  are  not  expecting,  and  therefore  un- 
 
 *  Crichton's  Life  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Blue k adder,  p.  4'3G. 
 
[40] 
 
 CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 prepared."  In  short,  he  begins  to  talk  very  much  like 
 a  latitudinarian,  and  "  thinks  religion  runs  greatly  in 
 the  wrong  channel,  and  may  be  called  Presbyterianism 
 rather  than  Christianity, — strict  opinions  in  the  head 
 about  public  things,  and  oftentimes  about  doubtful 
 points,  where  good  men  are  on  both  sides ;  while  the 
 influences  of  it  do  not  go  through  the  conduct  of  their 
 lives,  in  universal  obedience  and  charity/'  Had  all  in 
 the  Assembly  been  as  good  Christians  as  Colonel  Black- 
 adder,  his  reflections  would  have  been  more  appro- 
 priate ;  but  it  was  not  in  such  a  do-nothing  school  that 
 he  had  first  learned  to  pray,  as  it  was  not  by  following 
 such  pacific  tactics  that  he  had  learned  to  fight.  The 
 policy  which  he  recommended,  and  which  subsequently 
 became  predominant,  issued  in  the  burial  of  vital  truth 
 and  piety.  By  skinning  over  the  wounds  of  the  Church, 
 it  left  them  to  fester  within.  Partial  revivals  were 
 followed  by  long  periods  of  spiritual  decay  ;  and  the 
 Christianity  of  the  Scottish  Church  has  only  revived 
 with  the  revival  of  her  Presbyterianism. 
 
 But  our  hurried  sketch  approaches  its  close.  Last 
 spring,  a  small  party  of  friends  projected  an  excursion 
 to  the  Bass.  Difiering  in  their  pursuits  and  in  their 
 religious  persuasions,  they  agreed  in  respect  for  de- 
 parted worth,  in  gratitude  for  present  privileges,  and 
 in  dislike  of  all  feudal  tyranny,  ancient  or  modern, 
 whether  it  appear  in  the  form  of  open  persecution,  or 
 in  the  kindred  but  more  covert  shape  of  refusing 
 "  rights  of  way''  and  sites  for  worship.  Arrived  at 
 their  destination,  each  betook  himself  to  his  respec- 
 tive sphere  of  observation  ;  and  aided  by  suggestions 
 on  the  spot,  the  combined  fruit  of  their  investigations 
 is  presented  to  the  public  in  the  present  volume. 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [41] 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I.  The  Lauders  of  the  Bass.    P.  [12.] 
 
 We  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Sir  Thomas  Dick  Lauder  for  the 
 use  of  the  old  Charter  of  the  Bass,  granted  by  the  Bishop  of  St  An- 
 drews to  his  ancestor  Robert  Lauder  of  the  Bass  in  131 G.  As  a  curi- 
 ous relic  of  antiquity  in  connection  with  the  subject  of  this  volume, 
 we  insert  it  here  with  a  translation. 
 
 CHARTER  of  Willielmus  de  Lam- 
 BEETON,  Bishop  of  St  Andrews,  to 
 Robert  Lacder  of  Bass,  of  their 
 part  of  that  Island,  4th  June  1316. 
 
 Omnibus  hanc  cartam  visuris  vel  au- 
 dituris  Willielmus  miseracione  diuina 
 sancti  Andrei  Episcopus  salutem  in 
 Domino :  Sciatis  nos  vtilitate  ecclesie 
 nostre  pensata  dedisse  concessisse  et  hac 
 presenti  carta  nostra  confirmasse  Ro- 
 berto de  Lauwedre  pro  homa^io  et 
 scruicio  suo  totam  partem  nostram  In- 
 sula in  mari  que  vacatur  le  Bass  iuxta 
 Aldham  in  Laudonia ;  Tenend.  et  ha- 
 bend.  dicto  Roberto  et  hcredibus  suis 
 de  nobis  et  successoribus  nostris  in  per- 
 petuum  cum  omnibus  libertatibus  com- 
 moditatibus  et  aysiamentis  suis  ac  pcr- 
 tinenciis  libere  et  quiete  in  omnibus  et 
 per  omnia  sine  aliquo  retinemento ;  Red- 
 dendo ipse  Robertus  et  heredus  sui  no- 
 bis et  successoribus  nosfris  apud  Ty- 
 nyngham  ad  fcstum  Pentecostes  sinf,'u- 
 lis  annis  vnain  libram  cere  nomine  albc 
 finne  tantum  pro  omnibus  terrenis  ser- 
 viciis  et  deniandis  cjue  de  dicta  Insula 
 cum  pertinenciis  a  nobis  vel  succcssori- 
 
 Translation  of  Charter  by  William 
 of  Lamberton,  Bishop  of  St  An- 
 drews, to  Robert  Lauder  of  Bass, 
 of  their  part  of  that  Island,  4th 
 June  1316. 
 
 To  ALL  men  by  whom  this  Charter 
 shall  be  seen  and  heard,  William,  by  the 
 grace  of  God  Bishop  of  Saint  Andrews, 
 wishing  salvation  in  the  Lord:— Know 
 ye  that  we,  valuing  highly  our  Church's 
 advantage,  have  Granted,  and  by  this 
 our  present  Charter  have  Confirmed,  to 
 Robert  Lauder  for  his  homage  and  ser- 
 vice the  whole  of  our  part  of  the  Island 
 in  the  sea  which  is  called  the  Bass,  near 
 to  Aldliam'-'  in  Lothian ;  To  uold  and 
 TO  be  noLDEN  by  the  said  Robert  and 
 his  heirs  from  us  and  our  successors  for 
 ever,  with  all  libertie  s,  commodities,  and 
 easements,  and  with  the  pertinents, 
 freely  and  quietly  in  all  and  by  all  with- 
 out any  reservation ;  Paying  therefor 
 the  said  Robert  and  liis  heirs  to  us 
 and  our  successors  at  Tynyngham,  at 
 the  term  of  Whitsunday  yearly,  one 
 pound  of  white  wax  in  name  of  feu- 
 farni,  for  all  lands,  services,  and  de- 
 mands which  can  be  exacted  or  deniand- 
 
 *  Aldham  was  an  original  parish  and  is  now  part  of  Whitekirk  parish.  The 
 cliurch  of  Aldham  is  on  the  confines  of  Nortli  Berwick  pai  i.><li,  and  adjoining  to 
 Tuntallan  Castle.   Stat.  Acct.  vol.  ii.  p.  '29. 
 
 d 
 
[42] 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 bus  nostris  exigi  poterunt  vel  demandari 
 Nos  vero  Willielmus  et  successores  nos- 
 tri  predicto  Roberto  et  heredibus  suis 
 predictam  partem  nostram  lusule  del 
 Bass  cum  pertinenciis  suis  contra  om- 
 nes  homines  et  feminas  warantisabimus 
 acquietabimus  et  defendemus  in  perpe- 
 tuum.  In  cuius  rei  testimonium  presenti 
 carte  sigillum  nostrum  fecimus  apponi. 
 Dat,  apud  Wegdall  quarto  die  Junii 
 Anno  Domini  mccc.  sexto  deeimo  iliis 
 testibus  Dominis  Willielmo  et  Williel- 
 mo  dei  gracia  de  ilelros  et  de  Dryburgh, 
 Abbatibiis  Dominis  Jacobo  de  Douglas, 
 Alexandro  Senesscallo,  Henrico  de  Sane- 
 to  Claro,  Roberto  de  Keith,  militibus 
 et  aliis. 
 
 ed  by  us  and  our  successors  for  the  said 
 Island  with  the  pertinents:  Tsebefobe 
 we  William  and  our  successors  do  here- 
 by Warrant,  ^laintain  quiet,  and  Defend 
 to  the  foresaid  Robert  and  his  heirs,  our 
 foresaid  part  of  the  Island  of  the  Bass 
 with  the  pertinents  of  the  same,  for  ever, 
 and  that  against  all  men  and  women : 
 In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  made 
 and  appointed  our  seal  to  be  fixed  to 
 this  present  Charter.  Given  at  Wedall 
 the  fourth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of 
 our  Lord  1316,  before  these  witnesses 
 Lords  William  and  William  by  the  grace 
 of  God  of  Melrose  and  of  Dryburgh,  with 
 the  Lords  Abbots,  James  of  Douglas, 
 Alexander  Stuart,  Henry  Sinclair,  Ro- 
 bert Keith,  Esquires,  and  others. 
 
 The  following  Letter  will  throw  some  additional  light  ou  the  historv 
 of  the  family  of  Lauder  : — 
 
 Sir  Thomas  Dick  Lauder  of  Fountainhall,  Bart.,  to 
 Mr  Crawford,  W.S. 
 
 The  Grange  House,  ISth  December  1847. 
 Dear  Sir, — It  has  occurred  to  me  that  it  may  be  just  as  well  to  put 
 you  in  possession  of  the  fact,  that  the  family  of  Lauder  of  Lauder  Tower 
 and  the  Bass,  continued  to  be  the  same  until  the  time  of  the  Indenture 
 I  sent  you.  The  Bass  then  went  into  a  junior  brancli  of  the  family, 
 and,  as  the  shortest  way  of  explaining  this,  I  may  quote  from  the  Burke 
 Peerage  and  Baronetage  the  matter  taken  from  our  family  documents: 
 — "  Sir  Robert  Lauder  of  Bass,  so  designed  in  a  curious  indenture  be- 
 tween him  and  the  preaching  friars  of  Dundee,  of  date  1531,  which 
 document  was  also  robbed  from  the  charter-chest  by  the  housebreaker 
 in  1 836,  and  never  recovered.  Down  to  this  Sir  Robert,  the  titles  of 
 liauder  and  of  Bass  were  indiscriminately  used  by  the  family,  and  it  is 
 his  armorial  bearings  that  are  given  as  those  of  Lauder  of  Bass  in  the 
 works  of  Lindsay  of  the  Mount.  He  married  Alison  or  Mariotta 
 Cranstoun,  and  died  in  loCl.  Besides  his  eldest  son,  Richard  Lauder 
 of  Lauder,  who  was  his  successor,  he  left  a  son  Robert,  to  whom  he  gave 
 the  Bass,  and  other  East  Lothian  lands,  thus  creating  a  separate  family 
 with  that  title."  This  junior  family  made  several  changes  upon  the 
 original  family  arms,  for  whilst  they  preserved  the  griffon  in  the  shield 
 instead  of  the  white  lion  used  by  the  chief,  they  took  angels  as  support- 
 ers, and  instead  of  the  crest  of  the  chief  family,  a  tower  with  a  man  in 
 
HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 a  watching  posture  looking  out  of  it,  they  assumed  the  crest  of  a  gannet 
 sitting  upon  a  rock.  One  of  the  last  lairds  of  Bass  was  with  Queen 
 Mary  upon  Carberry  Hill,  at  the  time  she  was  taken  to  Edinburgh  by 
 the  Lords.  Not  long  after  this,  this  branch  of  the  family  fell  into  de- 
 cay, after  which  the  Bass  underwent  various  transferences,  until  it  was 
 afterwards  sold  to  the  Government  by  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay,  Lord  Ab- 
 botshall,  Lord  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  who  was  my  great-great-grand- 
 father, having  been  father-in-law  to  Lord  Fountainhall.'^  The  sum 
 paid  for  the  Bass  was  £4000,  and  the  sale  was  in  October  167L  Near 
 the  harbour  of  North  Berwick,  on  a  sandy  eminence  close  to  the  shore, 
 staud  the  remains  of  what  is  traditionally  called  the  "  Auld  Kirk.'"  Li 
 the  burial-place  of  this,  which  has  been  much  encroached  upon  by  the 
 sea,  a  large  stone  lies  flat  in  the  green  centre  of  the  area  which  the 
 building  must  have  enclosed,  and  is  said  to  mark  the  place  of  interment 
 of  the  Lauders  of  the  Bass,    I  am,  dear  Sir,  yours  truly, 
 
 Thos.  Dick  Laudeu. 
 
 n.  The  Property  of  the  Bass.    P.  [36.] 
 
 The  following  documents  are  interesting  on  two  accounts, — as  shewing 
 that  the  Bass  was  used  as  a  place  of  confinement  so  early  as  1583  ;  and 
 that  the  Solan  geese  and  other  fowls  frequenting  the  island  anciently 
 were,  and  continue  to  be,  the  private  projyeriy  of  the  owner  of  the 
 island.  The  first  is  a  Ratification  by  Parliament  in  1592,  of  an  Act  of 
 Secret  Council  in  1583. — See  Thomson's  edition  of  the  Acts  of  Parlia- 
 ment, vol,  iii.  p.  C14. 
 
 Ratificatioun  of  ane  act  of  secrcit  Counsaill  in  favouris  of  tlie 
 Laird  of  Bass. 
 
 "  Forsamekle  as  oure  soverano  Lord  w^  avise  of  the  lordis  of  his  hieness 
 Secreit  Counsaill  be  speciall  act  and  ordinance  thairof,  maid  upon  the 
 XX J  day  of  Januar  the  zeir  of  god  Jm  \v  fourscoir  thre  zeiris,  Un- 
 derstanding how  proffitable  the  solane  geiss  and  uthcris  fowlis,  <|lk 
 hantis  reparis  and  biggis,  within  the  lie  of  bass  zeirlie  ar  to  the  co- 
 moun  weal  of  this  realme,  and  liaill  leigis  of  the  same,  and  how  hurtfiill 
 the  slaying  and  destroying  thairof  ar  to  the  haill  t«ubiuctis  of  this  reaime, 
 Maidc  and  constitute  Maister  georgo  lander  of  bass,  his  aris  an<l  assig- 
 nais  and  succcssouris  lardis  of  bass,  his  hienes  comissioncrs,  To  tak  an<l 
 appreliend  all  and  quhatsumevir  persoun  or  pursonis  (juha  happynis  to 
 slay  ony  of  the  saidis  geiss  or  uther  kind  of  fowlis  and  birdis,  and  To 
 minister  justice  upoun  thamo  as  accordis  of  the  law,  like  as  at  mair 
 
 '  Fountainhall  is  in  (he  parish  of  Pi  ntcuitlnnil  ami  tDimt.v  of  E.i»-t  Luthi.iti.  » 
 Stalifitical  Accounl.  vu!.  ii.  j..  -.U'X 
 
[44] 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  CIVIL  AND  ECCLESIASTIC 
 
 lentil  is  contenit  in  the  said  act  of  secreitt  counsaill,  of  the  dait  foirsaid 
 Quhilk  act  oure  said  soverane  lord  with  express  avise  &  consent  of  the 
 estatis  of  this  present  parliament,  Ratifies  and  apprevis  in  all  pointis 
 clausses  articles  and  conditionis  tlierein  contenit  after  the  forme  and 
 tennor  of  the  same  in  all  points  &  decernis  and  ordanis  the  same  to  be 
 insert  therein,  as  ane  act  maid  in  this  present  parliament,  and  the  samy 
 to  stand  as  ane  perpetuall  law  statute  and  ordinance,  and  to  be  put  to 
 decre  executioun  agains  the  contravenaris  thairof  in  all  points  per- 
 petuallie  in  all  tymes  cuming,  off  the  qlkact  the  tennour  followis  :  Apud 
 lialyruidhous  vigesimo  primo  die  mensis  Januarji  anno  dni  millessimo 
 quigentissimo  octuagesimo  tertio,  Forsamekle  as  the  kings  Majestie 
 and  lordis  of  secreit  counsaill,  Understanding  that  be  the  speciall 
 benefite  and  provisioun  of  god,  the  solane  geiss  and  utheris  proffitable 
 fowlis  hauntis  and  repairis  in  the  He  of  the  bass,  and  has  thair  nestis 
 and  nutriment  thairin  and  brings  furth  zeirlie  thair  burdis  and  fouUis 
 in  grite  quantitie  and  nowmer,  and  almaist  in  na  uther  pairt  of  this 
 realme,  to  the  greit  weill  and  comoditie  of  the  hail  subjectis  of  this 
 realme,  duelland  nixt  adjacent  thairto,  sua  that  reasone  guid  order  and 
 policie  requiris  that  the  benefite  qlk  god  hes  placit  in  ane  realme,  for 
 the  weillfair  of  the  haill  inhabitantis  thereof  suld  not  be  certane  privat 
 and  invyious  persons  be  impedit  and  distroyit,  as  in  vray  deid,  the  in- 
 habitantis of  the  cuntries  of  fyif  and  angus,  and  utheris  partis  of  the 
 north  lyand  adjacent  to  the  sey  cost.  As  alsua  the  siemen  of  fischeraw, 
 achesons  heaven,  salt  pans,  north  beruik,  dunbar,  skaitraw,  haymouth 
 and  utheris  sey  townis  on  the  south  syd  of  forth  ceiss  not  pntlie,  like  as 
 thai  haue  not  ceissit  thir  dyvers  zeiris  bygane  To  slay  and  destroy  the 
 saidis  Solane  geiss,  be  casting  off  neittis  &  hykis  with  bait  and  burris 
 To  draw  and  allure  the  auld  solane  geiss  to  the  baittis  quhairin  the 
 saidis  personis  and  marinaris  ar,  and  then  to  take  and  slay  the  saidis 
 solane  geiss,  for  na  uther  benefite  or  comoditie  of  thame  bot  for  thair 
 fedderis  onlie ;  ffor  the  saidis  solane  geis  quhen  thai  depairt  fra  the  said 
 ile  as  they  do  continwally  anys  in  the  zeir,  are  auld  and  leyne,  unable 
 for  any  man's  meitt,  as  alsua  quhen  thay  returne  anys  in  the  zeir,  hame 
 agane  to  the  lie  are  unhable  to  the  nurischement  of  ony  persoun,  and 
 sua  the  saidis  auld  Solane  geiss  being  so  zeirly  slayne  and  distroyit  as 
 saidis,  thay  ar  maid  unhable  to  deck  young  birds  &  geis  apt  for  the 
 nutriment  of  the  subjectis  of  this  realme  ;  and  will  not  decist  and  ceis 
 theirfra  w^^^out  his  hieness  and  his  counsaill  put  remeid  tharto  :  Quhai- 
 I'oiR  his  Majestie  w^  advise  of  the  saidis  Lordis  of  his  secreit  counsaill 
 for  stancheing  of  the  lyk  enormitie  in  tyme  cuming  hes  Ordauit  and 
 ordanis  all  skeppairs  and  marinars  of  schipps  or  boittcs  and  every  per- 
 sonis quhatsumovir,  usaris  of  sick  moyen  ingyuc  &  inventiouu,  for  de- 
 
HISTOKT  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [45] 
 
 stroying  and  slaying  of  the  saidis  foullis  and  solane  geis,  To  be  callit 
 and  convenit  befoir  the  baillies  of  diinbar,  or  utheris  jugeis  to  be  depute 
 be  Mr  george  Lauder  of  bass,  and  his  successouris  lardis  of  bass,  qlkis 
 jugeis  the  saidis  lordis  be  thir  presentis  gevis  thame  power  ta  mak 
 and  depute  als  oft  as  neid  beis  for  quhome  they  sal  be  halden  to  ans^, 
 To  sitt  and  hald  courtis  within  either  dunbar  or  ony  uther  toun  or 
 place,  for  taking  cognitioun  in  the  said  cans,  and  To  call  and  convene 
 the  saidis  personis  before  the  saidis  Jugeis,  and  gif  thai  be  fund  cul- 
 pable of  the  saidis  crimes  To  decerne  the  contravenaris  the  fault  being 
 proven  be  famous  witnesses,  Ilk  ane  of  thame  in  the  pane  of  twentie 
 pundis  toties  quoties,  The  ane  half  thairof  to  be  employit  to  his  Maiestie 
 &  payment  thereof,  to  his  Majesties  thesaurer,  in  his  name  to  mak,  and 
 the  uther  half  to  the  said  Mr  George  and  his  successouris  to  apply,  and 
 in  cais  the  personis  quhilkis  sal  happin  to  be  convenit  as  said  is,  be  un- 
 able and  unresponsal  to  pay  the  saidis  pecimial  panis,  To  decerne  thair 
 personis  to  be  wardit  within  the  place  of  bass  or  ony  uther  pairt 
 quhair  the  said  Mr  George  or  his  saidis  successouris  sail  pleis,  du- 
 ring the  space  of  ane  zeir  tliaireftir,  upon  their  awin  expenss  With 
 full  power  and  comissioun  to  saidis  Jugeis  To  direct  preceptis  in 
 their  awin  names  for  callin  and  convening  of  the  saidis  personis 
 afoir  thame,  and  poynding  of  the  guidis  &  geir  of  the  personis 
 contravenaris  for  the  foirsaid  sowme,  as  alsua  for  sumoning  of  Wit- 
 neses  Ilk  persoim  under  the  panes  of  Ten  poundis.  The  absentis  to 
 amerciate  adjudge  &  unlaw  in  the  said  sowme,  And  for  the  same  be 
 thair  awin  preceptis  lykwyis  to  poynd  and  distrenzie,  to  be  applyd  as  is 
 above  mentionat,  Clerkis  fiandis,  deuipstaris  and  all  utlieris  ofRciaris  and 
 memberis  of  court  neidful  To  mak,  creat,  substitute  &  ordane,  for  qlkis 
 the  said  lard  of  bass  shall  be  halden  to  answer,  and  generallie  all  and 
 sundrie  uther  things  to  do  exerce  &  use,  qlkis  in  the  premisses,  and  for 
 the  executioun  thairof  is  necessarilie  requirit  to  be  done  fFerme  &  stable 
 balding  and  for  to  hald,  and  quliatsumevir  thingis  tlic  saids  jugeis  sail 
 lawfullie  do  heirin  decerning  ordaning  and  declaring  be  thir  presentis, 
 That  the  decrettis  to  be  given  &  pronunsit  be  the  said  Jugeis  sal  have 
 the  lyk  strenth  force  &  etfect,  for  poynding  of  the  guidis  &  geir  of  the 
 personis  contravenaris  of  thir  presentis  as  the  decreit  of  ony  other  jugo 
 within  this  realnie,  And  that  kt-a  be  direct  for  iiitimatioun  and  publica- 
 tion heirof  be  oppin  proclamatioon  at  the  mercat  croccs  of  dundie,  abir- 
 brothok,  montrose,  sandandrois,  craill,  austruthcr,  pitteyvcuic,  sant  mo- 
 nanis,  weymis,  dysrt,  kircaldie,  kingorue,  burnt  Hand,  abindor,  Invcr- 
 kething,  and  utheris  soy  townis,  on  the  north  syd  of  forth  As  alsua  in 
 the  Townis  and  heavynis  of  south  ferie,  craniond,  kith,  fischerraw,  salt 
 panis  of  Prestoun,  northboruik,  dunbar,  Skaitraw,  ayuiouth,  and  utheris 
 
[46] 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  HISTORY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 places  neidfull,  quhauttnow  nane  pretend  ignorance  of  the  same,  and  to 
 comand  and  charge  all  our  soverane  lordis  leigis  To  concur  fortifie  & 
 assist  the  said  jugeis,  in  the  executioun  of  the  premisses  And  to  do  nor 
 attempt  na  thing  to  their  hindcrance,  as  thai  ilk.  one  of  thanie  will  an- 
 swer to  his  Majestic  upoun  thair  obedience,  and  at  thair  uttermaist 
 chai'ge  &  perell.  Extractum  de  libro  actorum  Secreti  Consilii,  S.  D.  N. 
 regis  1  F.  C. 
 
 The  property  of  the  Bass  was  acquired  by  President  Dalrymple  by 
 Charter  from  the  Crown,  dated  31st  July  1706.  The  description  in 
 the  Charter  is  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  Totam  et  Integram  lusulam  vel  rupem  vocat  lie  Bass  ad  nos  pro- 
 prie  pertinen  jacen.  infra  parochiam  de  Northberwick,  constabulariuni 
 de  Haddingtown  et  vicecomitatum  de  Edinburgh,  cum  singulis  domibus 
 edificiis  partibus  pendiculis  et  pertinen.  proficuis  casualitatibus  et  emolu- 
 mentis  eidem  pertinen.  cum  omni  Jure  titulo  interesse  proprietate  et 
 possessione  quae  nos  aut  prsedecessores  nostri  quobis  modo  Habuimus 
 habemus  aut  prsetendere  vel  clamare  potuimus  proficuis  ex  eadem  levan. 
 et  particulariter  absq.  ullo  prejudicio  diet,  generalitatis  Jus  et  Dispo- 
 sitionem  diet.  Insula  de  Bass  per  demortuum  Dominum  Andream 
 llamsay  de  Abbotshall  tanquam  successorem  per  progressum  Domini  de 
 Bass.  In  favorem  nostro  avuuculo  Carole  Secundi  Regis  beatse  memorije 
 concess," 
 
 This  Charter  was  ratified  by  Parliament  in  March  1707,  and  the 
 Island  has  been  ever  since  in  the  uninterrupted  possession  of  the  Dal- 
 rymple family. 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 BY  HUGH  MILLER. 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 r>HERE  are  a  small  knot  of  us,"  said  a  literary 
 friend,  addressing  the  writer  one  evening 
 about  four  months  ago,  "  getting  up  what 
 will,  I  daresay,  be  a  rather  curious  volume 
 on  the  Bass  ;  and  to-morrow  we  visit  the  rock  in  a 
 body  to  procure  materials.  Professor  John  Fleming 
 undertakes  the  Zoology  of  the  work, — Professor  Bal- 
 four its  Botany, — Professor  Thomas  M'Crie  the  His- 
 torical portion.  Civil  and  Ecclesiastical, — Professor 
 M'Crie's  friend,  Mr  James  Anderson,  a  learned  Co- 
 venanter, grapples  with  the  Biographies  of  what  are 
 termed  the  Bass  Martyrs,— while  your  huml)le  servant 
 conducts  the  business  part  of  the  concern,  and  in  his 
 capacity  of  purveyor-general  waits  on  you.  Our  to-mor- 
 row's expedition  still  lacks  a  Geologist,  and  our  literary 
 speculation,  some  one  learned  enough  in  pre-Adamite 
 history  to  contribute  the  portion  of  the  work  analogous 
 to  that  earlier  part  of  the  Welsh  Genealogy  which  pre- 
 ceded the  famous  note,  *  N.B. — About  this  time  the 
 
[62] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 world  was  created/  Professor  M'Crie  goes  no  higher 
 than  the  days  of  St  Baldred  the  Culdee,  who  died  on 
 the  Bass  some  time  early  in  the  seventh  century,  and 
 was  interred  entire  in  three  several  burying-grounds  at 
 once.  Will  you  not  go  with  us  to-morrow,  and  contri- 
 bute to  our  book  the  Geologic  history  of  the  island, 
 from  its  first  appearance,  or  before,  down  to  the  times 
 of  St  Baldred  V 
 
 "  I  spent  a  day  on  the  Bass  some  four  or  five  sum- 
 mers ago,''  I  replied,  "  and  saw,  I  believe,  almost  the 
 little  all  to  be  seen  on  it  by  the  geologist.  It  consists 
 of  one  huge  mass  of  homogeneous  trap,  scarce  more 
 varied  in  its  texture  than  a  piece  of  cast  metal ;  and 
 what  would  you  have  me  to  say  about  a  mass  of  homo- 
 geneous trap  ?" 
 
 "  Anything,  or  everything,"  was  the  rejoinder.  "  Dr 
 Mantell  writes  an  ingenious  little  book  on  a  flint  pebble 
 scarcely  larger  than  a  hen's  egg.  You  may  easily  write 
 at  least  part  of  a  little  book  on  a  magnificent  mass  of 
 rock,  loftier  by  a  deal  than  the  dome  of  St  Paul's,  and 
 a  full  mile  in  circumference.  At  all  events,  come  with 
 us  ;  and  if  you  do  not  find  much  to  say  about  the  rock 
 itself,  you  can  eke  out  your  description  by  notices  of  the 
 geology  of  the  adjacent  coast ;  and  here  and  there  stick 
 in  an  occasional  episode,  commemorative  of  whatever 
 adventures  may  befall  us  by  the  way.  We  regard  it 
 as  one  of  the  essential  requisites  of  our  little  volume, 
 that  all  its  science  be  considerably  diluted  with  gossip." 
 
 I  was  unlucky  enough  to  miss  making  one  in  next 
 day's  party,  all  through  lack  of  a  railway  bill.  And 
 yet,  convinced  that  the  poet  Gray  was  in  the  righ+  i^i 
 deeming  "  a  remark  made  on  the  spot  worth  a  car 
 of  recollection,"  I  could  not  set  myself  to  wrii 
 Geology  of  the  Bass  with  aught  approaching  to  c(  i 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [53] 
 
 without  having  first  renewed  with  the  rock  the  acquaint- 
 ance broken  off  for  years.  But  engagements  interfered, 
 and  weeks  and  months  slipped  away,  and  summer  passed 
 into  autumn,  and  autumn  into  winter  ;  and  yet  the 
 Bass,  inaccessible,  at  times,  during  the  boisterous  and 
 gloomy  season  of  the  year  which  had  now  set  in,  for 
 weeks  together,  was  still  unvisited.  I  had  fixed  on  one 
 leisure  day  as  convenient  for  the  journey,  and  it  rose 
 foul  with  rain.  I  had  selected  another,  and  there  came 
 on  during  the  night  a  storm  from  the  sea,  that  sent  up 
 the  white  waves  a  full  hundred  feet  against  the  eastern 
 precipices  of  the  island,  and  bathed  the  old  rampart 
 walls  in  spray.  I  staked  my  last  chance  on  yet  a  third 
 leisure  day  ;  and,  though  far  advanced  in  November, 
 the  morning  broke  clear  and  bright  as  a  morning  in 
 May.  Half  an  hour  after  sunrise  I  was  awaiting  the 
 downward  train  at  the  Portobello  station.  There  blew 
 a  breeze  from  the  west,  just  strong  enough,  though  it 
 scarce  waved  the  withered  grass  on  the  slopes  below, 
 to  set  the  wires  of  the  electric  telegraph  a-vibrating 
 overhead,  and  they  rung  sonorous  and  clear  in  the  quiet 
 of  the  morning,  like  the  strings  of  some  gigantic  musi- 
 cal instrument.  How  many  thousand  passengers  must 
 have  hurried  along  the  rails  during  the  last  twelve- 
 month, their  ears  so  filled  by  the  grinding  noises  of  the 
 wheels  and  the  snortings  of  the  engine,  as  never  to 
 have  discovered  that  each  stretch  from  post  to  post  of 
 the  wires  that  accompany  them  throughout  their  jour- 
 ney, forms  a  great  /Eolian  liarp,  full,  when  the  wind 
 blows,  of  all  rich  tones,  from  those  of  the  murmurs  of 
 myriads  of  bees  collecting  honoy-dew  among  the  loaves 
 of  a  forest,  to  those  of  the  bowlings  of  the  night-hurri- 
 cane amid  the  open  turrets  and  deserted  corridors  ol' 
 some  haunted  castle.    I  bethought  me, — as  the  train, 
 
[54] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 half  enveloped  in  smoke  and  steam,  came  rushing  up, 
 with  shriek  and  groan,  and  the  melody  above,  wild  yet 
 singularly  pleasing,  was  lost  in  the  din, — of  "Words- 
 worth's fine  lines  on  "  the  voice  of  tendency,''  and  found 
 that  they  had  become  suddenly  linked  in  my  mind  with 
 a  new  association  : — 
 
 "  The  mighty  stream  of  TENDENCY 
 Utters,  for  elevation  of  our  thought, 
 A  clear  sonorous  voice,  inaudible 
 To  the  vast  multitude,  whose  doom  it  is 
 To  throng  the  clamorous  highways  of  the  world." 
 
 The  Edinburgh  reader  must  have  often  marked  the 
 tract  of  comparatively  level  ground  which  intervenes 
 between  Arthur's  Seat  and  the  Pentlands  on  the  one 
 hand,  and  those  heights  beyond  Tranent  on  the  other 
 that  merge  into  the  Lammermoor  Hills  on  the  south, 
 and  piece  on  to  the  trap  eminences  of  Haddington 
 and  North  Berwick  on  the  east.  It  furnishes  no  pro- 
 minent feature  on  which  the  eye  can  repose.  Nay,  from 
 this  circumstance,  though  occupying  a  large  portion  of 
 the  area  of  the  landscape,  Ave  find  that  an  elegant  poet, 
 — the  "  Delta"  of  Blackwood's  Magazine, — wholly  omits 
 it  in  his  description  of  the  scene  in  which  it  occurs, — 
 
 "  Traced  like  a  map,  the  landscape  lies 
 In  cultured  beauty,  stretching  wide; 
 There  Pentland's  green  acclivities, — 
 There  ocean,  with  its  azure  tide, — 
 There  Arthur's  Seat,  and,  gleaming  through, 
 Thy  southern  wing,  Duncdin  blue! 
 While  in  the  orient,  Lammer's  daughters, 
 A  distant  giant  range,  are  seen, — 
 North  Berwick  Law,  with  cone  of  green, 
 And  Bass  amid  the  waters." 
 
 The  natural  objects  enumerated  here, — of  course  omit- 
 ting the  ocean, — are  the  imposing  eminences  that  form 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [55] 
 
 the  opposite  shores  of  the  middle  expanse, — Arthur's 
 Seat  and  the  Pentlands  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Lam- 
 mermoors,  North  Berwick  Law,  and  the  Bass,  on  the 
 other.  And  the  parts  of  the  Frith  opposite  these  boldly- 
 featured  regions  partake  strikingly  of  their  character. 
 The  middle  space  that  fronts  the  flat  district  ashore 
 does  not  present  a  single  island  ;  whereas  directly  oppo- 
 site the  upper  tract  of  hill  and  valley,  we  find  nume- 
 rous hill-tops  rising  above  the  water,  and  forming  the 
 islands  of  Inchkeith,  Inchcolm,  Inchgarvie,  Inchmykrie, 
 Carcraig,  and  Cramond ;  while  opposite  the  lower  tract 
 we  find  another  scene  of  half-submerged  hills  existing 
 as  the  islets  of  Eyebroughy,  Fidra,  the  Lamb,  Craigleith, 
 the  Bass,  and  the  May.  Now,  this  inconspicuous  flat 
 space  between,  which  leaves  the  sea  so  open  to  the  ma- 
 riner, and  the  land  so  free  to  the  plough,  and  over  which 
 the  first  twelve  miles  of  my  journey  along  the  rails  lay 
 this  morning,  forms  the  eastern  coal  deposit,  or  basin,  of 
 the  Lothians.  The  traveller  may  distinguish,  on  either 
 hand,  from  the  mndows  of  his  carriage,  the  numerous 
 workings  that  stud  the  surface,  by  their  tall  brick  chim- 
 neys and  the  smoke  of  their  engines  ;  and  mark  the  fre- 
 quent train  sweeping  by,  laden  with  coals  for  the  dis- 
 tant city.  To  conceive  of  the  deposit  in  its  character 
 as  a  basin,  one  has  to  become  acquainted  with  not  merely 
 those  external  features  of  the  country  to  which  I  have 
 adverted,  but  also  with  the  internal  arrangement  of  its 
 strata.  Standing  on  the  banks  of  a  Highland  lake  of 
 profound  depth,  such  as  Loch  Ness,  or  the  upper  por- 
 tion of  Loch  Lomond,  one  can  easily  conceive  of  the  rocky 
 hollow  in  which  the  waters  are  contained  as  a  vast  bowl 
 or  basin,  and  this  altogether  irrespective  of  the  form  of 
 the  subaerial  portion  of  the  valley  that  rises  over  the 
 surface.    We  can  conceive  of  the  rocky  hollow  occupied 
 
[56] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 by  the  lake  as  a  true  basin,  even  should  it  occur  in  the 
 middle  of  so  flat  a  moor,  that  in  winter,  when  the  water 
 is  frozen  over,  and  a  snow-storm  lies  deep  on  the  earth, 
 the  surface  of  moor  and  lake  presented  one  continuous 
 plain.  We  can  conceive  of  a  steep  sloping  side  trend- 
 ing into  a  rocky  bottom  many  fathoms  below  ;  then  the 
 opposite  side  rising  in  an  angle  equally  steep  ;  and,  last 
 of  all,  the  horizontal  line  of  ice  or  water  stretching  across 
 the  abyss,  like  the  string  across  the  curve  formed  by 
 a  bow  bent  tight  by  the  archer.  The  Coal  Measures  of 
 the  Lothians  represent  pretty  nearly  such  a  lake  ;  and 
 their  shores, — though,  unlike  those  of  the  lake  of  my 
 illustration,  sufficiently  bold  to  strike  the  eye  as  the 
 leading  features  of  the  landscape  in  which  they  are  in- 
 cluded,— bear  no  comparison  in  height  to  the  profound 
 depth  of  the  submerged  portion  at  their  feet.  The  an- 
 cient strata  trend  downwards  in  a  steep  angle  from  their 
 sides,  to  the  depth  of  at  least  three  thousand  feet,  and 
 then,  flattening  in  the  centre  of  the  lake  into  a  curved 
 bottom,  rise  against  the  opposite  eminences  in  an  angle 
 equally  steep.  "Were  the  Coal  Measures  to  be  removed 
 from  that  deep  basin  of  the  more  ancient  rocks  in  which 
 they  lie,  there  would  intervene  between  Arthur's  Seat 
 and  the  Pentlands  on  the  west,  and  the  Garlton  Hills 
 and  Gullan  Point  on  the  east,  the  profoundest  valley  in 
 Scotland, — a  valley  considerably  more  profound  than 
 Corriskin,  Glen  Nevis,  or  Glencoe.  The  twelve  miles  of 
 railway  which  intervene  between  Piershill  Barracks  and 
 the  Garlton  Hills,  may  be  regarded  as  a  sort  of  suspen- 
 sion bridge,  stretched  over  the  vast  gulf ;  and  the  pro- 
 found depth  below  is  occupied  by  one  hundred  and 
 seventy  beds  of  shale,  sandstone,  coal,  and  clay,  ranged 
 in  long  irregular  curves  that  lie  parallel  to  the  bottom, 
 and  of  which  no  fewer  than  thirty-three  are  seams  of 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [57] 
 
 coal.  And  over  all,  as  their  proper  covering,  like  the 
 stratum  of  ice  and  snow  spread  over  the  surface  of  the 
 Highland  lake  of  my  illustration,  lie  the  boulder  and 
 brick  clays,  beds  of  sand  and  gravel,  and  the  vegetable 
 mould. 
 
 On  reaching  the  station-house  at  Drem,  I  transferred 
 myself  from  the  railway  vehicle  to  an  omnibus  that  plies 
 between  t1a.e  station  and  North  Berwick  ;  and  we  drove 
 across  the  country.  A  coach-top  is  not  quite  the  place 
 from  which  the  geology  of  a  district  may  be  most  care- 
 fully studied  ;  and  yet  it  has  its  advantages  too.  There 
 cannot  be  a  better  point  of  observation  from  which  to 
 acquaint  oneVself  with  what  may  be  termed  the  geo- 
 logical physiognomy  of  a  country.  One  sees,  besides,  of 
 what  materials  the  walls  that  line  the  sides  of  the  way 
 are  composed  ;  and  they  almost  always  furnish  their 
 modicum  of  evidence  regarding  the  prevailing  rocks. 
 When  speeding  along  the  railway  over  the  Coal  Mea- 
 sures, the  traveller  finds  that  the  fences  are  constructed 
 of  sandstone  ;  whereas  in  the  district  across  which  the 
 omnibus  here  conveys  him,  he  sees  that  they  are  almost 
 all  built  of  trap.  And  with  this  piece  of  evidence  the 
 features  of  the  surrounding  landscape  entirely  harmo- 
 nize. The  general  surface  of  the  country  is  soft  and 
 rich  ;  but  abrupt  rocks, — the  broken  bones  of  the  land, 
 — here  and  there  stick  out  high  over  the  surface,  as  if 
 to  mark  the  wounds  and  fractures  of  ancient  conflict. 
 There  are  the  Garlton  Hills  behind  ;  a  long  ridge  of 
 feldspar  porphyry  rises  immediately  on  the  left ;  on  the 
 right,  the  greenstone  eminence  on  which  the  old  Castle 
 of  Dirleton  is  built  ascends  abruptly  from  beside  the 
 smooth  area  of  one  of  the  loveliest,  most  English-look- 
 ing villages  in  Scotland  ;  northwards,  encircled  by  the 
 sea,  we  may  descry  the  precipitous  trap  islets  of  Fidra, 
 
[58] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  Lamb,  and  Craigleith  ;  several  inland  crags,  more 
 in  the  fore-ground,  and  half-hidden  in  wood,  stud  the 
 sandy  champaign  which  here  lines  the  coast ;  while  on 
 the  east,  immensely  more  huge  than  the  hugest  of  the 
 Egyptian  pyramids,  and,  as  seen  from  this  point,  scarce 
 less  regularly  pyramidal  in  its  outline,  towers  the  noble 
 monarch  of  the  scene, — 
 
 "  North  Berwick  Law,  with  cone  of  green." 
 
 In  passing  the  ancient  Castle  of  Dirleton,  which,  like 
 the  Castles  of  Dunbar,  Edinburgh,  Stirling,  and  Dum- 
 barton, owed  its  degree  of  impregnability  as  a  strong- 
 hold mainly  to  its  abrupt  trap-rock,  and  which  stood 
 siege  against  the  English  in  the  days  of  Edward  I.,  it 
 occurred  to  me  as  not  a  little  curious,  that  the  early 
 geological  history  of  a  district  should  so  often  seem 
 typical  of  its  subsequent  civil  history.  If  a  country's 
 geological  history  was  very  disturbed, — if  the  trap-rocks 
 broke  out  from  below,  and  tilted  up  its  strata  in  a 
 thousand  abrupt  angles,  steep  precipices,  and  yawning 
 chasms, — the  chance  is  as  ten  to  one,  that  there  suc- 
 ceeded, when  man  came  upon  the  scene,  a  history,  scarce 
 less  disturbed,  of  fierce  wars,  protracted  sieges,  and 
 desperate  battles.  The  stormy  morning,  during  which 
 merely  the  angry  elements  contend,  is  succeeded  in  al- 
 most every  instance  by  a  stormy  day,  maddened  by  the 
 turmoil  of  human  passion.  A  moment's  farther  cogi- 
 tation, while  it  greatly  dissipated  the  mystery,  served 
 to  show  through  what  immense  periods  mere  physical 
 causes  may  continue  to  operate  with  moral  effect ;  and 
 how,  in  the  purposes  of  Him  who  saw  the  end  from  the 
 beginning,  a  scene  of  fiery  confusion, — of  roaring  waves 
 and  heaving  earthquakes, —  of  ascending  hills  and  deep- 
 ening valleys, — may  have  been  closely  associated  with 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  right  development,  and  ultimate  dignity  and  hap- 
 piness, of  the  yet  unborn  moral  agent  of  creation, — re- 
 sponsible man.  It  is  amid  these  centres  of  geologic  dis- 
 turbance,— the  natural  strongholds  of  the  earth, — that 
 the  true  battles  of  the  race, — the  battles  of  civilization 
 and  civil  liberty, — have  been  successfully  maintained 
 by  handfuls  of  hardy  men,  against  the  despot-led  my- 
 riads of  the  plains.  The  reader,  in  glancing  over  a  map 
 of  Europe  and  the  countries  adjacent,  on  which  the 
 mountain-groups  are  marked,  will  at  once  perceive  that 
 Greece  and  the  Holy  Land,  Scotland  and  the  Swiss  Can- 
 tons, formed  centres  of  great  Plutonic  disturbance  of 
 this  character.  They  had  each  their  geologic  tremors 
 and  perturbations, — their  protracted  periods  of  erup- 
 tion and  earthquake, — long  ere  their  analogous  civil 
 history,  with  its  ages  of  convulsion  and  revolution,  in 
 which  man  was  the  agent,  had  yet  commenced  its  course. 
 And,  indirectly  at  least,  the  disturbed  civil  history  was, 
 in  each  instance,  a  consequence  of  the  disturbed  geo- 
 logic one. 
 
 "While  pursuing  the  idea,  a  sudden  turning  of  the  road 
 brought  me  full  in  vicAv  of  the  Bass,  looming  tall  and 
 stately  through  a  faint  gray  haze,  that  had  dropped  its 
 veil  of  thin  gauze  over  the  stern  features  of  the  rock. 
 But  the  Bass,  though  one  of  the  Plutonic  stronghokls 
 of  the  earth,  and  certainly  not  the  least  impregnable 
 among  the  number,  has,  so  far  as  the  policy  and  cha- 
 racter of  its  ohl  masters  are  exhibited  in  the  record,  no 
 very  ennobling  history.  It  has  been  strong  chiefly  on 
 the  side  of  the  despot  and  the  tyrant.  Its  name  ap- 
 pears in  our  earlier  literature  only  to  be  associated 
 with  lying  legends  and  false  miracles.  Then,  after 
 forming  for  centuries  the  site  of  a  stronghold  little 
 remarkable  in  the  annals  of  the  country,  save  that  the 
 
[60] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 unfortunate  James  I.  took  sail  from  it  for  France  pre- 
 vious to  his  long  captivity  in  England,  the  rock  was 
 converted  into  a  State  prison,  at  a  time  when  to 
 worship  God  agreeably  to  the  dictates  of  conscience 
 was  a  grave  State  offence.  And  so  its  dungeons  came 
 to  be  filled  with  not  a  few  of  the  country's  best  men. 
 At  a  still  later  period,  it  held  out  for  James  YII., 
 and  was  the  last  spot  in  Great  Britain  that  recognised 
 as  legitimate  the  event  which  placed  the  Constitu- 
 tion of  the  empire  on  its  present  happy  basis.  And 
 then,  for  a  time,  it  became  a  haunt  of  lawless  pirates, 
 the  dread  of  defenceless  fishermen  and  the  honest 
 trader.  How  reconcile  with  so  disreputable  a  history, 
 the  feelings  of  respect  and  veneration  with  which  the 
 old  rock  is  so  frequently  surveyed,  and  so  extensively 
 associated?  Johnson,  in  his  singularly  vigorous  and 
 manly  poem,  which  poets,  such  as  Sir  Walter  Scott,  have 
 so  greatly  admired,  but  which  mere  critics  have  cen- 
 sured as  non-poetical,  speaks  of  a  virtue  "  sovereign 
 o'er  transmuted  ill.''  Virtue  does  possess  a  transmuta- 
 tive  power.  The  death  of  patriots  and  heroes  under  the 
 hands  of  public  executioners  confers  honour  on  scaffolds 
 and  gibbets  ;  the  prison-cells  of  martyrs  and  confessors 
 breathe  forth  recollections  of  the  endurance  of  the  per- 
 secuted, that  absorb  all  those  harsher  associations  which 
 link  on  to  the  memory  of  the  persecutor.  Nay,  even 
 instruments  of  fierce  torture  come  to  be  regarded  less 
 as  the  repulsive  mementoes  of  a  ruthless  cruelty,  than 
 as  the  valued  relics  of  a  high  heroism.  And  hence  the 
 interest  that  attaches  to  the  Bass. 
 
 It  is  now  many  years  since  I  gazed  on  this  rock  for  the 
 first  time,  from  the  Frith  beyond ;  but  the  recollection  of 
 the  emotions  which  it  excited  is  still  fresh.  Some  of  its 
 more  celebrated  sufferers  came  from  the  immediate  neigh- 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [61] 
 
 bourhood  of  the  locality  in  which  I  passed  my  child- 
 hood and  boyhood,  with  my  first  years  of  labour ; — a  lit- 
 tle northern  oasis,  in  which,  during  the  times  of  the  per- 
 secution of  Charles  II.  and  his  brother,  Presbyterianism 
 was  as  strong  and  vital  as  in  any  district  of  the  south 
 or  west ;  and  the  "  echoes  of  their  fame,''  to  employ  the 
 language  of  Wordsworth,  "  ring  through"  that  part  of 
 "  Scotland  to  this  hour/'  In  the  quarry  in  which  I  first 
 became  acquainted  with  severe  toil,  and  an  observer  of 
 geological  phenomena,  I  used  to  know  when  it  was  time 
 to  cease  from  my  labours  for  the  day,  by  marking  the 
 evening  sun  resting  over  the  high-lying  farm-house  of 
 Brea, — the  little  patrimony  from  which  one  of  the  cap- 
 tives of  the  Bass — Fraser — derived  his  title.  And  from 
 the  grassy  knoll  above  the  hollow  I  could  see  the  parish 
 churches  of  two  of  its  other  more  noted  captives, — 
 M'Gilligen  of  Alness,  and  Hog  of  Kiltearn.  Hence  many 
 an  imagination  about  the  rocky  Bass,  with  its  high- 
 lying  walks  and  dizzy  precipices,  had  filled  my  mind 
 long  ere  I  had  seen  it.  I  have  now  before  me,  among 
 the  jottings  of  an  old  journal,  a  brief  record  of  the  feel- 
 ings with  which  I  first  surveyed  it  from  the  deck  of  a 
 sailing  vessel ;  nor,  though  the  passage  does  smack,  I 
 find,  of  the  enthusiasm  of  early  youth,  am  I  greatly 
 ashamed  of  it.  "  We  are  bearing  up  the  Frith  in  gal- 
 lant style,  within  two  miles  of  the  shore,  and  shall 
 in  a  few  hours,  if  the  breeze  fail  not,  be  within  sight  of 
 Edinburgh.  Yonder  is  the  Bass,  rising  like  an  immense 
 tower  out  of  the  sea.  Times  have  changed  since  the 
 excellent  of  the  earth  were  condemned  by  the  unjust 
 and  the  dissolute  to  wear  out  life  on  that  solitary  rock. 
 My  eyes  fill  as  I  gaze  on  it !  The  persecutors  have  gone 
 to  their  place:  the  last  vial  has  long  since  been  poured 
 out  on  the  heads  of  the  infatuated  race  who,  in  their 
 
[62] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 short-sighted  policy,  would  fain  have  rendered  men  faith- 
 ful to  their  Princes  by  making  them  untrue  to  their  God. 
 But  the  noble  constancy  of  the  persecuted,  the  high  for- 
 titude of  the  martyr,  still  live  ;  there  is  a  halo  encirc- 
 ling the  brow  of  that  rugged  rock  ;  and  from  many  a 
 solitary  grave,  and  many  a  lonely  battle-field,  there  come 
 voices  and  thunderings  like  those  which  issued  of  old 
 from  within  the  cloud,  that  tell  us  how  this  world,  with 
 all  its  little  interests,  must  pass  away,  but  that  for  those 
 who  fight  the  good  fight,  and  keep  the  faith,  there 
 abideth  a  rest  that  is  eternal.'' 
 
 It  is  not  uninstructive  to  remark,  from  facts  and 
 feelings  such  as  these, — and  the  instances  on  record  are 
 very  great, — how  much  more  permanently  good  con- 
 nects itself  with  matter,  in  the  associations  of  the 
 human  mind,  than  evil.  The  wickedness  of  the  wicked 
 cannot  so  infeoff  itself,  if  one  may  so  speak,  in  even 
 their  contrivances  of  most  diabolical  design, — screws, 
 and  boots,  and  thumbkins,  dolorous  dungeons,  and 
 scalFolds  hung  round  with  the  insignia  of  disgrace, — 
 but  that  the  virtues  of  their  victims  seize  hold  upon 
 them,  and  so  entirely  appropriate  them  in  the  recol- 
 lection of  future  generations,  that  the  claim  of  the 
 original  possessors  is  lost.  What  a  striking  comment 
 on  the  sacred  text,  "  The  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed  ; 
 but  the  name  of  the  wicked  shall  rot ! "  It  seems  to 
 throw  a  gleam  of  light,  too,  athwart  a  deeply  myste- 
 rious subject.  It  was  a  greatly  worse  time  than  the 
 present  in  this  country,  Avhen  the  dungeons  of  yonder 
 rock  were  crowded  with  the  country's  most  conscien- 
 tious men.  And  yet  how  intense  the  interest  with 
 which  we  look  back  upon  these  times  ;  and  on  the  rock 
 itself,  as  a  sort  of  stepping-stone  by  which  to  ascend  to 
 their  scenes  of  ready  sacrifice,  firm  endurance,  and  high 
 
GEOLOGY  OP  THE  BASS. 
 
 [63] 
 
 resolve ;  and  how  very  poor  would  not  the  national 
 history  become,  were  all  its  records  of  resembling  pur- 
 port and  character  to  be  blotted  out !  The  evil  of  the 
 past  has  served  but  to  enhance  its  good.  May  there 
 not  be  a  time  coming  when  the  just  made  perfect  shall 
 look  back  upon  all  ill,  moral  and  physical,  with  a  simi- 
 lar feeling  ;  when  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
 and  evil  shall  grow  once  more  beside  the  tree  of  life 
 in  the  Paradise  of  God,  but  when  its  fruit,  rendered 
 wholesome  by  the  transmutative  power,  shall  be  the 
 subject  of  no  punitive  prohibition  ;  and  when  the  world 
 which  we  inhabit,  wrapped  round  with  holiest  associa- 
 tions,  as  once  the  dungeon-house  and  scaffold  of  a  Di- 
 vine Sufferer,  shall  be  regarded — disreputable  as  we 
 may  now  deem  its  annals — with  reverence  and  respect, 
 as  the  Bass  of  the  universe,  and  its  history  be  deemed 
 perhaps  the  most  precious  record  in  the  archives  of 
 heaven  ? 
 
 I  found  a  friend  waiting  me  at  North  Berwick,*  who 
 kindly  accompanied  me  in  my  exploratory  ramble  along 
 the  shore,  and  who,  as  his  acquaintance  with  the  dis- 
 trict was  greatly  more  minute  than  mine,  enabled  me 
 to  economize  much  time.  We  passed  eastwards  under 
 the  cliffs,  and  soon  found  ourselves  on  the  prevailing 
 trap-tuff  of  the  district,  a  curiously  compounded  rock, 
 evidently  of  Plutonic  origin,  and  yet  as  regularly  stra- 
 tified as  almost  any  rock  belonging  to  the  Neptunean 
 series.  The  body  of  the  tuff  consists  of  loosely  aggre- 
 gated grains,  in  some  of  the  beds  larger,  in  some  more 
 minute,  of  the  various  trap-rocks  and  minerals,  such  as 
 green-earth,  wacko,  a  finely  levigated  basalt,  and  de- 
 composed greenstone  ;  and,  inclosed  in  this  yielding 
 
 •  James  Cook,  Esq.  one  of  Her  Majesty's  Heralds,  presently  residing 
 at  North  Berwick. 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 matrix,  there  lie  fragments  of  the  harder  traps,  some 
 sharp  and  angular,  others  water-worn  and  round,  that 
 vary  in  size  from  a  hazel-nut  to  a  hogshead.  It  en- 
 closes also  occasional  fragments  of  the  aqueous  rocks, 
 — here  a  mass  of  red  sandstone,  there  a  block  of  lime. 
 There  occasionally  occur  in  it,  too,  viewed  over  large 
 areas,  trap  and  sedimentary  rocks  of  vast  size,  beds  of 
 the  aqueous  series  many  hundred  feet  in  extent,  and 
 masses  of  the  Plutonic  that  exist  as  tall  precipices  or 
 extensive  skerries ;  but  they,  of  course,  can  be  regarded 
 as  no  part  of  the  tuff.  As  might  be  premised  from  its 
 incoherent  texture,  we  find  it  to  be  an  exceedingly 
 yielding  rock.  Wherever  the  lofty  line  of  rampart 
 which  it  here  presents  to  the  coast  encroaches  on  the 
 sea,  we  perceive  that,  hollowed  beneath  by  the  dash  of 
 the  waves,  it  exhibits  ranges  of  bold  over-beetling  pre- 
 cipices ;  while,  wherever  it  retires,  we  discover  that  it 
 has  weathered  down  into  steep  green  slopes,  with  here 
 and  there  some  of  the  harder  masses  which  it  encloses 
 sticking  picturesquely  through.  The  enigma  that  most 
 imperatively  demands  being  read  in  the  case  of  this  rock 
 is  the  union  of  sedimentary  arrangement  with  Plutonic 
 materials ;  nor  does  it  seem  a  riddle  particularly  diffi- 
 cult of  solution. 
 
 In  the  works  of  the  Abbe  Spallanzani,  a  distin- 
 guished continental  naturalist  who  flourished  during 
 the  latter  half  of  the  last  century,  the  reader  may  find 
 an  elaborate  description  of  the  volcano  of  Stromboli, 
 one  of  the  Lipari  Islands.  There  are,  it  would  seem, 
 several  respects  in  which  this  volcano  furnishes  pecu- 
 liar facilities  to  the  observer.  It  occurs  not  on  the 
 apex,  but  on  the  side  of  a  mountain  ;  and  is  so  en- 
 tirely commanded,  in  consequence,  by  the  heights  which 
 rise  over  it,  that  the  visitor,  if  the  necessary  courage 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [65 
 
 be  not  wanting,  may  approach  so  as  to  look  down  into 
 the  boiling  depths  of  the  crater.    Unlike  most  other 
 volcanoes,  it  is  in  a  state  of  perpetual  activity ;  and, 
 what  is  of  still  more  importance  for  our  present  pur- 
 pose, it  rises  so  immediately  over  the  sea,  that  no  in- 
 considerable portion  of  the  calcined  or  molten  matter 
 which  it  has  been  ejecting  day  by  day,  and  hour  by 
 hour,  for  at  least  the  last  two  thousand  years,  falls 
 hissing  into  the  water.    The  Plutonic  agent  gives  up 
 its  charge  direct  into  the  hands  of  the  sedimentary 
 one.    Spallanzani  relates,  in  his  lively  description,  how. 
 venturing  as  near  the  perilous  chasm  as  he  at  first 
 deemed  safe,  he  found  the  view  not  sufficiently  com- 
 manding ;  and  how,  looking  round,  "  he  perceived  a 
 small  cavern  hollowed  in  the  rock,  near  the  gulf  of  the 
 volcano,"  which,  "  taking  advantage  of  one  of  the  short 
 intervals  between  the  eruptions,''  he  was  fortunate 
 enough  to  gain.    "  And  here,"  he  says,  "  protected  by 
 the  roof  of  the  cavern,  I  could  look  down  into  the  very 
 bowels  of  the  volcano,  and  Truth  and  Nature  stood,  as 
 it  were,  unveiled  before  me."    "  I  found  the  crater." 
 he  continues,  "  filled  to  a  certain  height  with  a  liquid 
 red-hot  matter,  resembling  melted  brass,  which  is  the 
 fluid  lava.    This  lava  appears  to  be  agitated  by  two 
 distinct  motions  ;  the  one  intestine,  whirling,  and  tu- 
 multuous ;  the  other  that  which  impels  it  upwards. 
 The  liquid  matter  is  raised  sometimes  with  more,  some- 
 times with  less  rapidity  within  the  crater ;  its  super- 
 ficies becomes  inflated,  and  covered  with  large  l)ul)i)les. 
 some  of  which  are  several  feet  in  diameter ;  and  when 
 it  has  reached  the  distance  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet 
 from  the  upper  edge,  a  sound  is  heard  not  unlike  ri 
 short  clap  of  thunder, — the  bub])les  presently  burst, 
 and  at  the  same  moment  a  ])ortioii  of  the  hiva.  S(>]i;i- 
 
[66] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 rated  into  a  thousand  pieces,  is  thrown  up  with  inde- 
 scribable swiftness,  accompanied  with  a  copious  eruption 
 of  smoke,  ashes,  and  sand.  After  the  explosion,  the 
 lava  within  the  crater  sinks,  but  soon  again  rises  as 
 before,  and  new  tumours  appear,  Avhich  again  burst, 
 and  produce  new  explosions/'  "  In  the  smaller  and 
 moderate  ejections,''  he  adds,  the  stones,  still  so  hot 
 that  their  redness,  notwithstanding  the  light  of  the 
 sun,  is  distinctly  visible  in  the  air,  fall  back  into  the 
 crater,  and,  at  their  collision  with  the  fluid  lava,  pro- 
 duce a  sound  similar  to  that  of  water  struck  by  a  num- 
 ber of  staves  ;  but  in  the  greater  ejections,  a  consider- 
 able quantity  always  fall  outside  the  crater's  mouth, 
 and,  bounding  down  the  steep  declivity,  dash  into  the 
 sea,  giving,  on  entering  the  waves,  that  sharp  hissing 
 sound  which  in  a  lesser  degree  is  produced  by  a  bar  of 
 red-hot  iron  plunged  by  a  smith  into  a  trough  of  water." 
 The  Abbe,  on  another  occasion,  approached,  he  tells  us, 
 the  foot  of  the  slope  on  its  seaward  side,  and  saw  the 
 "  ignited  stones"  rolling  down.  ^'  The  five  sailors,"  he 
 says,  "  who  had  the  care  of  the  boat  in  which  I  was, 
 and  some  other  natives  of  Stromboli  who  were  with 
 me,  and  whose  occupation  often  brought  them  to  that 
 part  of  the  sea,  told  me  that  the  volcano  might  now  be 
 considered  as  very  quiet ;  assuring  me  that  in  its  greater 
 fits  of  fury  red-hot  stones  were  frequently  thrown  to 
 the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  that,  conse- 
 quently, at  such  times  it  was  impossible  to  remain  with 
 a  boat  so  near  the  mountain  as  we  then  were.  And 
 their  assertion  appeared  to  me  sufficiently  proved  by  a 
 comparison  of  the  size  of  the  fragments  thrown  out  in 
 the  explosions  I  now  witnessed,  witli  that  of  those 
 which  had  been  ejected  in  several  former  eruptions. 
 The  first  (many  of  whicli  had  stopped  at  the  bottom  of 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [67] 
 
 the  precipice)  were  not  more  than  three  feet  in  diame- 
 ter ;  while  many  of  the  fragments  thrown  out  at  other 
 times,  of  similar  quality  to  them,  and  which  lay  in 
 large  heaps  on  the  shore,  were,  some  four,  some  five 
 feet  in  diameter,  and  others  even  still  larger/'  The 
 tract  of  sea  immediately  beneath  is  much  perplexed 
 with  currents,  and  exposed  to  storms  (the  Lipari  Isles,  in 
 mythologic  history,  formed  the  kingdom  of  old  iEolus)  ; 
 and  though,  since  the  volcano  existed  in  its  active 
 state,  lava  and  ashes  to  the  amount  of  many  millions 
 of  cubical  yards  must  have  been  cast  out, — and  though 
 at  one  time,  about  forty-four  years  previous  to  the  date 
 of  Spallanzani's  visit,  it  ejected  "  such  an  immense 
 quantity  of  scoriae,  that  it  caused,"  to  use  the  expres- 
 sion of  his  informants,  "  a  dry  place  in  the  sea/' — the 
 debris  has  been  so  diffused  by  the  waves  and  tides,  that 
 there  is  a  depth  of  about  twenty  fathoms  found  but  a 
 few  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  crater.  The  ejected 
 materials  are  spread  by  the  sedimentary  agents  over  a 
 large  superficies.  Now,  in  the  semi-Neptunean,  semi- 
 Plutonic  deposit  of  Stromboli,  which  is  even  now  in 
 the  forming,  we  are  presented  with  every  condition 
 necessary  to  the  formation  of  such  a  deposit  of  strati- 
 fied tuff  as  that  which  composes  so  considerable  a  por- 
 tion of  the  coast  of  North  Berwick.  There  is  first  the 
 general  matrix  of  ashes,  sand,  and  triturated  lava,  laid 
 down  in  continuous  layers  by  the  aqueous  agent ;  tlien 
 the  embedded  fragments  of  the  harder  Plutonic  rocks, 
 varying  in  bulk  from  the  size  of  a  i)ca,  up  to  l)locks  of 
 more  than  five  feet  in  diameter ;  and,  lastly,  with  the 
 transporting  agency  of  tides  and  waves  at  command, 
 the  occasional  introduction  of  fragments  ol"  scdimentarv 
 rock,  either  derived  from  strata  broken  up  when  the 
 
[68] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 volcano  originally  burst  forth,  or  carried  from  a  dis- 
 tance, can  be  no  very  inexplicable  enigma. 
 
 As  we  proceeded  towards  the  cottages  of  the  fisher- 
 men of  Canty  Bay,  where  boat  for  the  Bass  is  usually 
 taken,  I  was  informed  by  my  companion,  that  Dr 
 Fleming,  who  had  been  residing  for  several  weeks,  dur- 
 ing the  previous  summer,  at  North  Berwick,  had  de- 
 tected on  the  surfaces  of  th^  trap-rocks  near  the  har- 
 bour, unequivocal  marks  of  the  action  of  icebergs.  He 
 found  exactly  such  grooves  and  furrows  on  these  rocks 
 as  had  been  found  by  Lyell  on  those  of  the  coast  of 
 Nova  Scotia,  where  the  producing  cause  is  still  at  work, 
 and  every  scratch  and  line  may  be  traced  to  the  half- 
 stranded  masses  that,  dimly  seen  during  the  tempests 
 of  the  winter  gone  by,  had  grated  harshly  along  the 
 skerries  of  the  shore.  Certainly  the  associations  of  the 
 geologist  -lake  a  wide  range, — "  From  beds  of  raging 
 fire,  to  starve  in  ice.''  The  rocks  here,  in  their  struc- 
 ture and  composition,  speak  of  Plutonic  convulsion 
 and  the  fiery  abyss  ;  while  the  inscriptions  on  their  sur- 
 faces testify  of  a  time  when  colossal  icefloes,  stranded 
 upon  our  shores. 
 
 Lay  dark  and  wild,  beat  with  perpetual  storms 
 Of  whirlwind  and  dire  hail,  which  on  firm  land 
 Thaw'd  not,  hnt  gathered  heap,  and  ruin  seemed 
 Of  ancient  pile  ;  all  else  deep  snow  and  ice." 
 
 The  Bass  is  perforated  by  a  profound  cavern,  occa- 
 sionally accessible  at  extreme  ebb.  We  had  purposed 
 attempting  its  ex})loration  ;  and  as  the  tide,  though  fast 
 falling,  still  stood  high  on  the  beach,  we  whiled  away 
 an  hour  or  two, — after  first  securing  the  services  of 
 the  boatmen, — awaiting  the  recession  of  the  water,  in 
 examining  the  coast  still  farther  to  the  east,  and  in 
 surveying  the  magnificent  ruins  of  Tanlallan.    For  at 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [69] 
 
 least  several  centuries  the  ancient  edifice  lias  been  as- 
 sociated in  a  familiar  proverb  with  the  imposing  islet 
 opposite,  as  the  subject  of  two  impossibilities  : — 
 
 "  Ding  dowB  Tantallan, — 
 Mak'  a  brig  to  the  Bass  :" — 
 
 a  half  stanza  which  served  for  ages  to  characterize  the 
 sort  of  achievements  which  cannot  be  achieved  ;  and 
 which,  according  to  an  old  military  tradition,  formed 
 the  burden  of  the  "  Scots  March."  Hamilton  of  Gil- 
 bertfield,  a  name  once  familiar  in  Scotch  poetry,  assures 
 Allan  Ramsay,  in  one  of  his  metrical  epistles,  that 
 
 "Nowther  Hielanman  nor  Lawlan", 
 In  poetrie, 
 But  mocht  as  weel  ding  down  Tantallan 
 As  match  wi'  thee." 
 
 But  we  live  in  times  in  which  the  family  of  the  impos- 
 sibles is  fast  becoming  extinct.  The  Bass  still  remains 
 unbridged,  only  because  no  one  during  the  late  railway 
 mania  chanced  to  propose  running  a  line  in  that  direc- 
 tion ;  we  have  seen  the  verse  of  Ramsay  considerably 
 more  than  matched  by  poets,  both  of  Highland  and 
 Lowland  extraction  ;  and  Time  is  fast  "  dinging  down  " 
 the  stately  towers  of  Tantallan.  Addison,  in  his  vision 
 of  the  picture-gallery,  could  see  among  the  master- 
 pieces of  the  dead  painters  only  one  artist  at  Avork, — 
 an  old  man  with  a  solitary  tuft  of  long  hair  upon  his 
 fijrehead,  who  wrought  with  a  pencil  so  exceedingly 
 minute,  that  a  thousand  strokes  produced  scarce  any 
 visible  impression,  and  who,  as  a  colourist,  dealt  chiefly 
 in  brown.  I  recognised  the  same  ancient  gentleman 
 seated  high  on  the  central  tower  of  Tantallan,  engaged 
 apparently  in  whetting  a  scythe  on  the  stonework  of 
 the  edifice,  and  ever  and  anon  l)lowing  away  the  de- 
 
[70] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 tached  particles  of  dust  with  his  breath.  He  seemed 
 to  be  quite  as  leisurely  now  in  his  habits  as  when  seen 
 in  the  days  of  Queen  Anne  among  the  pictures.  But 
 there  was  an  expression  of  wonderful  power  stamped 
 on  his  calm,  pale,  passionless  visage  ;  and  when  I  saw 
 the  marvels  which  he  had  accomplished  in  his  quiet 
 way,  —  how,  after  laying  the  doughty  Douglases  on 
 their  back,  he  had  broken  down  the  drawbridge  of  their 
 impregnable  stronghold,  and  half  filled  up  the  moat, 
 and  torn  the  iron  gate  of  their  dungeon  off  its  hinges, 
 and  laid  corridor  and  gallery  open  to  the  winds  of  hea- 
 ven,— and  how,  still  as  unfatigued  as  if  his  tasks  had 
 but  just  begun,  he  was  going  on  in  his  work  without 
 rest  or  intermission, — I  could  not  avoid  recognising 
 him  as  one  of  the  most  formidable  opponents,  or  most 
 potent  allies,  that  cause  or  party  could  possibly  pos- 
 sess ;  and  felt  that  it  betrayed  nought  approximating 
 to  conceit  in  Sir  Walter  Scott,  that  he  should  have  em- 
 ployed so  confidently,  and  on  so  many  occasions,  his 
 favourite  Spanish  proverb, 
 
 "  Time  and  /,  gentlemen,  against  any  two." 
 
 The  castle  of  Tantallan  consists  of  three  massive 
 towers,  united  by  two  curtains  of  lofty  rampart,  that 
 stretch  across  the  neck  of  a  small  promontory  of  trap- 
 tuff,  hollowed  into  inaccessible  precipices  by  the  waves 
 below.  The  entire  fortalice  consists  of  three  sides  of 
 wall-like  rock,  and  one  side  of  rock  like  wall ; — the 
 edifice,  if  laid  down  elsewhere,  would  be  simply  a  piece 
 of  detached  masonry,  that  enclosed  no  area,  and  could 
 be  rendered  subservient  to  no  purpose  of  defence  ;  and 
 so  it  seems  difficult  to  imagine  a  less  fortunate  concep- 
 tion regarding  it  than  that  of  a  local  topographer,  viz., 
 ♦  that  though  at  present  "  nearly  insulated,  it  once  stood 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [71] 
 
 at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  sea,"  and  what  is 
 now  the  perpendicular  cliff  immediately  behind  "  ended 
 in  a  gentle  slope,  which  extended  greatly  beyond  the 
 Bass."  The  stronghold,  so  situated,  would  be  in  exactly 
 the  circumstances  of  the  old  warrior  in  the  ballad,  who, 
 setting  his  back  to  a  dry-stone  fence  to  defend  himself 
 against  odds,  found  his  rear  laid  hopelessly  open  by  the 
 demolition  of  the  crazy  erection  behind.  Change  has 
 not  been  quite  so  rapid  in  its  march  as  the  myth  here 
 would  argue  ;  and  the  geologist  may  find  on  these  ruins 
 marks,  not  only  of  its  progress,  but  of  the  rate  at  which 
 it  goes  on.  The  two  curtains,  with  the  eastern  and 
 western  towers,  are  composed  of  a  pale-coloured  Old 
 Red  Sandstone, — in  the  main  a  durable  stone,  though 
 some  of  the  hewn  surfaces  have  become  hollowed,  under 
 the  weathering  influences,  like  pieces  of  honey-comb, 
 and  the  "  bloody  heart"  is  falling  away  piecemeal  from 
 the  armorial  shield  over  the  gateway.  But  the  greater 
 part  of  the  central  tower,  evidently  a  later  erection,  is 
 formed  of  a  fine-grained  trap-tuff ;  and  with  it  the 
 agencies  of  decomposition  and  decay  have  been  work- 
 ing strange  vagaries.  The  surfaces  of  the  solid  ashler 
 have  retreated  at  least  half  a  foot  from  the  original 
 line  while  the  more  durable  cement  in  which  they 
 were  embedded  stands  out  around  and  over  them  in 
 thin  crusts,  resembling  hollow  cowls  ])rojecting  over 
 wasted  heads, — like,  for  instance,  the  becowled  head 
 of  the  spectre  monk  in  the  "  Castle  of  Otranto."  Now, 
 this  trap-tuff  portion  of  the  tower, — evidently  no  part 
 of  the  original  design,  but  a  mere  after-thought, — is  in 
 all  probability  not  older  than  the  days  of  Archibald, 
 sixth  Earl  of  Angus,  the  nei)hew  of  the  poet  Gawin 
 Douglas,  and  the  stepfather  of  James  V.,  of  whom  it  is 
 known,  that  on  his  return  from  exile  on  the  death  of 
 
[72] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 J ames,  lie  greatly  strengthened  the  edifice  ;  and  its 
 state  of  keeping  serves  to  show  how  much,  when  ope- 
 rating on  such  materials,  the  tear  and  wear  of  a  few 
 centuries  may  do.  I  bethought  me,  in  front  of  the  old 
 wasted  tower, — as  I  marked  at  my  feet  a  fragment  of 
 dressed  stone,  which,  covered  up  till  very  recently  by 
 the  soil,  still  retained  the  marks  of  the  tool  with  all  the 
 original  sharpness, — of  the  time-worn  aspect  exhibited 
 by  the  more  exposed  slopes  and  precipices  of  the  hills 
 and  mountains  of  our  country,  compared  with  the 
 dressed  and  polished  appearance  which  they  so  often 
 present  in  those  portions  which  a  protecting  cover  of 
 mould  or  clay  has  shielded  from  the  disintegrating  in- 
 fluences. Arthur's  Seat,  with  its  worn  and  lichened 
 precipices,  shattered  by  the  frosts  and  rains  of  many 
 centuries,  resembles  the  time-wasted  tower  ;  Avhile  the 
 stretch  of  grooved  and  furrowed  rock  on  its  southern 
 flank,  which  the  workmen  engaged  in  forming  the 
 Queen's  Drive  laid  bare  about  two  years  ago,  and  which 
 seemed  at  the  time  as  if  it  had  been  operated  upon  by 
 some  powerful  polishing  machine  only  a  day  or  two  pre- 
 vious, represents  the  piece  of  disinterred  stone,  sharp 
 from  the  chisel.  And  in  the  case  of  both  the  tower  and 
 the  hill,  as  in  many  other  matters,  things  are  not  what 
 they  appear  to  be.  The  hewn  surface  of  the  tower  was  a 
 greatly  more  ancient  surface  than  the  present  one  ;  and 
 it  is  but  the  more  modern  frontage  of  Arthur's  Seat  that 
 presents  the  marks  of  a  hoar  antiquity ;  while  its  dressed 
 and  polished  portions,  which  appear  so  modern,  are 
 portions  of  what  is  truly  its  old  skin,  not  yet  cast  off. 
 It  was  once  all  scratched  and  polished  from  base  to  sum- 
 mit, just  as  the  wasted  tower  once  exhibited,  from 
 basement  to  battlement,  the  marks  of  the  mallet :  nay, 
 all  Scotland,  from  the  level  of  the  sea  to  the  height  of 
 
GEOLOGr  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [73] 
 
 fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand  feet,  seems  to  have 
 been  dressed  after  this  mysterious  style,  as  if  scoured 
 over  its  entire  area  on  some  general  cleaning  night. 
 But  the  central  tower  of  Tantallan  tells  us  how  and  why 
 it  is  that  only  on  the  less  exposed  portions  of  the  sur- 
 face of  the  country  need  we  look  for  evidence  of  this 
 strange  scrubbing-bout ; — it  is  only  on  the  buried  pieces 
 of  the  hewn  work,  if  we  may  so  speak,  that  we  find 
 the  sharp  markings  of  the  tool. 
 
 The  enclosed  area  of  the  fortress, — cut  off  from  the 
 land  by  the  towers  and  their  curtains,  and  surrounded 
 seawards  by  a  line  of  inaccessible  precipices, — we  find 
 occupied  by  a  range  of  sorely  dilapidated  buildings, 
 that  rise  in  rough-edged  picturesqueness  on  the  west, 
 immediately  over  the  rock-edge,  and  by  a  piece  of  rich 
 garden  ground,  fringed  on  the  north  and  east  by  thickets 
 of  stunted  elder.  The  ruins  and  the  neglected  garden 
 are  all  that  remain  of  the  scene  which  Scott  has  so 
 well  described  in  Marmion,  as  a  favourite  haunt  of  the 
 Lady  Clare  : — 
 
 "  I  said,  Tantallan's  dizzy  steep, 
 Hung  o'er  the  margin  of  the  deep, 
 And  many  a  tower  and  rampart  there 
 Repelled  the  insult  of  the  air  ; 
 Which,  when  the  tempest  vexed  the  sky, 
 Half  breeze,  half  spray,  came  whistling  by  ; 
 Above  the  booming  ocean  lent 
 The  far  projecting  battlement ; 
 The  billows  burst  in  ceaseless  flow, 
 Deep  on  the  precipice  below  ; 
 And  steepy  rock  and  frantic  tide, 
 Approach  of  human  step  defied." 
 
 A  fine  morning  liad  matured  into  a  lovely  day.  Tht* 
 sun  glanced  bright  on  the  deej)  green  of  tlie  sea  im- 
 mediately beneath  ;  and  the  reflection  went  (hincing  in 
 the  rabn,  in  wavelets  of  light,  atliwiirt  tlie  shaded  faccfc 
 
 9 
 
[7-1] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  the  precipices  ;  while  a  short  mile  beyond,  the  noble 
 Bass  loomed  tall  in  the  offing,  half  in  light,  half  in 
 shadow  ;  and,  dimly  discerned  through  the  slowly  dis- 
 sipating haze,  in  the  back  ground  rose  the  rampart-like 
 crags  of  the  Isle  of  May.  Nor  was  the  framing  of  the 
 picture,  as  surveyed  through  one  of  the  shattered  open- 
 ings of  the  edifice,  without  its  share  of  picturesque 
 beauty ;  it  consisted  of  fantastically  piled  stone,  moulded 
 of  old  by  the  chisel,  and  now  partially  overshadowed 
 by  tufts  of  withered  grass  and  half-faded  wallflower. 
 Could  the  old  stately  lords  of  the  Castle  have  tasted,  I 
 asked  myself,  the  poetry  of  a  scene  which  they  must 
 have  so  often  surveyed?  And,  as  if  to  rebuke  the 
 shallow  petulance  that  would  restrict  whatever  is  ex- 
 quisite in  sentiment  to  one's  own  superficial  times, 
 that  "  noble  Lord  of  Douglas  blood,''  who  "  gave  rude 
 Scotland  Virgil's  page,"  and  who  must  a  thousand 
 times  have  looked  out  upon  the  sublime  features  of  the 
 prospect  from  the  very  spot  on  which  I  now  stood,  seemed 
 to  raise  his  mitred  front  in  the  opening,  and  then, 
 stalking  by,  tall  and  stately,  to  evanish  amid  the  ruins. 
 The  "  schot-wyndo"  that  he  "  unschet  ane  litel  on  char," 
 to  look  out  upon  the  bleak  winter  morning  which 
 he  so  graphically  describes  in  one  of  his  prologues, 
 may  have  been  the  identical  shot-window  through 
 which,  a  moment  before,  I  had  cast  a  careless  glance 
 upon  the  sea  ;  and  these  were  the  vaulted  passages 
 through  Avhich  he  must  have  so  often  paced,  ere  the 
 field  of  Flodden  was  stricken,  calling  up,  as  he  himself 
 expresses  it,  in  a  line  which  would  have  stamped  him 
 poet  had  he  never  written  another, 
 
 "  Gousty  schaddois  of  eild  and  grisly  deed." 
 
 I  succeeded  in  scram])Hng  up  to  a  middle  range  of 
 
GEOLOOY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [75] 
 
 apartments  that  are  hollowed  in  the  thickness  of  the 
 front  rampart ;  but  there  is  an  upper  range,  inacces- 
 sible without  a  ladder,  which  I  failed  in  reaching,  and 
 which,  if  once  attained,  might  be  made  good  by  five 
 against  five  hundred  any  day.  I  was  informed  by  my 
 companion,  that  some  four  or  five-and-thirty  years  ago, 
 when  he  was  a  boy  at  school,  this  upper  range  was 
 seized  and  garrisoned  by  a  gang  of  mischievous  thieves, 
 headed  by  an  old  sailor,  who  had  been  wrecked  shortly 
 before  on  the  rocky  islet  of  Fidra,  and  had  taken  a 
 fancy  to  the  ancient  ruin.  They  had  constructed  a 
 ladder  of  ropes,  which  could  be  let  down  or  drawn  up 
 at  pleasure ;  and  sallying  out,  always  in  the  night-time, 
 they  annoyed  the  country  week  after  week,  by  depreda- 
 tions on  portable  property  of  all  kinds,  especially  provi- 
 sions— depredations  which,  though  they  always  left  mark 
 enough  behind  them,  never  left  quite  enough  to  trace 
 them  by  to  the  depredators.  Sheep  were  carried  off  and 
 slaughtered  in  the  fields  ;  the  larders  of  gentlemen 
 who,  like  all  men  of  sense,  valued  good  dinners,  were 
 broken  into,  and  turkey  and  tongue  extracted  ;  bakers 
 were  robbed  of  their  flour, — provision  merchants  of 
 their  hams ;  a  vessel  in  the  harbour,  on  the  eve  of 
 sailing,  was  lightened  of  her  sea-stock ;  one  worthy 
 burgher,  much  in  the  habit  of  examining  ol)jects  in  the 
 distance,  had  his  spy-glass  stolen — another  was  denuded 
 of  his  clothes;  the  mansion-house  of  Seacliff  was  harried 
 — the  farm-house  of  Scoughall  plundered  ;  and  qviiet 
 men  and  respectal)le  women  grew  nervous  over  three 
 whole  parishes,  when  they  thought  of  the  light-fingered 
 invisibilities  that  wrought  the  mischief,  and  asked  what 
 was  to  come  next.  Some  of  the  North  Berwick  fishermen 
 had  seen  lights  at  night  twinkling  high  amid  the  ruins 
 from  slit  openings  and  sliot-holes  ;  but  supernatural  1- 
 
[76] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ties  are  all  according  to  nature  in  connection  with  such 
 ruins  as  Tantallan  ;  and  so  the  lights  excited  no  suspi- 
 cion. A  Highlandman  who  had  been  sent  by  his 
 master  to  plant  ivy  against  the  old  walls,  had  been 
 pelted  by  an  unseen  hand  with  bits  of  lime ;  but  he 
 was  by  much  too  learned  in  such  things  not  to  know 
 that  it  is  fatal  to  blab  regarding  the  liberties  which 
 the  denizens  of  the  spiritual  world  take  with  mortals ; 
 and  so  he  wisely  held  his  tongue.  At  length,  however, 
 just  as  the  general  dismay  had  reached  its  acme,  the 
 haunt  of  the  thieves  was  discovered  by  some  young 
 girls,  who,  when  employed  in  thinning  turnips  in  the 
 garden  of  the  Castle,  were  startled  by  the  apparition 
 of  a  weather-beaten  face,  surmounted  by  a  red  Kilmar- 
 nock nightcap,  gazing  at  them  as  intently  from  a  Avin- 
 dow  in  the  fourth  storey  of  the  edifice,  as  if  the  owner 
 of  the  cap  and  face  had  been  some  second  Christy  of 
 the  Cleek,  and  longed  to  eat  them.  They  fled,  shriek- 
 ing, along  the  identical  passage  through  which  the 
 "  good  Lord  Marmion"  escaped  the  grim  Douglas,  when 
 
 "  The  ponderous  grate  behind  him  rung ;" 
 
 the  neighbourhood  Avas  raised,  the  hold  stormed,  and, 
 after  a  desperate  resistance,  the  old  sailor  captured  ; 
 and  with  his  ultimate  banishment  by  the  magistracy, 
 the  last  incident  in  the  history  of  Tantallan  terminated. 
 The  earlier  passages  were  of  a  more  chivalric  character ; 
 and  yet,  when,  on  groping  my  way  into  the  dungeon  of 
 the  fortress, — a  gloomy  cell  nearly  level  with  the  moat 
 outside, — I  saw  one  narrow  opening,  through  which  I 
 could  discern  only  a  minute  patch  of  sky  rising  slant- 
 wise in  the  ponderous  wall  to  the  surface,  and  another 
 still  narrower  opening,  through  Avhicli  I  could  discern 
 only  a  minute  patch  of  sea  slanting  downwards  in  to  the 
 
1 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS.  [77] 
 
 solid  rock, — when  I  had  breathed  for  a  few  moments  the 
 dead  stagnant  air  of  the  place,  and  marked  the  massive 
 iron  hinges  of  the  door  corroded  into  mere  skeletons 
 by  the  unwholesome  damps, — when  I  had  looked  upon 
 the  naked  walls,  and  the  rubbish-covered  floor,  and 
 the  low-browed  roof  of  dripping  stone, — I  deemed  it  a 
 greatly  better  matter  to  be  contemporary  with  low 
 rogues,  such  as  the  sailor  in  the  red  Kilmarnock  night- 
 cap, than  with  high-spirited,  mail-covered,  steel-helmed 
 robbers,  such  as  those  ancient  lords  of  Tantallan  who 
 had  kept  the  key  of  this  dolorous  dungeon,  and  could 
 -serve  at  will  the  unhappy  captives  which  it  had  once 
 contained,  as  one  of  them  had  served  Maclellan,  tutor 
 of  Bomby,  in  their  dungeon  at  Thrieva 
 
 We  quitted  the  ruins,  and  returned  to  Canty  Bay 
 along  the  cliffs.  There  occur  between  the  bay  and  the 
 Castle,  as  if  inlaid  in  the  trap-tuff,  two  immense  beds 
 of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  of  the  district ;  while  a  third 
 ])ed,  of  at  least  equal  extent,  occurs  a  few  hundred 
 yards  to  the  east  of  the  ruins,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
 the  mansion-house  of  Seacliff.  In  a  locality  in  which 
 the  surface  has  been  so  broken  up  that  at  least  three- 
 fourths  of  its  present  area  is  composed  of  the  disturb- 
 ing trap,  and  in  which  the  old  sedimentary  rocks  exist 
 as  mere  insulated  patches,  there  can,  of  course,  be  no 
 satisfactory  determination  regarding  the  relations  of 
 strata.  There  are,  however,  various  appearances  which 
 led  me  to  believe  tliat  these  beds  occur,  when  in  their 
 proper  place,  deep  in  the  Old  Red,  and  that  in  tlieir 
 j)rcsent  position  they  lie  not  fiir  from  the  ancient  focus 
 of  disturbance.  Tlicy  exhibit,  what  is  irroatly  more 
 common  towards  tlie  base  than  in  tlie  ui)pcr  dei)()sits 
 of  the  system,  a  large  amount  of  false  stratification  ; 
 they  hold  a  middle  ])lace,  in  point  of  distance,  between 
 
[78] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  last  patches  of  the  lower  Coal  Measures  which  appear 
 on  the  coast  of  Dirleton  to  the  west,  and  the  first  patches 
 that  appear  on  the  coast  of  Dunbar  on  the  east ;  while 
 the  lie  of  their  true  strata,  not  very  greatly  removed  in 
 some  of  the  beds  from  the  horizontal,  indicates  a  nearly 
 central  application  of  the  disturbing  force.  This  last  cir- 
 cumstance is  not  unworthy  of  notice.  Insulated  patches 
 of  stratified  rock,  so  covered  up  by  soil  and  diluvium  that 
 their  relations  cannot  be  traced,  are  often  held  to  have 
 escaped  the  disturbing  influences,  if  their  strata  but 
 rest  in  the  original  horizontal  line  ;  whereas  the  hori- 
 zontality  of  their  position  may  be  a  consequence,  not 
 of  the  absence  of  disturbance,  but  merely  of  its  focal 
 proximity.  Behemoth,  rising  amid  a  field  of  float-ice, 
 may  occasion  considerable  disturbance  and  derange- 
 ment among  the  pieces  that  tilt  up  against  his  sides ; 
 but  the  pieces  which  he  carries  up  on  his  back  retain 
 nearly  their  original  position  of  undisturbed  horizon- 
 tality.  I  spent  a  day,  early  in  the  autumn  of  the  pre 
 sent  year,  in  examining  that  junction,  at  Siccar  Point, 
 of  the  Old  Red  conglomerate  with  the  still  older  slate 
 rocks  and  micaceous  schists  of  the  district  which  Play- 
 fair,  in  his  Memoir  of  Hutton  has  rendered  classical ; 
 and  found  the  principle  to  which  I  refer,  of  apparent 
 non-disturbance  immediately  over  the  focus  where  the 
 disturbance  had  been  greatest,  as  finely  illustrated  by 
 the  section  as  at  least  any  of  the  other  phenomena 
 which  its  appearances  have  been  cited  to  substantiate. 
 
 I  enjoyed  on  this  occasion  the  companionship  of  the 
 Rev.  Mr  Dodds  of  Belhaven,  and  found  his  intimate 
 acquaintance  with  the  district,  and  with  geological 
 fact  in  general,  of  great  value.  On  passing  along  the 
 railway  to  the  east  of  the  town,  where  the  strata,  ex- 
 posed on  each  side  by  the  excavation,  exhibit  those 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [79] 
 
 alternations  of  sandstone  and  shale  so  common  in  the 
 Coal  Measures,  he  informed  me  that  at  this  point  the 
 workmen  had  found  numerous  fossils ;  and  he  after- 
 wards kindly  procured  for  me  one  of  the  specimens, — 
 a  block  of  indurated  shale,  largely  charged  with  two 
 well-known  corals  of  the  Carboniferous  Limestone, — 
 Cyathophyllum  fungites  and  Tuhipora  radiatus.  A  full 
 mile  and  a  quarter  from  where  the  primary  rock  first 
 appears,  we  saw  decided  marks  of  the  disturbance  which 
 it  occasioned.  The  Old  Red  Sandstone,  exhibited  here 
 in  sections  of  enormous  thickness,  lies  tilted  up  against 
 it  in  an  angle  which  heightens  as  we  proceed,  till  it 
 assumes,  at  the  point  of  junction,  a  nearly  vertical  po- 
 sition. But  the  focus  of  disturbance  once  reached,  the 
 marks  of  disturbance  cease  ;  and  the  occasional  patches 
 of  the  Old  Red  which  here  and  there  appear,  rest  hori- 
 zontally on  the  primary  rock.  They  are,  to  return  to 
 my  illustration,  the  ice-fragments  which,  carried  up  on 
 the  broad  back  of  Behemoth,  rest  on  their  original 
 planes,  while  those  that  lean  against  his  sides  have 
 been  set  steeply  on  edge.  The  Siccar  Point  is  hol- 
 lowed into  a  wildly  romantic  cavern,  open  to  the  roll 
 of  the  sea,  and  scooped  almost  exclusively  out  of  an 
 ancient  bed  of  purplish-coloured  clay-slate,  raised,  like 
 the  schist  in  which  it  is  intercalated,  in  a  nearly  verti- 
 cal angle ;  and  which  presents,  in  the  weathering,  a 
 sort  of  fantastic  fret-work,  as  if  a  fraternity  of  Chinese 
 carvers  had  been  at  work  on  its  sides  for  ages.  And 
 forming  the  roof  of  the  cavern,  and  laid  down  as  nicely 
 horizontal  on  the  sharp  edges  of  the  more  ancient 
 strata,  as  if  the  levelling  rule  of  the  mason  or  car- 
 penter had  been  employed  in  the  work,  we  see  stretch- 
 ing over  head,  the  lowest  bed  of  the  Old  Red  Sand- 
 stone.   On  this  very  j)()int,  witli  the  noble  cavern  full 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 in  front,  old  Hutton  stood  and  lectured ;  and  he  had 
 for  his  auditory,  Playfair  and  Sir  James  Hall.  But  a 
 description  of  the  scene  in  Playfair  s  own  words  may 
 at  least  serve  to  show  how  admirably  these  Huttoni- 
 ans  of  the  last  age  could  write  as  well  as  reason : — 
 
 "  The  ridge  of  the  Lammermuir  Hills,  in  the  south 
 of  Scotland,  consists,''  says  the  accomplished  Professor, 
 "  of  primary  micaceous  schistus,  and  extends  from  St 
 Abb's  Head  westward,  till  it  joins  the  metalliferous 
 mountains,  about  the  sources  of  the  Clyde.  The  sea- 
 coast  affords  a  transverse  section  of  this  Alpine  tract 
 at  its  eastern  extremity,  and  exhibits  the  changes 
 from  the  primary  to  the  secondary  strata,  both  on  the 
 south  and  on  the  north.  Dr  Hutton  wished  particu- 
 larly to  examine  the  latter  of  these,  and  on  this  occa- 
 sion Sir  James  Hall  and  I  had  the  pleasure  to  accom- 
 pany him.  We  sailed  in  a  boat  from  Dunglas  on  a 
 day  when  the  fineness  of  the  weather  permitted  us  to 
 keep  close  to  the  foot  of  the  rocks  which  line  the  shore 
 in  that  quarter,  directing  our  course  southwards  in 
 search  of  the  termination  of  the  secondary  strata.  We 
 made  for  a  high  rocky  point  or  headland,  the  SiccaVy 
 near  which,  from  our  observations  on  shore,  we  knew 
 that  the  object  we  were  in  search  of  was  likely  to  be 
 discovered.  On  landing  at  this  point,  we  found  that 
 we  actually  trod  on  the  primeval  rock  which  forms 
 alternately  the  base  and  the  summit  of  the  present 
 land.  It  is  here  a  micaceous  schistus,  in  beds  nearly 
 vertical,  highly  indurated,  and  stretching  from  south- 
 east to  north-west.  The  surface  of  this  rock  runs  with 
 a  moderate  ascent,  from  the  level  of  low  water  at  which 
 we  landed,  nearly  to  that  of  high  water,  where  the 
 schistus  has  a  thin  covering  of  red  horizontal  sand- 
 stone laid  over  it ;  and  this  sandstone,  at  the  distance 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [81] 
 
 of  a  few  yards  farther  back,  rises  into  a  very  high  per- 
 pendicular cliff.  Here,  therefore,  the  immediate  con- 
 tact of  the  two  rocks  is  not  only  visible,  but  is  curiously 
 dissected  and  laid  open  by  the  action  of  the  waves. 
 The  rugged  tops  of  the  schistus  are  seen  penetrating 
 into  the  horizontal  beds  of  sandstone,  and  the  lowest 
 of  these  last  form  a  breccia  containing  fragments  of 
 schistus,  some  round  and  others  angular,  united  by  an 
 arenaceous  cement. 
 
 "  Dr  Hutton,''  continues  the  Professor,  "  was  highly 
 pleased  with  appearances  that  set  in  so  clear  a  light 
 the  different  formations  of  the  parts  which  compose 
 the  exterior  crust  of  the  earth,  and  where  all  the  cir- 
 cumstances were  combined  that  could  render  the  ob- 
 servation satisfactory  and  precise.  On  us,  who  saw 
 these  phenomena  for  the  first  time,  the  impression 
 made  will  not  easily  be  forgotten.  The  palpable  evi- 
 dence presented  to  us  of  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
 and  important  facts  in  the  natural  history  of  the  earth, 
 gave  a  reality  and  substance  to  those  theoretical  spe- 
 culations, which,  however  probable,  had  never  till  now 
 been  directly  authenticated  by  the  testimony  of  the 
 senses.  We  often  said  to  ourselves,  what  clearer  evi- 
 dence could  we  have  had  of  the  different  formation  of 
 these  rocks,  and  of  the  long  interval  which  separated 
 these  formation,  had  we  actually  seen  them  emerging 
 from  the  bosom  of  the  deep  ?  We  felt  ourselves  neces- 
 sarily carried  back  to  the  time  when  the  schistus  on 
 which  we  stood  was  yet  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and 
 when  the  sandstone  before  us  was  only  beginning  to 
 be  deposited,  in  the  sha])e  of  sand  or  mud,  from  the 
 waters  of  a  superincumbent  ocean.  An  epocha  still 
 more  remote  presented  itself,  when  even  the  most  an- 
 cient of  these  rocks,  instead  of  standing  upright  in 
 
[82] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 vertical  beds,  lay  in  horizontal  planes  at  the  bottom  of 
 the  sea,  and  were  not  yet  disturbed  by  that  immeasur- 
 able force  which  has  burst  asunder  the  solid  pavement 
 of  the  globe.  Revolutions  still  more  remote  appeared 
 in  the  distance  of  this  extraordinary  perspective.  The 
 mind  seemed  to  grow  giddy  by  looking  so  far  into  the 
 abyss  of  time  ;  and  while  we  listened  with  earnestness 
 and  admiration  to  the  philosopher  who  was  unfolding 
 to  us  the  order  and  series  of  these  wonderful  events, 
 we  became  sensible  how  much  farther  reason  may  some- 
 times go,  than  imagination  can  venture  to  follow.  As 
 for  the  rest,  we  were  truly  fortunate  in  the  course  we 
 had  pursued  in  this  excursion ;  a  great  number  of 
 other  curious  and  important  facts  presented  them- 
 selves ;  and  we  returned,  having  collected  in  one  day 
 more  ample  materials  for  future  speculation  than  have 
 sometimes  resulted  from  years  of  diligent  and  labori- 
 ous research.'' 
 
 On  reaching  Canty  Bay,  we  found  the  boatmen  in 
 readiness ;  and,  embarking  for  the  Bass,  rowed  leisurely 
 round  the  island.  What,  perhaps,  first  strikes  the  eye 
 in  the  structure  of  the  precipices,  as  the  boat  sweeps 
 outwards  along  the  western  side,  is  the  number  of 
 vertical  lines  by  which  they  are  traversed.  No  one 
 would  venture  to  describe  the  rock  as  columnar ;  and 
 yet,  like  most  of  the  trap-rocks, — like  Salisbury  Crags, 
 for  instance,  or  the  Castle  rock  of  Edinburgh  towards 
 the  south  and  west,  or  the  basaltic  summit  of  Arthur's 
 Seat, — the  artist  who  set  himself  to  transfer  its  like- 
 ness to  paper  or  canvass  would  require  to  deal  much 
 more  largely  in  upright  strokes  of  the  pencil  than  in 
 strokes  of  any  other  kind.  A  similar  peculiarity  may 
 be  observed  in  some  of  the  primary  districts.  The 
 porphyritic  precipices  of  Glencoe  are  barred  along  tlie 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [83] 
 
 course  of  the  vallev,  on  both  sides,  by  strongly-marked 
 vertical  lines,  that  harmonize  well  with  the  sharp  per- 
 pendicular peaks  atop ;  and  where  the  vertical  lines 
 and  perpendicular  peaks  cease,  whether  at  the  upper 
 or  lower  opening  of  the  glen,  the  traveller  may  safely 
 conclude  that  he  has  entered  on  a  different  formation. 
 As  we  pass  seawards  under  the  higher  precipices  of  the 
 Bass,  the  vertical  lining  takes  a  slightly  outward  cast ; 
 the  rude  columns  seem  bent  forward  like  the  bayonet- 
 armed  muskets  of  a  foot-regiment  placed  in  the  proper 
 angle  for  repelling  the  charge  of  a  troop  of  horse  ;  and 
 on  the  shelves  formed  by  the  rude  cross  jointing  of 
 these  columns,  do  the  innumerable  birds  that  frequent 
 the  rock  find  the  perilous,  mid-air  platforms  on  which 
 they  rear  their  young.  At  the  time  of  my  former  visit, 
 to  borrow  from  old  Dunbar, — 
 
 "  The  air  was  dirkit  with  the  fowlis, 
 That  cam  with  yammeris  and  with  yowlis, 
 "With  shrykking,  screeking,  skrymming,  scowlis, 
 And  meikle  noyis  and  showtes." 
 
 But  all  was  silent  to-day.  November,  according  to  the 
 quondam  missionary  of  St  Kilda,  is  the  deadest  month 
 of  the  year "  the  bulk  of  the  fowls  having  deserted 
 the  coast,  leave  the  rocks  black  [i.  e.,  white]  and  dead." 
 I  was  not  sufficiently  aware,  during  my  previous  visit, 
 how  very  much  the  birds  add  to  the  effect  of  the  rock 
 scener)'  of  the  island.  The  gannet  measures  from  wing- 
 tip  to  wing-tip  full  six  feet ;  the  great  black  gull,  five  ; 
 the  blue  or  herring  gull,  about  four  feet  nine  inches ; 
 and,  flying  at  all  heights  along  the  precipices,  thick  as 
 motes  in  the  sunbeam, — this  one,  so  immediately  over 
 head  that  the  well-defined  shadow  which  it  casts  darkens 
 half  the  yawl  below — that  other,  well  nigh  four  Imndred 
 feet  in  the  air,  though  still  under  the  level  of  the  sum- 
 
[8i] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 mit, — they  serve,  by  their  gradations  of  size,  from  where 
 they  seem  mere  specks  in  the  firmament,  to  where  they 
 exhibit,  almost  within  staff  reach,  their  amplest  deve- 
 lopment of  bulk,  as  objects  to  measure  the  altitudes  by. 
 And  these  altitudes  appear  considerably  less  when  they 
 are  away.  But  an  abrupt  rock  tower,  rising  out  of  the 
 sea  to  the  height  of  four  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  must 
 be  always  an  imposing  object,  whatever  its  accompani- 
 ments, or  let  us  measure  it  as  we  may. 
 
 "  Dread  rock  !  thy  life  is  two  eternities — 
 The  last  in  air — the  former  in  the  deep  ; 
 First  with  the  whales — last  with  the  eagle  skies  : 
 Drowned  wast  thou  till  an  earthquake  made  thee  steep  ! 
 Another  cannot  bow  thy  giant  size  ! " 
 
 I  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  effect  a  landing  in  the 
 great  cavern  by  which  the  island  is  perforated  ;  the 
 tide  had  not  fallen  sufficiently  low  to  permit  the  ap- 
 proach of  the  boat  through  the  narrow  opening  to  the 
 beach  Avithin  ;  and,  pleasant  as  the  day  was,  an  incipient 
 frost  rendered  it  rather  "  a  naughty  one  for  swimming 
 in.''  But  we  approached  as  near  as  the  strait  vestibule 
 — half  blocked  up  by  a  rock  that  at  every  recession  of 
 the  wave  showed  its  pointed  tusk  above  water — gave 
 permission  ;  and  I  saw  enough  of  the  cave  to  enable  me 
 to  conceive  of  its  true  character  and  formation.  One 
 of  those  slickeii-sided  lines  of  division  so  common  in 
 the  trap-rocks,  runs  across  the  island  from  east  to  west, 
 cutting  it  into  two  unseparated  parts,  immediately 
 under  the  foundations  of  the  old  chapel.  As  is  not 
 uncommon  along  these  lines,  whether  occasioned  by 
 the  escape  of  vapours  from  below  or  the  introduction 
 of  moisture  from  above,  the  rock  on  both  sides,  so  firm 
 and  unwasted  elsewhere,  is  considerably  decomposed  ; 
 and  the  sea,  by  incessantly  charo;ing  direct  in  this  soft- 
 
GEOLOGY  or  THE  BASS. 
 
 [85] 
 
 ened  line  from  the  stormy  east,  has,  in  the  lapse  of 
 ages,  hollowed  a  passage  for  itself  through.  A  fine 
 natural  niche,  a  full  hundred  feet  in  height, —  such  a 
 one,  perhaps,  as  that  which  Wordsworth  apostrophises 
 in  his  Sonnets  on  the  River  Duddon, — forms  the  open- 
 ing of  the  cavern,  the  roof  bristling  high  over- head, 
 with  minute  tufts  of  a  beautiful  rock-fern,  the  base- 
 ment-course, if  I  may  so  speak,  roughened  with  brown 
 algoe,  and  having  the  dark  green  sea  for  its  floor. 
 But  the  cavern  beyond  seems  scarce  worthy  of  such  a 
 gateway ;  the  roof  appears  from  this  point  to  close  in 
 upon  it ;  and  a  projection  from  one  of  the  sides  com  - 
 pletely shuts  up  its  long  vista  to  the  sea  and  the  day- 
 light on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island.  The  height 
 of  this  tunnel  of  nature's  forming  is  about  thirty  feet 
 throughout  ;  its  length  about  a  hundred  and  seventy 
 yards.  Not  far  from  its  western  opening  there  occurs 
 a  beach  of  gravel,  which,  save  when  the  waves  run 
 high  during  the  flood  of  stream  tides,  is  rarely  covered. 
 Its  middle  space  contains  a  dark  pool,  filled  even  at 
 low  el^b  with  from  three  to  four  feet  water ;  and  an 
 accumulation  of  rude  boulders  occupies  the  remaining 
 portion  of  its  length,  a  little  Avithin  the  eastern  entrance. 
 It  is  a  dark  and  dreary  recess,  full  of  chill  airs  and 
 dropi)ing  damps, — such  a  cavern  as  that  into  which  the 
 famous  Sinljad  the  Sailor  was  lowered,  at  the  command 
 of  his  dear  friend  the  king,  when  liis  wife  liad  died, 
 and,  agreeal)ly  to  tlie  courtesy  of  the  country,  he  liud 
 to  be  buried  with  her  alive,  in  order  to  keep  her  com- 
 pany. 
 
 So  ([uiet  was  this  delicate  winter  day,  as  Gilbert  White 
 would  term  it,  and  so  smooth  the  water,  that  we  elfected 
 our  landing  on  the  Bass  without  a  tithe  of  the  risk  or  dif- 
 ficulty which  the  midsummer  visitors  of  the  rock  have 
 
[86] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 not  unfrequently  to  encounter.  The  only  landing- 
 places,  two  in  number,  occur  on  a  flat  shelving  point 
 which  forms  the  south-eastern  termination  of  the  island. 
 Our  boatmen  selected  on  this  occasion  the  landing-place 
 in  more  immediate  proximity  with  the  fortress,  as  the 
 better  of  the  two  ;  and  we  found  its  superiority  owing 
 to  the  circumstance,  that  it  had  been  originally  cut,  at 
 no  inconsiderable  expense  of  labour,  into  the  living 
 rock ;  here  of  so  solid  a  consistence  that — to  employ  the 
 words  used  by  Sir  Walter  in  describing  a  similar  under- 
 taking— "  a  labourer  who  wrought  at  the  work  might 
 in  the  evening  have  carried  home  in  his  bonnet  all  the 
 shivers  which  he  had  struck  from  the  mass  in  the  course 
 of  the  day.'' 
 
 The  flat  point  in  which  the  landing-place  is  hollowed 
 forms  a  lateral  prolongation  of  the  lowest  of  three  shelves 
 or  platforms,  into  which,  with  precipitous  cliff's  between, 
 the  sloping  surface  of  the  island  is  divided  ;  and  the 
 upper  part  of  this  lowest  shelf  or  platform,  which  rises 
 in  level  as  it  sweeps  from  the  eastern  to  the  western 
 precipices,  is  occupied  by  the  ancient  fortress.  The 
 stronghold  was  so  designed  that  a  single  stretch  of  wall 
 built  across  the  point, — and  at  its  one  extremity  joining 
 on  to  the  here  inaccessible  cliff"  which  rises  towards  the 
 second  platform  of  the  island,  and  terminating,  at  its 
 other  extremity,  with  the  sheer  rock-edge  that  descends 
 perpendicularly  into  the  sea, — served  to  shut  up  the 
 whole  Bass.  The  entire  platform  somewhat  resembles  in 
 shape  a  gigantic  letter  A, — the  flat  shelving  point,  with  its 
 landing-places,  representing  the  lower  part  of  the  letter, 
 up  to  the  transverse  stroke, — the  higher  portion  of  the 
 platform,  occupied  by  the  various  buildings  of  the  fort- 
 ress, the  part  of  the  letter  above  the  stroke, — and  the 
 single  cross  wall,  made  effective  in  shutting  up  so  much, 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [87] 
 
 the  transverse  stroke  itself.  To  this  transverse  ram- 
 part there  joins  on  at  right  angles  a  longitudinal  ram 
 part, — a  line,  to  follow  up  my  peculiarly  literary  illus- 
 tration, drawn  from  the  middle  of  the  cross  stroke  of 
 the  A  to  the  apex  of  the  letter ;  or  if  the  reader  has 
 been  accustomed  to  disentangle  and  peruse  those  fan- 
 tastic ciphers,  curiously  compounded  of  capital  letters, 
 which  one  so  frequently  finds  inscribed  on  the  mould- 
 ering tablets  and  storied  lintels  of  ancient  castles,  he 
 may  conceive  of  it  as  a  T  reversed,  inscribed  within  a 
 greatly  larger  A,  the  central  cross  line  of  the  cipher 
 serving  to  form  the  transverse  stroke  of  each  of  the 
 component  letters.  And  this  longitudinal  rampart,  by 
 running  along  the  middle  of  the  enclosed  portion  of  the 
 shelf,  both  served  to  front  the  sea  with  its  tier  of  can- 
 non, for  purposes  of  offence,  and  to  protect  defensively 
 from  distant  cannonading,  the  buildings  which  lie  clus- 
 tered behind.  The  whole  fortalice,  in  short,  may  be 
 conceived  of,  in  the  ground  plan,  as  a  gigantic  letter  T, 
 for  the  A  represents  chiefly  the  ground  on  which  it 
 stands.  And  while  any  part  of  it  might  be  battered 
 from  a  distance,  only  the  transverse  portion  of  it  could 
 be  approached  by  an  enemy  from  the  landing-places  ; 
 the  longitudinal  portion,  protected  in  front  by  inac- 
 cessible rocks,  and  in  flank  by  the  transverse  wall,  be- 
 ing as  entirely  included  in  the  enclosed  area,  outside 
 its  parapet  as  within. 
 
 All  the  doors  of  the  deserted  fortalice  now  lie  open, 
 except  one, — a  door  by  which  the  tenant  of  the  Bass 
 fences  against  unauthorised  visitors  the  upper  part  of 
 the  island,  with  its  flocks  of  unfledged  ganncts  and  its 
 sheep  ;  and  this  door,  as  it  occurs,  not  in  the  transverse 
 wall,  but  at  the  top  of  a  long  ascending  passage  beyond, 
 leaves  the  space  in  front  of  the  longitndiiuil  rampart  as 
 
[88] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 open  to  the  vagrant  foot  as  the  shelving  point  in  front  of 
 the  transverse  one.  The  door  divides  the  island  into  two 
 unequal  parts,  a  lower  and  upper ;  and  I  am  thus  particu- 
 lar in  detailing  the  circumstance,  as  it  serves  to  show  on 
 what  slight  and  trivial  causes  the  preservation  or  ex- 
 tinction of  a  vegetable  species  may  sometimes  depend. 
 The  sheep  are  restricted  by  the  door  to  the  upper  divi- 
 sion of  the  island  ;  while  two  comparatively  rare  plants 
 indigenous  to  the  place — the  sea-beet  and  the  Bass 
 mallow — are  found  in  only  its  lower  division.  The 
 same  door  which  protects  the  sheep  from  the  lawless 
 depredator  has  protected  the  two  rare  plants  from  the 
 sheep  ;  and  so  they  continue  to  exist ;  while  in  several 
 other  islands  of  the  Frith,  in  which  they  once  found  a 
 habitat,  but  enjoyed  the  protection  of  no  jealous  door, 
 they  exist  no  longer.  Even  in  the  Bass  they  seem  to 
 be  in  considerable  danger,  from  the  recent  introduc- 
 tion of  a  colony  of  rabbits,  that  have  already  made 
 themselves  free  of  both  the  lower  and  upper  divisions 
 of  the  island,  and  that,  by  scooping  the  soil  from  under 
 the  mallows,  and  by  nibbling  off  the  reproductive  ger- 
 mins  of  the  beet,  have  of  late  very  sensibly  diminished 
 the  numbers  of  both.  The  beet  plants  in  especial 
 seemed  to  be  at  least  thrice  more  numerous  when  I 
 formerly  visited  the  place  than  I  found  them  now. 
 
 The  rabbits,  however,  though  no  friends  to  the  rare 
 plants,  nor  yet  to  the  ruins, — for  with  their  unsightly  ex- 
 cavations, they  have  been  working  sad  havoc  among  the 
 parapets  and  slimmer  walls, — did  me  some  service  as  a 
 sort  of  geological  pioneers.  They  had  been  busily  at  work 
 immediately  under  what  I  have  described  as  the  longi- 
 tudinal wall  of  the  fortress,  where  the  tree  mallow 
 grows  thick  and  tall  in  a  loose  grayish-coloured  soil,  which 
 may  be  now  safely  described  as  vegetable  mould,  but 
 which  existed  a  century  and  a  half  ago  sim])ly  as  tlie 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [89] 
 
 debris  and  exuviae  of  the  garrison.  And  their  excava- 
 tions here,  from  two  to  four  feet  in  depth,  serve  to  lay 
 open  to  the  visitor  a  formation  of  comparatively  recent 
 origin,  the  various  remains  of  which,  animal  and  vege- 
 table, organic  and  artistic,  all  speak  of  man.  The  ac- 
 cumulation constitutes  such  a  deposit  as  would  surely 
 be  now  and  then  unveiled  by  the  explorer  of  the  more 
 ancient  fossiliferous  beds,  had  there  existed  a  rational 
 tool-making  creature  in  the  earlier  ages  of  creation  ; 
 or  had  man,  as  some  writers  fancy,  been  contemporary 
 with  all  the  geologic  systems  in  succession. 
 
 It  is  not  unusual  to  bestoAv  a  name  on  the  subordi- 
 nate beds  of  larger  formations,  from  the  more  cha- 
 racteristic organisms  which  they  contain.  We  have 
 thus  "  Coral  Rags,"  and  "  Ichthyolitic  Beds,''  and  "  Gry- 
 phite,"  "  E^icrinal,"  and  "  Pentamerous  Limestones 
 and  were  we,  on  a  similar  principle  of  nomenclature,  to 
 bestow  on  this  limited  formation  a  name  from  the  pre- 
 valent remains  which  it  exhibits,  we  would  have  to  term 
 it  the  Tobacco-pipe  Deposit.  It  abounds  in  the  decapi- 
 tated stalks  and  broken  bowls  of  tobacco-pipes,  of  an- 
 tique form  and  massy  proportions,  any  one  of  which 
 would  have  furnished  materials  enough  for  the  construc- 
 tion of  two  such  pipes 
 
 "  As  smokers  smoke  in  these  degenerate  days." 
 
 Assisted  hy  my  companion,  I  picked  up  in  a  few  minutes 
 the  bowls  of  five  of  these  memorials  of  bygone  hixury, 
 and  the  stalks  of  about  twice  as  many  more.  Some  of 
 the  stalks  at  their  terminal  points  are  well  rounded,  as 
 if  long  in  friendly  contact  with  the  teeth  ;  Avhile  their 
 lack  of  wax  or  varnish  shows  that  the  art  of  glazinir  lor 
 an  inch  or  two,  to  protect  the  lips  from  the  fret ti nix 
 absorl)escence  of  the  i)ii)e-chiy,  had  yet  to  l)e  invented. 
 The  bowls  are  all  broken  short  at  the  neck, — evidence 
 
 k 
 
[90] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 that  the  wasteful  practice  of  knocking  out  the  ashes, 
 not,  as  was  Uncle  Toby's  wont,  against  the  thumb-nail, 
 but  against  a  hard  stone,  has  been  by  no  means  confined 
 to  our  own  anti-economic  age  ;  and  most  of  them  still 
 bear  the  darkened  stain  of  the  tobacco.  There  are 
 few  of  the  heads  of  that  head-taking-off  century, — not 
 excepting  the  head  of  the  Royal  Martyr  himself, — in 
 so  excellent  a  state  of  keeping,  or  that  still  bear  about 
 them  such  unequivocal  mark  of  what  had  most  engaged 
 them  in  their  undetached  condition,  whether  the  Vir- 
 ginian weed,  unlimited  prerogative  de  jure  divino,  or 
 the  Canterburian  ceremonies.  The  deposit  in  which 
 they  occur,  lies  parallel  to  and  immediately  in  front, 
 as  has  been  said,  of  the  longitudinal  range  of  rampart, 
 along  which  the  sentinels  must  have  paced  frequent 
 and  oft,  humming,  during  the  midnight  watch,  some 
 reckless  old-world  song, —  "  If  ere  I  do  well  'tis  a  won- 
 der," or  "  Three  bottles  and  a  quart,'' — and  consoling 
 themselves,  as  the  keen  sea-breeze  whistled  sharp  and 
 shrill  through  embrazure  and  shot-hole,  with  a  whifF  of 
 tobacco.  The  night  is  drizzly  and  chill ;  and  yonder, 
 tall  in  the  fog,  may  be  seen  the  grimly-moustached, 
 triangular-capped,  buff-belted,  duffle-be-coated  scoun- 
 drel of  a  sentry  pacing  along  the  wall,  and  crooning  an 
 old  drinking  song  as  he  goes.  One  pipe  is  already 
 smoked  out :  he  stops,  and  firmly  holding  the  stalk  of 
 the  implement  at  the  neck,  he  taps  the  bowl  against 
 the  edge  of  the  parapet,  in  preparation  for  another.  It 
 breaks  short  in  his  hand ;  and,  with  a  sudden  oath, 
 that  forms  a  rather  abrupt  episode  in  the  tune,  and 
 disturbs  poor  Mr  Blackadder  in  his  cell,  he  sends  the 
 bowl  a-whizzing  over  the  rampart,  and  the  stalk  straight- 
 way follows  it.  And  now,  after  a  hundred  and  eighty 
 years  have  come  and  gone,  here  is  both  bowl  and  stalk ! 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [91] 
 
 One  English  poet  has  written  verses  on  the  detached 
 heel  of  an  old  shoe ;  another  on  a  rejected  quid  of  to- 
 bacco divested  of  the  juice.  I  do  not  see  why  a  muti- 
 lated tobacco-pipe  of  the  Bass  should  not  make  quite 
 as  good  a  subject  as  either.  Their  abundance  here 
 serves  to  demonstrate  that  the  unscrupulous  soldiery 
 of  the  times  of  Charles  II.  must  have  been  not  a  little 
 remarkable  as  a  smoke-inhaling  fraternity ;  while  the 
 fact  that  a  vicar  of  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Golyn 
 was  deposed  by  James  VI.  for  the  high  crime  of  smok- 
 ing tobacco  about  half  a  century  before,  shows  that 
 smoke-inhaling  could  scarce  have  taken  rank,  in  the 
 times  of  James's  grandson,  among  the  very  respectable 
 accomplishments.  The  weed,  if  not  obnoxious  to  all 
 the  anathemas  of  the  pedant  monarch's  "  Counterblast," 
 must  have  still  been  the  subject  of  an  appreciation  at 
 least  as  disparaging  as  that  of  Lamb's  "  Farewell :  " — 
 
 "  Sooty  retainer  to  the  vine  ; 
 Bacchus'  black  servant,  negro  fine  ; 
 Sorcerer  that  niak'st  us  dote  upon 
 Thy  begrimmed  complexion ; 
 And,  for  thy  pernicious  sake, 
 More  and  greater  oaths  to  break 
 Than  reclaimed  lovers  take    *    *  * 
 Stinkingest  of  the  stinking  kind  ; 
 Filth  of  the  moutli,  and  fog  of  the  mind ; 
 Henbane,  nightshade,  both  together, 
 Hemlock  aconite." 
 
 With  the  broken  tobacco-pi  i)es  I  found  numerous  frag- 
 ments of  beef  and  mutton  bones,  that  still  bore  mark 
 of  the  butcher's  saw,  blent  with  the  frequent  bones  of 
 birds  and  fractured  shells  of  the  edible  crab, — memo- 
 rials, the  two  last,  of  contributions  furnished  by  the 
 islet  itself  to  the  wants  of  its  garrison  or  the  i)risoners. 
 I  picked  up,  besides,  a  little  bit  of  brass,  the  ornamental 
 facing,  apparently,  of  some  ])iece  oi'  unilorm,  with  seve- 
 
[92] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ral  bits  of  iron,  long  since  oxidized  out  of  all  shape, 
 and  stuck  round  with  agglomerations  of  gravel  and 
 coal,  and  bits  of  decayed  wood,  representative  to  the 
 young  geologist  of  the  components  of  some  ancient 
 conglomerate  of  the  Devonian  or  Carboniferous  period, 
 bound  together  by  a  calcareous  or  metallic  cement. 
 My  companion  found,  glittering  among  the  debris,  what 
 at  the  first  glance  seemed  to  be  a  cluster  of  minute 
 well-formed  pearls  of  great  beauty  and  brilliancy,  set 
 in  a  little  tablet ;  but  the  jewel  turned  out,  on  exa- 
 mination, to  be  merely  the  fragment  of  some  highly- 
 ornamented  apothecary's  phial,  embossed  into  semi- 
 globular  studs,  that  owed  all  their  iridescence  to  the 
 sorely  decomposed  state  of  the  glass.  Glass  decomposes 
 under  the  action  of  the  elements, — like  many  of  the 
 trap-rocks,  such  as  greenstone,  basalt,  and  the  clay- 
 stones, — by  splitting  into  layers  parallel  to  the  planes, 
 or,  as  in  this  instance,  to  the  curves  of  the  original 
 mass  ;  and  the  plane  of  each  layer,  under  the  same 
 optical  law  that  imparts  iridescence  to  minute  sheets 
 of  mica  partially  raised  from  the  mass,  reflects  the 
 prismatic  colours.  Hence  the  frequent  gorgeousness 
 of  old  stable  and  outhouse  windows,  little  indebted 
 to  the  art  of  the  stainer,  but  left  to  the  amateur  pen- 
 cellings  of  two  greatly  more  delicate  artists  in  this 
 special  department, — cobwebbed  neglect  and  decom- 
 posing damp.  When  examined  by  the  microscope,  I 
 found  the  studs  of  the  Bass  specimen  presenting  ex- 
 actly the  appearance  of — what  decomposing  balls  of 
 greenstone  have  been  so  often  compared  to — many 
 coated  bulbous  roots,  such  as  that  of  the  onion  or  lily. 
 In  greenstone  the  disintegrating  substance  is  commonly 
 iron  ;  in  glass  it  is  the  fixed  salt,  such  as  kelp  or  barilla, 
 used  as  a  flux  in  fusing  the  stubborn  silex  ;  and  the 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [93] 
 
 concentric  disposition  affected  by  both  substances 
 seems  to  be  in  part  a  consequence  of  the  homogeneity 
 induced  in  the  mass  by  the  previous  fusion,  through 
 which  the  main  agent  in  the  decomposition,  whether 
 moisture  or  air,  is  permitted  to  act  equally  all  round 
 at  equal  depths  from  the  surface, — a  process  with  which 
 the  disturbing  lines  of  stratification  in  a  sedimentary 
 mass  would  scarce  fail  to  interfere.  I  saw  a  large  can- 
 non-shot, of  rude  form,  and  much  encased  in  rust, 
 which  had  been  laid  bare  by  the  rabbits  in  this  curious 
 deposit  a  few  weeks  before.  It  had  lain  sunk  in  the 
 debris  to  the  depth  of  about  four  feet,  immediately  un- 
 der a  partial  breach  in  the  masonry  where  the  fortress 
 had  been  battered  from  the  sea  ;  and  it  had  not  impro 
 bably  dealt  it  a  severe  blow  in  the  quarrel  of  William 
 of  Nassau.  But  what  I  deemed  perhaps  the  most  curi- 
 ous remains  in  the  heap  were  numerous  splinters  of 
 black  English  flint,  that  exactly  resembled  the  rejecta- 
 menta of  a  gun-flint  maker's  shop^  In  digging  on,  to 
 ascertain,  if  possible,  for  what  purpose  chips  of  black 
 flint  could  have  been  brought  to  the  Bass,  my  compa- 
 nion disinterred  a  rude  gun-flint, — exactly  such  a  thing 
 as  I  have  seen  a  poverty-stricken  north-country  poacher 
 chip,  at  his  leisure,  for  his  fowling-piece,  out  of  amass 
 of  agate  or  jasper.  The  matchlock  had  yielded  its 
 place  only  a  short  time  before  to  the  spring  lock  witli 
 its  hammer  and  flint ;  but  a  minute  subdivision  of 
 labour  had  not  as  yet,  it  would  seem,  separated  the 
 art  of  the  gun-flint  maker  into  a  distinct  j)rofession  ; 
 and  so,  during  their  leisure  hours  on  tlic  ramparts,  the 
 soldiers  of  the  garrison  liad  been  in  the  practice  of 
 fashioning  their  Hints  for  themselves,  and  of  pitching 
 the  chips,  with  now  and  then  an  occasional  abortion, 
 such  as  the  one  we  had  just  i)ickcd  uj),  over  the  M'alls. 
 
[94] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 There  was  laid  open  a  good  many  years  since,  among 
 the  sand-hills  of  Findhorn,  on  the  coast  of  Moray,  the 
 debris  of  a  somewhat  similar  species  of  flint-work,  blent, 
 as  in  this  instance,  with  a  few  of  the  half-finished  im- 
 plements that  had  been  marred  in  the  making  ;  but 
 the  northern  flint  manufactory  had  belonged  to  a 
 greatly  more  ancient  period  than  that  of  the  musket  or 
 its  spring  lock.  The  half-finished  implements  found 
 among  the  sand-hills  were  the  flint-heads  of  arrows. 
 
 My  description  of  the  time-wasted  remains  of  this 
 little  patch  may  be  perhaps  deemed  too  minute.  I  am 
 desirous,  however,  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  unini- 
 tiated, to  exhibit — deduced  from  a  few  familiar  ob- 
 jects— the  sort  of  circumstantial  evidence  on  which, 
 drawn  from  objects  greatly  less  familiar,  the  geologist 
 founds  no  inconsiderable  proportion  of  his  conclusions. 
 He  is  much  a  reasoner  in  the  inferential  style,  and  ex- 
 patiates largely  on  the  deductive  and  the  circumstantial. 
 It  is,  besides,  not  unimportant  to  note  that,  wherever 
 man  has  been  long  a  dweller,  he  has  left  enduring  traces 
 behind  him, — indubitable  marks  of  his  designing  capa- 
 city, stamped  upon  metal  or  stone,  stained  into  glass  or 
 earthenware,  or  baked  into  brick.  In  sauntering  along 
 the  shore,  on  either  side  of  the  Frith  of  Forth,  one 
 may  know  when  one  is  passing  the  older  towns, — such 
 as  Leith,  Musselburgh,  or  Prestonpans, — without  once 
 raising  an  eye  to  mark  the  dwellings,  simply  by  observ- 
 ing the  altered  appearance  of  the  beach.  Among  the 
 ordinary  water- rolled  pebbles,  composed  mostly  of  the 
 trap  and  sandstone  rocks  of  the  district,  there  occur, 
 in  great  abundance,  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
 of  the  houses,  fragments  of  brick  and  tile,  broken  bits 
 of  pottery,  pieces  of  fractured  bottles  and  window-panes, 
 and  the  scoria  of  glass-houses,  iron-furnaces  and  gas- 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [95] 
 
 works.  And  certainly  few  of  these  remains  can  be 
 deemed  less  fitted  to  contend,  through  greatly  extended 
 periods,  with  time  and  the  decomposing  elements,  than 
 the  fish  and  ferns,  the  delicate  shells  and  minute  coral- 
 lines, of  the  earlier  geologic  systems.  Dr  Keith  found 
 the  fluted  columns  and  sculptured  capitals  of  the  ancient 
 cities  of  the  Holy  Land  as  fresh  and  unworn  as  if  they 
 had  passed  from  under  the  tool  but  yesterday  ;  and  he 
 recognised  in  the  enormous  accumulations  of  hewn 
 stone,  which  in  some  localities  load  the  surface  far  as 
 the  eye  can  reach,  the  ready-made  materials  with  which, 
 almost  without  sound  of  hammer  or  of  saw,  as  during 
 the  erection  of  the  temple  of  old,  the  dwellings  of  re- 
 stored J udah  may  yet  be  built.  The  burnt  bricks  that 
 coated  the  Birs  Nemroud,  probably  the  oldest  ruin  in 
 the  world,  still  retain,  as  sharply  as  when  they  were 
 removed  from  the  kiln  in  the  days  of  the  earlier  Baby- 
 lonian monarchs,  their  mysterious  inscriptions  ; — the 
 polished  granite  of  the  sarcophagus  of  Cheops  has  not 
 resigned,  in  the  lapse  of  three  thousand  years,  a  single 
 hieroglyphic.  I  have  been  told  by  a  relative  who 
 fought  in  Egypt  under  Abercromby,  that  the  soldiery, 
 in  digging  one  of  their  wells,  passed  for  some  eight  or 
 ten  feet  through  the  debris  of  an  ancient  pottery,  and 
 that  even  the  fragments  at  the  bottom  of  the  heap, — 
 mayhap  the  accumulated  breakage  of  centuries,  in  a 
 manufactory  of  the  times  of  Cleopatra  or  the  Ptole- 
 mies,— retained  their  bits  of  pattern  as  freshly  as  if 
 they  had  been  moulded  and  broken  scarce  a  month  be- 
 fore. If,  in  all  the  earlier  geologic  formations,  from 
 the  Silurian  to  the  Tertiary  inclusive,  we  lind  no  trace 
 of  a  rational  being  possessed  of  such  a  control  over 
 inert  matter  as  the  idea  of  rationality  necessarily  in- 
 volves, the  antiquities  of  the  older  historic  nations,  and 
 
[96] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 even  the  debris  and  rubbish  of  the  more  ancient  towns 
 of  our  own  country,  serve  to  show  that  it  is  not  because 
 the  memorials  of  such  a  being  would  be  either  so  few 
 as  to  escape  notice,  or  so  fragile  as  to  defy  preservation. 
 No  sooner  does  man  appear  upon  the  scene  as  the  last 
 born  of  creation,  than — in  that  upper  stratum  of  the 
 earth's  crust  which  represents  what  geologists  term 
 the  recent  period — we  find  abundant  trace  of  him  ; 
 and  deeply  interesting,  when  presented  in  the  geologic 
 form,  some  of  the  more  ancient  of  these  traces  are. 
 
 The  recent  deposit  of  the  Bass  is  charged,  as  has  been 
 said,  with  numerous  detached  bones,  mutilated  by  the 
 butcher's  saw.  One  of  the  most  ancient  fossils  that 
 testifies  to  the  existence  of  man  does  so  in  a  somewhat 
 similar  manner.  It  exhibits  him  as  vested  in  an  ability, 
 possessed  by  none  of  the  other  carnivora,  of  facilitating 
 the  gratification  of  his  appetites,  or  the  supply  of  his 
 wants,  by  the  employment  of  cunningly-fashioned  wea- 
 pons of  his  own  fabrication  and  design.  In  the  upper 
 drift  of  the  province  of  Scania  in  Sweden  there  occur 
 numerous  bones  of  a  gigantic  animal  of  the  ox  family  ; 
 and  on  the  skeleton  of  one  of  these,  singular  for  its  de- 
 gree of  entireness,  an  ancient  hunter  of  the  country 
 seems  to  have  left  his  mark.  "  A  skeleton  of  the  Bos 
 Urus,  or  Bos  primigenius,"  says  Sir  Roderick  Murchi- 
 son,  in  his  admirable  paper  on  the  Scandinavian  Drift, 
 "  was  extracted  by  Professor  Nilsson  from  beneath 
 ten  feet  of  peat,  near  Ystadt,  the  horns  of  the  animal 
 having  been  found  deeply  buried  in  the  subjacent 
 l)lue  clay  on  which  the  bog  has  accumulated.  This 
 specimen  is  not  only  most  remarkable,  as  being  the 
 only  entire  skeleton  yet  found  of  an  animal  whose  bones 
 occur  in  the  ancient  drift  of  the  diluvium  of  many 
 countries  of  Europe,  as  well  as  in  Siberia  (where  it  is 
 
GEOLOGr  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [97] 
 
 the  associate  of  the  Mammoth  and  the  Rhinoceros  ti- 
 chorhinus),  but  also  as  exhibiting  upon  the  vertebral 
 column  a  perforation  which  Nilssou  has  no  doubt  was 
 inflicted  by  the  stone-head  of  a  javelin  thrown  by  one 
 of  the  aboriginal  human  inhabitants  of  Scania.  By 
 whatever  instrument  inflicted,  this  wound  has  its  long- 
 est orifice  on  the  anterior  face  of  the  first  lumbar  ver- 
 tebra, and,  diminishing  gradually  in  size,  has  penetrated 
 the  second  lumbar  vertebra,  and  has  even  slightly  in- 
 jured the  third.  Occupying  himself  for  many  years  in 
 collecting  all  the  utensils  of  the  aborigines  of  his  coun- 
 try, and  in  studying  their  uses.  Professor  Nilsson  shews 
 that  the  orifice  in  the  vertebra  of  the  specimen  of  Bos 
 primigenius  in  question  is  so  exactly  fitted  by  one  of 
 the  stone-headed  javelins  found  in  the  neighbourhood, 
 that  no  reasonable  doubt  can  be  entertained  that  the 
 wound  was  inflicted  by  a  human  being.  He  does  not 
 think  that  the  wound  was  mortal,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
 he  indicates,  from  the  manner  in  which  the  bone  seems 
 afterwards  to  have  cemented,  that  the  creature  lived 
 two  or  three  years  after  the  infliction  of  a  wound  pro- 
 duced by  the  hurling  of  a  javelin  horizontally  in  the 
 direction  of  the  head,  but  which,  missing  the  head, 
 passed  between  the  horns,  and  impinged  on  this  pro- 
 jecting portion  of  the  back." 
 
 I  insist  rather  on  the  permanency  of  the  works  of 
 men  than  on  that  of  the  frame-work  of  their  bodies, — 
 rather  on  the  broadly-marked  traces  which  former 
 generations  have  left  behind  tliem,  in  the  ruins  and 
 debris  of  the  extinct  nations,  than  on  the  scarce  less 
 perfectly  preserved  human  remains  of  ancient  cata- 
 combs and  sepulchres  ;  and  I  do  so  chiefly  in  reference 
 to  a  strange  suggestion, — not  greatly  insisted  upon  in 
 these  days,  but  not  without  its  portion  of  ])lausibility, 
 
[98] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  peculiarly  adapted  to  appeal  to  the  imagination. 
 It  at  least  addressed  itself  very  powerfully  to  mine, 
 when  first  brought  acquainted  with  it,  many  years 
 ago,  by  a  friend  then  studying  at  the  University.  I 
 had  already  begun  to  form  my  collection  of  Liasic  fos- 
 sils, and, — much  struck  by  the  strangeness  of  their 
 forms, — was  patiently  waiting  for  some  light  respecting 
 them,  when  my  friend,  who  had  seen  a  good  many  such 
 in  the  College  Museum,  and  had  just  returned  home 
 from  his  first  year's  course,  informed  me  that  they  were 
 regarded  as  belonging  to  a  by-gone  creation,  of  which 
 not  so  much  as  a  single  plant  or  animal  continued  to 
 exist.    Nay,  he  had  even  heard  it  urged  as  not  impro- 
 bable, that  the  ancient  world  in  which  they  had  flou- 
 rished and  decayed, — a  world  greatly  older  than  that 
 beyond  the  Flood, — had  been  tenanted  by  rational,  re- 
 sponsible beings,  for  whom,  as  for  the  race  to  which 
 we  ourselves  belong,  a  resurrection  and  a  day  of  final 
 judgment  had  awaited.    But  many  thousands  of  years 
 had  elapsed  since  that  day, — emphatically  the  last  to 
 the  pre- Adamite  race,  for  whom  it  was  appointed, — 
 had  come  and  gone.    Of  all  the  accountable  creatures 
 that  had  been  summoned  to  its  bar,  bone  had  been 
 gathered  to  its  bone,  so  that  not  a  vestige  of  the  frame- 
 work of  their  bodies  occurred  in  the  rocks  or  soils  in 
 which  they  had  been  originally  inhumed  ;  and,  in  con- 
 sequence, only  the  remains  of  their  irresponsible  con- 
 temporaries, the  inferior  animals,  and  those  of  the  vege- 
 table productions  of  their  fields  and  forests,  were  now 
 to  be  found.    How  strange  the  conception  !    It  filled 
 my  imagination  for  a  time  with  visions  of  the  remote 
 past  instinct  with  a  wild  poetry,  borrowed  in  part  from 
 such  conceptions  of  the  pre- Adamite  kings,  and  the 
 semi-material  intelligences,  their  contemporaries,  as  one 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [99] 
 
 finds  in  Beckford's  "  Yatheck,"  or  Moore's  "  Loves  of 
 the  Angels  and  invested  my  fossil  lignites  and  shells, 
 through  the  influence  of  the  associative  faculty,  with 
 an  obscure  and  terrible  sublimity,  that  filled  the  whole 
 mind.  But  there  is  not  even  a  shadow  of  foundation 
 for  a  conception  so  wild  :  on  the  contrary,  the  geologic 
 evidence,  whether  primary  and  direct,  or  derivative  and 
 analogical,  militates  full  against  it. 
 
 I  say  derivative  and  analogical,  as  certainly  as  pri- 
 mary and  direct.  The  rational,  accountable  creature  of 
 the  present  scene  of  things  stands  in  his  proper  place  on 
 the  apex  of  material  animated  being  ;  he  forms  the  ter- 
 minal point  of  that  pyramid,  the  condition  of  all  whose 
 components  is  vitality  breathed  into  dust.  At  the  ample 
 base  we  recognise  the  lower  forms  of  life, — shells,  crus- 
 taceans, and  zoophites ;  a  little  higher  up  we  find  the 
 vast  family  of  the  vertebrate  inhabitants  of  the  waters, — 
 fish  ;  still  higher  up  we  see  a  distinct  stage  in  the  ascent 
 occupied  by  birds  and  reptiles ;  still  higher  up  are  ranged 
 those  important  families  of  the  mammiferous  quadru- 
 peds, described  in  Scripture  as  the  "beasts  of  the  field 
 and  then,  supreme  over  all,  and  pointing  to  heaven,  we 
 mark  on  the  cloud-enveloped  summit  of  the  pyramid, 
 reasoning,  responsible  man.  How  incomplete  would 
 not  the  edifice  seem,  — a  mere  unfinished  frustrum, — 
 were  the  intermediate  tiers  to  be  struck  away,  and  man 
 to  be  placed  in  immediate  juxtaposition  with  the  fish! 
 Such,  however,  would  be  the  place  and  relations  of  a 
 rational,  accountable  being,  during  the  vast  divisions 
 of  the  Palaeozoic  period.  Or  how  incomplete  even  would 
 not  the  edifice  seem,  were  but  the  second  tier, — tluit 
 comprising  the  beasts  of  the  field, — to  be  struck  away, 
 and  man  to  be  placed  in  immediate  juxtaposition  with 
 the  bird  and  the  reptile  !    And  yet  such  would  be  the 
 
[100]  GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 place  and  relations  of  a  rational,  accountable  being, 
 during  the  vast  divisions  of  the  Secondary  period.  It 
 is  not  merely  on  the  palpable  incompleteness  of  the 
 chain  in  either  case,  or  on  the  enormous  width  of  its 
 gaps,  that  we  would  have  to  insist,  but  also  on  the 
 positive  helplessness  of  a  rational  creature  so  circum- 
 stanced. The  moral  agent  of  such  a  world  would  be  the 
 unheeded  monarch  of  an  ungovernable  canaille  ;  and, 
 lacking  the  higher  order  of  subjects,  from  which  alone 
 his  servants  and  ministers  could  be  selected,  he  would 
 lack  also,  in  consequence,  any  profitable  command  over 
 the  lower.  The  mighty  armies  which  he  would  be 
 called  on  to  command  would,  from  the  lack  of  subor- 
 dinate officers,  be  mere  mutinous  mobs,  with  which  no 
 combined  movement  could  be  accomplished,  or  general 
 achievement  performed.  The  earth,  as  it  existed  in 
 these  earlier  periods,  could  have  been  no  home  for  man ; 
 and  with  this  conclusion  the  direct  findings  of  the  geo- 
 logic record  thoroughly  agree.  In  the  Palaeozoic,  the 
 Secondary,  and  the  earlier  Tertiary  formations,  we  dis- 
 cover no  trace  whatever  of  a  reasoning  creature,  who 
 could  stamp  the  impress  of  his  mind  on  inert  matter. 
 Ancient  as  is  the  earth  which  we  inhabit,  we  seem  to 
 be  in  but  the  first  beginnings  of  the  moral  government 
 of  God. 
 
 I  can,  of  course,  refer  to  the  divine  government 
 here  in  but  its  relation  to  agents,  possessed,  like  man, 
 of  body  as  certainly  as  of  spirit,  for  of  none  other  can 
 matter  furnish  any  recognisable  trace.  In  vain,  from 
 any  existing  data,  may  we  attempt  to  assign  era  or 
 epocha,  amid  the  revolutions  of  the  bygone  eternity, 
 to  that  revolt  of  the  unemhodied  powers  of  evil  which 
 
 "  Raised  impious  war  in  IIeu\  en,  and  battle  proud." 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [101] 
 
 It  maj  have  been  contemporary  with  some  of  the  later 
 geologic  formations  in  our  own  earth  ;  or  it  may  have 
 taken  place,  according  to  Milton,  when 
 
 "  As  yet  this  world  was  not,  and  Chaos  wild 
 Reigned  where  these  heavens  now  roll, — where  earth  now  rests. 
 Upon  her  centre  poised." 
 
 Or  it  may  have  arisen  as  a  cloud  in  the  Palaeozoic 
 dawn  of  creation,  to  darken  with  its  shadow  every  after 
 scene  of  existence  in  all  the  succeeding  creations, — 
 those  scenes  in  which  the  fierce  Sauroid  fish  battled 
 with  his  cogeners,  or  the  gigantic  Saurian  with  his 
 kindred  reptiles,  or  the  enormous  Mammal  with  his 
 weaker  brethren  of  the  plain  or  forest.  It  may  have 
 exerted  a  malign  influence  on  the  pre-Adamite  ages  of 
 suffering,  violence,  and  death,  just  as  the  sin  of  the 
 human  species  now  exerts  a  malign  influence  on  the 
 condition  of  those  unoffending  animals  contemporary 
 with  man,  that  groan  and  suffer  because  of  human 
 offence.  We  know  regarding  neither  the  era  nor  the 
 influence  of  the  earlier  event,  for  on  these  points  the 
 voice  of  inspiration  is  mute  ;  but  God's  moral  govern- 
 ment, in  its  relation  to  at  least  embodied  and  material 
 agents,  is  but  of  late  origin, — a  thing  of  but  the  pass- 
 ing ages  of  our  planet ;  and  for  the  staying  of  the  great 
 plague,  so  recently  broken  out,  the  decease  at  Jerusalem 
 has  already  been  accomplished.  And  Avho  shall  dare 
 limit  the  circle  of  worlds  to  which  the  influence  of 
 that  decease  is  destined  to  extend  ?  Many  a  great  king- 
 dom has  been  gladdened  by  the  beam  which  broke 
 from  the  little  hill  of  Calvary  ; — why  may  not  many  a 
 great  planet  be  cheered  by  the  same  beam  transmitted 
 from  the  little  world  in  which  the  little  hill  is  in- 
 cluded ? 
 
[102] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 The  walls  of  the  stronghold  of  the  Bass,  with  the 
 exception  of  a  few  rybats  and  lintels,  formed  of  a  light 
 red  or  pale  sandstone  brought  from  the  shore,  are  built 
 of  stone  quarried  from  the  rock  on  which  it  stands. 
 The  stone,  originally  of  a  dingy  olive-green  colour,  like 
 bO  many  other  rocks  of  the  trap  family,  exhibits,  where- 
 ever  exposed  to  the  Aveather,  a  deep  tinge  of  chocolate- 
 brown, — the  effect,  apparently,  of  a  slight  admixture 
 of  iron.  In  the  line  of  rock  which  flanks  on  the  right 
 the  narrow  passage  that  runs  between  the  outer  and 
 inner  gateway,  I  detected  several  minute  veins  of  this 
 widely-diffused  metal  existing  as  compact  red  iron 
 stone,  brown  in  the  mass,  but  of  a  deep  red  colour  in 
 the  streak.  A  similar  species  of  iron  ore,  found  in 
 considerable  abundance  in  various  parts  of  the  High- 
 lands, is  employed  by  shepherds,  under  the  name  of 
 keel,  as  a  pigment  for  marking  their  sheep,  and  yields 
 a  stain  which,  from  its  metallic  character,  is  not  easily 
 effaceable.  The  trap  of  the  Bass  has  been  described  by 
 a  celebrated  Continental  geologist,  M.  A.  Boue,  as  a 
 compact  clinkstone  ;  by  Mr  James  Nicol,  in  his  "Guide 
 to  the  Geology  of  Scotland,''  as  a  "fine  granular  green- 
 stone or  clinkstone.''  I  may  be  permitted  to  remark, 
 for  the  benefit  of  the  uninitiated,  that  the  hard  splintery 
 trap-rock  on  which  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh  stands  is 
 a  clinkstone  ;  while  the  trap-rock  of  lighter  colour  and 
 larger  grain,  which  forms  the  noble  range  of  trap  pre- 
 cipices that  sweep  along  the  brow  of  Salisbury  Crags, 
 is  a  greenstone.  The  trap  of  the  Bass  seems  to  be  of 
 an  intermediate  hybrid  species ;  several  of  the  frag- 
 ments which  I  detached  from  the  rocks  in  the  imme- 
 diate neighbourhood  of  the  landing-place, — conch oidal 
 in  their  fracture,  and  sprinkled  over  with  minute 
 needle-like  crystals  of  feldspar,  that  sparkle  in  a  homo- 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [103J 
 
 geneous  base, — partake  more  of  the  nature  of  clink- 
 stone ;  while  in  the  upper  and  middle  walks  of  the 
 island,  where  the  stone  is  less  conchoidal,  and  both 
 more  persistently  granular,  and  the  grains  considerably 
 larger,  it  partakes  more  of  the  greenstone  character. 
 But  the  entire  mass,  whatever  its  minuter  differences, 
 is  evidently  one  in  its  components,  and  was  all  consoli- 
 dated under  the  refrigerating  influences,  at  some  points 
 perhaps  more,  at  others  less  slowly,  but  in  exactly  the 
 same  set  of  circumstances.  It  may  be  mentioned,  how- 
 ever, in  the  passing,  that  none  of  the  detached  frag- 
 ments exhibit  the  peculiar  globular  structure  so  fre- 
 quently shown  in  weathering  by  the  greenstone  family  ; 
 nor,  indeed,  do  we  find  among  the  precipices  of  the 
 island,  save  in  the  line  of  the  cave,  marks  of  weather- 
 ing of  any  kind.  The  angles  stand  out  as  sharp  and 
 unworn  as  if  they  had  been  first  exposed  to  the  atmo- 
 sphere but  yesterday  ;  and  to  this  principle  of  inde- 
 structibility, possessed  in  a  high  degree  by  all  the 
 harder  clinkstones,  does  the  entire  island  owe  its  pre- 
 servation, in  its  imposing  proportions  and  singular 
 boldness  of  outline.  Had  it  been  originally  composed 
 of  such  a  yielding  tuff  as  that  on  which  the  fortress  of 
 Tantallan  is  erected,  we  would  now  in  vain  seek  its 
 place  amid  the  waters,  or  would  find  it  indicated  merely 
 by  some  low  skerry,  dangerous  to  the  mariner  at  the 
 fall  of  the  tide. 
 
 The  sloping  acclivity  of  the  Bass  consists,  as  has  been 
 said,  of  three  great  steps  or  terraces,  with  stccj)  belts 
 of  precipice  rising  between  ;  and  of  these  terraces,  the 
 lowest  is  occupied,  as  has  ])een  already  shown,  by  the 
 fortress,  and  furnishes,  where  it  sinks  sloj)ingly  towards 
 the  sea  on  the  south-east,  the  two  lan(ling-})laces  of 
 the  island.    The  middle  terrace,  situated  exactly  over 
 
[104] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  cave,  and  owing  its  origin  apparently  to  the  opera- 
 tions of  the  denuding  agencies,  directed  on  the  same 
 great  fissure  out  of  which  the  perforation  has  been 
 scooped,  has  furnished  the  site  of  the  ancient  chapel 
 of  the  island  ;  while  the  upper  and  largest  terrace,  ly- 
 ing but  a  single  stage  beneath  the  summit  of  the  rock, 
 we  find  laid  out  into  a  levelled  rectangular  enclosure, 
 once  a  garden. 
 
 The  chapel,  though  history  has  failed  to  note  the 
 date  of  its  erection,  bears  unequivocal  marks  of  being 
 the  oldest  building  on  the  island.  A  few  sandstone 
 rybats  line  one  of  the  sides  of  the  door ;  and  there  is 
 a  sandstone  trough  within  which  may  have  once  con- 
 tained the  holy  water ;  but  these  merely  indicate  a 
 comparatively  recent  reparation  of  the  edifice, — pro- 
 bably not  long  anterior  in  date  to  the  times  of  the  Re- 
 formation. The  older  hewn  work  of  the  erection  is 
 wrought,  not  in  sandstone,  but  in  a  characteristic  well- 
 marked  claystone  porphyry,  occasionally  seamed  by 
 minute  veins  of  dull  red  jasper,  which  is  still  quarried 
 for  the  purposes  of  the  builder  in  the  neighbourhood 
 of  Dirlton.  Like  most  of  the  porphyries,  it  is  a  durable 
 stone ;  but  in  this  exposed  locality  the  wear  of  many 
 ages  has  told  even  on  it,  and  it  presents  on  the  planes, 
 once  smoothed  by  the  tool,  a  deeply  fretted  surface. 
 The  compact  earthy  base  has  slowly  yielded  to  the 
 weathering  influences,  and  the  embedded  crystals  stand 
 out  over  it  in  bold  relief  The  masonry,  too,  of  the 
 walls  and  gables  speaks,  like  the  wasted  porphyry,  of 
 a  remote  age.  In  the  rubble  work  of  the  fortress  be- 
 low, though  sufiiciently  rude,  we  invariably  find  two 
 simple  rules  respected,  an  attention  to  which  distin- 
 guishes, in  the  eye  of  the  initiated,  the  work  of  the  bred 
 mason  of  at  least  the  last  four  centuries,  from  that  of 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [105] 
 
 the  untaught  diker  or  cowan  of  the  same  period.  The 
 stones  are  placed  invariably  on  their  larger,  not  their 
 lesser  beds  ;  and  each,  though  laid  irregularly  with  re- 
 spect to  its  neighbours,  ranges  level  on  at  least  its  own 
 bed.  A  ruler  laid  parallel  to  the  line  in  which  it  rests 
 would  be  found  to  lie  parallel  to  the  line  of  the  horizon 
 also ;  but  in  the  rubble  work  of  the  chapel  above,  we 
 find  no  such  laws  respected.  The  workmen  by  whom 
 it  was  built,  like  the  old  Cyclopean  builders  of  Sicily 
 and  Etruria,  or  the  untaught  burghers  of  Edinburgh, 
 who  turned  out  en  masse  to  raise  their  city- wall  in 
 troublous  times,  had  them  not  in  their  mind.  And  the 
 characteristic  is  a  very  general  one  of  the  mason-work 
 of  our  older  and  ruder  chapels, — our  Culdee  chapels,  as 
 I  may  perhaps  venture  to  term  them.  The  stones  rest 
 on  whatever  beds  chanced  to  fit,  or  in  whatever  angle 
 best  suited  the  lie  of  the  course  immediately  below. 
 
 The  garden,  surrounded  by  a  ruinous  wall,  and  a 
 broad  fringe  of  nettles,  occupies,  as  has  been  said,  the 
 upper  terrace  of  the  island.  When  I  had  last  seen  it 
 in  the  genial  month  of  June  1842,  it  bore,  among  the 
 long  rank  grass  that  marks  the  richness  of  its  soil,  its 
 delicate  sprinkling  of  "  garden  flowers  grown  wild 
 but  the  pleasant  "  cherry  trees,  of  the  fruit  of  which" 
 Mr  Fraser  of  Brea  "several  times  tasted,''  were  no 
 longer  to  be  seen  ;  and  now,  overborne  by  the  wintry 
 influences,  the  flowers  themselves  had  disappeared, 
 and  the  area  lay  covered  with  a  sallow  cari)eting  of 
 withered  herbage.  Wliat  is  termed  the  well, — a  deep 
 square  excavation  near  the  middle  of  the  enclosure, — 
 I  found  full  to  overflowing  with  a  brown  turbid  fluid, 
 which  gave  honest  information  to  the  organs  of  smell 
 that  it  was  neither  necessary  nor  advisable  to  consult 
 regarding  it  those  of  taste.    It  had  jtrovcd,  I  was  in- 
 
[106] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 formed  by  the  boatmen,  the  grave  of  a  hapless  sheep 
 (luring  one  of  the  snow  storms  of  last  winter ;  and  a 
 cold  infusion  of  undressed  mutton, — for  the  animal  had 
 been  left  to  decay  when  it  had  fallen, — would  form,  I 
 am  afraid,  but  tolerable  drinking,  even  with  the  benefit 
 of  the  finest  of  water  as  a  menstruum.  The  water  of 
 the  Bass,  however, — and  I  saw  considerable  accumula- 
 tions of  it  in  two  other  receptacles, — must  be  bad  when 
 at  the  best.  Mr  Fraser  complains,  in  his  Memoir,  that 
 in  the  winter  time,  when  communication  between  the 
 island  and  the  mainland  was  cut  off  by  the  surf,  the 
 prisoners  had  not  unfrequently,  for  lack  of  better,  to 
 drink  "  corrupted  water,  sprinkled  over  with  a  little 
 oat  meal/'  The  frequent  rains, — for  there  is  no  true 
 spring  in  the  island, — in  soaking  downwards  through 
 the  rich  soil,  fattened  during  a  long  series  of  years  by 
 the  dung  dropped  on  it  by  the  birds,  becomes  a  sort  of 
 dilute  tincture  of  guano, — which,  however  fitted  for 
 the  support  of  vegetable  existence,  must  be  but  little 
 conducive  to  the  welfare  of  animal  life.  And  honce 
 one  of  the  characteristics  indicated  by  the  laird  of 
 Brea : — the  Bass  water  is  "  corrupted  water." 
 
 A  pyramid  of  loose  stones, — the  work  of  some  of  the 
 troops  engaged  in  the  great  ordnance  survey, — occupies 
 the  apex  of  the  island.  One  is  sometimes  inclined  to 
 regret  that  these  conspicuous  mementoes  of  an  import- 
 ant national  undertaking,  which  in  the  remoter  and 
 wilder  regions  of  our  country  furnish  so  many  central 
 resting  points,  from  which  the  eye, — to  employ  a 
 phrase  of  Shenstone's, — "lets  itself  out  on  the  sur- 
 rounding landscape,''  should  be  of  so  temporary  a  cha- 
 racter. Placed,  as  most  of  them  are,  far  out  of  reacli 
 of  the  levelling  plough  and  harrow,  and  of  the  cove- 
 tous dike-builder,  they  would  form,  were  they  but 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [107] 
 
 constructed  of  stone  and  run  lime,  connecting  links 
 between  the  present  and  remotely  future  generations, 
 that  would  be  at  least  more  honourable  to  the  age  of 
 their  erection  than  monuments  raised  to  commemorate 
 the  ferocities  of  barbarous  clan  battles,  or  the  doubtful 
 virtues  of  convenient  statesmen,  who  got  places  for 
 their  dependents.  They  might  have  their  little  tablets, 
 too,  commemorative,  like  those  of  the  old  Roman  wall, 
 of  the  laborious  "  vexillarii'  who  had  erected  them, 
 and  usefully  illustrative,  besides,  of  the  comparative 
 powers,  in  resisting  disintegration,  of  the  various  ser- 
 pentines, marbles,  granites,  and  sandstones  of  the 
 country.  The  stony  sentinel  of  the  Bass, — for  sentinel, 
 at  a  little  distance,  it  seems, — occupies,  like  many  of 
 its  fellows  over  Scotland,  what  in  the  winter  nights 
 must  be  a  supremely  drear  and  lonely  watching  station, 
 — quite  the  sort  of  place  for  the  ghost  of  some  old  per- 
 secuting prison-captain  to  take  its  stand,  what  time 
 the  midnight  moon  looks  out  through  rack  and  spray, 
 and  the  shado^v  of  the  old  chapel  falls  deep  and  black 
 athwart  the  sv.  ard.  The  island  must  have  been  less 
 solitary  a-nights  than  now,  during  at  least  the  summer 
 season,  some  sixty  years  ago,  when,  according  to  an 
 account  by  Alexander  Wilson,  the  v^^ell-known  literary 
 pedlar,  the  climbers  resided  permanently  on  the  rock 
 at  breeding  time,  "in  a  little  hut,  in  which  liquor  and 
 bread  and  cheese  were  sold"  for  the  "  accommodation 
 of  chance  visitors,  and  of  the  sportsmen  who  frequented 
 the  place  for  the  diversion  of  shooting."  Wilson,  ladt-n 
 with  pieces  of  muslin  and  of  verse,  and  with  the  pro- 
 spectus of  his  first  ]>ublication  in  his  pocket,  j(jurneyed 
 along  the  coast  in  the  autumn  of  1781),  to  make  a 
 "  bold  push,"  as  he  somewhat  quaintly  informs  the 
 reader  in  his  journal,  "for  the  united  interest  of  pack 
 
[108] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  poems/' — recording  each  night  the  observations 
 and  occurrences  of  the  day.  He  had  visited  Canty — 
 or,  as  he  writes  the  word,  Gomly — Bay,  where  then,  as 
 now,  "  a  few  solitary  fishers  lived  and  was  much 
 struck  by  the  appearance  of  the  Bass, — a  large  rock," 
 he  says,  "  rising  out  of  the  sea  to  the  dreadful  height 
 of  six  hundred  feet,  giving  the  spectator  an  awful  idea 
 of  its  Almighty  Founder,  who  weigheth  the  mountains 
 in  scales  and  the  hills  in  a  balance, — who  by  one'word 
 raised  into  existence  this  vast  universe,  with  all  these 
 unwieldy  rocks, — and  who  will,  when  his  Almighty 
 goodness  shall  think  fit,  with  one  word  command  them 
 to  their  primitive  nothing.''  But  though  he  eagerly 
 transferred  to  his  journal  all  the  information  regarding 
 the  rock  which  he  succeeded  in  collecting,  he  was  un- 
 able, it  would  seem,  to  visit  it ;  times  were  hard  ;  and 
 his  list,  both  of  sales  and  subscribers,  low. 
 
 "  The  poor  pedlar  failed  to  be  favoured  with  sale, 
 And  they  did  not  encourage  the  poet." 
 
 Wilson  pointedly  refers,  in  his  journal,  to  the  "  pro- 
 digious number  of  solan  geese  that  build  among  the 
 cliiFs  of  the  rock."  With  what  feelings,  as  he  lay  on  the 
 green  bank  ashore,  did  he  survey  the  flocks  wheeling 
 and  screaming  around  it,  thick  as  midges  over  a  wood- 
 land pool  in  midsummer, — now  gleaming  bright  in  the 
 distance,  as  they  presented  their  white  backs  to  the 
 sun, — anon  disappearing  for  a  moment,  as  they  wheeled 
 in  airy  evolution,  and  the  shaded  edges  of  their  wings 
 turned  to  the  spectator!  Did  the  pulses  of  the  incipi- 
 ent Ornithologist  beat  any  the  quicker  as  he  gazed  on 
 the  living  cloud  ?  or  did  there  arise  within  him  a  pre- 
 sentiment,— a  sort  of  first  glimmer, — of  the  happy  en- 
 thusiasm which  at  an  after  period  pervaded  his  whole 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [109] 
 
 mind,  when,  week  after  week,  he  lived  in  the  wild 
 forests  of  the  West,  or  swept  in  his  canoe  over  the 
 breasts  of  mighty  rivers  for  hundreds  of  miles,  mark- 
 ing every  beauty  of  form,  every  variety  of  note,  every 
 peculiarity  of  instinct,  vested  in  the  feathered  creation, 
 and  laying  in,  fresh  from  nature,  the  materials  of  his 
 magnificent  descriptions?  Had  we  met  such  a  poor 
 curious  pedlar  to-day,  we  would  willingly  have  indulged 
 him  in  a  gratis  voyage  to  the  Bass,  and  charged  the  ex- 
 pense of  his  entertainment  to  the  account  of  the  forth- 
 coming volume ;  but  pedlars  of  the  type  of  the  Orni- 
 thologist are,  I  suspect,  rare.  The  last  of  the  fraternity 
 with  whom  I  came  in  contact  was  a  tall,  corduroy - 
 encased  man,  laden  with  japanned  trays.  There  was 
 an  idle  report  current  at  the  time, — for  our  meeting 
 occurred  shortly  after  the  Queen's  first  visit  to  Scot- 
 land,— that  her  Majesty  purposed  purchasing  Craig- 
 Millar  Castle,  and  getting  it  fitted  up  into  a  royal  re- 
 sidence ;  and  as  the  castle  on  its  noble  slope,  with  the 
 blue  Pentlands  in  the  back-ground,  and  Arthur's  Seat, 
 half  in  shadow,  half  bronzed  by  the  sun,  full  in  front, 
 formed  our  prospect  at  the  time,  the  tall  pedlar  was 
 amusing  himself  in  loyally  criticising  the  landscape  on 
 behalf  of  his  sovereign.  "  Yes,''  he  said,  "  there's  a 
 wheen  bonny  parks  there,  an'  there's  bonny  bits  o'  wud 
 atween  them  ;  but  yonder's  a  curn  o'  reugh  hills,  an' 
 its  an  ugly  rocky  lump  that  Arthur's  Seat.  Nae  doubt 
 the  place  is  no  a  bad  place,  but  it  wad  be  a  hantle  pret- 
 tier place  for  a  Queen,  if  we  could  but  tak'  awa  the 
 coorse  Pentlands  and  the  reugh  Seat." 
 
 How  vastly  more  strange  and  extravagant-looking 
 truth  is  than  fiction !  Our  Edinburgh  Reviewers  docmed 
 it  one  of  the  gravest  among  the  many  grave  offences  of 
 Wordsworth,  that  he  should  have  made  the  hero  of  tlie 
 
[110] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 "  Excursion"  a  pedlar.  "  What,"  they  ask,  "  but  the 
 most  wretched  and  provoking  perversity  of  taste  and 
 judgment  could  induce  any  one  to  place  his  chosen  ad- 
 vocate of  wisdom  and  virtue  in  so  absurd  and  fantastic 
 a  condition  ?  Did  Mr  Wordsworth  really  imagine  that 
 his  favourite  doctrines  were  likely  to  gain  anything  in 
 point  of  effect  or  authority,  by  being  put  into  the  mouth 
 of  a  person  accustomed  to  higgle  about  tape  or  brass 
 sleeve-buttons  ?  Or  is  it  not  plain  that,  independent  of 
 the  ridicule  and  disgust  which  such  a  personification 
 must  give  to  many  of  his  readers,  its  adoption  exposes 
 his  work  throughout  to  the  charge  of  revolting  incon- 
 gruity and  utter  disregard  of  probability  or  nature  ?" 
 If  the  critics  be  thus  severe  on  the  mere  choice  of  so 
 humble  a  hero,  what  would  they  not  have  said  had  the 
 poet  ventured  to  represent  his  pedlar,  not  only  as  a  wise 
 and  meditative  man,  but  also  as  an  accomplished  writer, 
 and  a  successful  cultivator  of  natural  science, — the  au- 
 thor of  a  great  national  work,  eloquent  as  that  of  Buffon, 
 and  incomparably  more  true  in  its  facts  and  observa- 
 tions ?  Nay,  what  would  they  have  said  if,  rising  to  the 
 extreme  of  extravagance,  he  had  ventured  to  relate 
 that  the  pedlar,  having  left  the  magnificent  work  un- 
 finished at  his  death,  an  accomplished  prince, — the 
 nephew  of  by  far  the  most  puissant  monarch  of  modern 
 times, — took  it  up  and  completed  it  in  a  volume,  bear- 
 ing honourable  reference  and  testimony,  in  almost  every 
 page,  to  the  ability  and  singular  faithfulness  of  his 
 humbler  predecessor  the  "  Wanderer."  And  yet  this 
 strange  story,  so  full  of  "  revolting  incongruity  and 
 utter  disregard  of  probability  or  nature,"  would  [he 
 exactly  that  of  the  Paisley  pedlar,  Alexander  Wilson, 
 the  author  of  the  "  American  Ornithology," — a  work 
 completed  by  a  fervent  admirer  of  the  pedlar's  genius, 
 
GEOLOGY  or  THE  BASS. 
 
 [Ill] 
 
 Prince  Charles  Lucien  Bonaparte.  There  are  several 
 passages  in  the  journal  kept  by  Wilson  when  he  visited 
 Canty  Bay  and  its  neighbourhood, — though  he  was  a 
 young  man  at  the  time,  unpossessed  of  that  mastery 
 over  the  powers  of  thought  and  composition  to  which 
 he  afterwards  attained, — that  serve  strikingly  to  re- 
 mind one  of  the  peculiar  vein  of  observation  and  reflec- 
 tion developed  in  the  Wanderer  of  the  "  Excursion.'' 
 The  following  incident,  for  instance,  recorded  during 
 the  evening  on  which  he  jotted  down  his  remarks  on 
 the  Bass,  seems  such  a  one  as  the  humble  hero  of 
 Wordsworth  would  have  delighted  to  narrate. 
 
 He  had  passed  on  from  Canty  Bay  to  Tantallan, 
 where  he  lingered  long  amid  the  broken  walls  and  nod- 
 ding arches.  And  then,  "  having  sufficiently  examined 
 the  ancient  structure,'' he  says,  "  I  proceeded  forwards, 
 and  arrived  at  a  small  village,  where,  the  night  com- 
 ing on,  I  obtained  lodgings  in  a  little  ale-house.  While 
 I  sat  conversing  with  the  landlord,  he  communicated 
 to  me  the  following  incident,  which  had  recently  taken 
 place  in  a  family  in  the  neighbourhood.  About  six 
 months  ago,  the  master  of  the  house,  who  was  by  trade 
 a  fisher,  fell  sick,  and  continued  in  a  lingering  way 
 until  about  three  weeks  ago,  when  his  distemper  in- 
 creased to  that  degree  that  all  hopes  of  recovery  were 
 gone.  In  these  circumstances  he  prepared  himself  fur 
 dissolution  in  a  manner  that  became  a  Christian,  and 
 agreeably  to  the  character  he  had  all  along  been  distin- 
 guished by  when  in  health  and  vigour.  Meanwhile, 
 his  wife,  being  pregnant,  drew  near  the  time  of  her 
 delivery  ;  and  as  the  thought  that  he  should  not  see 
 his  last  child  cost  the  poor  man  no  small  uneasiness, 
 it  became  one  of  his  fervent  petitions  to  Heaven  that 
 he  might  be  spared  until  after  its  birth.    But  his  ma- 
 
[112] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 lady  increased,  and  all  his  relations  were  called  on  to 
 take  their  last  farewell.  While  they  stood  round  his 
 bed,  expecting  his  immediate  departure,  his  wife  was 
 taken  suddenly  ill,  and  in  less  than  an  hour  was  de- 
 livered of  twins,  which  the  dying  man  no  sooner  under- 
 stood, than  he  made  signs  that  the  minister  should  be 
 sent  for,  who  accordingly  in  a  short  time  came.  He 
 then  attempted  to  rise  in  bed,  but  his  strength  was  ex- 
 hausted. Hereupon  one  of  his  daughters  went  into  the 
 bed  behind  him,  and  supported  his  hands  until  he 
 held  up  both  the  children,  first  one  and  then  the  other. 
 Then,  kissing  them  both,  he  delivered  them  over  to 
 their  mother,  and,  reclining  his  head  softly  on  the  pillow, 
 expired."  Such  is  one  of  the  more  characteristic  pas- 
 sages in  the  prose  "  Excursion"  of  the  pedlar  Wilson. 
 It  forms,  however,  no  part  of  the  Geology  of  the  Bass. 
 
 Let  us  now  see  whether  we  cannot  form  some  con- 
 sistent theory  regarding  the  origin  and  early  history  of 
 the  rock.  It  occurs,  as  has  been  said,  in  a  highly 
 disturbed  district,  which  extends  on  the  west  to  Aber- 
 lady  Bay,  and  on  the  east  to  near  the  ancient  Castle  of 
 Dunbar,  and  includes  in  its  stormy  area  by  far  the 
 greater  part  of  the  parishes  of  Whitekirk,  Prestonkirk, 
 North  Berwick,  Dirleton,  and  Athelstaneford.  The 
 trap  islands  and  skerries  that  lie  on  both  sides  parallel 
 to  the  shore  show  that  this  Plutonic  region  does  not 
 at  least  immediately  terminate  with  the  coast  line ; 
 while  the  Isle  of  May, — a  vast  mass  of  greenstone,  lofty 
 enough  to  raise  its  head  above  the  profounder  depths 
 of  the  Frith  beyond, — may  be  regarded  as  fairly  indi- 
 cating that,  on  the  contrary,  it  stretches  quite  as  far 
 under  the  sea  as  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  And 
 occupying  nearly  the  centre  of  this  disturbed  district, 
 like  some  undressed  obelisk  standing  lichened  and 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [118] 
 
 gray  in  the  middle  of  some  ancient  battle-field,  rise^ 
 the  tall  column  of  the  Bass.  How  account  for  its  pre- 
 sence there  ? 
 
 The  thick  of  the  battle  between  the  Vulcanists  and 
 Xeptunians  has  always  lain  around  elevations  of  this 
 character  :  they  have  formed  posts  of  vantage,  for  the 
 possession  of  which  the  contending  parties  have  strug- 
 gled like  the  British  and  French  forces  at  Waterloo 
 round  Hougoumont  and  La  Haye  Sainte  ;  but  the  wind 
 of  the  commotion  has  been  long  since  laid,  and  they 
 may  now  be  approached  fearlessly  and  in  safety.  The 
 Wernerians,  some  of  whom  could  believe,  about  the 
 beginning  of  the  present  century,  that  even  obsidian 
 and  pumice  were  of  ''aquatic  formation,"  regarded  them 
 as  mere  aqueous  concretions,  terminating  abruptly  be- 
 low, without  communication  with  rocks  of  resembling 
 character,  and  as  similar  in  their  origin  to  the  hard  in- 
 sulated yolks  which  sometimes  occur  in  beds  of  sand- 
 stone and  of  lime  ;  while  the  Huttonians  held  them,  on 
 the  other  hand,  to  be,  like  the  lava  of  volcanoes,  })ro- 
 ductions  of  the  internal  fire,  and  believed  that  they 
 communicated  in  every  instance  with  the  aby»s  from 
 which  their  substance  was  at  first  derived.  Both  }»ar- 
 ties,  of  course,  agreed  in  recognising  immense  denuda- 
 tion as  the  agent  which  had  scooped  from  around  them 
 the  softer  rocks,  in  which,  according  to  the  Wernerian. 
 they  had  consolidated  under  the  operations  of  some  un- 
 known chemistry  ;  or  Avhose  rents  and  chasms,  ojtened 
 by  the  volcanic  forces,  had  furnished,  according  to  the 
 Huttonian,  the  moulds  in  which  they  had  been  cast, — a< 
 an  iron-founder  casts  his  ponderous  wheels,  levers,  and 
 axles,  in  matrices  of  clay  or  sand,  that  communicate 
 by  sluice  with  the  molten  reservoir  of  the  furnace.  Let 
 us  take  immense  denudation,  then,  the  work  of  tides 
 
[114] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  waves  operating  for  myriads  of  ages,  as  an  agent 
 common  to  both  parties.  From  where  Edinburgh  now 
 stands,  a  huge  dome  of  the  Coal  Measures,  greatly  loftier 
 than  the  Pentlands,  and  that  once  connected  the  coal- 
 field of  Falkirk  with  that  of  Dalkeith,  has  been  swept 
 away  by  this  tremendous  power ;  while  from  the  western 
 districts  of  Ross,  a  deposition  of  the  Old  Red  Sand- 
 stone, full  three  thousand  feet  in  thickness,  has  in  like 
 manner  been  ground  doAvn,  and  the  gneiss  rocks  on 
 which  it  rested  laid  bare.  And  in  the  one  district  we 
 find  eminences  of  harder  texture  than  the  mass  that 
 had  once  enveloped  them, — such  as  Arthur's  Seat,  the 
 Castle  rock,  Corstorphine  Hill,  and  the  Dalmahoy 
 Crags,  standing  up  in  high  relief ;  and  mountains  such 
 as  Suil  Veinn,  Coul  Beg,  and  Coul  More,  in  the  other. 
 
 "  Who  was  it  scooped  these  stony  waves  ? 
 
 Who  scalp'd  the  brows  of  old  Cairngorm, 
 And  dug  these  evei*-yawning  caves? — 
 
 'Twas  I,  the  Spirit  of  the  storm." 
 
 And  scattered  over  the  disturbed  district  of  which  the 
 Bass  nearly  occupies  the  centre,  we  find  resembling 
 marks  of  vast  denudation  ;  the  Bass  itself,  the  four 
 adjoining  islands — the  Isle  of  May,  the  Garlton  Hills 
 near  Haddington,  and  the  Law  of  North  Berwick — 
 serving  but  in  little  part  to  indicate  the  height  at 
 which  the  enveloping  material  once  stood.  These  emi- 
 nences compose,  according  to  the  poet,  the  stony  waves 
 of  the  locality,  scooped  out  of  the  yielding  mass  by  the 
 "  Spirit  of  the  storm." 
 
 With  the  denuding  agencies  granted,  then,  by  both 
 parties,  as  a  force  operative  in  converting  the  inequa- 
 lities in  solidity  of  the  rocks  of  the  district  into  ine- 
 qualities of  level  on  its  surface,  let  us  next  remark, 
 that  all  the  eminences  thus  scooped  out  are  composed 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [115] 
 
 of  hard  trap  ;  while  the  reduced  mass  out  of  which 
 they  have  been  dug  consists  either  of  soft  trap-tuff,  or 
 of  stratified  shales,  sandstones,  and  limestones, — rocks 
 these  last,  which  "Wernerians  and  Huttonians  alike  re- 
 cognise as  of  sedimentary  origin.    From  the  section  of 
 the  harder  traps,  exhibited  on  the  general  surface  by 
 the  denuding  forces,  can  we  alone  judge  of  their  origi- 
 nal forms  as  solid  figures,  or  of  that  of  the  buried  por- 
 tions of  them  ;  and  the  difficulty  of  determining  from 
 mere  sections  the  form  of  even  regular  figures,  may  serve 
 to  show  how  much  uncertainty  and  doubt  must  always 
 attend  the  attempt  to  determine  from  mere  sections  the 
 form  of  irregular  ones.    Let  us  suppose  that  a  mass  of 
 black  opaque  glass,  thickly  charged  with  regularly- 
 formed  cones  of  white  china, —  cones  described  by  angles 
 of  many  various  degrees  of  acuteness,  and  carelessly 
 huddled  together  in  every  possible  angle  of  inclination. 
 — has  been  ground  down  to  a  considerable  depth,  as  if 
 by  the  denuding  agencies,  and  then  polished.    In  how 
 many  diverse  figures  of  white  would  not  the  china  cones 
 be  presented  !    There  would  be  paraboles  and  hyper- 
 boles, circles,  ellipses,  and  isosceles  triangles  ;  the  circles 
 would  be  of  every  variety  of  size,  the  angles  of  every 
 degree  of  acuteness, — the  paraboles,  hypberboles,  and 
 ellipses,  of  every  proportion  and  form  compatible  with 
 the  integrity  of  these  figures ;  and  who  save  the  ma- 
 thematician who  had  studied  Conies  could  demonstrate 
 that  the  one  normal  figure,  of  which  all  these  numerous 
 forms  were  sections,  could  be  the  cone,  and  the  cone 
 only.    But  if  the  embedded  pieces  of  china  were  not 
 of  regular,  but  of  irregular  figures,  their  forms  as  soVnh 
 could,  from  the  sections  laid  open,  be  but  conjectured, 
 not  demonstrated.   Such,  however,  is  the  difficulty  with 
 which  the  geologist,  whatever  his  school,  has  to  con- 
 
[116] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 tend,  who  studies  by  section  the  forms  of  the  trap-rocks, 
 enclosed  in  sedimentary  or  tuffaceous  matrices ;  and, 
 of  course,  great  uncertainty  must  always  attach  to 
 arguments,  whether  for  the  support  or  demolition  of 
 any  theory,  founded  upon  these  doubtful  forms.  It 
 may  be  received  as  a  general  principle,  for  instance, 
 that  dikes  and  veins  of  aqueous  origin,  filled  by  the 
 ocean  from  above,  will  terminate  beneath  somewhat  in 
 a  wedge-like  fashion,  or,  at  least,  that  they  will  termi- 
 nate beneath,  and  will  be  open  above  ;  whereas  of  veins 
 or  dikes  of  Plutonic  origin,  filled  by  injected  matter 
 from  the  abyss,  it  may  be  received  as  a  general  prin- 
 ciple, that  while  they  may  in  some  cases  terminate  in 
 a  wedge-like  form  above,  they  will  be  always  open 
 Ijelow.  And,  accordingly,  much  has  been  built  by  the 
 Huttonian  on  dikes  open  beneath,  and  much  by  the 
 Wernerian  on  similar  dikes  shut  beneath,  and  merely 
 open  a-top.  But  the  section  in  such  cases  can  convey 
 but  an  inadequate  and  doubtful  idea  of  the  enclosed 
 mass,  whether  deposited  from  above,  or  injected  from 
 below  ;  and  even  were  the  idea  adequate,  and  the  form 
 of  the  mass  demonstrably  ascertained,  existing  in  many 
 cases  as  a  mere  fragment  which  the  denuding  agent  has 
 spared,  exceedingly  little  explanatory  of  its  origin  could 
 with  propriety  be  founded  upon  its  form.  There  exists, 
 I  doubt  not,  many  a  wedge-shaped  bed  of  trap  that  has 
 now  no  connection  whatever  with  the  abyssmal  depths. 
 It  is  demonstrable,  however,  that  such  trap  wedges, 
 though  as  entirely  insulated  as  yolks  or  concretions, 
 may  have  been  filled  from  beneath  notwithstanding. 
 Let  me  attempt  an  illustration,  which  may  serve  also 
 to  exemplify  my  theory  of  the  Bass. 
 
 Let  us  suppose,  then,  that  where  Edinburgh  Castle 
 now  stands  there  yawned  of  old  the  crater  of  a  vol- 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [ii:] 
 
 cano.  The  molten  lava  boiled  fiercely  within  the 
 chasm  ;  the  imprisoned  gases  struggled  hard  for  egress  ; 
 ever  and  anon  showers  of  ashes  and  fragments  of  stone 
 were  emitted,  and  in  their  descent  fell  all  around,  until 
 at  length  a  considerable  hill  of  a  true  volcanic  tuif 
 came  to  be  formed,  adown  which  there  rushed  from 
 time  to  time  vast  beds  of  molten  matter,  which,  gra- 
 dually cooling  on  the  slopes,  alternated,  in  the  form  of 
 trap  beds,  with  the  tuff.  At  length  the  base  of  the 
 liill,  ever  Avidening  by  this  process,  came  in  the  lapse 
 of  seasons  to  extend  eastwards  to  what  are  now  Salis- 
 bury Crags, — the  Crags  being,  let  us  suppose,  but  a 
 portion  of  the  tuffaceous  bottom,  topped  by  one  of  the 
 lava  beds  that  had  issued  from  the  central  crater.  It 
 will,  of  course,  be  at  once  seen  that  I  am  not  dealing 
 here  with  the  actual  theory  of  the  Crags  or  Castle  Hill : 
 the  actual  theory  the  reader  may  find,  if  he  wills, 
 ingeniously  and  satisfactorily  stated  in  ^Mr  Maclaren's 
 interesting  ''Sketches  of  the  Geology  of  Fife  and  the 
 Lothians.''  1  am  dealing,  not  with  the  actualities  of 
 the  case,  but,  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  with  what 
 demonstraljly  miglit  have  been.  Let  us  suppose,  far- 
 ther, that  in  the  lapse  of  ages  this  volcano  had  become 
 extinct, — that  the  lava  within  had  hardened  in  the 
 crater,  like  a  pillar  of  molten  bronze  in  its  mould, — 
 and  that  then,  through  the  gradual  submergence  of 
 the  land,  the  eminence  had  come  to  be  exposed  to  the 
 »lenuding  powers  of  the  great  gulf-stream  setting  in 
 against  it  from  the  west,  and  the  i)rolonged  roll  of  the 
 waves  of  the  Atlantic,  occasionally  aggravated  by  tem- 
 l)est.  At  first  the  western  base  of  the  hill  would  ]>t'- 
 gin  to  wear  away,  as  the  tides  and  billows  chafed 
 against  the  un solid  tuff,  and  the  lava-beds,  deei)ly  un- 
 dermined, broke  off  in  vast  masses  an<l  tumbled  down. 
 
[US] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Anon  the  solid  central  column,  moulded  in  the  crater, 
 would  be  laid  bare ;  yet  anon,  thoroughly  divested  of 
 its  case,  it  would  stand  out  as  an  insulated  stack,  with 
 but  the  tail  of  softer  matter  behind  it,  which  it  had 
 shielded  from  the  denuding  forces.  At  length,  of  the 
 entire  hill  there  would  remain  but  the  central  column, 
 greatly  shortened  in  its  altitude,  like  the  trunk  of  a 
 tree  two-thirds  cut  down, — the  ridge  on  which  the 
 more  ancient  part  of  the  city  now  stands, — and  a  por- 
 tion of  the  eastern  base  of  the  hill,  represented  by 
 Salisbury  Crags,  bearing  atop  a  wedge  of  trap,  termi- 
 nating at  what  is  called  the  Hunter's  Bog,  in  a  thin 
 edge,  and,  though  at  one  time  connected  with  the  in- 
 sulated column,  and  by  the  column  with  the  Plutonic 
 depths  below,  now  cut  off  by  a  wide  chasm  from  both. 
 And  then  at  this  stage,  through  an  upheaval  of  the 
 land,  let  us  suppose  that  the  denuding  agents  had 
 ceased  to  operate,  and  that  the  extinct  volcano  came 
 to  exist  permanently  as  a  truncated  column  of  rock, 
 and  a  detached  dike  of  consolidated  lava,  open  above 
 and  shut  below, — the  one  admirably  suited  to  form 
 the  site  of  an  impregnable  stronghold, — the  other  to 
 furnish  the  foundation  of  a  Wernerian  argument,  con- 
 clusive regarding  the  aqueous  origin  of  trap.  The  mode 
 of  insulation  specified  here  is  but  one  of  many  in 
 which  wedges  and  over-lying  masses  of  igneous  rock, 
 originally  derived  from  the  gulf  beneath,  may  have  come 
 to  exist  in  altogether  as  insulated  a  state  as  sedimen- 
 tary beds  or  travelled  boulders. 
 
 But  the  grand  question  at  issue  between  the  two 
 schools  of  Geology  may  now  be  regarded  as  finally 
 settled ;  and  the  trap-rocks,  with  the  exception  of  the 
 tuffs,  in  the  composition  and  arrangement  of  which,  as 
 lias  been  shown,  both  the  aqueous  and  the  Plutonic 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 elements  may  have  been  operative,  have  been  made 
 over  entire  to  the  Huttonian.  No  man  would  venture 
 at  this  time  of  day  to  stand  up  for  the  "  aquatic  for- 
 mation'' of  obsidian  or  pumice,  and  few  indeed  for  the 
 sedimentary  origin  of  either  the  greenstone  of  Salisbury 
 Crags  or  the  hybrid  clinkstone  of  the  Bass.  The  vol- 
 canic districts  have  been  explored,  and  the  passage  of 
 the  lavas  into  the  traps  carefully  noted,  with  their 
 resembling  powers  of  disturbance,  when  ejected  into 
 fissures,  or  existing  as  dikes.  The  assistance  of  the 
 chemist,  too,  has  been  called  in :  trap  has  been  fused 
 int-o  a  porous  glass,  and  the  glass  again  re-fused,  by  a 
 slow  process,  into  a  basaltic  crystallite,  undistinguish- 
 able  in  some  specimens  from  the  original  rock,  or  con- 
 verted, by  a  process  less  leisurely,  into  a  liver-like 
 wacke ;  and  lava  similarly  treated  has  been  made  to 
 yield  a  resembling  glass  in  the  first  instance,  and,  as 
 the  experiment  was  conducted  more  or  less  slowly,  an 
 almost  identical  crystallite,  or  a  liver-like  wacke,  in 
 the  second.  The  more  ancient  rocks  have  also  been 
 put  to  the  question,  and  a  primary  hornblende  con- 
 verted in  the  crucible  into  an  augitic  basalt.  The 
 quality  possessed  by  the  traps  of  altering  other  rocks 
 in  immediate  contact  with  them  has  also  been  exa- 
 mined, and  similar  alterations  produced  simply  by  the 
 agency  of  heat  and  pressure.  Coal  in  juxtaposition 
 with  a  trap-dike  has  been  found  converted  into  coke, 
 clay  baked  into  lydian-stone  or  jasper,  chalk  fused  into 
 marble  ;  and  what  the  igneous  rock  did  of  old  in  the 
 bowels  of  the  earth,  the  experimenter  has  succeeded 
 in  doing  in  his  laboratory,  with  but  lieat,  pressure,  ami 
 time  for  his  assistants.  There  are  few  j)()ints  better 
 established  in  the  whole  circle  of  geological  science, 
 than  the  igneous  origin  of  the  trap-rocks. 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 The  ponderous  column  of  the  Bass,  to  sum  up  my 
 theory  in  a  few  words,  is  composed,  as  has  been  shown,  of 
 one  of  the  harder  and  more  solid  of  these  igneous  rocks. 
 Rising  near  the  centre  of  the  disturbed  district  in  which 
 it  occurs,  it  indicates,  I  am  inclined  to  hold,  the  place  of 
 a  great  crater,  at  one  time  filled  to  the  top  with  molten 
 matter,  Avhich,  when  the  fires  beneath  burnt  low,  gradu- 
 ally and  slowly  consolidated  into  crystallite  as  it  cooled, 
 until  it  became  the  unyielding  rock  which  we  now  find 
 it.  The  tulFaceous  matrix  in  which  it  had  been  moulded, 
 exposed  to  the  denuding  agencies,  wore  piecemeal  away ; 
 much  even  of  the  upper  portion  of  the  column  itself 
 may  have  disappeared ;  and  what  remains,  rising  from 
 the  level  of  the  sea-bottom  below  to  the  height  of  six 
 hundred  feet,  may  be  regarded  as  the  capital-divested 
 top  of  some  pillar  of  the  desert,  that,  buried  by  the 
 drifting  sand,  exhibits  but  a  comparatively  small  por- 
 tion of  its  entire  length  over  the  surface,  but  descends 
 deep  into  the  interior,  communicating  with  the  very 
 Imsement  of  the  edifice  to  which  it  belongs. 
 
 We  had  now  spent  a  considerable  time  on  the  island, 
 and  a  lovely  day  was  passing  into  a  still  lovelier  even- 
 ing. The  sun  hung  low  over  the  western  shoulder  of 
 North  Berwick  Law,  in  a  sky  embrowned  along  the 
 horizon  by  a  diffused  vapour,  the  effect  of  an  incipient 
 frost ;  ahd  the  light,  tinged  as  if  with  blood,  fell  in  one 
 ruddy  sheet  athwart  the  glassy  surface  of  the  sea,  noAv 
 undisturbed  by  a  single  ripple,  and  imparted  a  deep 
 tinge  of  purple  to  the  brown  ruins  at  our  feet,  and  the 
 lichened  rocks  around  us.  The  shadow  of  the  Bass, 
 elongated  for  miles,  stretched  in  darkness  towards  the 
 east,  like  the  shadow  of  the  mysterious  pillar  of  cloud 
 of  old  along  the  sands  of  the  desert ;  while,  dim  in  tlie 
 haze  towards  the  north,  we  could  discern,  and  barely 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [121] 
 
 discern,  the  uncertain  outline  of  the  gray  cliffs  of  May,  j 
 with  its  white  Pharos  atop,  that  seemed  a  sheeted  | 
 spectre, —  the  solitary  inhabitant  of  some  island  of 
 Cloudland.    The  steep  precipices  of  the  neighbouring  - 
 coast  frowned  dark  and  cold  in  the  shade,  but  the  red 
 beam  slanted  warmly  along  the  level  expanse  of  fields 
 atop  ;  and  though  the  stern  Tantallan  presented  to  us 
 his  shady  side,  there  was  a  strange  brightness  in  the  j 
 gleam  of  his  eyes; — the  slant  light,  passing  sheer  through  ! 
 window  and  shot-hole,  traversed,  in  long  rules  of  ruddy 
 bronze,  the  stratum  of  frosty  vapour  behind. 
 
 There  was  a  magnificent  combination  of  fairy  wild- 
 ness  and  beauty  in  the  scene.    And  yet  it  was  all  a  j 
 reality,  though  a  transitory  one.  It  tarnished  and  faded 
 as  the  sun  sank  lower  in  the  cloud,  and  in  a  brief  half-  ^ 
 hour  all  was  enveloped  in  gray.  And  then,  late  in  the  ; 
 night,  the  moon,  far  in  its  wane,  would  arise,  and  re- 
 veal, amid  the  deep  solitude  of  the  islet,  a  scene  of  drear 
 and  ghostly  uncertainties, — jutting  cliffs,  and  broken 
 and  roofless  walls,  and  a  dark  sea  around,  traversed  by 
 one  broad  pathway  of  undulating  light.  And  then  morn- 
 ing would  dawn,  and  the  beam  redden  and  strengthen, 
 and  the  canvass  would  exhibit,  within  the  old  outlines, 
 another  and  fresher  succession  of  colours.   Thus,  with  j 
 every  passing  hour  and  season,  and  every  meteoric  j 
 change,  does  the  landscape  alter, — now  tranquil  in  the  ] 
 calm,  anon  troubled  with  tempest ;  and  thus  has  it  ever  ! 
 altered  ;  but  not  merely  has  the  filling  up, — the  shades  ; 
 and  colours, — done  so,  but  the  solid  outlines  also  ;  and  1 
 when  standing,  during  this  exquisite  evening  hour,  be-  I 
 side  the  little  pyramid  on  the  summit  of  tlic  rock,  I  j 
 could  not  help  wishing  that,  under  the  influence  of  some  1 
 such  vision  as  fell  upon  Mirza  in  the  "  long  hollow  val-  , 
 ley  of  Bagdad,"  I  could  see  scene  succeed  scene  in  the  i 
 
 I  ' 
 
[122] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 surrounding  area,  from  the  early  dawn  of  being  in  the 
 days  of  the  Grauwacke,  down  to  those  historic  periods 
 during  which,  doing  or  suflfering,  man  enacted  his  part 
 upon  the  stage.  How  many  of  those  dark  enigmas  would 
 not  the  mere  survey  serve  to  solve,  which  a  true  though 
 little  known  poet,  Colton,  invoked  the  genius  of  the  in- 
 spired Hebrew  lawgiver  to  unriddle  ! 
 
 "  Oh,  thou  that  o'er  the  Egyptian  hurled 
 Thy  crystal  wall,  and  didst  a  world 
 Both  made  and  marred  record, — Oh,  deign  to  tell. 
 Seer  of  the  pillared  flame  and  granite  well ! 
 Who  taught  old  Mother  Earth  to  hide 
 The  lava's  age-repeated  tide ; 
 And  hid, — though  centuries  toiled  in  vain, — 
 Her  thousandth  Eden  bloom  again  ; 
 Or  solve  what  eras,  since  the  shock 
 
 Of  flood  and  flame,  rived  hill  and  rock, 
 
 Have  rolled, — to  turn  to  flint  and  stone 
 
 The  Bison's  horn,  the  Mammoth's  bone  ! 
 
 Embedded  deep  and  dark  they  lie, 
 
 'Neath  mountains  heaped  on  mountains  high, 
 
 So  long,  their  very  race  is  spent, — 
 
 They  exist  but  in  their  monument ; 
 
 But  who  their  mausoleum  made  ? 
 
 Did  earthquakes  wield  that  mighty  spade 
 
 That  renders  all  old  Babel  piled 
 
 But  the  card  castle  of  a  child  ? 
 
 Strange,  that  Creation  can't  aff'ord 
 
 Such  pomp  to  shroud  her  sixth-day's  lord, 
 
 But  gives  each  mean  or  monstrous  thing 
 
 That  burial  she  denies  her  king. 
 
 These  are  earth's  secrets, — but  to  gain 
 
 Those  of  the  Deep  thou  rent  in  twain, 
 
 'Twere  worth  a  dull  eternity 
 
 Of  common  life, — to  question  thee." 
 
 The  curtain  rises,  and  there  spreads  out  a  wide  sea, 
 limited,  however,  in  its  area  by  a  dark  fog  that  broods 
 along  the  horizon,  and  enveloped,  even  where  best 
 seen,  in  a  gray  obscurity,  like  that  of  a  misty  morning 
 in  May,  an  hour  before  the  sun  has  risen.    It  is  the 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [123] 
 
 ocean  of  our  Scotch  Grauwacke  that  rolls  beneath  and 
 around  us  ;  but  regarding  its  inhabitants, — so  exceed- 
 ingly numerous  and  well  defined  in  the  contemporary 
 seas  of  what  is  now  England, — we  can  do  little  more 
 than  guess.    We  know  merely  that  it  rolls  its  waves 
 over  a  gray  impalpable  mud,  to  whose  numerous  folds 
 it  communicates  in  the  shallows  the  characteristic 
 ripple-markings  ;  that  it  possesses  a  chambered  shell 
 of  the  genus  Orthocera,  with  two  or  three  obscure 
 brachipods  ;  and  that  the  gray  mud  beneath  abounds 
 in  some  localities  with  a  curious  zoophite,  akin  to  the 
 existing  sea-pens  of  our  deep  submarine  hollows.  The 
 most  abundant  denizens  of  that  twilight  sea  are  crea- 
 tures shaped  like  a  quill,  or  rather  communities  of 
 creatures, — for  each  quill  is  a  little  republic, — that 
 enjoy  their  central  shaft  with  its  stony  axis  as  common 
 property,  and  have  their  rows  of  microscopic  domiciles 
 ranged  in  the  filaments  of  the  web.   The  light  brightens 
 over  the  wide  expanse,  and  the  fog  rises  ;  myriads  of 
 ages  have  passed  by  ;  the  countless  strata  of  the  Grau- 
 wacke are  already  deposited  ;  and  we  have  entered  on 
 the  eras  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone.    That  change  has 
 taken  place,  to  the  reality  of  which,  as  conclusively  indi- 
 cated in  space,  the  judgment  of  Playfair  could  not  refuse 
 its  assent ;  but  with  whose  slow  operations,  as  S})read 
 over  time  almost  lengthened  into  eternity,  his  imagina- 
 tion failed  to  graj)plc.    The  perspective  darkened  as  he 
 looked  along  the  long  vista  of  the  ages  gone  by,  and  left 
 on  his  mind  Imt  a  j)erplexing  and  shadowy  idea  of  a  dim 
 platform  of  undefined  boundary,  on  which  chaotic  re- 
 volutions of  incalculable  vastness  were  performed  dur- 
 ing i)eriods  of  immeasurable  extent.    It  does  seem  a 
 strange  fact,  and  yet  the  evidence  of  its  reality  as  such 
 is  incontrovertible,  that  Avhcn  the  lower  beds  of  the 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BAS?. 
 
 Old  Red  Sandstone  were,  to  borrow  from  the  philoso- 
 ])her,  "  only  beginning  to  be  deposited  in  the  shape  of 
 mud  or  sand,  from  the  waters  of  a  superincumbent 
 ocean,''  the  Grauwacke  on  which  they  were  thrown 
 down  was  quite  as  old  a  looking  rock  as  it  is  now,  and 
 that  the  numerous  graptolites  preserved  in  its  strata 
 existed  at  the  time  but  as  the  dimly  preserved  fossils 
 which  we  now  see  them, — miniature  quills,  with  thickly 
 serrated  edges,  drawn  in  glossy  bitumen  on  a  ground 
 of  gray. 
 
 With  the  beginnings  of  the  Old  Red  Sandstone  a 
 slight  change  takes  place  in  the  colouring  of  the  pros- 
 pect. There  is  a  flush  of  ochrey  red  over  yonder  shallow, 
 where  the  wave  beats  on  the  ferruginous  sand  ;  the 
 skerry  beyond  seems  darkened  with  sea-weed ;  and 
 though  we  are  still,  as  before,  out  of  sight  of  land,  and 
 so  can  know  little  regarding  its  productions,  we  may 
 see  a  minute  branch  of  club-moss  floating  past,  and  the 
 trunk  of  some  coniferous  tree,  and  can,  in  consequence, 
 at  least  determine  that  land  there  is.  But  mark  how 
 brightly  the  depths  gleam  with  the  mirror-like  reflec- 
 tion of  scales, — scales  resplendent  with  enamel,  that 
 owe  their  name — ganoid,  or  glittering — to  their  bril- 
 liancy. How  strangely  uncouth  the  forms  of  these  an- 
 cient denizens  of  the  deep,  and,  in  some  instances,  how 
 monstrous  their  size  !  Yonder,  swimming  leisurely  a 
 few  feet  under  the  surface,  as  if  watching  the  play  of 
 a  distant  shoal  of  Diplopteri,  is  the  ponderous  Astero- 
 lepis, — its  glassy  eyes  set  in  their  triangular  sockets,  as 
 in  some  families  of  snakes,  immediately  over  its  mouth, 
 — its  head  armed  with  a  dermal  covering  of  bone,  from 
 which  a  musket-bullet  would  rebound  as  from  a  stone- 
 wall,— its  body  tiled  over  with  oblong  scales,  delicately 
 oRrved,  like  the  inlaid  mail  of  a  warrior, — its  jaws  fur- 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [125] 
 
 nished  with  their  outer  tier  of  minute  thickly  set  fish- 
 teeth,  and  their  inner  tier  of  reptile-teeth  greatly  bulk- 
 ier than  those  of  the  crocodile,  and  set  at  wide  inter- 
 vals, after  the  sauroid  pattern.  And  yonder, — a  mem- 
 ber of  the  same  family,  of  larger  scale  and  more  squat, 
 though  somewhat  less  colossal  in  its  proportions, — 
 swims  the  strong  Holoptychius.  The  numerous  flights 
 of  Pterichthys,  with  their  compact  bodies,  spread  wings, 
 and  rudder-like  tails,  resemble  flocks  of  submarine 
 birds ;  the  plated  Coccosteus  and  the  broad  Glyptole- 
 pis  flap  heavily  along  the  bottom ;  crowds  of  minute 
 Cheiracanthi,  with  all  their  various  cogeners,  bristling 
 with  spines,  and  poised  on  membranaceous,  scale- 
 covered  fins,  dart  hither,  thither,  and  athwart,  in  the 
 green  stratum  above ;  while  dimly  seen,  a  huge  Crus- 
 tacean creeps  slowly  over  the  ribbed  sand  beneath.  But 
 ages  and  centuries  pass  in  quick  succession  as  the  wavei> 
 roll  along  the  surface, — species  and  genera  pass  away, 
 families  become  extinct,  races  perish  ;  the  rocks  of  the 
 Old  Red  Sandstone,  holding  in  their  stony  folds  their 
 numerous  strange  organisms,  are  all  laid  down,  as  those 
 of  the  Grauwacke  had  been  previously  deposited  ;  and 
 the  scene  changes  as  the  unsummed  periods  of  the  sys- 
 tem reach  their  close. 
 
 There  is  a  further  increase  in  the  light,  as  the  day 
 advances  and  the  sun  climbs  the  steep  of  heaven  ;  but 
 the  fogs  of  morning  still  hang  their  dense  folds  on  the 
 horizon.  We  shall  look  out  for  the  land  when  tlie 
 mist  rises  ; — it  cannot  now  be  far  distant.  Tlie  brown 
 eddies  of  a  freshet  circle  past,  restricted,  as  where  vast 
 rivers  mingle  with  the  ocean,  to  an  upper  layer  of 
 sea;  and  broken  reeds,  withered  ferns,  the  cones  of 
 the  Lycopodiaceae,  and  of  trees  of  the  Araucarian  fa- 
 mily, float  outwards  in  the  current,  thick  and  fre(iuent 
 
[126] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 as  the  spoils  of  the  great  Mississippi  in  the  course  of 
 the  voyager,  when  he  has  come  within  half-a-day's  sail 
 of  the  shores  of  the  delta.  But  our  view  is  still  re- 
 stricted, as  heretofore,  to  a  wide  tract  of  sea, — now 
 whitened,  where  the  frequent  flats  and  banks  rise 
 within  a  few  fathoms  of  the  surface,  by  innumerable 
 beds  of  shells,  reefs  of  corals,  and  forests  of  crinoidea. 
 Here  the  water  seems  all  a-glow  with  the  brilliant  co- 
 lours of  the  living  polypi  that  tenant  the  calcareous 
 cells, — green,  scarlet,  and  blue,  yellow  and  purple  :  we 
 seem  as  if  looking  down  on  gorgeous  parterres,  sub- 
 merged, when  in  full  blow,  or,  through  the  dew-be- 
 dimmed  panes  of  a  greenhouse,  on  the  magnificent 
 heaths,  geraniums,  and  cacti  of  the  warmer  latitudes, 
 when  richest  in  flower.  Yonder  there  lie  vast  argo- 
 sies of  snoAvy  terebratula,  each  fast  anchored  to  the 
 rocky  bottom  by  the  fleshy  cable  that  stretches  from 
 the  circular  dead-eye  in  its  umbone,  like  the  mooring 
 chain  from  the  prow  of  a  galley  ;  while  directly  over 
 them,  vibrating  in  the  tide,  stretches  the  marble-like 
 petals  of  the  stone  lily.  The  surface  is  ploughed  by 
 the  numerous  sailing  shells  of  the  period, — huge  ortho- 
 cera,  and  the  whorled  nautilaceae  and  goniatites.  And 
 fish  abound  as  before,  though  the  races  are  all  difl'er- 
 ent.  We  may  mark  the  smaller  varieties  in  play  over 
 the  coral  beds, — the  lively  Palaeoniscus,  that  so  re- 
 sembles a  gold-fish  cased  in  bone, — and  the  squat 
 deeply-bodied  Amblypterus,  with  its  nicely  fretted 
 scales  and  plates,  and  its  strongly  rayed  fins.  The 
 Gyracanthis,  with  its  massy  spine  carved  as  elaborately 
 as  the  'j)rentice  pillar  in  Roslin,  swims  through  the 
 j)rofounder  depths,  uncertain  in  outline,  like  a  moving 
 cloud  by  night ;  while  the  better  defined  Megalichthys, 
 with  its  coat  of  bright  quadrangular  scales,  and  its 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [127] 
 
 closely-jointed  and  finely-punctulated  helmet  of  ena- 
 melled bone,  glides  vigorously  along  yonder  submarine 
 field  of  crinoidea,  and  the  slim  stony  arms  and  tall 
 columnar  stems  brushed  by  its  fins,  bend,  as  it  passes, 
 like  a  swathe  of  tall  grass  swept  by  a  sudden  breeze. 
 We  are  full  in  the  middle  of  the  era  of  the  Carbonife- 
 rous Limestone.  And  some  of  us  may  be  rendered 
 both  wiser  and  humbler,  mayhap,  by  noting  a  simple 
 fact  or  two  directly  connected  with  this  formation,  ere 
 the  curtain  drop  over  it. 
 
 We  have  already  marked,  in  our  survey,  numerous 
 beds  of  shells,  glimmering  pale  through  the  shallows  ; 
 — here  argosies  of  terebratula  anchored  to  the  rocks 
 beneath, — there  fleets  of  chambered  nautilacea,  career- 
 ing along  the  surface  of  the  waters  above.  But  it  is 
 chiefly  on  the  fixed  shells, — the  numerous  bivalves  of 
 the  profounder  depths, — that  I  would  now  ask  the 
 reader  to  concentrate  his  attention.  They  belong,  in 
 large  proportion,  to  a  class  imperfectly  represented  in 
 the  existing  seas,  and  which  had  comparatively  few  re- 
 presentatives during  even  the  Secondary  periods,  rich 
 as  these  were  in  molluscs  of  high  development ;  though, 
 during  the  great  Palaeozoic  division,  their  vast  abun- 
 danceformed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characteristics 
 of  the  period.  Of  this  class  (the  Bracliipoda  of  the 
 modern  naturalist),  many  hundred  species  have  al- 
 ready been  determined  in  the  older  rocks  of  our  island  ; 
 while,  as  living  inhabitants  of  the  seas  which  encircle 
 it,  Dr  Fleming,  in  his  "  British  Animals,"  enumerates 
 but  four  species ;  and  none  of  these, — such  is  their 
 rarity, — the  greater  part  of  my  readers  ever  saw.* 
 These  Bracliipoda,  of  which  in  the  Carboniferous  Lime- 
 
 •   TereijUATULA  franium,  T.   lysitiacca,    T.    aurita,  and  CrISPUS 
 
[128] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 stone  there  existed  the  numerous  families  of  the  Tere- 
 bratula,  the  Spirifer,  and  the  Productus,  were  in  all 
 their  species  bivalves  of  an  exceedingly  helpless  class  ; 
 the  valves,  instead  of  being  united,  as  in  the  cockle, 
 mussel,  pecten,  and  oyster,  by  strong  elastic  hinges, 
 were  merely  sewed  together,  if  I  may  so  speak,  by 
 bundles  of  unelastic  fleshy  fibres ;  and  the  opening  of 
 the  lips  a  very  little  apart, — so  simple  and  facile  a 
 movement  to  the  ordinary  bivalve, — was  to  the  Bra- 
 chipod  an  achievement  feebly  accomplished  through 
 the  agency  of  an  operose  and  complex  machinery.  To 
 compensate,  however,  for  the  defect,  the  creatures  were 
 furnished  on  both  sides  the  mouth  with  numerous 
 cilia,  or  hair-like  appendages,  through  the  rapid  vibra- 
 tory movements  of  which  they  could  produce  minute 
 currents  in  the  water,  and  thus  bring  into  the  interior 
 of  their  shells,  between  lips  raised  but  a  line  apart,  the 
 numerous  particles  of  organic  matter  floating  around 
 them  which  constituted  their  proper  food.  They  re- 
 sembled in  their  mode  of  living  rather  the  orders  be- 
 low them, — radiata  such  as  the  Actinea,  or  zoophytes 
 such  as  the  Tuhulariadce, — than  true  molluscs.  But 
 there  are  no  mistakes  in  the  work  of  the  Divine 
 Mechanician :  in  the  absence  of  an  elastic  hinge,  the 
 minute  cilia  performed  their  part ;  and  so  throughout 
 the  vast  periods  of  the  Palaeozoic  division  the  helpless 
 Brachipoda  continued  to  exist  in  vastly  greater  num- 
 bers than  any  of  their  contemporaries. 
 
 Now,  it  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  Paley,  when 
 adducing,  in  his  "  Natural  Theology,"  some  of  the  marks 
 of  design  so  apparent  in  the  hinge  of  bivalves,  such  as 
 the  cockle  and  oyster,  misses  by  far  the  most  important 
 point  exhibited  in  its  construction  ;  and  so  converts  his 
 bivalves  into  poor  helpless  brachipoda,  unfurnished 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [129] 
 
 with  the  compensatory  cilia.  It  is  further  curious  that, 
 in  the  elaborate  edition  of  the  "  Theology/'  jointly 
 published  by  Lord  Brougham  and  Sir  Charles  Bell, 
 though  there  be  a  neat  wood-cut  of  the  Venus-heart 
 Cockle  given,  to  illustrate  their  author's  idea,  the 
 omitted  point  is  not  noticed.  "In  the  bivalve  order 
 of  shell-fish,"  says  the  Archdeacon — "  cockles,  mussels, 
 oysters,  &c. — what  contrivance  can  be  so  simple  or  so 
 clear  as  the  insertion  at  the  back  of  a  tough  tendinous 
 substance,  that  becomes  at  once  the  ligament  which 
 binds  the  two  shells  together,  and  the  hinge  upon  which 
 they  open  and  shut/'  Most  true  ! — the  inserted  carti- 
 lage is  both  ligament  and  hinge ;  but  even  some  of  the 
 helpless  brachipoda  have,  in  the  one  insertion  at  their 
 back,  both  ligament  and  hinge,  and  are  helpless  brachi- 
 poda notwithstanding  ;  whereas  the  cockle,  oyster, 
 mussel,  and  all  bivalves  of  their  order,  can  do  what 
 the  brachipoda  cannot — open  their  shells  with  great 
 promptitude  ;  and  at  least  a  few  of  them  can,  like  the 
 pecten,  dart  edgeways  through  the  water,  like  missiles 
 thrown  by  the  hand,  simply  by  the  rapid  shutting  of 
 their  valves  again.  These  have  been  described  as  the 
 butterflies  of  the  sea.  Whence  comes  this  opening  power, 
 which  Paley's  description  so  evidently  does  not  involve? 
 The  power  of  opening  the  human  palm  resides  in  tlie 
 muscles  on  the  back  of  the  fore-arm  ;  the  power  of 
 shutting  it,  in  the  muscles  in  the  front  of  the  fore-anu 
 directly  oj)posite.  These  last — the  muscles  operative 
 in  shutting  the  palm — are  in  the  cockle,  and  all  other 
 bivalves  of  its  class,  represented  by  the  adductor 
 muscles  ;  but  what  represents  in  the  shell  those  anta- 
 gonist muscles  by  which  the  palm  is  opened  ?  The 
 bivalve,  from  its  peculiar  construction,  can  have  no 
 antagoaist  muscles;  its  little  circle  of  life  is  bounded 
 
ISOj 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 by  the  lips  of  tlie  two  valves  ;  and  as  the  proper  place 
 of  the  antagonist  muscles  would  be  of  necessity  on  the 
 outside  of  the  shell,  far  beyond  that  circle  of  vitality, 
 antagonist  muscles  it  cannot  possibly  possess ;  and  yet, 
 whenever  the  creature  wills  it,  the  work  of  the  missing 
 muscles  is  promptly  performed.  Xow,  mark  how  this 
 happens.  The  cartilage  inserted  at  the  back  is,  accord- 
 ing to  Paley,  at  once  the  ligament  which  binds  the  two 
 shells  together,  and  the  hinge  upon  which  they  open 
 and  shut ;  but  it  is  yet  something  more, — it  is  a  power- 
 ful spring,  compressed,  and,  if  I  may  use  the  phrase, 
 "  set  on  full  cock,"  by  the  strain  of  the  adductor 
 muscles ;  and  no  sooner  is  that  strain  relaxed  than  up 
 flies  the  valve, — like  some  ingeniously  contrived  trap- 
 door, when  one  releases  the  steel-spring, — in  obedience 
 to  the  mechanical  force  locked  up  for  use  in  the  power- 
 fully elastic  bit  of  cartilage,  that  without  derangement 
 or  confusion  serves  so  many  various  purposes.  Sir 
 Godfrey  Kneller  is  said  to  have  remarked,  in  the  pleni- 
 tude of  his  conceit,  that  if  Grod  Almighty  had  taken  his 
 advice  on  some  important  points  of  contrivance,  mat- 
 ters would  probably  have  been  better  on  the  whole ; 
 and  the  saying  is  recorded  as  characteristic  of  the  irre- 
 verent vanity  of  the  artist.  Alas,  poor  addle-headed 
 coxcomb  !  Paley  and  his  two  editors — men  of  high 
 standing  compared  with  Sir  Godfrey — could  not  have 
 been  entrusted,  it  would  seem,  by  the  great  First  De- 
 signer with  the  construction  of  even  the  hinge  of  a 
 bivalve.  The  cockles,  oysters,  pectens,  and  mussels, 
 hinged  by  them,  would  be  all  helpless  brachipoda,  with 
 not  only  no  spring  in  their  hinges,  but  also  unfur- 
 nished with  the  compensatory  apparatus  within,  and 
 would,  in  consequence,  become  extinct  in  a  week.  Is 
 there  no  lesson  here  ? 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 [131] 
 
 But,  lo  !  the  mist  rises,  and  slowly  dissij^ates  in  the 
 sun ;  and  yonder,  scarce  half-a-mile  away,  is  the  land, 
 — a  low  swampy  shore,  covered  by  a  rank  vegetation. 
 Thickets  of  tall  plants,  of  strange  form  and  singular 
 luxuriance,  droop  over  the  coast-edge  into  the  sea,  like 
 those  mangrove  jungles  of  Southern  America,  that  bear 
 on  their  branches  crops  of  oysters.  There  are  reeds, 
 with  their  light  coronals  of  spiky  leaves  radiating  from 
 their  numerous  joints,  that  rival  the  masts  of  vessels 
 in  size, — ferns,  whose  magnificent  fronds  overshadow 
 half  a  rood  of  surface,  that  attain  to  the  bulk  and 
 height  of  forest  trees, — club-mosses,  tall  as  Norwegian 
 pines, — and  strangely  carved,  cacti-looking,  leaf-covered 
 trunks,  bulky  as  the  body  of  a  man.  Xor  is  there  any 
 lack  of  true  trees,  that  resemble  those  of  the  existing 
 period,  as  exhibited  in  the  southern  hemisphere, — 
 stately  araucarians,  that  lift  their  proud  heads  a  hun- 
 dred feet  over  the  soil, — and  spiky  pines,  that  raise 
 their  taper  trunks  and  cone-covered  boughs  to  a  scarce 
 lower  elevation.  And  yonder  green  and  level  land, 
 dank  with  steaming  vapour,  and  where  the  golden  light 
 streams  through  long  bosky  vistas,  crowded  with  pro- 
 digies of  the  vegetable  kingdom, — Sigillaria,  Favularia, 
 and  Ulodendra, — is  the  land  of  the  Coal  Measures. 
 
 Three  of  the  great  geologic  periods,  comprising  al- 
 most the  whole  of  the  Palaeozoic  division,  have  already 
 gone  by  ;  and  yet  the  history  of  tlic  Bass  as  an  igneous 
 rock  is  still  to  begin.  But  we  have  at  least  laid  down 
 the  groundwork  of  the  surrounding  landscape.  And 
 be  it  remembered  that  all  these  scenes,  however  much 
 they  may  seem  the  work  of  fancy,  were  realities  con- 
 nected with  the  hiying  of  these  dee}>  foundations, — 
 realities  which  might  have  been  as  certainly  Avitnessed 
 from  the  point  in  space  now  occupied  by  the  rude 
 
[132] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 crowning  pyramid  of  the  Bass, — had  there  been  a  hu- 
 man eye  to  look  abroad,  or  a  human  sensorium  to  re- 
 ceive the  impressions  which  it  conveyed, — as  the  scene 
 furnished  by  the  lovely  sunset  of  this  evening.  Sir 
 Roderick  Murchison,  in  his  magnificent  "  Silurian  Sys- 
 tem,'' has  given  the  example  of  rendering  landscapes 
 according  to  their  real  outlines,  but  coloured  according 
 to  the  tints  of  the  geologic  map  ;  and  the  practice  pos- 
 sesses the  advantage  of  making  the  diverse  features  of 
 the  various  formations  address  themselves  with  peculiar 
 emphasis  to  the  eye.  Were  the  real  landscape  which 
 the  summit  of  the  Bass  commands  to  be  so  coloured, 
 we  would  see  its  wide  area  composed  of  characteristic 
 representatives  of  each  of  the  three  systems,  whose  suc- 
 cessive depositions  we  have  described.  The  distant  pro- 
 montory to  the  east,  on  which  Fast  Castle  stands,  with 
 the  hills  in  the  interior  that  sweep  along  the  entire 
 back-ground  of  the  prospect,  would  bear  the  deep  purple 
 tinge  appropriated  by  the  geologist  to  the  Grauwacke. 
 Leaning  at  their  feet,  from  the  Siccar  Point  to  Gifford, 
 and  from  Grifford  to  Fala,  besides  abutting  on  the  sea 
 in  insulated  patches, — as  at  North  Berwick,  Canty  Bay, 
 Tantallan,  Seacliff,  and  Belhaven, — we  would  next  see, 
 spread  over  a  large  space  in  the  scene,  the  deep  choco- 
 late tint  assigned,  not  unappropriately,  to  the  Old  Red. 
 From  Cockburnspath  to  Dunbar  on  the  one  hand,  and 
 from  Aberlady  Bay  to  Arthur's  Seat  on  the  other,  the 
 landscape  would  exhibit  the  cold  gray  hue  of  the  Coal 
 Measures,  here  and  there  mottled  with  the  light  azure 
 that  distinguishes  in  the  map  the  Carboniferous  Lime- 
 stone ;  while  the  trap  eminences,  with  the  tulF  of  the 
 opposite  shore,  and  the  island  mass  at  our  feet,  would 
 flame  in  the  deep  crimson  of  the  geologic  colourist, — 
 as  if  the  igneous  rocks  of  which  they  are  composed  still 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 retained  the  red  heat  of  their  molten  condition.  Such 
 would  be  the  conventional  colouring  of  the  landscape  ; 
 vast  tracts  of  purple,  of  chocolate,  of  gray,  and  of  blue, 
 would  indicate  the  proportional  space  occupied  in  its 
 area  by  the  three  great  systems  that  have  furnished  us 
 with  a  picture  a-piece  ;  and  what  we  have  now  to  con- 
 jure up, — the  platform  of  the  stage  being  fairly  erected, 
 and  its  various  coverings  laid  down, — is  the  scene  illus- 
 trative of  the  origin  and  upheaval  of  the  various  trap- 
 rocks  that  have  come  to  form  the  bolder  features  of  the 
 prospect, — among  the  rest,  supreme  in  the  centre  of  the 
 disturbed  district,  the  stately  column  of  the  Bass. 
 
 The  land  of  the  Coal  Measures  has  again  disappeared ; 
 and  a  shoreless  but  shallow  ocean,  much  vexed  by  cur- 
 rents, and  often  lashed  by  tempest,  spreads  out  around, 
 as  during  the  earlier  periods.  But  there  are  more  deeply- 
 seated  heavings  that  proceed  from  the  centre  of  the  im- 
 mediate area  over  which  we  stand,  than  ever  yet  owed 
 their  origin  to  storm  or  tide.  Ever  and  anon  waves  of 
 dizzy  altitude  roll  outwards  towards  the  horizon,  as  if 
 raised  by  the  fall  of  some  such  vast  pebble  as  the  blind 
 Cyclops  sent  whizzing  through  the  air  after  the  galley 
 of  Ulysses,  when 
 
 "  The  whole  sea  shook,  and  refluent  beat  the  shore." 
 
 We  may  hear,  too,  deep  from  the  abyss,  the  growlings 
 as  of  a  subterranean  thunder,  loud  enough  to  drown 
 the  nearer  sounds  of  botli  wave  and  current.  And  now, 
 as  the  huge  kraken  lifts  its  enormous  back  over  the 
 waves,  the  solid  strata  beneath  rise  from  the  bottom  in 
 a  flat  dome,  crusted  with  shells  and  corals,  and  dark 
 with  alga^.  Tlie  ])iUows  roll  back, — the  bared  strata 
 heave,  and  crack,  and  sever, — a  dense  smouldering  va- 
 pour issues  from  the  opening  rents  and  fissures  ; — and 
 
[134] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 now  the  stony  pavement  is  torn  abruptly  asunder,  like 
 some  mildewed  curtain  seized  rudely  by  the  hand, — a 
 broad  sheet  of  flame  mounts  sudden  as  lightning  through 
 the  opening,  a  thousand  fathoms  into  the  sky, — 
 
 "  Infuriate  molten  rocks  and  flaming  globes, 
 Mount  high  above  the  clouds" — 
 
 and  the  volcano  is  begun.  Meanwhile,  the  whole  region 
 around,  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  heaves  wildly  in  the 
 throes  of  Plutonic  convulsion.  Above  many  a  rising 
 shallow,  the  sea  boils  and  roars,  as  amid  the  skerries 
 of  some  rocky  bay  open  to  the  unbroken  roll  of  the 
 ocean  in  a  time  of  tempest ;  the  platform  of  sediment- 
 ary rock  over  an  area  of  many  square  miles  is  fractured 
 like  the  ice  of  some  Highland  tarn,  during  a  hasty 
 spring  thaw  that  swells  every  mountain  streamlet  into 
 a  river  ;  waves  of  translation,  produced  at  once  in  nu- 
 merous centres  by  the  sudden  upheaval  of  the  bottom, 
 meet  and  conflict  under  canopies  of  smoke  and  ashes ; 
 the  light  thickens  as  the  reek  ascends,  and,  amid  the 
 loud  patter  of  the  ejected  stones  and  pumice,  as  they 
 descend  upon  the  sea, — the  roaring  of  the  flames, — the 
 rending  of  rocks, — the  dash  of  waves, — and  the  hollow 
 internal  grumblings  of  earthquakes, — dark  night  comes 
 down  upon  the  deep  Vastly  extended  periods  pass 
 away ;  there  are  alternate  pauses  and  paroxysms  of  con- 
 vulsion ;  and  ere  the  Plutonic  agencies,  worn  out  in  the 
 struggle,  are  laid  fairly  asleep,  and  the  curtain  again 
 rises,  the  entire  scene  is  changed.  Of  the  old  sediment- 
 ary rocks  there  remain,  in  a  wide  tract,  only  a  few  in- 
 sulated beds,  half-buried  in  enormous  accumulations  of 
 volcanic  debris, — debris  stratified  by  the  waves,  and 
 consolidated  into  a  tolerably  adhesive  tuff  by  the  super- 
 incumbent pressure,  and  here  traversed  by  long  dikes 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS.  [1S5] 
 
 c 
 
 of  basalt,  and  there  overlaid  bv  ponderous  beds  of  green- 
 stone. The  Bass  towers  before  us  as  a  tall  conical  hill, 
 deeply  indented  atop  by  the  now  silent  crater, — its 
 slopes  formed  of  loose  ashes  and  rude  fragments  of 
 ejected  rock,  and  with  the  flush  of  sulphur,  here  of  a 
 deep  red,  there  of  a  golden  yellow,  still  bright  on  its 
 sides. 
 
 Let  us  rightly  conceive  of  the  hill  in  this,  the  last  of 
 its  bygone  aspects.  Nearly  two  centuries  ago  there  was 
 a  large  tract  of  land  covered  over,  in  the  north  of  Scot- 
 land, by  blown  sand ;  and  among  the  other  interred 
 objects, — such  as  human  dwellings,  sheep  and  cattle- 
 folds,  gateways,  and  the  fences  of  fields  and  gardens, — 
 there  were  several  orchard  trees,  enveloped  in  the  dry 
 deluge,  and  buried  up.    Of  one  of  these  it  is  said  that 
 the  upper  branches  projected  for  several  years  from  the 
 top  of  the  pyramidal  hillock  that  had  formed  around  it, 
 and  that  they  continued  to  produce  in  their  season  a 
 few  stunted  leaves,  with  here  and  there  a  sickly  blos- 
 som ;  but  the  branches  at  length  dried  up  and  disap- 
 peared, and  for  more  than  a  century  there  were  scarce 
 any  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  district  who 
 seemed  to  know  what  it  was  the  conical  hillock  con- 
 tained.    And  then  the  prevailing  winds  that  had  so 
 long  before  covered  up  the  orchard  tree  began  to  scoop 
 out  the  sides  of  its  arenaceous  tumulus,  and  to  lay  bare 
 twig  and  l)ranch,  and  at  length  the  trunk  itself;  but 
 the  rotting  damps,  operating  on  the  wood  in  a  state  of 
 close  seclusion  from  the  free  air,  had  wrought  their  na- 
 tural work  ;  and  as  the  tumulus  crumbled  away,  the 
 twigs  and  boughs,  with  the  upper  portion  of  the  trunk, 
 crumbled  away  also ;  till  at  Icngtli,  when  the  entire 
 enveloping  material  was  removed,  there  remained  of 
 the  tree  but  an  upright  stump,  that  rose  a  few  feet  over 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  soil.  Now,  the  conical  envelop  or  tumulus  of  de- 
 bris and  ashes  which  at  this  stage  composes  the  exte- 
 rior covering  of  the  Bass,  resembles  exactly  that  which 
 surrounded,  in  the  buried  barony  of  Cubin,  the  orchard- 
 tree  ;  while  its  stony  centre  of  trap,  moulded  in  the 
 tubular  crater,  with  its  various  branch-like  arms  bent 
 earthwards  like  those  of  the  weeping  ash, — the  remains 
 of  eruptive  currents  flowing  outwards  and  downwards, 
 — represent  the  tree  itself  The  denuding  agent  is  not, 
 as  in  the  sandy  wastes  of  Moray,  the  keen  dry  wind  of 
 the  west,  but  the  slow  wear,  prolonged  through  many 
 ages,  of  waves  and  currents.  The  sloping  sides  crumble 
 down, — the  stony  branches  fall,  undermined,  into  the 
 tide,  and  are  swept  away, — until  at  length,  as  in  the 
 orchard-tree  of  my  illustration,  there  remains  but  an 
 abrupt  and  broken  stump, — the  ancient  storm-worn 
 island  of  the  Bass. 
 
 The  enormous  amount  of  denudation  which  the 
 theories  of  the  geologist  demand,  however  consonant 
 with  his  observations  of  fact,  may  well  startle  the  un- 
 initiated. The  Lower  Coal  Measures  appear  on  three 
 sides  of  this  disturbed  district ;  they  may  be  traced, 
 as  has  been  shown  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
 of  Dunbar  to  the  east ;  they  occur  at  Abbey  Toll,  near 
 Haddington,  on  the  south  ;  and  they  extend  a  little 
 beyond  Aberlady  Bay  on  the  west ;  while  the  sedi- 
 mentary rocks  that  appear  in  the  centre  of  the  area, 
 directly  opposite  the  Bass,  belong,  as  has  also  been 
 shown,  to  an  inferior  member  of  the  Old  Red  Sand- 
 stone. The  surrounding  Coal  Measures  form  the  edges 
 of  a  broken  dome,  that,  upheaved  originally  by  the 
 volcanic  forces,  as  a  bubble  in  a  crucible  of  boiling 
 sulphur  is  inflated  and  upheaved  by  the  imprisoned 
 gas,  has  been  ground  down,  as  it  rose,  by  the  denuding 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 aixencies,  until  in  the  centre  ol  the  area  the  Lower 
 Old  Red  Rocks  have  been  laid  bare.    And  so  immense 
 was  the  dome,  though,  of  course,  destroyed  piecemeal  as 
 it  rose, — as  a  log  in  a  saw-mill  is  cut  piecemeal  by  being 
 gradually  impelled  on  the  saw, — that  immediately  over 
 the  Bass  it  would  have  now  risen,  had  it  been  suffered 
 to  mount  unworn  and  unbroken,  to  an  altitude  scarce 
 inferior  to  that  of  Ben  Nevis  or  Ben  Macdui.    In  this 
 region  of  birds, — dwellers  on  the  dizz}^  cliff, — no  bird 
 soars  half  so  high  as  the  imaginary  dotted  line  some 
 three  or  four  thousand  feet  over  the  level,  at  which, 
 save  for  the  wear  of  the  waves  when  the  volcanic 
 agencies  were  propelling  the  surface  upwards,  the 
 higher  layers  of  the  Coal  Measures  would  now  have 
 stood.    Denudation  to  an  extent  equally  great  has 
 taken  place  immediately  over  the  site  of  the  city  of 
 Edinburgh.   Lunardi,  inTiis  balloon,  never  reached  the 
 point,  high  over  our  towers  and  spires,  at  which,  save 
 for  the  waste  of  ocean,  the  upper  coal-seams  would  at 
 this  moment  have  lain.   There  are  various  localities  in 
 Scotland  in  which  the  loss  of  surface  must  have  been 
 greater  still ;  and  fancy,  overborne  by  visions  of  waste 
 and  attrition  on  a  scale  so  gigantic,  can  scarce  take 
 the  conception  in  ;  far  less  can  the  mind,  when  unas- 
 sisted by  auxiliary  facts,  receive  it  as  a  reality.  Viewed, 
 however,  in  connection  with  the  vast  periods  which 
 liave  intervened  since  the  last  of  these  denuded  rocks 
 were  formed 
 
 y — -and,  be  it  remembered,  that  immediatelv 
 after  their  formation  denudation  may  have  begun, — 
 viewed,  too,  in  connection  with  that  work  of  dep(»sition 
 which  has  been  going  on  during  these  i»eriods  else- 
 where, and  with  the  self-evident  truth  that,  mainly 
 from  the  wear  of  the  older  rocks  have  the  materials  of 
 the  newer  been  derived, — it  grows  into  credibility. 
 
 m 
 
[138] 
 
 GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  takes  its  place  among  kindred  wonders,  simply  as 
 one  of  the  facts  of  a  class.  During  the  denudation,  to 
 the  depth  of  three  or  four  thousand  feet,  of  the  tract 
 of  country  where  the  capital  of  Scotland  now  stands,  a 
 deposition  to  a  vastly  greater  depth  was  taking  place 
 in  the  tract  of  country  occupied  by  the  capital  of  Eng- 
 land. Nor  does  it  seem  in  any  degree  more  strange 
 that  the  rocks  in  the  one  locality  should  have  been 
 ground  down  from  the  red  sandstones  of  Roslin  to  the 
 calciferous  beds  which  underlie  the  Mountain  Lime- 
 stone, than  that  strata  should  have  been  laid  over 
 strata  in  the  other,  from  the  Triassic  group  to  the 
 Oolite,  and  from  the  Oolite  to  the  London  Clay.  Had 
 there  not  been  immense  waste  and  attrition  among  the 
 Primary  and  Palaeozoic  rocks,  there  could  have  been 
 no  Secondary  formations,  and  no  Tertiary  system. 
 
 My  history  speeds  on  to  its  conclusion.  We  dimly 
 descry,  amid  fog  and  darkness,  yet  one  scene  more. 
 There  has  been  a  change  in  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
 roar  of  flame,  and  the  hollow  voice  of  earthquake,  are 
 succeeded  by  the  howling  of  wintry  tempests  and  the 
 crash  of  icebergs.  Wandering  fragments  of  the  north- 
 ern winter,  bulky  as  hills,  go  careering  over  the  sub- 
 merged land,  grinding  down  its  softer  rocks  and  shales 
 into  clay,  leaving  inscribed  their  long  streaks  and  fur- 
 rows on  its  traps  and  its  limestones,  and  thickly  strew- 
 ing the  surface  of  one  district  with  the  detached  ruins 
 of  another.  To  this  last  of  the  geologic  revolutions 
 the  deep  grooves  and  furrows  of  the  rocks  in  the  im- 
 mediate neighbourhood  of  North  Berwick  belong,  with 
 the  immense  boulders  of  travelled  rock  which  one  oc- 
 casionally sees  in  the  interior  on  moors  and  hill  sides, 
 or  standing  out  along  the  sea  coast,  disinterred  by  the 
 waves  from  amid  their  banks  of  gravel  or  clay.  But 
 
GEOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 139 
 
 this  last  scene  in  the  series  I  find  drawn  to  my  hand, 
 though  for  another  purpose,  by  the  poet  who  produced 
 the  "Ancient  Mariner:'' — 
 
 "  Anon  there  come  both  mist  and  snow, 
 And  it  grows  -wondrous  cold  ; 
 And  ice  mast-high  comes  floating  by 
 As  green  as  emerald  ; 
 
 And  through  the  drifts,  the  snowy  cliffs, 
 
 Doth  send  a  dismal  sheen  ; 
 Nor  shapes  of  men  nor  beasts  we  ken, — 
 
 The  ice  is  all  between. 
 
 The  ice  is  here,  the  ice  is  there, 
 
 The  ice  is  all  around ; 
 It  cracks  and  growls,  and  roars  and  howls. 
 
 Like  noises  in  a  swound."' 
 
 But  the  day  breaks,  and  the  storm  ceases,  and  the 
 submerged  land  lifts  up  its  head  over  the  sea,  and  the 
 Bass,  in  the  fair  morn  of  the  existing  creation,  looms 
 tall  and  high  to  the  new-risen  sun, — then,  as  now. 
 
 An  island  salt  and  bare, 
 The  haunt  of  Feals  and  ores,  and  sea-mews'  clang." 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 EV  THE  REV.  JAMES  ANDERSON. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 [  This  list  of  the  Bass  prisoners  will  be  found  to  differ  considerably  from  that 
 of  Dr  Crichton,  annexed  to  his  Memoirs  of  Mr  John  Blackadder.  It  contains 
 several  names  which  he  has  omitted,  and  wants  twelve  which  he  has  erro- 
 neously included.  Our  reasons  for  excluding  them  are  given  in  Appendix 
 Xo.  I.  p.  378.] 
 
 Robert  Grillespiej 
 
 13 
 
 John  Dickson, 
 
 314 
 
 Alexander  Peden, 
 
 24 
 
 John  Blackadder,  . 
 
 350 
 
 J  ames  Mitchell, 
 
 58 
 
 Archibald  Riddell, 
 
 363 
 
 John  Greig, 
 
 80 
 
 John  Spreul,  . 
 
 366 
 
 Thomas  Ross, 
 
 97 
 
 William  Lin,  . 
 
 367 
 
 Alexander  Forrester, 
 
 106 
 
 Major  Joseph  Learmont, 
 
 367 
 
 AVilliam  Bell, 
 
 110 
 
 Michael  Potter, 
 
 368 
 
 Robert  Dick, 
 
 121 
 
 John  Sprenl,  . 
 
 369 
 
 James  Fraser  of  Brea, 
 
 124 
 
 Alexander  Gordon  of  Earlston,  369 
 
 George  Scot  of  Pitlochie, 
 
 157 
 
 John  Rae, 
 
 370 
 
 Thomas  Hog, 
 
 174 
 
 Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Ces- 
 
 James  Driimmond, 
 
 199 
 
 nock,  ... 
 
 371 
 
 Robert  Bennet  of  Chjsters, 
 
 203 
 
 Sir  George  Campbell  of  Ces- 
 
 Robert  Traill, 
 
 217 
 
 nock,  ... 
 
 372 
 
 John  M'Gilligen, 
 
 235 
 
 John  Stewart, 
 
 373 
 
 Patrick  Anderson, 
 
 260 
 
 Alexander  Dunbar, 
 
 373 
 
 John  Campbell, 
 
 271 
 
 James  Fithie, 
 
 374 
 
 John  Law, 
 
 276 
 
 Peter  Kid, 
 
 375 
 
 Robert  Ross, 
 
 288 
 
 William  Spence, 
 
 376 
 
 James  Macaulay, 
 
 290 
 
 Alexander  Shields, 
 
 376 
 
 Gilbert  Rule, 
 
 291 
 
THE  MAKTYKS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 Iefore  introducing  our  readers  to  the  worthy 
 ^  men  who  were  imprisoned  in  the  Bass  for 
 ^  Presbyterian  principles  in  the  reign  of 
 j;'  "  Charles  IL,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give 
 a  general  account  of  the  stato  of  matters 
 consequent  upon  the  restoration  of  that  Pnnce  to  the 
 throne  of  his  fathers,  till  the  period  when  the  first  pri- 
 soner appears  upon  the  stage. 
 
 The  restoration  of  Charles  was  highly  popular  in 
 Scotland  among  all  ranks,  and  the  most  extravagant 
 rejoicing  every  where  prevailed.  By  no  party  was  it 
 hailed  with  more  satisfaction  and  joy  than  by  the 
 great  body  of  the  Presbyterians,  who  were  among  his 
 most  devoted  adherents,  and  who  had  expended  much 
 blood  and  treasure  in  his  interest  under  the  govern- 
 ment of  Cromwell,  to  whom  they  rehictantly  submitted, 
 
 A 
 
9 
 
 TPIE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  wliose  authority  they  were  eager  to  throw  off, 
 notwithstanding  the  prospering  state  of  the  country 
 under  his  administration.  Lord  Clarendon  affirms  that 
 the  restoration  of  Charles  was  "  such  a  prodigious  act 
 of  providence  as  God  hath  scarce  vouchsafed  to  any 
 nation  since  he  led  his  own  chosen  people  through  the 
 Red  Sea.'"*  And  certainly  the  active  exertions  made 
 by  the  Presbyterians  for  his  restoration,  as  well  as 
 their  demonstrations  of  joy  upon  it,  seemed  to  indicate 
 that  they  regarded  it  as  an  event  equally  memorable. 
 In  the  exuberance  of  their  loyalty,  and  charitably 
 hoping  that  his  early  misfortunes  had  taught  him  wis- 
 dom, they  invested  him  with  every  quality  fitted  to 
 adorn  the  monarch  of  a  great  empire  ;  and  drew  the 
 most  flattering  pictures  of  the  prosperity  of  his  reign. 
 But  they  were  unacquainted  with  his  true  character 
 and  principles  ;  and  their  expectations  were  sadly  dis- 
 appointed. His  past  life  had  been  a  career  of  licen- 
 tiousness. He  had  imbibed  the  same  principles  of  ab- 
 solute power  which  his  sapient  Majesty  King  James  VI. 
 employed  his  pen  as  well  as  his  sceptre  to  defend,  and 
 which  brought  the  less  fortunate  Charles  I.  to  the  scaf- 
 fold. He  hated  Presbytery  because  its  genius,  though 
 not  inconsistent  with  a  limited  monarchy,  is  favour- 
 able to  the  principles  of  liberty  ;  and  he  loved  Prelacy, 
 not,  we  grant,  abstractly  considered, — for  he  was  too 
 much  the  slave  of  pleasure  to  care  much  about  forms  of 
 church  government,  as  such, — but  because  it  would 
 prove  a  far  more  convenient  instrument  for  advancing 
 the  absolute  power  of  the  crown.  He  had  indeed 
 sworn  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  had 
 engaged  to  maintain  the  government  and  privileges  of 
 the  Church  of  Scotland  as  established  by  law,  and  pro- 
 
 *  History  of  the  Rebellion,  vol.  vi.  p.  091. 
 
IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 fessed  to  the  Commissioners  sent  to  him,  both  from 
 Scotland  and  England,  to  Breda,  very,  liberal  views 
 
 and  strong  attachment  to  the  Covenant,  which  was  I 
 
 regarded  as  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  religious  rights  j 
 
 and  liberties  of  these  nations.  But  in  all  this  he  acted  i 
 the  part  of  a  consummate  hypocrite,  and  only  waited 
 
 his  opportunity  to  belie  all  his  fine  promises  and  | 
 
 solemn  engagements.*    Xo  sooner  was  he  restored  to  1 
 
 the  throne  than,  perfidiously  violating  the  covenant  he  \ 
 
 had  sworn,  and  ungratefully  insulting  the  Presbyte-  i 
 
 rians,  his  best  friends,  he  proceeded  to  overturn  the  ! 
 
 Presbyterian  polity  ;  in  which  he  was  encouraged  and  I 
 aided  by  men  as  unprincipled  as  himself    An  act  of 
 
 Parliament,  entitled  "  The  Act  of  Supremacy,''  was  - 
 
 passed,  making  the  King  supreme  judge  in  all  matters  ' 
 
 civil  and  ecclesiastical,  and  another  called  "  The  Act  1 
 Rescissory,''  annulling  all  the  laws  made  during  the 
 
 •  It  is  wonderful  how  successful  Charles  was  in  imposing  upon  those 
 Commissioners,   John  Livingstone,  one  of  those  sent  to  him  from  Scotland  1 
 to  Breda  in  1650,  had  the  disceniment  to  discover  his  true  character, 
 *'  nevertheless  of  his  dissembling  hypocritical  feigned  lipped  prarers  in  his 
 closet,  a  partition  wall  betwixt  him  and  the  Commissioners  sent  to  treat  I 
 with  him,  praying  aloud  for  the  advancement  of  the  covenanted  reforma-  ; 
 tion  in  Scotland,  and  for  perfecting  the  work  of  uniformity  betwixt  the  • 
 three  nations,  according  to  their  solemn  vows  and  the  Solemn  League  and  | 
 Covenant,"  (Biograjth.  Presby.  vol.  ii.  p,  5)  ;  but  the  rest  do  not  appear  to  j 
 have  been  equally  penetrating.    Not  less  successful  was  he  in  imposing  1 
 upon  the  English  Commissioners,  (among  whom  were  some  ministers,) 
 deputed  to  wait  upon  him  at  the  Hague  in  1660,  to  congratulate  his  re-  I 
 storation.    "  His  Majesty,"  says  Oldmixon,  "  contrived  it  so  that  the  mi- 
 nisters should  be  placed  in  a  cham])er,  as  by  accident,  which  joined  to  a  ] 
 closet  where  the  King  was  to  be  at  prayers,  and  he  thankt  d  God  for  being  ' 
 a  rjivewinted  King.    Those  who  were  imposed  upon  wrote  home  that  '  the 
 King  of  the  covenant  was  coming  ;'  but,"  adds  the  same  writer,  "  others  J 
 of  them  heard  such  accounts  of  his  morals  and  prinrijdes,  that  they  bfgan  ' 
 to  raise  fears  in  the  breasts  of  the  most  sanguine."    Quoted  in  Culamy's  ' 
 Life  and  Times,  in  Note  by  the  Editor,  vol.  i,  p.  108.    Similar  apprehcn-  , 
 sions  were  entertained  by  some  in  Scotland.   (Biographia  I'resbyteriana,  j 
 vol.  ii.  p.  6). 
 
4 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 period  of  the  second  reformation  in  favour  of  Presby- 
 tery. Next,  the  King,  by  virtue  of  the  supreme  power 
 in  matters  ecclesiastical,  granted  him  by  the  former  of 
 these  acts,  restored,  with  the  aid  of  his  Parliament,  the 
 government  of  the  church  by  Bishops.  Prelacy  being 
 thus  established,  measures  were  adopted  to  bring  mi- 
 nisters to  conform  to  the  new  order  of  things.  In  the 
 Parliament  held  at  Edinburgh  in  May  1662,  an  act 
 was  passed  ordaining  all  ministers  who  had  entered  to 
 the  cure  of  any  parish  since  1649,  to  receive  presenta- 
 tions from  their  respective  patrons,  and,  at  the  same 
 time,  collations  from  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  within 
 which  they  resided,  before  the  20th  of  September  that 
 year,  as  necessary  to  their  having  a  legal  right  to  their 
 churches,  benefices,  manses,  and  glebes.  With  this 
 act  nearly  four  hundred  ministers  nobly  refused  to 
 comply,  convinced  that  to  do  so  was  inconsistent  with 
 the  principles  which  they  had  solemnly  sworn  to  main- 
 tain, and  which  they  believed  to  be  founded  on  the 
 word  of  Grod  ;  and  that  it  would  be  in  effect  to  admit 
 that  they  derived  their  ministry  from  the  civil  magis- 
 trate through  the  channel  of  the  prelates,  on  which 
 account  they  might  more  properly  be  called  the  minis- 
 ters or  servants  of  men  than  the  ambassadors  of  Christ 
 or  the  messengers  of  his  Church.  For  this  refusal  they 
 were  speedily  ejected  from  their  charges.  But  simple 
 ejectment  would  have  failed  of  the  end  contemplated — 
 the  subversion  of  Presbytery  and  the  secure  establish- 
 ment of  Prelacy.  The  curates  by  whom  they  were 
 succeeded  possessed  none  of  those  qualifications  which 
 were  fitted  to  conciliate,  either  towards  themselves  or 
 towards  the  system  which  they  supported,  the  favour 
 of  the  people  upon  whom  they  were  intruded.  They 
 were  generally  ignorant,  dissolute,  profane,  and  irreli- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 gious,  at  once  unqualified  for  the  ministry  and  neglect- 
 ful of  its  duties.  Several  of  the  ablest  among  them 
 had  imbibed  and  taught  Popish,  Arminian,  Pelagian, 
 and  Socinian  heresies,  such  as,  man's  power  by  nature 
 to  will  and  do  what  is  spiritually  good, — universal  re- 
 demption,— a  species  of  justification  by  works,  or  by  a 
 personal  inherent  righteousness,  derogating  from,  if 
 not  involving,  a  denial  of  the  satisfaction  Christ  made 
 by  his  sufferings  for  the  sins  of  the  elect,  and  of  the 
 imputation  of  his  righteousness  to  believers  ;  they  de- 
 nied the  supernatural  and  special  influences  of  the 
 Spirit  in  regeneration,  derided  Christian  exercise  as 
 delusion  and  fanaticism,  and  indulged  in  bitter  invec- 
 tives against  the  first  reformers  and  the  manner  in 
 which  they  carried  on  the  work  of  reformation.  Such 
 men  were  not  likely  to  gain  the  good  will  and  respect 
 of  a  pious  peasantry,  who  had  enjoyed  the  pure  and 
 faithful  preaching  of  the  gospel  by  ministers  eminent 
 for  piety,  highly  repectable  for  their  ministerial  qua- 
 lifications, and  zealous  in  the  discharge  of  their  pastoral 
 duties.  Between  the  curates  and  such  ministers  there 
 was  the  greatest  possible  contrast* 
 
 *  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xcix.,  4to,  no.  17,  p.  26.  The  following  extract 
 from  a  letter  written  by  "  a  field  meeter"  to  a  friend,  entitled  "  An  Apology 
 for  Field  Meetings,  June  1678,"  expresses  the  sentiments  held  at  that 
 time  by  the  Presbyterians  generally  on  this  subject : — "  I  am  persuade<l. 
 that  all  sober  men  who  rightly  consider  the  nature,  fashion,  and  fruits 
 of  these  two  sorts  of  ministers  and  their  ministry  will  already  grant, 
 that  the  very  all  of  our  religion,  that  is,  the  glory  of  God  and  our  soul's 
 salvation,  are  most  deeply  concerned  in  the  difference.  Men  dispute 
 about  forms,  and  amuse  themselves  with  vain  searches  ;  but,  as  things 
 are  now  stated,  tlieir  agreement  and  disagreement  to  me  comes  shortly  t«> 
 this,  that  both  serve  their  own  masters,  the  bishops'  curates,  instigated 
 by  their  own  lusts,  and  set  up  by  men,  do  their  own  work  ;  and  our  poor 
 persecuted  ministers  engaged  by  better  motives,  and  sent  by  our  Lord 
 Jesus,  do  accordingly  pursue  his  will  and  pleasure."  Wodrow  M8S.  vol. 
 xxxvi.,  4to,  no.  9. 
 
6 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Had  the  outed  ministers  been  allowed  to  continue 
 to  preach,  the  great  body  of  the  people  would  have 
 followed  them,  the  churches  from  which  they  had  been 
 expelled  would  have  been  deserted,  and,  enjoying  to- 
 leration, Presbytery  would  have  flourished  as  vigor- 
 ously, if  not  more  so,  than  if  it  had  been  taken  under 
 the  fostering  care  of  the  State.  It  was,  therefore,  in- 
 dispensably necessary  to  the  success  of  the  project  upon 
 which  the  King  and  his  government  had  entered  that 
 these  ministers  should  be  silenced.  This  led  to  the 
 enactment  of  severe  laws  against  such  of  them  as 
 preached  at  conventicles, — the  name  applied  by  the  go- 
 vernment to  meetings  held  by  them  for  preaching  the 
 gospel,  in  private  houses,  churches,  or  the  fields, — and 
 against  those  who  withdrew  from  public  ordinances  in 
 their  own  parish  churches,  and  attended  such  meetings. 
 By  the  second  act  of  the  Parliament  held  at  Edinburgh 
 in  June  1663,  entitled  "  Act  against  separation  and  dis- 
 obedience to  ecclesiastical  authority,''  the  Privy  Council 
 are  recommended  to  call  before  them  such  ejected  mi- 
 nisters as,  without  having  received  presentations  from 
 patrons  and  collations  from  their  bishops,  "  yet  dared 
 to  preach  in  contempt  of  the  law,  and  to  punish  them 
 as  seditious  persons  and  contemners  of  the  royal  au- 
 thority ]'  while  all  are  enjoined  to  attend  public  worship 
 in  their  own  parish  churches,  and  those  who  absent 
 themselves  are  declared  to  incur  certain  pains  and 
 penalties  as  fines,  &c.,  according  to  their  rank  and  cir- 
 cumstances in  life.  This  act,  which  was  termed  "  the 
 bishops'  drag  net,"  became  a  powerful  instrument  for 
 oppressing  the  Presbyterians.*  To  carry  its  purpose 
 into  eff*ect.  Sir  James  Turner  was  sent  with  a  troop  of 
 soldiers  to  the  south  and  west,  where  the  greatest  dis- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  .V)!. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 satisfaction  with  the  change  introduced  in  the  govern- 
 ment of  the  church  existed  ;  and  he  grievously  oppress- 
 ed the  country  by  the  exaction  of  fines,  by  plunder, 
 free  quarters,  and  other  harassing  annoyances,  practised 
 on  such  as  refused  subjection  to  the  bishops  and  curates. 
 But  the  opinions  of  men  cannot  be  altered  or  eradicated 
 by  the  terror  of  penal  statutes  and  the  infliction  of 
 suffering. ,  The  minds  of  the  people,  so  far  from  being 
 convinced,  became  irritated  ;  and  the  rising  at  Pent- 
 land  Hills  followed  soon  after. 
 
 This  insurrection,  though  quelled,  instead  of  extin- 
 guishing the  Presbyterian  cause,  had  the  very  opposite 
 effect.  It  was  followed  by  a  more  general  contempt  of 
 the  prelatic  clergy  and  withdrawment  from  their  wor- 
 ship. The  people,  as  if  endued  with  a  new  spirit,  be- 
 came bold  and  fearless,  resolved  to  endure  persecution 
 and  death  rather  than  desert  what  they  deemed  to  be 
 the  cause  of  Christ.  Before  this,  meetings  had  been 
 held  in  private  houses,  and  in  some  though  rare  in- 
 stances, in  the  fields,  both  in  the  south  and  west ;  but 
 now  the  outed  ministers  began  more  generally  and 
 more  frequently  to  preach,  though  at  first  very  pri- 
 vately and  often  in  the  night.  Their  sermons,  listened 
 to  by  multitudes,  were  accompanied  with  such  eminent 
 success,  that  the  people  came  to  prize  the  preaching  of 
 the  gospel  more  highly,  and  to  seek  after  it  with  in- 
 creased earnestness.  Hence  arose  preaching  in  the 
 fields  ;  those  who  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
 try, to  hear  the  gospel,  being  so  numerous  as  to  render 
 it  impossible  for  any  house  to  contain  them.  The  go- 
 vernment regarded  their  assemblages  witli  great  jea- 
 lousy. They  stigmatised  them  as  "  disorderly  meet- 
 ings,"— "  unla'Nvful  meetings  upon  })retence  of  religion.  ' 
 — "  seditious  field  conventicles,"  "  kept  in  a  tumultuous 
 
8 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 way/'  where  the  people  heard  "  declared  traitors," 
 "  intercommuned  vagrant  preachers/'  and  those  "  who 
 without  licence  and  authority  do  impiously  assume  the 
 holy  orders  of  the  church/'*  Nothing  could  exceed 
 the  orderly  manner  in  which  the  people  assembled  to 
 these  meetings,  and  dispersed  when  public  worship  was 
 ended.  Although  branded  as  nurseries  of  rebellion, 
 their  design  was  most  peaceable,  and  it  formed  no  part 
 of  the  employment  of  the  ministers  who  officiated  at 
 them  to  inveigh  against  those  in  power.  But  the  Privy 
 Council  determined  to  put  them  down,  and  learning 
 that,  in  some  instances,  the  people  brought  arms  with 
 them,  although  simply  for  self-defence  against  the  sol- 
 diers who  were  let  loose  upon  the  country  to  apprehend 
 ministers  and  such  as  attended  conventicles,  passed  in 
 1670  an  act  prohibiting  house  conventicles  under  se- 
 vere penalties,  and  making  it  a  capital  crime  to  preach 
 at  field  conventicles,  or  to  convocate  the  people  to  such 
 meetings.  By  this  act  a  minister  preaching  to  a  house 
 full  of  people,  if  some  happened  to  be  without  doors — 
 for  then  it  was  a  field  conventicle — incurred  the  penalty 
 of  death.  To  carry  its  object  into  effect,  it  empowers, 
 warrants,  and  commands  all  sheriffs,  Stewarts  of  stew- 
 artries,  lords  of  regalities,  and  their  deputies,  to  call 
 before  them  and  try  all  such  persons  who  shall  be  in- 
 formed against  as  having  kept  or  been  present  at  con- 
 venticles within  their  jurisdictions,  and  to  fine  those 
 who  have  been  found  guilty  the  sums  expressed  in  the 
 act.  To  encourage  their  diligence,  they  have  gifted  to 
 them  the  fines  of  any  persons  within  their  jurisdictions 
 under  the  degree  of  heritors  ;  and  they  are  warned 
 that  negligence  will  expose  them  to  punishment.  It 
 
 *  The  curates,  and  they  alone,  according  to  the  vocabulary  of  the  Privy 
 Council,  were  "the  orthodox  and  regular  clergy." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 is  also  promised  that  whoever  shall  seize  and  secure  j 
 the  person  of  any  who  shall  either  preach  or  pray  at 
 these  field  meetings  or  convocate  any  persons  thereto,  i 
 shall,  for  every  such  person  so  seized  and  secured,  re- 
 ceive a  reward  of  four  hundred  merks  ;  and  the  said 
 seizers  and  their  assistants  are  indemnified  for  any  | 
 slaughter  that  shall  be  committed  in  apprehending  and 
 securing  them.*    But  severe  and  bloody  as  this  act  was,  \ 
 conventicles  still  continued  to  be  held,  both  in  private  j 
 houses  and  in  the  fields.  ' 
 
 The  capital  punishment  denounced  in  the  act  was 
 not  for  some  time  inflicted.    Every  endeavour  was,  ] 
 however,  made  to  apprehend  offenders,  and  multitudes  j 
 were  cast  into  prison,  to  be  disposed  of  as  the  govern-  | 
 ment  saw  cause.  The  country  was  already  well  supplied  i 
 with  prisons.    But,  the  more  effectually  to  carry  their 
 plans  into  effect,  the  government  was  from  time  to  time 
 repairing  the  old  ones  to  render  them  more  secure,  and  i 
 erecting  new  ones,  among  which  the  most  distinguished 
 was  that  soon  after  built  on  the  Bass,  an  insular  rock 
 or  island  in  the  mouth  of  the  Forth,  lying  within  two 
 miles  of  the  coast  of  East  Lothian  and  about  three 
 miles  from  North  Berwick.   It  occurred  to  Lauderdale 
 that  this  rock  would  be  an  admirable  place  for  the  con-  | 
 finement  of  nonconforming  Presbyterians,  and  through  | 
 his  advice  it  was  purchased  for  this  purpose  by  the  \ 
 King,  in  October  1671,  from  Sir  Andrew  Ramsay  of 
 Abbotshall,  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  at  the  extravagant 
 price  of  X^4000  sterling.t   Unlike  other  prisons,  which  ^ 
 chiefly  enclose  within  their  walls  the  thief,  the  robber, 
 
 •  Wodrow'8  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  169,  170. 
 
 t  IIo  obtained  this  sum  through  the  influence  of  Liuuh'rdalc,  who  had 
 found  hini  a  very  usoful  instrunn-nt  for  advancing  his  purposes.  Crich- 
 ton's  Memoirs  of  Blackaddor,  p.  *260. 
 
 i 
 
10 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  murderer^  and  other  desperados,  the  prison  of  the 
 Bass  had  for  its  inmates,  during  the  reign  of  Prelatic 
 domination,  almost  exclusively  men  of  piety  and  prayer, 
 men  whom  a  wise  government,  instead  of  condemning 
 and  punishing,  would  have  protected  and  honoured. 
 
 Such  is  a  glance  at  the  state  of  matters  when,  in  1672, 
 we  first  meet  with  the  name  of  Robert  Gillespie,  who  had 
 the  honour  of  being  the  first  who  was  imprisoned  in  the 
 Bass  for  Presbyterian  principles.  Nonconformity  was 
 strong,  and  numerous  conventicles  were  held,  both  in 
 private  houses  and  in  the  fields.  The  Fyitj  Council, 
 whose  ruling  passion  was  the  extinction  of  such  meetings, 
 had  put  into  operation  the  whole  machinery  of  govern- 
 ment for  the  purpose  of  effecting  this  consummation,  the 
 object  of  their  dearest  wishes,  determined  to  succeed 
 though  they  should  involve  the  country  in  all  the 
 horrors  of  a  civil  war.  Their  zeal  in  this  unnatural 
 and  unpatriotic  cause  could  hardly  have  been  surpassed. 
 This  is  evident  from  a  glance  at  the  Register  of  their 
 Acts,  from  the  ejection  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  to 
 the  Revolution,  which  is  little  else  than  the  record  of 
 a  systematic  attempt  to  put  down  conventicles  ;  being 
 chiefly  filled  with  penal  enactments  against  them,  and 
 decreets  or  letters  raised  at  the  instance  of  His  Ma- 
 jesty's Advocate,  against  such  as  had  preached  or  been 
 present  at  them.  But  there  is  another  fact  which  a 
 slight  examination  of  these  documents  brings  out  with 
 equal  prominence — the  complete  failure  of  the  attempt. 
 After  prosecuting  for  years  the  inglorious  task,  they 
 complain  as  loudly  as  at  the  commencement  of  the  mul- 
 titudes who  frequented  conventicles,  and  who,  to  use 
 their  own  language,  ''deserted  the  public  worship  in 
 
IXTRODrCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 their  own  churches  to  the  gi'eat  hazard  of  all  religion." 
 To  the  great  hazard  of  all  religion  !  As  if  these  men 
 cared  about  religion  !  Who  ever  believed  that  they 
 did  ?  For  rulers  who  violated  all  laws,  divine  and  hu- 
 man, who  neither  feared  God  nor  regarded  man,  to 
 embark  in  a  crusade  to  overthrow  the  liberties  of  their 
 country,  and  then  to  attempt  to  ward  off  the  odium  of 
 their  nefarious  enterprise  by  professing  that  they  were 
 impelled  by  zeal  for  religion,  is  a  piece  of  the  purest 
 effrontery  on  record.  Had  the  people  been  less  reli- 
 gious than  they  were,  it  would  have  been  an  easier 
 matter  to  wreath  the  yoke  of  slavery  around  their  necks. 
 But  having  read  and  understood  their  bibles,  and  be- 
 lieving that  what  the  government  sought  to  crush  was 
 the  truth  of  God,  which  they  felt  themselves  bound  to 
 maintain  at  all  hazards,  they  persevered  in  maintain- 
 ing it  amidst  the  terrors  of  persecution,  till  their  adver- 
 saries were  completely  baffled,  and  that  not  so  much  by 
 active  resistance  as  by  passive  endurance.  Thousands 
 were  thrown  into  prison,  thousands  were  banished, 
 thousands  were  put  to  death  ;  but,  though  the  voice  of 
 their  testimony  was  thus  stifled,  new  witnesses  arose, 
 and  their  number  even  multiplied  as  the  persecution 
 advanced,  giving  every  indication  that  the  extermina- 
 tion of  the  inhabitants  of  our  country  could  alone  en- 
 sure success  to  the  project  of  changing  its  religion. 
 The  moment  that  Knox  planted  Presbytery  in  Scot- 
 land it  took  adeep  and  an  everlasting  root.  Royal  power 
 and  favour  were  exerted  to  the  utmost  by  James  VI. 
 and  Charles  I.  to  destroy  it,  but  in  vain.  Not  more 
 successful  were  the  fiercer  efforts  of  Charles  II.  and 
 James  VII.  At  the  close  of  a  long  twenty-eight 
 years'  relentless  persecution,  that  hardy  plant,  whicli 
 
12 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 seemed  only  to  grow  stronger  in  its  congenial  soil  by 
 every  attempt  to  crush  it,  rose  with  renovated  vigour, 
 and  the  great  majority  of  our  nation  were  found  rest- 
 ing under  its  shadow. 
 
1  '"I 
 
 lo 
 
 EOBEET  GILLESPIE. 
 
 Robert  Gillespie  is  now  little  known,  and  his  name, 
 like  that  of  many  other  good  men  in  his  day,  might 
 never  have  descended  to  posterity,  had  it  not  been  for 
 the  persecution  to  which  a  stedfast  adherence  to  his 
 conscientious  convictions  subjected  him.  In  1672, 
 when  we  first  meet  with  him  in  the  history  of  that 
 period,  he  was  preacher  of  the  gospel ;  but  how  long 
 he  had  held  that  office  is  uncertain.  He  was  probably 
 licensed,  and  at  the  same  time  ordained,  by  a  number 
 of  outed  ministers.  This  seems  implied  in  an  act  of 
 the  Privy  Council,  which  speaks  of  him  as  having 
 never  been  "  lawfully  ordained,''  and  as  "  preaching 
 upon  a  pretended  unlawful  licence,"  language  which 
 they  were  in  the  habit  of  applying  to  young  men  who 
 had  not  been  licensed  and  ordained  to  preach  by  a 
 bishop. 
 
 So  many  agents  were  then  employed  for  discovering 
 the  keepers  of  conventicles,  and  for  bringing  them  to  jus- 
 tice, that  it  was  impossible  for  a  nonconforming  preacher 
 long  to  escape  unnoticed,  or  to  prosecute  undisturbed 
 his  peaceful  avocation.  Gillespie  was  soon  delated  to 
 the  government,  and  letters,  at  the  instance  of  Sir 
 John  Nisbet  of  Dirleton,  his  Majesty's  Advocate,  were 
 raised  against  him  and  other  ministers,  fur  "  having 
 
14  ■  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 several  times  preached,  expounded  scripture,  and  pray- 
 ed at  public  conventicles  in  tlie  fields  ;  or  at  the  least, 
 for  having  divers  times  preached,  expounded  scripture, 
 and  prayed  at  private  conventicles  and  against  a 
 number  of  persons  for  having  been  present  at  conven- 
 ticles, all  of  whom  were  summoned  to  appear  per- 
 sonally and  answer  to  the  foresaid  complaint  before 
 the  Council,  on  the  Ilth  of  July  1672.  Several  ap- 
 peared, of  whom  some  confessed  the  truth  of  the  libel, 
 while  others  denied  it ;  upon  which  they  were  variously 
 dealt  with.  Gillespie  and  a  few  more  not  appearing, 
 the  Council  ordain  letters  to  be  directed  against  them, 
 "  to  denounce  them  rebels,  and  to  put  them  to  the 
 horn  for  their  contempt,  and  to  escheat  and  inbring 
 all  their  moveable  goods  and  gear,''  &c. 
 
 Undaunted  by  these  proceedings,  and  convinced  that 
 it  was  his  duty  to  obey  God  rather  than  men,  Gillespie 
 still  persevered  in  preaching  till  about  the  end  of  May 
 the  following  year,  when  he  was  apprehended  and  im- 
 prisoned in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh.  On  being  ex- 
 amined by  a  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  he  ad- 
 mitted that  on  the  preceding  Sabbath  he  had  preached 
 in  the  town  of  Falkland  ;  but  he  honourably  declined 
 answering  the  other  questions  put  to  him,  which,  in  all 
 probability,  referred  to  those  in  whose  house  the  meet- 
 ing was  held — it  being  a  house-conventicle — and  such 
 as  were  present,  not  choosing  to  be  the  means  of  in- 
 volving them  in  trouble,  into  Avhich  they  would  un- 
 questionably have  been  brought  had  they  been  disco- 
 vered. He  was  accordingly  condemned  to  be  confined 
 in  the  State  Prison  lately  erected  on  the  Bass,  where, 
 during  the  fourteen  years  which  followed,  some  dozens 
 of  Scottish  Presbyterians  in  their  arduous  and  earnest 
 
 *  The  places  are  not  specified. 
 
ROBERT  GILLESPIE. 
 
 1.5 
 
 struggle  for  great  principles,  were  immured, — at  once 
 the  victims  of  relentless  tyranny  and  examples  of 
 Christian  fortitude.*  The  act  of  Council  containing 
 his  sentence,  dated  Edinburgh,  2d  April  1673,  is  as 
 follows  : — 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  having 
 considered  the  confession  of  Mr  Robert  Gillespie,  pri- 
 soner in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh:  That  upon  Sunday 
 last  he  did  keep  and  preach  in  a  conventicle  in  the 
 town  of  Falkland  ;  and  that  albeit  he  was  never  law- 
 fully ordained,  he  hath  taken  upon  him  to  preach  upon 
 a  pretended  unlawful  licence  ;  and  that  he  hath  refused 
 to  answer  to  such  interrogators  as  were  put  to  him 
 by  those  of  the  Council  appointed  to  examine  him, 
 whereby  he  has  contravened  the  laws  and  acts  of  Par- 
 liament and  Council :  Do  therefore  ordain  the  said 
 Mr  Robert  Gillespie  to  be  carried  to  and  kept  prisoner 
 in  the  Isle  of  the  Bass,  during  the  Council's  pleasure ; 
 and  until  he  shall  be  called  for  and  transported  to  the 
 said  isle  by  those  having  order  for  that  effect,  the  said 
 Lords  ordain  the  said  Mr  Robert  to  be  continued  in 
 and  kept  close  prisoner  in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh, 
 and  that  no  person  have  access  to  him  in  the  mean 
 time/' 
 
 Gillespie  in  this  act  is  charged  with  having  preached 
 without  being  "  lawfully  ordained,"  and  upoi>  a  pre- 
 tended unlawful  licence  \  '  that  is,  as  we  have  said  be- 
 fore, without  receiving  licence  or  ordination  from  a 
 bishop.  He  had  thus  not  only  violated  the  laws  against 
 conventicles,  but  also  an  act  passed  by  the  Parliament 
 June  1672,  entitled,  an  "  Act  against  unlawful  ordina- 
 tions," which  forbids  any  person  or  persons,  but  such 
 
 Tlio  last  of  these  prisoners  was  John  Sprcul,  apothecary,  Ghisgow. 
 The  act  for  his  liberation  is  dated  13th  May  1G87. 
 
16 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 as  are  authorised  by  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  to  or- 
 dain to  the  office  and  work  of  the  ministry,  and  any 
 persons  to  receive  ordination  from  any  others,  under 
 the  penalty  "  that  both  the  pretended  ordainers  and 
 those  who  shall  pretend  to  have  received  ordination, 
 be  seized  upon  by  the  sheriffs,  or  other  ordinary  ma- 
 gistrate of  the  place,  and  committed  to  prison,  until 
 they  be  delated  to  the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council,  who 
 are  authorised  and  ordained,  after  trial,  and  finding 
 the  said  persons  guilty,  to  sentence  them  by  confisca- 
 tion of  all  their  moveable  goods,  and  banishing  them, 
 and  to  cause  them  find  caution  not  to  return  to  his 
 Majesty's  dominions.  And  in  case  they  shall  refuse  to 
 find  caution,  or,  being  banished,  shall  afterwards  return 
 to  this  kingdom,  that  they  shall  suffer  perpetual  im- 
 prisonment, and  not  be  released,  except  by  a  warrant 
 under  his  Majesty's  own  hand.''* 
 
 It  would  appear  that  Gillespie,  for  some  time  after 
 his  imprisonment  in  the  Bass,  was  kept  in  carcere  du- 
 rissimo — closely  shut  up  and  secluded  from  all  inter- 
 course with  his  friends.  He  probably  was  allowed  the 
 use  of  books  ;  but  in  such  circumstances,  when  every 
 thing  tends  to  make  the  mind  prey  upon  itself,  how 
 prone  is  the  prisoner  to  be  thinking  only  of  his  own 
 misfortunes  in  perusing  the  most  interesting  and  im- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  198.  What  led  to  the  passing  of  the 
 above  act  was  this  :  The  Presbyterian  ministers,  some  years  after  their 
 ejection,  finding  several  of  their  brethren  banished,  others  removed  by 
 death,  and  their  number  otherwise  decreased  by  the  severity  of  the  times, 
 began  to  license  and  ordain  sucli  young  men  as  they  found  qualified  for 
 the  ministerial  office,  that  thus  the  standard  might  be  borne  up  when  they 
 were  worn  out  by  oppression  and  cruelty  ;  and  that  the  demand  for  the 
 preaching  of  the  gospel,  which  was  then  great,  might  be  supplied.  The 
 bishops,  alarmed  and  galled  at  the  prospect  of  the  transmission  of  Presby- 
 tery to  another  generation,  set  themselves  to  devise  means  for  putting  a 
 stop  to  these  ordinations ;  and  this  act  was  the  result. 
 
ROBERT  GILLESPIE. 
 
 17 
 
 portant  work.  In  this  melancholy  and  monotonous 
 condition,  Gillespie  was  doomed  to  continue  for  two 
 months ;  but  after  the  lapse  of  that  period,  some  miti- 
 gation of  the  rigour  of  his  confinement  was  granted. 
 On  the  12th  of  June  1 673,  "  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty  's 
 Privy  Council  gave  order  and  warrant  to  the  Governor 
 of  the  garrison  of  the  Bass  or  his  depute,  to  allow  Mr 
 Robert  Gillespie,  prisoner  on  that  isle,  by  their  order 
 to  have  the  liberty  of  the  isle  above  the  wall,  and  to 
 permit  such  persons  as  shall  desire  to  speak  with  Mr 
 Robert  to  have  access  to  him  for  that  object,  not  ex- 
 ceeding the  number  of  three  persons  in  one  day, — the 
 governor,  or  some  person  to  be  appointed  by  him, 
 being  always  present,  and  hearing  what  discourse  shall 
 pass  betwixt  the  said  Mr  Robert  and  them,  and  that  he 
 do  not  suffer  the  said  Mr  Robert  to  preach  or  exercise 
 the  other  functions  of  the  ministry/' 
 
 In  the  building  of  prisons  in  those  days,  little  at- 
 tention was  paid  to  the  comfort  and  health  of  those 
 to  be  immured  within  their  walls;  and  to  this  remark 
 the  apartments  in  the  prison  of  the  Bass  were  no  ex- 
 ception. From  their  defective  ventilation  they  were 
 very  unhealthy,  being  ordinarily  full  of  smoke,  which 
 threatened  to  suffocate  the  prisoners,  who  were  often 
 under  the  necessity  of  thrusting  their  heads  out  at 
 the  windows  to  recover  breath.*  Besides,  the  rock, 
 from  its  elevated  and  exposed  situation,  is  cold  and 
 damj).  Accordingly,  as  might  be  expected,  the  health 
 of  the  prisoners  often  became  deranged.  Some  of  them, 
 who  were  young  and  of  a  good  constitution,  retained 
 their  health  ;  but  the  most  of  them  who  were  confined 
 for  any  length  of  time,  even  such  whose  constitutions 
 had  retained  their  vigour  under  labour  and  privations, 
 
 ♦  Crichton's  Mfin..irs  of  Black  adder,  p.  2G7. 
 
18 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 fell  into  disease,  as  appears  from  the  numerous  peti- 
 tions which  they  presented  to  the  Privy  Council  to 
 obtain  temporary  liberty  for  regaining  their  health. 
 Gillespie  having  fallen  ill,  we  find  him,  in  the  begin- 
 ning of  the  following  year,  presenting  a  petition  to  the 
 Privy  Council,  "  supplicating  liberty  for  some  time  that 
 he  may  use  the  ordinary  means  for  recovery  of  his  health, 
 which  is  much  impaired  by  long  imprisonmnt/' 
 
 The  Council,  in  compliance  with  this  request,  on  the 
 8th  of  January  1674,  "  grant  order  and  warrant  to  the 
 commander  of  the  garrison  in  the  Isle  of  the  Bass  to 
 allow  the  petitioner  liberty  to  repair  to  Edinburgh, 
 in  regard  sufficient  caution  is  found  acted  for  him  in 
 the  Books  of  Privy  Council,  that  within  forty-eight 
 hours  after  his  enlargement  he  shall  come  to  Edinburgh 
 and  to  the  house  of  Margaret  Murray  his  mother,  re- 
 siding there  ;  in  which  house  he  shall  confine  himself 
 until  the  tenth  day  of  March  next,  and  that  he  shall 
 keep  no  conventicles  therein,  and  that  against  the  said 
 tenth  day  of  March  he  shall  return  prisoner  to  the 
 said  Isle  of  the  Bass,  or  any  other  prison  his  Majesty's 
 Commissioner  or  the  Council  shall  appoint,  under  the 
 pain  of  one  thousand  merks  Scots  money/' 
 
 Gillespie,  it  appears,  did  not  again  return  to  the 
 Bass,  but  continued  at  liberty  preaching  the  gospel, 
 and  eluding  his  persecutors,  who  eagerly  sought  after 
 him,  and  set  a  price  upon  his  head  ;  for  this  was  one 
 of  the  methods  which,  in  that  age  of  triumphant  oppres- 
 sion, were  brought  into  operation  for  the  purpose  of 
 breaking  the  constancy  of  such  as  were  true  to  their 
 principles.  On  the  4th  of  June  1 674,  the  Privy  Coun- 
 cil authorise  and  empower  the  Lord  Chancellor  to  give 
 orders  to  parties  of  that  troop  of  horse  of  his  Majesty's 
 guards  under  his  command,  to  apprehend  various  mi- 
 
ROBERT  GILLESPIE. 
 
 19 
 
 nisters  named,  among  whom  Gillespie  is  mentioned, 
 offering  such  as  shall  apprehend  any  of  the  two  who 
 were  most  obnoxious*  a  reward  of  <£'400  sterling,  and 
 such  as  shall  apprehend  Gillespie  or  any  of  the  rest 
 one  thousand  merks,  and  indemnifying  them  of  any 
 slaughter  that  should  happen  to  be  committed  in  appre- 
 hending any  of  them  ;t — an  indemnification  befitting 
 the  sanguinary  spirit  which  dwelt  in  the  bosoms  of  those 
 chiefs  of  arbitrary  poAver.  About  the  end  of  July  in  the 
 same  year,  he  and  sixteen  other  ministers,  together  with 
 nearly  a  hundred  laymen  and  some  ladies  of  rank — for 
 it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the  ladies  were  at  that 
 time  among  the  foremost  in  asserting  the  rights  of 
 conscience,  and  some  of  them  no  light  sufferers  on  that 
 account — were  publicly  denounced  rebels  and  put  to 
 the  horn  at  the  market-cross  of  the  principal  towns, 
 for  not  compearing  personally  before  the  Privy  Council 
 upon  16th  of  that  month,  to  have  ansAvered  for  keeping 
 house  and  field  conventicles.  But  the  government 
 were  not  content  with  proceeding  thus  far.  Another 
 of  the  ingenuities  of  persecution  in  these  unhappy  times 
 was  the  issuing  of  letters  of  inter-communing  against 
 the  Presbyterians  ;  a  kind  of  punishment,  which,  one 
 would  think,  had  been  borrowed  from  Papal  excommu- 
 nication as  it  existed  in  the  eighth  century ;  for  like 
 that  horrid  and  infernal  sentence,  it  cut  off  its  victims 
 from  the  privileges  of  society  and  the  rights  of  hospi- 
 tality, forbade  the  wife,  under  the  severest  penalties, 
 to  minister  in  the  least  to  the  wants  of  her  husband, 
 or  the  child  to  those  of  his  parent,  or  man  to  those  of 
 
 *  These  two  were,  Mr  John  Welsh  and  Mr  Gnhricl  Semple. 
 t  Register  of  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council.    Wodrow's  llistorv.  ii. 
 p.  234. 
 
20 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 his  fellow-man.  On  the  6th  of  August  1675,  letters  of 
 inter-communing  were  issued  against  Gillespie  and  the 
 individuals  who  along  with  him  had  been  denounced 
 rebels  the  preceding  year  ;  prohibiting  all  "  to  reset, 
 supply,  or  inter-commune  with  any  of  the  foresaid  per- 
 sons our  rebels,  for  the  causes  foresaid,  nor  furnish 
 them  with  meat,  drink,  house,  harbour,  victual,  nor 
 any  other  thing  useful  or  comfortable  to  them,  nor 
 have  intelligence  with  them  by  word,  writ,  or  message, 
 or  any  other  manner  of  way,  under  pain  to  be  reputed 
 and  esteemed  art  and  part  with  them  in  the  crimes 
 foresaid,  and  pursued  therefor  with  all  rigour  to  the 
 terror  of  others  and  requiring  all  sheriffs  and  other 
 officers  of  the  crown,  and  magistrates,  to  apprehend 
 any  of  the  persons  inter-communed,  whom  they  shall 
 find  within  their  respective  jurisdictions,  and  to  com- 
 mit them  to  prison.*  These  letters  were  issued  by  the 
 instigation  of  the  most  malign  and  inveterate  enemies 
 of  the  Presbyterians — the  bishops  and  their  creatures, 
 whose  wrath  was  excited  on  perceiving  that  the  preach- 
 ing of  the  gospel  was  becoming  more  general,  and  the 
 nonconformists  increasing  in  number,  in  spite  of  all  the 
 violent  measures  adopted  for  their  suppression.  They 
 imagined  that  those  who  were  thus  inter-communed,  on 
 finding  themselves  cut  off  from  all  shelter  and  assist- 
 ance from  friends  or  neighbours,  would  be  under  the 
 necessity  of  removing  from  the  country,  and  that  thus 
 they  would  be  relieved  of  opposition  from  the  most 
 zealous  of  the  nonconformists,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
 this  act  would  inspire  terror  into  others  and  reduce 
 them  to  submission. t    The  fact  that  Gillespie  was  in- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  286-288. 
 
 t  FraBcr's  Life  in  Select  Biographies,  edited  for  Wodrow  Society,  vol.  ii. 
 p.  338.    This  severe  law  against  men  whose  only  fault  was  preaching 
 
ROBERT  GILLESPIE. 
 
 21 
 
 eluded  among  the  number  of  the  inter-communed,  is  a 
 j   sure  credential  of  his  zeal  and  activity  ;  for  the  minis- 
 ters named  in  the  letters  were  such  as  had  been  most 
 diligent  in  preaching  the  gospel.  ' 
 Gillespie's  future  history  we  have  not  succeeded  in  i 
 I   tracing.    The  only  instance  in  which  we  afterwards  I 
 meet  with  him  is  in  a  letter,  written  to  a  lady  by  a  , 
 I    person  now  unknown,  about  the  year  1678,  and  after-  ; 
 wards  sent  to  Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  Rotterdam,  contain- 
 ing the  account  which  Gillespie  had  given  the  writer 
 of  a  meeting  of  indulged  and  non-indulged  ministers,  : 
 held  at  Kirkcaldy,  with  the  view  of  composing  the  dif- 
 ferences existing  among  the  Presbyterians  in  conse-  j 
 quence  of  the  indulgence,  which  in  that  year  had  reached  ; 
 a  great  height  ;  and  also  an  account  of  some  expressions  i 
 he  had  uttered  concerning  Mr  M'Ward  and  Mr  John  j 
 Brown,  two  banished  ministers  in  Holland,  who  were  I 
 hostile  to  the  indulgence,  and  who  had  no  small  in- 
 fluence in  increasing  the  aversion  of  the  people  in  \ 
 Scotland  to  it  by  their  letters,  in  which  they  repre-  ' 
 
 the  gospel,  or  inviting  and  encouraging  ministers  to  preach  it,  a  punish-  j 
 nient  so  terrible  in  itself  that  it  had  only  been  before  inflicted  upon  mur- 
 derers, traitors,  and  such  as  by  acts  of  hostility  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  i 
 country,  failed  in  effecting  its  purpose.    "  Although,"  says  Fraser  of  Brea, 
 who  was  one  of  those  at  that  time  inter-communed,  "  now  the  adversaries  | 
 had  boasted  of  an  effectual  mean  for  suppressing  conventicles  and  esta-  j 
 blishing  prelacy  and  unifonnity,  and  that  good  people  feared  it;  yet  the  j 
 Lord  did  w«mderfully  disappoint  them,  and  made  and  turned  their  witty  I 
 counsels  into  folly  ;  for  this  great  noise  harmed  not  at  all,  it  was  powder  j 
 without  ball."    And  after  stating  that  he  himself  never  suffered  in  the 
 least  from  that  severe  measure,  he  adds,  "  As  the  Lord  preserved  my-  i 
 self  in  this  storm,  so  I  did  not  hear  of  any  inter-communed  or  conversers 
 of  inter-communed  persons  that  were  in  the  least  prejudiced  thereby  ;  ' 
 nay  this  matter  of  the  inter-communing  of  so  many  good  and  peaceable 
 men,  did  but  e\asi)erate  the  peoi)le  against  the  bishops  more,  and  procured 
 to  them,  as  the  authors  of  such  rigid  courses,  a  greater  and  more  universal 
 hatred  ;  so  that  the  whole  land  groaned  to  be  delivered  from  them."  Ibid. 
 vol.  ii.  p.  340. 
 
22 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 sented  it,  and  truly,  as  proceeding  from  the  Erastian 
 power  of  the  monarch,  and  as  imposing  restrictions 
 upon  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  which  the  civil  ma- 
 gistrate has  no  right  to  impose  ;  and  which,  therefore, 
 Presbyterians  could  not  accept  consistently  with  their 
 principles.    The  letter  is  as  follows  : — 
 
 "Mistress,— This  is  an  account  of  what  I  heard  Mr  R[obert] 
 G  pUespie]  first,  as  to  the  meeting  of  ministers  that  was  at  Kirk- 
 caldie,  telling  that  the  ministers  had  been  so  unanimous,  and 
 the  indulged  were  so  glad  of  union  that  they  sent  commissioners 
 from  the  west ;  they  chose  those  who  were  preaching  in  the 
 fields  for  their  commissioners,  shewing  their  willingness  to  join 
 with  their  brethren ;  and  the  first  thing  they  voted  was  for 
 transporting  of  Mr  John  Wardlaw  from  Kemback  to  Dunferm- 
 line, and  Mr  Gr.  [Gillespie?]  to  the  congregation  of  Strathmiglo. 
 Then  they  voted  anent  the  bond,  whereupon  they  thought  the 
 taking  of  that  bond  would  make  them  scandalous  to  the  people. 
 Wherefore  it  was  thought  meet  to  send  two  of  their  number 
 to  some  of  the  Council  who  were  their  friends  ;  which  accord- 
 ingly they  did,  and  he  said  they  got  a  very  favourable  answer. 
 After  this  he  began  to  tell  me  that  there  were  two  lads  over 
 by  in  Holland,  meaning  Mr  M['Ward]  and  Mr  .B[rown],  and 
 he  said  they  had  written  home  a  long  letter,  which  I  have  seen 
 said  he,  and  there  is  a  book  against  the  indulgence  which  I  have 
 not  seen  ;  but  he  said,  And  once  they  were  settled  they  would 
 write  to  them,  and  let  them  know  they  were  the  greatest  num- 
 Der,  and  if  they  would  not  let  their  writing  alone,  he  said  he 
 would  both  silence  their  tongue  and  pen  ;  and  we  feared  only 
 two  that  were  in  the  Bass,  meaning  Mr  H[og]  and  Mr  F[raser]  ; 
 but,  says  he,  we  have  them  upon  our  fingers,  and  they  are  very 
 peaceable,  and  not  that  which  some  folks  boasted  off  and  ex- 
 pected them  to  be."  ''' 
 
 *  Wodrow's  MSS.  vol.  lix.  folio,  no.  76.  There  is  written  on  the  buck, 
 in  Wodrow's  handwriting,  "  Account  of  some  expressions  of  Mr  Robert 
 Gillespie's,  sent  to  Mr  M'Ward  about  1678. 
 
ROBERT  GILLESPIE. 
 
 23 
 
 The  precise  date  of  Gillespie's  death  is  uncertain,  but 
 he  died  before  the  termination  of  the  persecution.  He 
 had  a  son,  George,  minister  of  the  parish  of  Strath- 
 miglo  after  the  Revolution,  and  the  friend  of  Ebenezer 
 Erskine,  the  father  of  the  Secession,  who,  though  dis- 
 approving of  his  procedure  in  reference  to  the  Marrow 
 question,  sincerely  valued  him  for  the  general  sound- 
 ness of  his  sentiments,  as  well  as  for  hi^  active  zeal  in 
 behalf  of  practical  religion.* 
 
 George,  in  a  letter  to  Robert  Wodrow,  the  historian 
 of  the  Sufferings  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  dated  Strath- 
 miglo,  October  13,  1718,  speaking  of  his  father,  says, 
 "  You  acquaint  me  that  you  have  some  scraps  out  of 
 the  register  about  my  father,  Mr  Robert  Gillespie's  suf- 
 ferings. Be  pleased  to  transmit  to  me  a  copy  thereof, 
 and  I  will  see  if  I  can,  by  converse  with  friends,  make 
 it  more  complete.  I  was  a  child  at  that  time,  and  now 
 want  some  who  might  have  been  most  useful  in  giving 
 the  full  account.  He  was  persecuted  from  the  day  he 
 was  licensed  until  the  day  of  his  death,  and  that  merely 
 for  preaching  the  gospel,  for  he  was  neither  at  Pent- 
 land  nor  Bothwell  Bridge.  I  shall  also,  with  first  con- 
 veniency,  look  through  any  papers  he  has  left,  and  if  I 
 find  any  thing  that  may  be  serviceable  to  you  it  shall 
 be  at  your  command."!  Gillespie,  however,  does  not 
 appear  to  have  ever  sent  any  additional  facts  to  Wod- 
 row concerning  his  father. 
 
 •  Fraser's  Life  of  Ebenezer  Erskine,  p.  211. 
 
 t  Wodrow  MSS.    Letters  to  Wodrow,  voL  xiii.  No.  78. 
 
24 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 Alexander  Peden  was  born  about  the  year  1626,  in  the 
 parish  of  Sorn,  in  the  shire  of  Ayr.  On  completing 
 his  course  of  education  for  the  sacred  ministry,  he  was 
 employed  for  some  time  as  schoolmaster,  precentor,  and 
 session-clerk  in  the  parish  of  Tarbolton,  of  which  Mr 
 John  Guthrie  was  minister.*  When  in  this  situation 
 he  met  with  a  trial  of  rather  an  uncommon  kind.  An 
 unmarried  woman  being  with  child  to  a  servant  in  the 
 house  Avhere  he  lived,  the  fellow  prevailed  with  her 
 to  accuse  Peden  of  being  its  father,  and  fled  himself  to 
 Ireland.  It  is  said  that  the  day  on  which  Peden  was 
 to  be  licensed  she  came  before  the  Presbytery,  and 
 brought  against  him  the  criminal  charge.  The  pious 
 youth  on  hearing  it,  horror-struck,  and  so  agitated  as 
 to  be  almost  unable  to  speak,  of  course  maintained  his 
 innocence,  and  expressed,  as  he  best  could,  his  hope 
 that  God,  in  due  time,  would  vindicate  him.  The  cause 
 was  taken  up  by  the  Presbytery,  and  the  process  lasted 
 for  a  year.  Still  persisting  in  his  denial,  the  oath  of 
 the  woman  was  taken,  and  the  Presbytery  proceeded 
 so  far  as  to  excommunicate  him.  But  on  the  very 
 Sabbath  on  which  Mr  Guthrie  was  to  read  publicly  the 
 Presbytery's  sentence,  the  father  of  the  child,  whom 
 
 *  Wodrow  assorts  he  was  also  ])recentor  at  Fenwick. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 25 
 
 remorse  of  conscience  had  brought  home  to  acknow- 
 ledge his  guilt,  happened  to  be  in  the  church  of  Tar" 
 bolton,  and  as  Mr  Guthrie  was  proceeding  to  read  the 
 sentence  he  stood  up  and  vindicated  Peden,  making  a 
 free  and  full  confession  of  his  own  guilt  in  presence  of 
 the  congregation.  The  woman  was  afterwards  married, 
 and  her  marriage  proving  unfortunate,  she  laid  violent 
 hands  on  herself  This  painful  case,  acting  upon  a  mind 
 of  a  melancholy  temperament  and  extreme  sensibility, 
 appears  to  have  contributed  much  to  produce  that 
 austerity  of  manners  which  formed  so  prominent  a  fea- 
 ture in  Peden's  character. 
 
 Peden  was  settled  at  New  Glenluce  in  Galloway,  a 
 short  time  before  the  restoration  of  Charles  11. ;  but 
 he  was  not  allowed  to  remain  long  in  the  peaceful  dis- 
 charge of  his  pastoral  duties  in  that  parish.  A  pro- 
 tracted period  of  severe  trial  awaited  the  Church  of  Scot- 
 land, and  it  was  the  will  of  Providence  that  he  should 
 drink  largely  of  the  bitter  cup. 
 
 Peden  was  one  of  that  body  of  nearly  four  hundred 
 minister^  who  nobly  refused  compliance  with  the  Act  of 
 Parliament  May  1662,  requiring  all  ministers  who  had 
 been  inducted  since  1649  to  receive  presentations  from 
 their  respective  patrons,  and  collation  from  the  bishop 
 of  the  diocese  in  which  they  resided,  before  the  20th  of 
 September  that  year,  under  the  penalty  of  deprivation. 
 But  he  and  many  others,  believing  that  the  tie  between 
 them  and  their  parishes  was  of  too  sacred  a  character 
 to  be  broken  asunder  by  the  civil  power,  being  in  no 
 haste  to  desert  their  charges,  the  Lords  of  the  Privy 
 Council,  at  Glasgow,  Octol)er  1.  1662,  ])iissed  an  act,  by 
 which  they  "  prohibit  and  discharge  all  ministers  who 
 have  contravened  the  foresaid  act  of  Parliament  con- 
 cerning the  benefices  and  stipends,  to  exercise  any  part 
 
26 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  the  functions  of  the  ministry  at  their  respective 
 churches  in  time  coming,  which  are  hereby  declared  to 
 be  vacant   and  command  and  charge  the  said  minis- 
 ters to  remove  themselves  and  their  families  out  of  their 
 parishes-betwixt  this  and  the  first  day  of  November  next 
 to  come,  and  not  to  reside  within  the  bounds  of  their 
 respective  parishes/'  Still  many  ministers,  in  the  face 
 of  this  act,  continuing  to  exercise  their  pastoral  duties 
 in  their  parishes  without  receiving  presentations  from 
 patrons  and  collations  from  bishops,  the  Council,  in 
 hope  that  some  might  be  tempted  to  conform,  extended 
 the  time  for  receiving  presentations  and  collations  to 
 the  first  of  February  the  following  year.  Peden  and  a 
 considerable  number  of  other  ministers,  particularly  in 
 the  west,  still  declining  to  apply  for  presentations  and 
 collations  or  to  leave  their  charges,  forcible  measures 
 were  adopted  for  their  ejection.  On  the  24th  of  Fe- 
 bruary 1663,  the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council,  probably 
 at  the  instigation  of  the  Bishop  of  Galloway,  ordered 
 letters  to  be  directed  against  him  and  twenty-five  ad- 
 ditional ministers  in  Galloway,  commanding  them  to 
 remove  themselves,  wives,  children,  and  goods  from 
 their  respective  manses,  and  from  the  bounds  of  the 
 Presbytery  where  they  now  lived,  before  the  20th  day 
 of  March  following ;  forbidding  them  to  exercise  any 
 part  of  their  ministerial  functions,  and  also  charging 
 them  to  appear  before  the  Council  on  the  24th  of 
 March.  Thus  Peden  was  forced  to  leave  the  beloved 
 charge  of  which  he  had  been  only  for  a  few  years  the 
 ))astor. 
 
 The  Sabbath  on  which  he  preached  his  farewell  ser- 
 mons was  a  day  of  great  distress  to  his  people  of  Glen- 
 luce.  In  the  forenoon  he  delivered  a  lecture  upon 
 Acts  XX.  1 7  to  the  end  ;  in  which  he  protested  that  he 
 
ALEXANDER  FEDEX. 
 
 27 
 
 had  declared  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  and  that  he  was 
 free  from  the  blood  of  all  men.  In  the  afternoon,  he 
 preached  on  the  32d  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  "  And 
 now,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word 
 of  his  grace,  which  is  able  to  build  up  and  to  give  you 
 an  inheritance  among  all  them  which  are  sanctified/' 
 These  sermons  were  solemn  and  impressive,  and  the 
 tears  shed  by  the  congregation  during  their  delivery 
 attested  their  affection  to  the  pastor  who  was  now  for- 
 cibly removed  from  them.  He  continued  the  services 
 till  night,  warning,  encouraging,  and  comforting  them, 
 and  when  about  to  descend  from  the  pulpit,  he  closed 
 the  door  of  it,  and  knocking  hard  upon  it  three  times 
 with  his  bible,  repeated  as  often  these  words,  "  I  arrest 
 thee  in  my  Master's  name  that  none  ever  enter  thee 
 but  such  as  come  in  by  the  door  as  I  did.''  It  happened 
 that  neither  curate  nor  indulged  minister  ever  entered 
 that  pulpit  during  the  persecution  which  followed,  so 
 that  the  church  was  completely  deserted  and  desolate, 
 and  that  the  first  time  the  pulpit  was  again  entered  was 
 after  the  Revolution  by  a  Presbyterian  minister.  It 
 is  not,  however,  necessary  to  suppose  that  his  words 
 were  prophetic,  or  intended  by  him  as  such,  although 
 they  have  sometimes  been  understood  in  that  sense.* 
 It  was  doubtless  only  a  significant  mode  of  bearing 
 
 •  Our  authority  here  is  Patrick  Walker,  who  evidently  understotxl 
 Peden's  words  as  prophetic;  but,  as  recorded  by  him,  they  easily  admit 
 of  being  otherwise  explained.  In  Wodrow's  account  they  decidedly  as- 
 sume a  prophetic  form.    "Mr  Robert  Gordon,  minister  at  Kirkmichael, 
 
 gave  me  a  very  full  account  of  Mr  Peden  He  tells  me,  likewise,  that 
 
 he  fenced  the  pulpit  of  Glenluce  in  Galloway,  and  declared  that  none  of 
 the  curates  should  ever  set  their  f(»ot  in  it ;  which  acc(.rdingly  came  to 
 pass."  Analecta,  vol.  ii.  p.  85.  Walker,  there  is  little  d(.ubt.  gives  the 
 correct  version  ;  while  Gordon  paraphrases  ii,  or  explains  the  sense  at- 
 tached to  it  by  Peden's  credulous  admirers  after  the  Revolution. 
 
28 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 testimony  against  the  intrusion  of  a  minister  upon  the 
 people  of  whom  he  was  the  lawful  pastor.* 
 
 But  although  ejected  from  his  charge,  and  although 
 non-conforming  ministers  were  by  act  of  Parliament 
 prohibited  from  exercising  the  functions  of  their  sacred 
 calling,  under  the  penalty  of  being  punished  as  seditious 
 persons,  Peden,  acting  like  many  of  his  brethren,  who 
 judged  that  they  could  not  warrantably  lay  down  their 
 commission  as  ambassadors  of  Christ  at  the  bidding 
 and  menaces  of  men,  and  who,  considering  the  insuf- 
 ficiency of  the  great  majority  of  those  introduced  into 
 their  charges,  could  not  resist  the  calls  of  the  people 
 by  whom  their  services  were  so  highly  valued, — had 
 the  courage  and  fortitude  to  preach  the  gospel  wherever 
 he  found  opportunity.  By  thus  acting  in  the  face  of 
 law  he  well  knew  that  he  would  involve  himself  in 
 new  troubles  ;  but  having  counted  the  cost,  he  chose 
 rather  to  suffer  than  to  neglect  the  claims  of  duty,  and 
 was  prepared  for  that  conflict  with  difficulties  and 
 dangers  which,  during  the  remaining  years  of  his  life, 
 he  bravely  met  without  indicating,  even  in  a  single 
 instance,  a  disposition  to  extricate  himself  by  renounc- 
 ing or  receding  from  his  principles.  The  Council,  re- 
 ceiving information  of  the  manner  in  which  he  was 
 employed,  direct  letters  against  him  and  several  non- 
 conforming ministers,  for  daring,  as  they  express  it, 
 to  exercise  the  ministry  contrary  to  law.  The  charge 
 brought  against  him  is,  that  he  "  did  keep  a  conven- 
 ticle at  Ralston,  in  the  parish  of  Kilmarnock,  about 
 
 *  Peden  afterwards  occasionally  visited  his  old  parishioners,  and  "they 
 were  taxed  and  quartered  upon  for  receiving  him  into  their  houses,  and 
 for  hearing  him  in  the  houses  or  the  fields."  On  "  Martinmas  1681,  Cla- 
 verhouse,  commissioned  Sheriff  of  Galloway,  brought  two  troops  of  horse 
 on  the  said  parish  for  baptising  of  children  with  Mr  Peden."  Wodrow 
 MSS.  vol.  xxxvii.  4to,  no.  34. 
 
AIEXA^'DER  PEDEN. 
 
 29 
 
 the  10th  of  October  last,  where  he  baptized  the  chil- 
 dren of  Adam  Dickie,  Robert  Lymburner,  and  many 
 others  ;  as  also  kept  a  conventicle  in  Cragie  parish,  at 
 the  Castle-hill,  where  he  baptized  the  children  of  Wil- 
 liam Gilmor  in  Kilmarnock,  and  Gabriel  Simson,  both 
 in  the  said  parish,  and  that  besides  twenty-three  chil- 
 dren more  ;  both  which  conventicles  were  kept  under 
 cloud  of  night,  with  a  great  deal  of  confusion  ;  as  also 
 the  said  Mr  Alexander  rides  up  and  down  the  country 
 with  sword  and  pistols,  in  gray  clothes/'*  And  as 
 Peden  and  the  others  named  are  said,  from  the  fear  of 
 being  apprehended,  to  "  have  no  certain  constant  resi- 
 dence or  dwelling,''  the  authorities  are  by  these  letters 
 commanded  to  charge  them  at  the  market-cross  of 
 of  Kirkcudbright,  Dumfries,  Edinburgh,  and  pier  and 
 shore  of  Leith,  to  compear  personally  before  the  Lords 
 of  the  Privy  Council,  to  answer  to  the  above  complaint 
 under  the  pain  of  rebellion. 
 
 Peden  joined  the  Covenanters  in  the  west  who  had 
 taken  up  arms  and  were  defeated  at  Pentland  Hills  ; 
 but  he  only  accompanied  them  as  far  as  the  Clyde,  and 
 on  the  night  of  the  defeat  was  in  a  friend's  house  in 
 Carrick,  sixty  miles  distant  from  Edinburgh.t  The 
 object  of  those  engaged  in  this  insurrection  was  not  to 
 overthrow  the  government  of  Charles  11.  ;  but  simply 
 to  obtain  the  redress  of  their  grievances — to  make  the 
 government  desist  from  treating  them  with  that  seve- 
 rity and  injustice  which  they  had  patiently  borne  for 
 
 •  W()dn;w'8  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  4,  5. 
 
 t  The  battle  of  Pentland  was  fought  on  the  28th  of  November  1666. 
 The  Presbyterian  forces  were  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wallace  : 
 and  the  kinp's  troops  by  General  Dalziel  of  Binns.  But,  though  Wallace 
 was  an  intrepid  an<l  skilful  commander,  from  the  suuill  number  of  his  men 
 and  their  wretched  equipment,  as  well  as  from  the  want  of  inferior  officers 
 to  conduct  them,  ho  lost  the  battle. 
 
30 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 several  years.  The  grounds  of  their  quarrel  comraand 
 our  generous  sympathy,  while  the  gallantry  with  which 
 they  rallied  around  and  fought  under  the  banner  of 
 freedom  entitle  them  to  the  highest  praise.  It  may, 
 however,  be  doubtful  whether,  in  the  unfavourable 
 circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed,  it  was  pru- 
 dent for  them  to  brave  the  fury  of  the  government  ; 
 and  it  is  certain  that  this,  like  all  other  unsuccessful  at- 
 tempts to  break  the  yoke  of  intolerable  oppression,  only 
 inflamed  still  more  the  fury  of  the  government  against 
 those  who  had  taken  up  arms.  A  considerable  number 
 of  them  were  publicly  executed  ;*  and  many  more  were 
 forfeited  and  outlawed  as  rebels  and  traitors  ;  while 
 Presbyterians  throughout  the  country  who  had  no  hand 
 in  the  insurrection,  were  subjected  to  the  greatest  hard- 
 ships. Although  Peden  was  not  engaged  in  it,  he  was 
 proceeded  against  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  the  insur- 
 gents. 
 
 In  a  proclamation,  emitted  4th  December  1666,  by 
 his  Majesty,  with  the  advice  of  the  Privy  Council,  all 
 his  Majesty's  subjects  are  discharged  and  inhibited  to 
 harbour,  reset,  supply,  correspond  with,  or  conceal 
 Peden,  and  others  who  concurred  or  joined  in  the 
 late  rebellion,  as  they  term  the  rising  at  Pentland.  In 
 August  the  following  year,  the  King's  Advocate  pro- 
 duces a  warrant  signed  by  his  Majesty's  Commissioner, 
 the  Earl  of  Rothes,  for  pursuing  criminally  before  the 
 Justiciary  Court,  Peden,  and  a  long  list  of  others  spe- 
 cified, and  for  forfeiting  them  in  their  lives  and  for- 
 tunes, for  their  concern  in  the  same  insurrection  ;  and 
 upon  an  indictment  given  in  against  them  by  the  Lord 
 
 *  Twenty  were  executed  at  the  cross  of  Edinburgh,  ten  at  Irvine,  four 
 at  Glasgow,  two  at  Dumfries,  in  all  thirty-six.  Their  heads  and  hands 
 wore  set  up  on  poles.    Crichtou's  Memoirs  of  John  Blackadder,  p.  128. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 31 
 
 Advocate,  they  are  declared  by  the  Court  to  "have  com- 
 mitted and  incurred  the  pains  and  crimes  of  treason, 
 and  are  guilty  of  being  authors,  actors,  accessory  art 
 and  part  thereof ;  which  being  found  by  an  assize,  they 
 ought  to  be  punished  in  their  persons  and  goods,  to  the 
 terror  and  example  of  others/'  And  when  a  procla- 
 mation, dated  Whitehall,  1st  October  1667,  was  issued 
 by  the  King,  granting  a  general  pardon  and  indemnity 
 to  those  who  were  in  the  late  rebellion,  Peden,  among 
 others,  is  expressly  excepted.* 
 
 In  1670,  Peden  appears  to  have  first  visited  Ulster, 
 in  Ireland,  whither  he  afterwards  frequently  resorted, 
 and  preached  to  great  multitudes  assembled  in  public 
 places  ;  a  practice  at  which  the  ministers  in  Ulster 
 were  offended,  judging  it  to  be  an  indiscreet  braving 
 of  the  law,  for  which  there  was  not  the  same  necessity 
 as  in  Scotland,  there  being  full  liberty,  in  that  country, 
 without  any  bond  or  other  sinful  compliances  with  go- 
 vernment, to  preach  in  the  meeting-houses.t 
 
 Returning  again  to  Scotland,  he  was  apprehended  in 
 June  1672,  by  Major  Cockburn,:}:  in  the  house  of  Hugh 
 Ferguson  of  Knockdow  in  Carrick.  Both  were  car- 
 ried prisoners  to  Edinburgh.  The  Privy  Council,  after 
 ordering  Peden  to  be  examined  by  a  Committee  of  their 
 number,  condemned  him  to  be  carried  by  a  party  oi' 
 the  military  to  the  prison  of  the  Bass  by  the  following 
 act,  dated  26th  June  1673  :— 
 
 "The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  re- 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  66,  67-^9,  92. 
 
 t  Rcid's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  vol.  ii.  p. 
 
 ♦  (.'ockbiim  received,  by  order  of  the  Council,  L.50  .stcrlinfj;,  to  be  paid 
 out  of  the  fines,  for  his  great  pains  in  apprehending  IVden  and  Ferguson, 
 and  ho  was  ordained  to  divide  L.2.'5  sterling,  in  such  proj)<)rtions  as  he 
 judged  best,  among  the  party  of  soldiers  under  his  command  who  appre- 
 hended them. 
 
32 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 commend  to  the  Lords  Register  and  Advocate,  or  any 
 one  of  them,  to  call  for  and  examine  Mr  Alexander 
 Peden,  prisoner  in  the  Tolbooth,  for  being  in  the  re- 
 bellion in  the  year  1666,  and  who  was  lately  appre- 
 hended keeping  a  conventicle ;  and  thereafter  ordain 
 him  to  be  transported  by  five  or  six  of  the  guard  from 
 the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  to  the  Isle  of  Bass,  and  to 
 be  delivered  to  the  governor  of  the  garrison  there,  who 
 is  hereby  ordered  to  keep  him  close  prisoner  until  far- 
 ther order." 
 
 Hugh  Ferguson,  then  also  imprisoned  in  the  Tolbooth 
 of  Edinburgh,  was  in  like  manner  examined  by  the 
 Lords  Register  and  Advocate,  and  upon  their  report,  the 
 Council,  July  10,  finding,  "  by  his  own  confession,  that 
 he  is  guilty  of  resetting  Mr  Alexander  Peden,  an  outed 
 minister,  who  stands  forfaulted  for  being  in  the  rebel- 
 lion in  the  year  1666,  and  that  he  has  confessed  him- 
 self to  be  guilty  of  keeping  of  conventicles  within  his 
 own  house  :  Do  therefore  fine  him  in  one  thousand 
 merks  Scots,  to  be  paid  to  his  Majesty's  cash-keeper, 
 for  his  Majesty's  use,  upon  payment  whereof  the  said 
 Lords  ordain  him  to  be  set  at  liberty/' 
 
 Peden,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  was  confined 
 in  the  Bass  upwards  of  four  years.  When  he  first  en- 
 tered, his  only  fellow-prisoner  was  Mr  Robert  Gillespie  ; 
 but  afterwards  fresh  prisoners  were  added,  consisting 
 of  a  number  of  eminent  ministers  of  the  same  principles 
 and  character  with  himself,  as  Mr  Thomas  Ross,  Mr 
 James  Eraser  of  Brea,  Mr  John  M'Gilligen,  and  others. 
 It  would  have  been  a  comfort  to  him  and  them,  and 
 would  have  lessened  the  weight  of  their  afllictions,  had 
 they  been  permitted  to  enjoy  each  other's  society. 
 Sometimes  they  had  permission  granted  them  to  as- 
 semble together  for  devotional  exercises  in  the  morning 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 33 
 
 and  evening  ;  and  to  men  of  kindred  spirits,  and  who 
 were  suffering  in  the  same  cause,  it  would  be  exceed- 
 ingly refreshing  to  join  together  in  reading  the  Scrip- 
 tures, and  in  pouring  out  their  united  prayers  at  the 
 throne  of  grace.  But  at  other  times  they  were  wholly 
 deprived  of  all  mutual  intercourse,  and  closely  shut 
 up  in  their  separate  cells.  The  Privy  Council,  on  the 
 26th  of  July  1677,  made  an  act,  partially  removing 
 such  rigorous  confinement,  but  still  leaving  them  un- 
 der restrictions  sufficiently  severe  : — 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  hereby 
 give  order  and  warrant  to  the  keeper  of  the  Isle  of  the 
 Bass,  to  permit  and  allow  the  prisoners  in  the  said  isle 
 to  have  the  liberty  of  the  isle  in  the  day-time,  betwixt 
 sun-rising  and  sun-setting,  provided  that  he  permit 
 none  but  two  of  them  at  once  to  have  that  liberty  ; 
 and  that  he  shut  up  these  two  before  he  allow  the  other 
 two  to  come  out :  But  declares  that  this  order  shall 
 not  extend  to  Mr  James  Mitchell,  who  is  to  be  con- 
 tinued close  prisoner,  conform  to  the  former  order." 
 
 It  was  no  doubt  some  small  mitigation  for  two  of 
 them  to  be  allowed  to  walk  together  for  a  few  hours 
 upon  the  island.  The  fresh  air  would  invigorate 
 their  health  and  revive  their  spirits,  while  their  mu- 
 tual converse  and  sympathy  would  strengthen  one 
 another's  faith,  fortitude,  and  patience.  But  during 
 all  the  other  part  of  the  twenty-four  hours,  each  was 
 shut  up  in  entire  seclusion  in  his  own  cell.  To  the 
 sufferer  thus  pent  up  for  years  in  an  unwholesome 
 dungeon,  by  which  the  energy  of  the  nervous  system 
 is  weakened,  and  the  elasticity  of  the  si)irits  broken, 
 more  fortitude  is  often  required  than  to  brave  on  the 
 field  of  action,  and  in  the  moment  of  excitement  the 
 terrors  of  death.    The  heroism  Avhich  lias  nobly  ac- 
 
34 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 quitted  itself  in  the  latter  case,  has  been  subdued  by 
 the  sufferings  of  the  former.  Yet  Peden,  though  feel- 
 ing acutely  the  rigour  and  hardships  of  his  imprison- 
 ment, sustained  them  with  a  resigned  and  submissive 
 mind.  His  feelings  he  expresses  in  a  letter  which  he 
 wrote  to  Mr  Patrick  Simpson,  then  indulged  minister 
 at  Kilmalcom,*  thanking  him  for  a  supply  of  money 
 which  he  had  sent, to  him  and  his  fellow-prisoners. 
 This  letter  is  written  in  excellent  spirit,  breathing 
 much  patience,  humility,  dignity,  and  delicacy  of  mind. 
 As  it  has  never  before  been  printed,  we  here  present 
 it  to  the  reader  : — 
 
 "  Bass,  llth  August  1677- 
 "Rev.  and  Dear  Brother, — Saluting  you  heartily  in  the 
 Lord,  whose  you  are  and  whom  you  serve ;  love,  yea,  conscience 
 to  duty  makes  me  run  the  hazard  thus  to  bless  you,  with  the 
 brethren  there,  for  your  sympathy  and  continued  earnest  care, 
 especially  towards  me,  unworthy  of  bonds,  and  most  unworthy 
 to  be  remembered  in  bonds.  My  trial  enjoins  deep  silence 
 abroad,  but  loud  pitiful  language  upwards  ;  but  it  were  not  a 
 cross  if  not  crossing,  nor  a  prison  if  not  straitening;  every 
 thing  herein  and  more  is  needful  (and  blessed  be  He  in  whom 
 all  stock  is,  and  is  master- carver).  Weel  were  such,  and 
 no  delay  either,  its  blessed  effects,  in  his  due  time,  though 
 much  suspended  for  present.  I  beg  you  will  not  mistake  our 
 silence.  His  woes  multiply,  so  our  bonds  grow.  Where  our 
 mercies  and  sweet  refreshment  might  be  there  it's  denied  and 
 inhibited.  He  is  righteous ;  neither  are  we  in  the  dark  to 
 mind  our  manifold  sins  in  our  judgments.  We  are  close  shut 
 up  by  our  chambers,  not  permitted  to  converse,  diet,  worship 
 
 *  Mr  Patrick  Simson,  who  was  ordained  minister  of  Renfrew,  Nov.  11. 
 1G.53,  was  outed  by  the  act  of  the  Council  at  Ghisgow  1662,  but  afterwards 
 became  indulged  minister  at  Kilmalcom.  At  the  Revolution  ho  was  set- 
 tled at  Renfrew,  and  died  October  24.  1715,  after  he  had  been  nearly 
 sixty-two  years  in  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
 
ALEXANDER  FEDEX. 
 
 35 
 
 together,  but  conducted  out  by  two  at  once  in  the  day,  to 
 breathe  in  the  open  air — envying  (with  reverence)  the  birds 
 their  freedom,  and  provoking  and  calling  on  us  to  bless  him 
 for  the  most  common  mercies — and  again  close  shut  up  day 
 and  night,  to  hear  only  the  sighs  and  groans  of  our  fellow- 
 prisoners  ;  and,  oh !  if  we  were  such  as  none  of  these  things 
 move  us :  yea,  while  all  things  speak  a  feeding  lying  storm. 
 He  only  knows  wherefore  we  are  reserved,  and  what  is  ap- 
 pointed for  us,  with  you,  who  out  of  the  eater  brings  forth 
 meat.  Our  long  fast  will  resolve  in  sad  earnest,  and  when  dark- 
 est it  will  be  light,  and  most  care  least  care.  0  for  grace  to 
 credit  him  (hitherto  never  cumbersome),  and  his  cross  in  what- 
 ever piece  of  service,  in  bonds  or  freedom,  he  cuts  out  I  I  re- 
 turn to  thank  you  for  your  seasonable  supply,  an  evidence  of 
 your  love  to  Him,  and  your  affectionate  remembrance  of  us, 
 I  used  that  freedom  with  our  dear  sister  ]Mrs  Durham,  to  shew 
 you  there,  that  ingenuously,  without  breach  of  charity,  there 
 were  at  freedom  more  in  necessity  than  some  in  bonds ;  and 
 to  suspend  towards  me,  who  designs  no  great  things  for  myself 
 (his  cross  and  bonds  excepted),  for  food  and  raiment,  promis- 
 ing to  burden  you  with  the  first.  For  your  information,  if 
 not  .satisfaction,  it  was  enjoined  me  to  distribute  your  bounty, 
 which  I  altogether  declined,  for  reasons  unworthy  to  be  signi- 
 fied, to  our  mutual  griefs  for  the  present,  as  your  receipt  im- 
 ports. Persuade  yourself  you  are  in  our  remembrance,  though 
 not  so  deep  as  we  in  yours,  yet  making  mention  of  you  to  your 
 and  our  blaster,  begging  you  may  be  directed,  supported,  and 
 carried  through  cleanly  in  this  our  hour  of  temptation  ;  acquit- 
 ting yourselves  as  watchmen  indeed  from  your  watch-tower, 
 fulfilling  your  ministry  which  you  have  received  from  the 
 Lord.  Now,  peace  be  to  the  brethren,  and  love  with  faith 
 from  God  the  Father ;  and  grace  be  to  all  them  that  lovo  our 
 Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity!  So  praycth  your  unworthy 
 and  afi'ectionate  well-wisher  in  bonds, 
 
 "  Alexander  Peden. 
 "  This  in  great  haste  and  no  less  confusion."* 
 
 ♦  Wodrow  MS.S.  vol.  ix.  8vo.   The  letter  is  a  c«|>y  in  the  haudwriting  uf 
 
36 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 One  thing  which  strikes  us  in  the  life  of  Peden,  is  the 
 authority  with  which  he  spake.  The  bold  and  awaken- 
 ing tenor  of  his  address,  both  to  private  individuals  and 
 before  a  public  auditory,  remind  us  of  Elijah  or  John  the 
 Baptist,  speaking  intones  of  astonishment  and  alarm  in 
 the  ears  of  their  impenitent  countrymen.  When  he  was 
 prisoner  in  the  Bass,  one  Sabbath  morning,  being  en- 
 gaged in  the  public  worship  of  God,  a  young  woman  came 
 to  the  chamber-door,  "  mocking  with  loud  laughter." 
 He  said,  "  Poor  thing,  thou  mockest  and  laughest  at 
 the  worship  of  Grod  ;  but,  ere  long,  God  will  work  such 
 a  sudden  surprising  judgment  on  thee,  that  shall  stay 
 thy  laughing,  and  thou  shalt  not  escape  it.''  Very 
 shortly  thereafter,  as  she  was  walking  upon  the  rock, 
 there  came  a  blast  of  wind  that  swept  her  into  the 
 sea,  and  she  was  lost.* 
 
 Another  day,  while  he  was  walking  upon  the  rock, 
 some  soldiers  passing  by  him,  one  of  them  cried,  "  The 
 devil  take  him  He  said,  "  Fy,  fy,  poor  man,  thou 
 knowest  not  what  thou  art  saying ;  but  thou  wilt  re- 
 pent that.''  At  which  words  the  soldier  stood  asto- 
 nished, and  went  to  the  guard  distracted,  crying  aloud 
 for  Mr  Peden,  saying  the  devil  would  immediately  take 
 him.  Peden  came  and  spake  to  him,  and  prayed  with 
 him.  The  next  morning,  again  visiting  him,  he  found 
 him  in  his  right  mind,  under  deep  convictions  of  great 
 guilt.  The  guard  being  to  change,  they  desired  him 
 to  go  to  his  arms  ;  he  refused,  and  said,  "  I  will  lift  no 
 arms  against  Jesus  Christ's  cause,  nor  persecute  his 
 
 Wodrow,  who  observes,  "  This  letter  was  writt  upon  the  person  to  whom 
 it's  directed  his  sending  some  money  to  the  prisoners  in  the  Bass.  It's  so 
 ill  writt  that  probably  I  may  have  mistaken  some  words  in  it ;  but  as  near 
 us  I  could  gather  it,  it's  here  because  of  the  singular  way  this  man  had  of 
 expressing  himself."' 
 
 *  Walker's  Life  of  Peden.    Biograph.  Presb. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 87 
 
 people ;  I  have  done  that  too  long/'  The  governor 
 threatened  him  with  death  the  next  day  at  ten  o'clock  : 
 he  confidently  said  three  times,  "  Though  you  should 
 tear  all  my  body  to  pieces,  I  will  never  lift  arms  that 
 way."  About  three  days  after,  he  was  put  out  of  the 
 garrison  by  the  governor,  who  sent  him  ashore.  Hav- 
 ing a  wife  and  children,  he  took  a  house  in  East- 
 Lothian,  where  he  became  an  eminent  Christian.* 
 
 On  the  9th  of  October  1677,  the  Council,  agreeably 
 to  the  opinion  expressed  by  their  Committee  for  Public 
 Affairs,  conclude,  "  that  Mr  Alexander  Peden,  prisoner 
 in  the  Bass,  be  liberated,  he  enacting  himself  in  the 
 books  of  Council,  to  take  banishment  out  of  Scotland, 
 England,  and  Ireland,  upon  him,  with  certification  if 
 he  shall  return,  he  shall  be  holden  pro  confesso  as 
 having  been  in  the  rebellion  in  the  year  1 666,  and 
 proceeded  against  and  punished  accordingly. " 
 
 Notwithstanding  this  act,  he  was  still  kept  a  pri- 
 soner. It  is,  however,  probable,  that  at  this  time  he 
 was  brought  from  the  Bass  and  put  into  the  Tolbooth 
 of  Edinburgh,  where  he  appears  to  have  remained 
 upwards  of  a  year ;  as  may  be  inferred  from  a  pe- 
 tition presented  by  him  to  the  Privy  Council  on  the 
 14th  of  November  1678,  praying  to  be  liberated  from 
 the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  in  which  he  says  he  had 
 lain  for  a  long  time,  and  to  be  permitted  to  go  to  Ire- 
 land, where  he  had  formerly  resided  for  several  years. 
 But  the  Council,  though  no  libel  had  ever  been  given 
 in  against  him,  and  though  he  was  not  charged  either 
 with  house  or  field  conventicles  in  Scotland  now  for 
 twelve  years,  refused  to  grant  his  petition,  and  banished 
 him  to  the  plantations  in  America,  discharging  him 
 
 •  Wo  adopt  these  anecdotes,  without  comment,  on  tho  authority  of 
 Patrick  Walker,  in  his  Life  of  Peden,  Biograph.  Presb. 
 
:3S 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ever  to  return  under  the  penalty  of  death.  In  Decem- 
 ber, he  and  sixty  more  prisoners,  on  whom  the  same 
 sentence  of  banishment  was  passed,  embarked  in  the 
 Roads  of  Leith  for  Grravesend,  London.  On  their  ar- 
 riving at  Gravesend,  which,  in  consequence  of  the 
 tediousness  of  the  voyage,  was  five  days  later  than  had 
 been  anticipated,  the  master  of  another  vessel  who 
 was  to  carry  them  to  Virginia  not  being  there,  the 
 ship-captain  who  had  brought  them  from  Leith,  and 
 who  was  engaged  to  carry  them  only  to  Graves- 
 end,  finding  no  person  to  take  them  off  his  hand, 
 and  grudging  the  expense  of  maintaining  them  any 
 longer,  sent  them  ashore  to  shift  for  themselves  as  they 
 best  could.  They  were  treated  with  much  kindness 
 by  the  English,  when  they  learned  the  cause  of  their 
 sufferings ;  and  the  greater  part  reached  their  homes 
 in  safety  after  an  absence  of  about  nine  months.* 
 
 On  the  day  on  which  the  Covenanters  were  discom- 
 fited at  Bothwell  Bridge,  the  22d  of  June  1679,  Peden 
 was  near  the  border,  forty  miles  distant  from  the  scene 
 of  action.  Oppressed  with  apprehensions  for  the  safety 
 of  his  countrymen  in  arms,  he  kept  himself  retired 
 until  the  middle  of  the  day,  and  when  some  of  his 
 friends  then  informed  him  that  the  people  were  wait- 
 ing for  sermon,  he  replied,  "  Let  the  people  go  to  their 
 prayers,  for  me  I  neither  can  nor  will  preach  any  this 
 day  ;  for  our  friends  are  fallen  and  fled  before  the 
 enemy  at  Hamilton,  and  they  are  bagging  and  hashing 
 them  down,  and  their  blood  is  running  like  water.^'f 
 He  is  said  to  have  spoken  in  a  similar  strain  at  the 
 
 *  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxvii.  4to,  no.  141.  Wodrow's  History, 
 vol.  ii.  pp.  476,  483.  Walker's  account  differs  from  the  above  in  some 
 slight  particulars.  Wodrow  had  his  information  from  one  of  the  pri- 
 soners. 
 
 ■f  Biograph.  Prcsb,  vol.  i.  p.  46. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 39 
 
 time  of  the  defeat  of  the  insurgents  at  Pentland  Hills  ; 
 and  what  he  said  on  both  these  ocasions,  has  been 
 adduced  in  proof  of  those  extraordinary  premonitions 
 of  future  events  with  which  he  was  believed  to  be  fa- 
 voured in  no  ordinary  degree.  But  allowing  that  his 
 words  are  correctly  reported,  there  is  no  necessity  for 
 regarding  them  in  this  light.  He  knew  in  both  cases 
 that  the  Covenanters  were  in  arms,  and  that  they 
 would  soon  be  encountered  by  the  King's  forces  ;  and 
 his  melancholy  temperament  inducing  gloomy  fore- 
 bodings, what  amounted  to  nothing  more  than  the 
 expression  of  his  fears,  would  seem,  after  the  news 
 of  the  disaster  in  both  instances  had  been  received, 
 to  partake  of  the  prophetic. 
 
 Shortly  after  this  engagement  he  went  to  Ireland, 
 where,  however,  he  staid  only  for  a  short  time.  Re- 
 turning to  Scotland,  he,  in  the  year  1682,  united  in 
 marriage  the  well-known  martyr  J ohn  Brown  of  Priest- 
 hill  to  Isabel  Weir,  his  second  wife.  At  the  close  of 
 the  ceremony,  he  is  said  to  have  addressed  the  bride 
 in  these  terms :  "  Isabel,  you  have  got  a  good  man  to 
 be  your  husband,  but  you  will  not  enjoy  him  long ; 
 prize  his  company,  and  keep  linen  by  you  to  be  his 
 winding-sheet,  for  you  will  need  it  when  you  are  not 
 looking  for  it,  and  it  will  be  a  bloody  one.''*  Peden's 
 words,  we  have  little  doubt,  simply  implied  that,  in 
 the  circumstances  of  the  times,  and  considering  BroAvn's 
 zealous  adherence  to  Presbyterian  princii)les,  his  fall- 
 ing a  martyr  in  the  cause  then  so  relentlessly  perse- 
 cuted, was  by  no  means  improbable ;  and  when  Brown, 
 in  the  beginning  of  May  1()85,  was  shot  ])y  Claver- 
 liouse,  we  can  easily  suppose  that  these  solemn  words. 
 
 •  Biogrupli.  Presb.  vol.  i.  p. 
 
40 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 by  a  very  slight  change  of  phraseology, — by  a  simple 
 change  of  may  into  will,  a  mistake  which  those  who 
 believed  in  his  prophetic  gift,  from  imperfect  recollec- 
 tion, might  very  readily  fall  into,  without  any  intention 
 to  misstate  them,  would  be  converted  into  the  form 
 of  a  prediction. 
 
 Subsequent  to  this,  in  the  same  year,  he  again  went 
 over  to  Ireland,  and  being  in  great  outward  straits,  on 
 coming  to  the  house  of  William  Steel  in  Grienwhary, 
 in  the  county  of  Antrim,  he  engaged  himself  to  Mrs 
 Steel  as  a  servant  for  thrashing  victual.  But  in  this 
 employment  he  continued  only  two  days.  The  servant 
 lad  observing  that  he  spent  the  whole  night  in  prayer, 
 and  portions  of  the  day  in  the  same  way,  informed  his 
 mistress,  who,  suspecting  him  to  be  a  minister,  desired 
 her  husband  to  inquire  at  him  if  such  was  the  case  ; 
 which  he  did,  assuring  Peden  that  he  put  the  question 
 from  no  hostile  purpose.  Peden  frankly  admitted  the 
 correctness  of  their  suspicions,  avowing  that  he  was 
 not  ashamed  of  his  office,  and  giving  an  account  of  his 
 circumstances  ;  upon  which  he  was  treated  no  longer 
 as  a  servant  but  with  all  the  hospitality  and  respect 
 due  to  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  Here  he  staid  for  a 
 considerable  time  ;  and  his  labours  were  blessed  in  the 
 conversion  of  some  and  civilization  of  others  among 
 that  people,  who  were  noted  for  the  rudeness  of  their 
 manners. 
 
 About  the  end  of  February  1685,  he  left  Ireland  for 
 Scotland,  along  with  twenty-six  Scottish  sufferers,  who 
 also  intended  to  return  to  their  own  country.  Not 
 venturing  to  go  to  any  public  port,  they  embarked  in 
 a  small  vessel  near  Carrickfergus,  and  sailed  off  imme- 
 diately, lest  they  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  gar- 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEK. 
 
 41 
 
 rison  in  that  town.  These  twenty-six  Scotsmen  were 
 provided  with  arms,  it  being  then  in  the  heat  of  what 
 was  called  the  killing  time  in  Scotland.  In  those  days 
 "  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  precious/'  and  on  the 
 morning  after  they  landed,  Peden  lectured  on  a  hill- 
 side to  his  fellow-countrymen,  who  listened  to  him  with 
 devout  attention. 
 
 At  the  period  of  their  arrival,  garrisons  of  soldiers, 
 both  horse  and  foot,  were  stationed  in  different  parts 
 of  Galloway,  and  perambulated  the  country,  oppress- 
 ing and  murdering  the  Presbyterians.  Receiving  early 
 intelligence  of  the  newly  arrived  fanatics,  as  the  Pres- 
 byterians were  then  called,  they  proceeded  to  ferret 
 them  out,  Avith  all  the  eagerness  of  blood-hounds. 
 One  morning  Peden  and  his  friends  got  the  alarm  that 
 a  party  of  foot  and  horse  were  approaching,  upon  which 
 they  immediately  betook  themselves  to  flight  and  were 
 hotly  pursued  ;  but  the  horse  of  the  enemy  were  ob- 
 structed by  the  marshy  nature  of  the  ground,  a  fre- 
 quent cause  of  annoyance  to  the  military,  and  means 
 of  safety  to  the  Covenanters.  After  having  run  a  con- 
 siderable way,  an  eminence  interposing  between  them 
 and  the  enemy,  Peden,  in  the  emergency,  proposed  that 
 they  should  engage  in  prayer,  and  this  being  at  once 
 cordially  agreed  to,  he  fervently  and  solemnly  besought 
 God,  among  other  things,  to  send  their  pursuers  after 
 those  to  whom  he  had  given  strength  to  flee,  as  their 
 strength  was  gone,  and  to  "cast  the  lap  of  hiscloak"  over 
 him  and  his  companions.  Meanwhile  ii  dark  ch)ud  ol 
 mist  intervened,  and  soon  after  an  express  came  to  tlie 
 party  to  go  in  pursuit  of  Mr  lienwick  and  a  muhitude 
 who  were  assembled  with  him  in  the  lields.  No  sooner 
 were  they  gone  than  Peden  and  his  friends  united  in 
 
 D 
 
42 
 
 THE  MARYYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 solemn  thanksgiving  to  God  for  hearing  and  answering 
 them  in  the  day  of  their  distress.* 
 
 Not  long  after  his  return  from  Ireland,  he  had  the 
 pleasure  of  an  interview  at  Carrentable  with  his  be- 
 loved friend  Mr  James  Renwick,  the  only  minister  of 
 the  Society  Peoplef  for  some  time  after  the  death  of 
 Cameron  and  Cargill.  On  Renwick's  pressing  him  to 
 join  with  and  assist  him  in  supporting  the  public  stan- 
 dard  for  the  truth,  he  answered,  "  Go,  sir,  and  be  busy 
 about  the  work  God  has  put  you  to,  for,  think  on  it, 
 neither  you  nor  I  will  ever  see  the  other  side  of  it," — 
 meaning  the  deliverance  of  the  Church  from  the  cruel 
 persecution  which  then  afflicted  her.  But  the  friend- 
 ships of  good  men,  like  those  of  others,  are  liable  to 
 interruptions  in  this  changing  world.  Peden,  after  this, 
 became  cold  in  his  affections  towards  that  pious  and 
 heroic  youth.  Ren^vick,  on  his  return  from  the  Con- 
 tinent to  Scotland,  finding  field-preaching  totally  sup- 
 pressed, urged  by  a  strong  sense  of  duty,  braving  the 
 fury  of  persecution,  commenced  preaching  in  the  fields, 
 by  which  he  became  an  object  of  jealousy  to  the  Pres- 
 
 *  Biograph.  Presb.,  vol.  i.  pp.  66,  67. 
 
 t  The  Society  People  were  those  of  the  Covenanters  who,  with  Richard 
 Cameron  and  Donald  Cargill,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  Presbyteri- 
 ans, and  formed  themselves  into  a  distinct  body.  The  principal  differences 
 between  them  and  their  brethren,  consisted  in  their  views  about  the  In- 
 dulgence, and  the  lawfulness  of  the  then  existing  civil  government.  They 
 refused  to  hold  fellowship  not  only  with  the  indulged  ministers,  but  even 
 with  those  who,  although  they  did  not  accept  of  the  Indulgence,  yet  con- 
 tinued in  religious  fellowship  with  such  as  had  .accepted  it.  They  also 
 disowned  the  government  of  Charles,  and  openly  proclaimed  war  against 
 him  as  a  tyrant  and  usurper.  They  arose  after  the  battle  of  Bothwell 
 Bridge,  and  prevailed  chiefly  in  the  West  and  South.  The  name  of"  the 
 Society  People"  was  applied  to  them  from  their  forming  themselves  into 
 societies  in  the  various  parts  of  the  country  where  they  lived,  and  hold- 
 ing from  time  to  time  gt-neral  meetings  in  different  places,  consisting  of 
 delegates  from  each  particular  Society.  To  them  the  Cameronians  or 
 Reformed  Presbyterian  Synod,  trace  their  ecclesiastical  descent. 
 
ALEXANDER  FEDEX. 
 
 43 
 
 byterian  ministers  in  general,  who  Avere  too  much  dis- 
 posed to  misrepresent  his  motives,  principles,  and  cha- 
 racter. The  power  of  contumely  is  great.  It  not  un- 
 frequently,  in  some  degree,  alienates  from  the  good 
 man  who  is  exposed  to  it  on  all  sides,  his  warmest 
 friends,  on  whose  attachment  he  is  disposed  to  rely. 
 Peden,  too  credulous  of  the  misrepresentations  and  evil 
 reports  circulated  to  the  prejudice  of  RenAvick,  set, 
 himself  in  opposition  to  him,  and  spake  against  him 
 in  terms  of  severity,  which  he  afterwards  had  reason 
 to  regret,  and  Avhich  much  grieved  and  stumbled  many 
 who  were  well  affected  towards  Renwick,  as  well  as 
 confirmed  his  adversaries,  who  loudly  boasted  that  Mr 
 Peden  also  was  become  his  enemy.* 
 
 Peden  deeply  sympathised  with  the  Society  People, 
 and  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  them  with  affection 
 and  respect,  but  he  never  joined  them,  not  judging  it 
 to  be  his  duty,  though  opposed  to  the  Indulgence,!  to 
 separate  from  those  who  accepted  it,  and  form  a  dis- 
 tinct and  conflicting  association.  This  appears  from 
 the  records  of  the  Society  People.  Some  of  them  were 
 actually  censured  for  employing  him  to  unite  them 
 in  marriage,  and  for  receiving  from  him,  in  behalf  ol 
 their  children,  the  ordinance  of  baptism.  At  the  <rene- 
 ral  meeting,  held  at  Tala  Lin,  in  the  parish  of  Tweeds- 
 muir  and  sheriffdom  of  Tweeddale,  upon  the  15th  ol' 
 J une  ]  G82,  one  of  their  number  was  "  debarred  after 
 some  debate"  from  sitting  at  tlie  meeting  because  ui' 
 his  marrying  with  Mr  Alexander  Peden,  and  for  his 
 joining  with  some  that  gave  meat  and  drink  to  dra- 
 goons.   Put,"  it  is  added,  "  that  which  occasioned  the 
 
 •  Shield's  lAt'e  of  Ilcnwick  in  Biograpli.  Presb.,  V(.I.  ii.  j>|>.  115,  11(5. 
 t  Walker  tells  uh  that  Peden  was  wont  to  call  the  indulged  ministers 
 "  The  King's  royal  daAvtics." 
 
44 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 hottest  debate  and  greatest  confusion  was  about  Alex- 
 ander Gordon,  who  had  joined  with  Mr  Peden  in  ac- 
 cepting the  administration  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism 
 to  his  child  from  him,  whereupon  the  contest  arose, 
 one  part  of  the  meeting  saying  Mr  Peden  might  be 
 joined  with,  and  the  other  not.  So,  seeing  the  matter 
 was  under  debate,  and  could  not  be  there  and  then 
 decided,  it  was  thought  most  expedient  to  suspend 
 Alexander  Gordon  from  the  meeting,  until  inquiry 
 and  trial  were  made  how  it  was  with  Mr  Peden  at  the 
 time,  and  how  it  was  when  he  joined  with  him,  that 
 thereby  it  might  be  better  known  how  to  proceed 
 therein.  And  for  this  effect  James  Russel  promised 
 to  send  one  or  come  himself  out  of  Fife,  and  to  come 
 by  Edinburgh,  that  one  might  be  chosen  out  of  Lo- 
 thian to  go  along  with  him  to  Monkland,  where  they 
 were  to  get  a  third  person  to  go  with  them  to  Mr 
 Peden,  which  thing  James  Russel  failed  to  do,  and  so 
 the  inquiry  and  trial  was  not  made/'*  At  the  next 
 general  meeting  of  the  United  Societies,  held  at  Edin- 
 burgh upon  the  11th  of  August  1682,  the  case  of  Gor- 
 don was  again  taken  up,  and  the  "  meeting,  upon  the 
 account  that  the  inquiry  about  Mr  Peden  was  not 
 made,  inquired  at  him  if  he  was  willing  to  acknow- 
 ledge his  fault  before  them,  providing  Mr  Peden  be 
 not  found  after  trial  to  have  been  faithful  when  he 
 joined  with  him,  which  thing  he  most  willingly  and 
 cheerfully  did  ;  and  so,  upon  this  condition,  he  was 
 received  in  as  a  member  of  the  meeting.''  It  is  thus 
 evident  that  Peden  had  not  then  united  himself  to  the 
 Society  people,  nor  is  there  any  evidence  from  their 
 records  of  his  having  afterwards  acceded  to  them.t 
 
 *  Principal  Acts  and  Conclusions  of  the  Society  People,  Wodrow  MSS. 
 vol.  xxxviii.  4to.  p.  24. 
 
 t  Ibid.  p.  29.    L)r  lleid,  in  speaking  of  Mr  David  Houston,  a  Pre&by- 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 45 
 
 On  the  16th  of  April  1685,  Peden  made  a  narrow 
 escape.  Being  then  at  the  house  of  John  Nisbet  of 
 Hardhill,  a  little  before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a 
 troop  of  dragoons  was  observed  by  the  servants  who 
 were  working  in  the  fields  coming  up  to  the  house  at 
 full  gallop ;  upon  which  the  servants  ran  to  conceal 
 themselves.  Peden  and  those  who  were  with  him  in 
 the  house  had  fled  for  shelter  to  a  moss  nearly  two 
 miles  distant  from  the  place  where  the  servants  were 
 working.  The  way  to  this  moss  was  by  very  steep 
 ground,  and  at  the  edge  of  the  moss  there  was  a  mo- 
 rass about  seven  or  eight  yards  broad,  and  altogether 
 the  place  was  well  adapted  for  concealment  as  well 
 
 terian  licentiate,  who  for  a  time  supplied  the  congregation  of  Glenarm,  and 
 afterwards  of  Ballymoney,  both  in  Ireland,  and  who  was  the  founder  of  the 
 Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  country,  says,  "  While  officiating 
 in  this  latter  congregation,  he  appears  to  have  first  become  acquainted  with 
 Mr  Alexander  Peden,  and  to  have  imbibed  from  this  pious  and  faithful, 
 though  enthusiastic  minister,  that  impatience  of  ecclesiastical  restraint, 
 and  that  lo\e  of  ministering  to  popular  excitement  by  collecting  large 
 crowds  of  people  at  unusual  times  and  places  in  oppositi(m  to  their  settled 
 ministers,  which  soon  exposed  him  to  the  serious  animadversions  of  his 
 brethren."— //?;*rvry  of  the  Presbt/terian  Church  in  Ireland,  vol.  ii.  p.  411. 
 Peden,  from  his  great  popularity  in  Ireland,  no  doubt  preached  in  the 
 fields,  and  in  doing  so  may  not  have  confined  himself  to  canonical  hours  ; 
 but  it  may  be  fairly  questioned  whether  he  was  characterized  by  that 
 "  impatience  of  ecclesiastical  restraint,  that  love  of  ministering  to  popular 
 excitement,"  and  that  spirit  of  division  which  Houston  is  here  said  to  have 
 "  imbibed"  from  him.  The  disciple,  we  think,  w  ent  beyond  his  nuistor. 
 Wodrow  gives  a  very  different  account  of  Peden,  which  he  corroborates 
 by  reference  to  authorities  of  weight,  some  of  which  have  been  laid 
 before  the  reader.  '*  1  have  seen,"  says  he,  "  several  of  his  original  letters 
 when  in  the  liuss,  to  some  indulged  ministers  and  otheis,  which  breathe 
 a  quite  other  spirit  than  those  papers  [his  prophecies]  handed  about  make 
 him  to  be  of.  And  1  cannot  but  remark,  lioth  from  the  company  he 
 haunted  alter  he  got  out  of  his  confinement,  and  some  pastages  in  the 
 original  records  of  the  Societies,  that  this  excellent  person  was  far  from 
 the  lieights  at  this  time  run  to,  which  meanwliilo  appear  some  way  to  be 
 designed  to  be  justified  by  the  papers  handed  about  under  his  name."— 
 Wodrow't  llv^U  rtj,  \ol.  iv,  p.  3U7. 
 
46 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 as  for  protection  from  military  on  horseback.  Here, 
 however,  Peden  and  his  companions  were  discovered. 
 James,  son  of  John  Msbet,  a  young  man  about  six- 
 teen years  of  age,  had  been  with  the  servants  in  the 
 field  when  the  troop  of  dragoons  came  up,  and  in  his 
 flight,  being  chased  by  some  of  the  party,  made  his 
 way  accidentally  to  the  spot  where  Peden  and  about 
 twenty  more  were  lurking,  which  occasioned  their  be- 
 ing discovered.  The  whole  party  of  dragoons  were 
 quickly  informed  of  the  prize  within  their  reach,  and 
 about  three  hours  after  they  were  joined  by  another 
 party  who  aided  them  in  the  pursuit.  Peden  and  his 
 friends  observing  the  enemy  dismounting  their  horses 
 to  take  the  moss  on  their  feet  for  the  purpose  of  se- 
 curing them,  after  some  firing  on  both  sides  without 
 effect,  drew  off  and  kept  in  the  midst  of  the  moss. 
 When  the  dragoons,  on  seeing  this,  mounted  their 
 horses  again  and  pursued  them  by  the  side  of  the  moss, 
 the  Covenanters  always  kept  themselves  on  such  ground 
 as  the  horses  could  not  approach.  They  were  pursued 
 during  the  whole  of  that  day,  and  ran  about  thirty 
 miles  without  receiving  any  refreshment  but  moss 
 water  till  night,  when  they  got  a  little  milk.  Peden 
 then  left  his  friends,  and  went  away  by  himself  * 
 During  this  year,  and  especially  during  the  first 
 
 *  Sergeant  James  Nisbet's  Diary  in  M'Orie's  Memoirs  of  Veitch, 
 &c.  pp.  520,  521.  Walker  has  also  given  an  accoimt  of  this  incident 
 in  his  Life  of  Peden :  "  The  next  morning  James  [Nisbet]  was  going  at 
 the  horses  ;  about  eight  o'clock  there  was  a  troop  of  the  enemies  sur- 
 rounded the  house.  When  James  saw  them  he  ran  for't.  They  pursued 
 him  hard,  and  he  ran  to  a  moss  where  they  could  pursue  him  no  further 
 with  horses.  They  fired  upon  him,  and  he  having  knots  upon  his  hair  on 
 each  side  of  his  head,  one  of  their  bullets  took  away  one  of  the  knots.  He 
 ran  where  Peden  was,  who  said,  '  O  Jamie,  Jamie,  I  am  glad  your  head  is 
 safe,  for  I  knew  it  would  be  in  danger."  Ho  took  his  knife  and  took  away 
 the  other  knot." — Biograph.  Presb.  vol.  i.  p.  71. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 j 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 i 
 
ALEXANDER  FEDEX. 
 
 47 
 
 part  of  it,  great  numbers  of  the  persecuted  witnesses 
 were  murdered  in  the  fields.  Peden  therefore,  to  es- 
 cape the  hands  of  the  military,  after  this,  wandered 
 from  one  lurking  place  to  another,  and  from  his 
 minute  acquaintance  with  all  the  tracts  and  haunts 
 of  the  desert  of  which  he  may  be  said  for  years  to 
 liave  been  an  inhabitant,  he  succeeded  in  eluding  the 
 enemy.  In  such  circumstances,  we  need  not  wonder 
 that  he  was  sometimes  weary  of  life,  and  envied  his 
 fellow-sufferers  who  had  gone  before  him  to  receive 
 their  reward.  On  one  occasion,  visiting  the  grave  of 
 Richard  Cameron,*  these  feelings  rushed  powerfully 
 into  his  mind.  Harassed  and  vexed,  he  sat  down  by 
 the  grave,  and  as  he  thought  of  the  happiness  of  his 
 heloved  friend,  who  had  exchanged  all  his  sufferings 
 lur  the  martyr's  crown,  while  he  himself  was  still 
 enduring  the  scorching  heat  of  persecution,  meekly 
 raising  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  prayed,  "  0  to  be  wi' 
 Ritchie  !"t 
 
 John  Campbell  of  Welwood,  in  an  account  of  his 
 own  sufferings,  during  the  persecution,  states  the  fol- 
 lowing facts  respecting  Peden,  with  whom  he  spent  the 
 greater  part  of  this  summer  : — "  In  a  little  time  there- 
 after, [after  the  beginning  of  April  1685],  I  got  notice 
 of  Mr  Alexander  Peden,  minister,  and  went  to  him, 
 
 *  Cameron,  with  eight  of  his  followers,  were  killed  at  Airs-moss,  after 
 Jighting  bravely  a  i>arty  of  dragoons  under  Bruce  of  Earlshall,  who 
 attacked  thcni.  Cameron's  head  and  hands  were  cut  off  and  tak(>n  to 
 Edinburgh  ;  but  his  body,  and  his  bravo  comrades  who  fell,  were  buried  on 
 the  spot. 
 
 t  This  anecdote  seems  to  be  traditional.  N\  alker  records  a  visit  which 
 i'eden  and  James  Douglas  made  aboiit  this  time  to  Cameron's  grave,  and 
 the  conversation  which  took  place  between  them  there.  But  it  is  likely 
 enough  tliat  the  visit  mentioned  in  the  text  was  made  on  a  different  oc- 
 casion. In  the  one  case,  Peden  was  ahuie  ;  in  the  other,  he  was  accom- 
 panied with  a  fricml.    Iliogruph.  Presb.  vol.  i.  ]>.  71. 
 
48 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 with  whom  I  stayed  several  days,  having  a  little  den 
 underneath  the  earth,  who  had  a  great  pressure  of 
 spirit  upon  him,  and  groaned  most  of  the  night  over 
 in  heaviest  manner ;  none  knowing  where  we  were  at 
 first  save  one  who  brought  us  some  sustenance.  But 
 when  our  abode  in  that  retired  desert  came  to  be  dis- 
 covered we  departed,  and  hearing  that  the  Earl  of  Ar- 
 gyle  was  at  sea  and  had  touched  at  the  Orkneys,  I 
 then  joined  with  and  stirred  up  all  who  had  a  good 
 inclination  to  the  old  cause  to  put  themselves  in  con- 
 dition to  join  that  party  upon  that  expedition,  the 
 particulars  whereof  are  not  to  be  insert  here,  and 
 meeting  with  the  excellent  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wil- 
 liam Clelland,  he  and  I  passed  much  of  the  summer 
 with  the  reverend  and  renowned  Mr  Robert  Lang- 
 lands,  Mr  Alexander  Peden,  Mr  Barclay,  and  Colonel 
 John  Fullerton."* 
 
 At  length  Peden's  bodily  infirmities  increasing  so 
 much  as  to  render  him  unable  to  travel,  he  came  to 
 his  brother's  house  in  the  parish  of  Sorn,  the  place  of 
 his  birth,  where  he  caused  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his 
 brother's  house  a  cave  to  be  dug,  with  a  willow  bush 
 covering  its  mouth.  His  persecutors  getting  informa- 
 tion where  he  was,  searched  every  part  of  the  house  on 
 many  occasions.  At  last,  one  day  early  in  the  morning, 
 leaving  the  cave  he  came  to  the  door  of  his  brother's 
 house.  His  brother's  wife  warned  him  of  his  danger, 
 and  advised  him  to  return  to  his  place  of  concealment. 
 He  told  her  it  was  needless  to  do  that,  since  it  was  dis- 
 covered ;  "  but,"  says  he,  "  there  is  no  matter,  for  within 
 forty-eight  hours,  I  will  be  beyond  the  reach  of  all  the 
 devil's  temptations,  and  his  instruments  in  hell  and  on 
 earth,  and  they  shall  trouble  me  no  more."    He  had 
 
 *  Wodrow  MSS.  xxxiii.  folio,  no.  5G ;  and  his  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  51. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 49 
 
 not  been  in  the  house  above  three  hours,  when  a  party 
 of  soldiers  visited  the  cave,  and  not  finding  him  there, 
 they  searched  first  the  barn  and  next  the  house,  stab- 
 bing the  beds,  but  they  did  not  enter  the  place  where 
 he  lay. 
 
 The  prospect  of  death  and  eternity  often  softens  the 
 prejudices  which  the  good  man,  from  various  causes, 
 may  have  imbibed  against  his  Christian  brethren,  with 
 whom  he  once  lived  on  terms  of  intimate  friendship, 
 and  opening,  as  it  were,  the  sluices  of  Christian  love, 
 makes  him  more  tender,  forbearing,  and  charitable  to- 
 wards them.  It  was  so  with  Peden.  On  his  death- 
 bed he  sent  for  Mr  Renwick,  from  whom  he  had  be- 
 come alienated,  as  we  have  seen  before,  by  lending  too 
 credulous  an  ear  to  misrepresentation  and  reproach. 
 Renwick  came  to  him  with  all  haste,  and  found  him 
 lying  in  very  low  circumstances,  having  few  to  minister 
 to  his  comfort,  but  peaceful  and  happy  in  mind.  Peden 
 raised  himself  upon  his  bed,  leaning  on  his  elbow  with 
 his  head  ui)on  his  hand  to  speak  to  his  interesting 
 visitant,  and  a  comfortable  interview  took  place  be- 
 tween them.  "  Sit  down,  sir,''  said  the  dying  man, 
 "  and  give  me  an  account  of  your  conversion,  and  of 
 your  call  to  the  ministry,  of  your  principles,  and  the 
 grounds  of  your  taking  such  singular  courses  in  with- 
 drawing from  all  other  ministers."  Renwick  did  so  ; 
 which,  when  Peden  heard,  he  said,  "  You  have  an- 
 swered me  to  my  soul's  satisfaction,  and  I  am  very 
 sorry  that  I  should  have  believed  such  evil  re})orts 
 ooncerning  you,  which  not  only  quenched  my  love  to 
 you,  and  marred  my  sympatliy  with  you,  but  led  me 
 to  cx{)ress  myself  bitterly  against  you."  lie  desired 
 Renwick  to  pray  before  leaving  him,  which  he  did 
 with  more  than  ordinary  freedom  ;  and,  after  prayer, 
 
 E 
 
.50 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 drawing  to  him  the  pious  and  noble  youth,  he  kissed 
 him,  saying,  "  Sir,  I  have  found  you  a  faithful  servant 
 to  your  Master  ;  go  on  in  a  single  dependence  upon  the 
 Lord,  and  you  will  get  honestly  through,  and  cleanly 
 off  the  stage/'* 
 
 Peden  died  on  the  28th  of  January  1686,  being  up- 
 wards of  sixty  years  of  age,  and  was  privately  buried 
 in  the  church  of  Auchinleck,  in  the  aisle  of  David  Bos- 
 well,  Esq.,  of  Auchinleck.  But  his  ashes  were  not 
 allowed  to  repose  in  peace.  Though  he  had  never 
 been  condemned  by  any  jury,  yet  the  enemy,  being 
 informed  of  his  death  and  burial,  sent  a  troop  of  dra- 
 goons, who  pulled  his  corpse  out  of  the  grave  after  it 
 had  lain  about  six  weeks,  and  having  first  broken  the 
 chest,  exposed  his  remains  to  contempt,  and  then  car- 
 ried them  to  the  gallow's  foot  at  Cumnock,  two  miles 
 distant,  and  there  buried  them.t  The  design  of  the 
 soldiers  in  lifting  the  body,  was  to  hang  it  in  chains 
 upon  the  gallows  at  Cumnock.  But  this  they  were 
 prevented  from  doing.  The  Countess  of  Dumfries  and 
 the  Lady  Affleck,  shocked  at  this  barbarity,  earnestly 
 interceded  that  the  body  might  be  again  buried  ;  and 
 when  the  savage  commander  of  the  dragoons,  deter- 
 mined to  have  it  hung  up  in  chains,  proved  unrelent- 
 ing, they  applied  to  the  Earl  of  Dumfries,  a  Privy 
 Councillor,  then  at  home,  who,  yielding  to  their  re- 
 
 *  Our  authority  for  this  anecdote  is  Patrick  Walker.  Biograph.  Presb. 
 vol.  i.  pp.  91-93.  Howie  says  that  its  truth  has  been  doubted.  This  may 
 have  arisen  from  its  not  being  recorded  in  Shield's  Life  of  Renwick  ; 
 but  it  may  notwithstanding  be  founded  in  truth.  It  is  highly  honourable 
 to  both  these  good  men. 
 
 t  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxviii.  4to,  no.  103.  Wodrow  says  in  his  His- 
 tory, "  This  raising  him  after  he  was  buried,  Mr  Pcdon  before  his  death 
 did  very  positively  foretel  before  several  witnesses,  some  of  whom  are 
 yet  alive  who  were  present,  from  whom  I  have  it,  else  I  should  not  have 
 noticed  it  here."    Vol.  iv.  p.  396. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 51 
 
 quest,  went  to  the  gibbet  and  told  Murray  that  it  was 
 erected  for  malefactors  and  murderers,  and  not  for 
 such  men  as  Mr  Peden.  The  corpse  was  accordingly 
 re-interred  at  the  foot  of  the  gibbet,  now  within  the 
 wall  of  common  burial-ground  of  Cumnock  parish,  and 
 a  gravestone  was  afterwards  laid  above  it,  with  this 
 inscription : — 
 
 HERE  LIES  ALEXANDER  PEDEN,  a  faithful 
 
 MINISTER  OF  THE  GOSPEL,  SOMETIME  AT  GrLENLUCE, 
 WHO  DEPARTED  THIS  LIFE  JANUARY  28.  1686,  AND  WAS 
 RAISED  AFTER  SIX  WEEKS  OUT  OF  HIS  GRAVE,  AND  BURIED 
 HERE  OUT  OF  CONTEMPT. 
 
 We  shall  conclude  this  sketch  with  a  few  remarks 
 on  the  leading  features  of  Peden's  character,  and  on 
 the  singular  prophecies  which  he  is  said  to  have  ut- 
 tered. That  he  was  distinguished  for  sincere  and  fer- 
 vent piety,  is  unquestionable.  Nor  was  he  less  emi- 
 nent for  self-denial,  patience,  and  fortitude  under  suf- 
 fering. Such  was  his  stedfast  and  unwavering  adhe- 
 rence to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth,  that  it  is 
 surprising  to  find  that,  in  the  evil  times  in  which  he 
 lived,  he  did  not  end  his  life  upon  a  scaffold,  or  that 
 he  was  not  shot,  in  the  mosses  and  deserts  which  he 
 traversed,  by  the  butchering  hands  of  the  soldiery,  who 
 tracked  his  steps  ;  and  though  his  death  was  not  vio- 
 lent, yet  the  hardships,  privations,  and  fatigues  he 
 voluntarily  underwent  for  the  sake  of  the  gospel,  en- 
 title him  to  the  honour  of  a  protracted  martyrdom, 
 lie  was  also  remarkable,  as  has  been  before  observed, 
 lor  the  austerity  of  his  manners,  which  may  be  re- 
 i^arded  by  some  as  a  morbid  singularity,  but  which 
 cannot  be  ascribed  to  an  ambition  to  ac(iuire  tlic  fame 
 of  eminent  sanctity.    The  mental  depression  to  which 
 
52 
 
 THE  MALTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 he  was  frequently  subject,  arose  partly  from  natural 
 constitution,  and  partly  from  a  morbid  state  of  the 
 physical  frame,  produced  or  aggravated  by  the  hard- 
 ships of  his  lot, — having  often  to  spend  the  night  in 
 caves  and  mosses, — and  from  inattention  to  his  health, 
 for  "  he  never  took  due  care  of  his  body,  seldom  un- 
 clothed himself  for  years,  or  went  to  bed."  This  me- 
 lancholy affecting  the  whole  of  his  religious  feelings 
 and  emotions,  as  it  could  not  fail  to  do,  his  piety  was 
 of  a  mournful  and  conflicting  kind,  breathing  itself 
 forth  in  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered,  and  par- 
 taking less  of  exultation  and  joy  than  the  piety  of  de- 
 vout men  of  a  happier  natural  temperament,  and  who 
 are  placed  in  more  favourable  outward  circumstances. 
 To  this  was  added  a  species  of  enthusiasm,  which  ma- 
 nifested itself  in  his  public  ministrations  as  well  as 
 in  his  general  conduct.  All  these  qualities,  which 
 were  very  prominently  developed,  threw  a  kind  of  so- 
 lemnity around  him,  and  tended  to  produce  the  high 
 veneration,  and  even  awe,  with  which  he  was  regarded 
 by  the  religious  people  of  his  day.  The  character  of 
 his  pulpit  address,  and  his  manners  in  private  inter- 
 course, are  thus  described  by  Sergeant  James  Nisbet, 
 who  knew  him  personally,  and  who  was  a  sufferer  in 
 the  same  cause  : — "  Although  every  act  of  worship  that 
 Mr  Peden  was  engaged  in  was  full  of  divine  flights 
 and  useful  digressions,  yet  he  carried  along  with  them 
 a  divine  stamp,  and  every  opening  of  his  mouth  seemed 
 for  the  most  part  to  be  dictated  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ; 
 and  such  was  the  weighty  and  convincing  majesty  that 
 accompanied  what  he  spoke,  that  it  obliged  the  hear- 
 ers both  to  \o\e  and  fear  him.  I  observed  that  every 
 time  he  spoke,  whether  conversing,  reading,  praying,  or 
 preaching,  between  every  sentence  he  paused  a  little, 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 53 
 
 1    as  if  he  had  been  hearkening  what  the  Lord  would  say 
 unto  him,  or  listening  to  some  secret  whisper.  And 
 i    sometimes  he  would  start,  as  if  he  had  seen  some  sur- 
 prising sight,  at  which  he  would  cry  out  to  the  com- 
 mendation of  God  in  Christ, — to  the  commendation 
 of  the  divine  love, — and  to  the  commendation  of  the 
 I    grace  of  God  in  the  souls  of  his  people,  in  their  con- 
 I    viction,  conversion,  and  upholding  in  Christ  Jesus." 
 
 Among  the  many  extraordinary  things  related  of 
 I    Peden,  the  prophecies  ascribed  to  him  are  the  most 
 {    remarkable.    But  there  are  strong  grounds  for  calling 
 i    in  question  their  authenticity.*     Lord  Grange  and 
 Wodrow,  both  of  whom  were  well  qualified  to  judge 
 (    on  this  subject,  regard  them  as  at  once  spurious  and 
 I     injurious  to  Peden's  memory.    The  former,  in  a  letter 
 J    to  Wodrow,  dated  16th  April  1725,  writes  as  follows  : 
 — "  As  to  the  account  you  mentioned,  lately  printed 
 of  Mr  Peden,  you  will  remember  that  some  months 
 I     ago  I  wrote  to  you  how  very  wilful  some  people  were 
 who  have  picked  up  some  things,  and  being  endued 
 with  sm*all  sufficiency,  would  publish  them.    The  au- 
 thor of  that  })iece  was  so  in  my  view.    A  great  deal 
 of  pains  were  taken  to  dissuade  him  from  printing  it, 
 at  least  till  it  should  be  revised  by  men  of  sound  judtr- 
 ment ;  but  all  was  in  A^ain,  and  he  would  not  stop  one 
 day.    I  have  talked  about  it  with  some  who  were 
 personally  acquainted  with  Mr  Peden,  and  were  often 
 In  his  company,  and  from  whom  I  have  heard  several 
 uncommon  things  about  him.    They  say  the  author  is 
 mistaken  as  to  several  circumstances  ;  but  as  to  the 
 main  in  all  the  passages,  or  most  of  them,  whereof 
 
 •  Patrick  VVulkcr,  the  author  of  Pcdcn's  Lil'»!  luul  Pnii.hocies,  was  an 
 •'.  Tciitri.-  <  hiirjtcter,  and  roiiiarkabk-,  among  othor  things,  for  excv.'-hix 
 
54 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 they  had  particular  knowledge,  (and  they  were  eye  and 
 ear  witnesses  of  diverse,)  they  say  he  tells  the  truth ; 
 but  missing  of  circumstances,  and  a  wrong  way  and 
 manner  of  narrating  in  matters  so  delicate,  gives  them 
 a  very  different  form  and  appearance/'*  Wodrow,  in 
 a  letter  to  Lord  Grange,  writing  on  the  extraordinary 
 prognostication  of  future  events,  for  which  some  of  our 
 Scottish  reformers  were  said  to  he  distinguished,  says, 
 "  I  OAvn  Patrick  Walker's  pamphlet,  last  year,  on  Mr 
 Peden's  life,  containing  a  heap  of  singular  things,  with- 
 out sufficient  vouchers  to  some  of  them,  and  others  of 
 them  very  different  from  what  I  have  from,  I  thought, 
 good  hands,  and  some  of  them  not  in  my  opinion  agree- 
 able to  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  Avith  a  promise  of  a 
 great  many  other  lives  to  come,  gives  me  some  thoughts 
 of  the  danger  of  publishing  rude  and  undigested  things 
 of  this  nature."t  It  would  then  appear  that  some  of 
 these  alleged  prophecies  have  no  foundation  whatever 
 in  truth,  and  that  others  of  them  which  have  some 
 foundation  have  been  exaggerated,  and  in  passing  from 
 hand  to  hand,  have  undergone  such  alterations  as  to 
 render  them  in  a  great  measure  apocryphal,  which 
 may  easily  be  believed  when  it  is  considered  that  these 
 strange  stories  were  picked  up  thirty  years  after  Peden's 
 death.  As  the  greater  number  of  them  relate  to  the 
 denunciation  of  judgments  upon  individuals,  it  is  not 
 unreasonable  to  suppose  that  these  had  been  originally 
 nothing  more  than  warnings,  which  were  explained 
 as  prophecies,  when  shortly  after  some  calamity  befell 
 the  individuals  to  whom  they  were  addressed, — an  ex- 
 planation which  would  be  very  naturally  given  by 
 those  who  believed  in  Peden's  possession  of  the  gift  of 
 
 *  Scots  Worthies,  Life  of  Pcden,  M'Guvin's  Edition,  vol.  i.  p.  516. 
 f  Wodrow'a  Correspondence,  vol.  iii.  p.  230. 
 
ALEXANDER  PEDEN. 
 
 55 
 
 prophecy,  a  belief  not  uncommon  among  his  religious  ^ 
 contemporaries.    That  such  was  the  case,  we  are  the  i 
 more  inclined  to  believe,  from  finding  that  the  in-  I 
 stances  adduced  as  evidences  of  the  prophetic  gift  of 
 Peden,  and  of  other  suiFering  ministers,  both  in  his 
 own  day  and  before  it,  while  in  some  accounts  they  ' 
 take  the  form  of  prophecies,  in  others  they  have  only 
 the  form  of  simple  warnings.  This  supposition  would 
 greatly  reduce  the  number  of  the  alleged  prophecies  1 
 of  Peden,  as  well  as  of  the  rest  of  our  Scottish  re- 
 formers. 
 
 But  that  individuals  have  had  presentiments  of  events  I 
 which  afterwards  befell  both  themselves  and  others,  ; 
 there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  however  this  may  be  \ 
 accounted  for  ;  and  that  Peden  in  some  cases  may  have  j 
 had  such  presentiments  we  will  not  venture  to  deny,  j 
 although  we  would  not  regard  as  preternatural  every  i 
 thing  viewed  in  that  light  in  his  own  age,  which  was  i 
 prone  to  interpret  as  prophecies,  statements  which  were  ! 
 never  intended  to  be  so  understood  by\he  speaker,  and  | 
 which  can  easily  be  explained  without  the  supposition  j 
 of  any  thing  extraordinary.  Nor  are  we  disposed  to  i 
 lay  much  stress  on  what  has  sometimes  been  alleged,  I 
 that  God,  in  times  of  great  difficulty  and  trial,  may  j 
 afford  his  people  intimations  of  certain  future  events  ' 
 for  their  support  and  encouragement.  The  truths  and  J 
 promises  contained  in  God's  word,  when  apprehended 
 by  faith,  arc  calculated  to  afford  infinitely  greater  en- 
 couragement and  support  under  suffering  and  persecu- 
 tion, than  any  of  those  intimations  regarding  future 
 events  which  we  ever  read  of  our  reformers  having  | 
 been  favoured  with. 
 
 The  prophetic  tone  in  which  Peden  sometimes  spoke, 
 must  however,  in  some  instances,  be  referred  in  a  great  I 
 
 J 
 
56 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  Or  THE  BASS. 
 
 measure  to  an  excited  state  of  mind  arising  from  the 
 sufferings  of  his  times.  This  is  the  case  with  respect 
 to  those  judgments  which  he  and  some  others  of  the 
 suffering  ministers,  as  Mr  Donald  Cargil,  towards  the 
 close  of  the  persecution,  indulging  in  gloomy  forebod- 
 ings, denounced  as  coming  upon  Scotland.  While  these 
 have  sometimes  excited  the  superstitious  veneration  of 
 their  injudicious  friends,  they  have  also  formed  a  theme 
 of  ridicule  to  their  enemies  ;  but  candour  will  make  due 
 allowance  for  the  circumstances  in  Avhich  these  good 
 men  were  placed.  They  had  witnessed  the  church  wasted 
 by  a  severe  i:)ersecution  and  every  method  of  oppression, 
 violence,  and  cruelty  which  human  ingenuity  could  de- 
 vise, resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  freedom 
 of  conscience  ;  they  had  seen  multitudes  of  the  most 
 devout  and  excellent  of  their  countrymen,  for  no  other 
 cause  but  nonconformity  and  resisting  arbitrary  power, 
 reduced  to  penury  by  fines  and  the  confiscation  of 
 their  property,  immured  in  dungeons,  driven  into  ban- 
 ishment, sent  to  'foreign  parts  to  be  sold  as  slaves,  or 
 executed  on  the  scaffold  as  malefactors  or  murder- 
 ers ;  and  by  all  this  their  sympathies  were  powerfully 
 quickened.  Besides,  their  own  severe  and  protracted 
 hardships,  from  which  they  saw  no  prospect  of  deliver- 
 ance but  in  the  grave,  were  enough  to  crush  the 
 strongest  minds.  Driven  from  place  to  place,  and 
 forced  to  spend  days  and  nights  in  mountains,  mosses, 
 and  caA^es ;  strangers  to  the  peace  and  comforts  of  do- 
 mestic life  ;  denounced  as  traitors,  and  cut  off  from 
 the  protection  of  law  and  from  the  assistance  of  their 
 friends,  who  could  not  harbour  them  or  give  them  a 
 morsel  of  food  or  converse  with  them,  but  under  severe 
 penalties  ;  pursued  by  a  ruthless  soldiery,  and  exposed 
 to  the  risk  of  being  shot  by  their  pursuers  ;  sought 
 
ALEXA^'DER  PEDEX. 
 
 with  the  most  assiduous  diligence  by  spies,  informers, 
 and  officers  of  justice,  who  on  some  occasions  employed 
 the  sagacity  of  dogs  to  track  their  footsteps  and  ex- 
 jdore  their  lurking  places  ;  in  danger  every  hour  of  be- 
 ing apprehended,  thrown  into  loathsome  dungeons,  or 
 brought  to  the  scaffold,  to  die  by  the  hands  of  the 
 ])ublic  executioner  ;  they  were  kept  in  a  state  of  con- 
 stant agitation  and  anxiety.    In  such  circumstances, 
 it  is  not  surprising  that  the  most  patient  of  men,  and 
 especially  those  of  an  ardent  temperament,  of  a  me- 
 lancholy imagination,  and  extreme  sensibility,  as  Peden 
 was,  deeply  alive  to  a  sense  of  their  own  and  their 
 fellow-suiferers'  wrongs,  felt  and  spoke  as  if  they  had 
 heard  the  appeal  of  injured  and  murdered  thousands 
 to  the  justice  of  God  responded  to,  and  saw  images  of 
 desolation  and  misery  as  the  effect  of  divine  wrath 
 impending  over  their  country,    ^^or  are  these  prognos- 
 tications of  coming  judgments  to  be  condemned  as 
 partaking  of  fanatic  delusion.    They  were  rather  an 
 appeal  to  the  justice  of  Heaven,  which  throws  its  shield 
 over  the  oppressed,  and  an  echo  of  the  cry  of  the  souls 
 of  the  martyred  saints  under  the  altar,  "  How  long,  0 
 Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our 
 blood  on  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  V   These  de- 
 nunciations were  not  indeed  fulfilled,  and  this  proves 
 that  those  who  uttered  them  are  not  entitled  to  be 
 ranked  as  prophets  ;  but  had  not  God's  forbearance 
 and  mercy  interposed,  the  calamities  they  augured  as 
 aj)proacliing  would  have  been  the  natural  and  neces- 
 sary result  of  the  measures  then  })ursued,  as  has  been 
 verified  in  other  countries  where  a  simiUir  system  of 
 exterminatinir  persecution  has  been  adopted. 
 
.58 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 James  Mitchell  is  known  to  the  readers  of  Scottish 
 history,  chiefly  from  his  bold  but  unsuccessful  attempt 
 to  assassinate  Archbishop  Sharp,  and  from  the  illegal- 
 ity of  the  proceedings  of  the  government  against  him, 
 which  issued  in  his  public  execution  at  the  Grass- 
 market  of  Edinburgh. 
 
 Mitchell  was  educated  at  the  college  of  Edinburgh, 
 and  received  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  the  year 
 1656.  Mr  Robert,  afterwards  Archbishop  Leighton,  was 
 at  that  time  Principal  of  the  University,  and  it  was  a 
 part  of  his  duty,  according  to  the  then  existing  law,  to 
 tender  the  National  Covenant  and  the  Solemn  League 
 to  candidates  for  degrees.  Mitchell,  judging  that  the 
 matter  of  these  covenants  was  moral,  and  finding  that 
 they  contained  an  obligation  to  adhere  to  the  interests 
 of  the  banished  king,  to  which  he  was  cordially  at- 
 tached, readily  took  them,  thus  testifying  at  once  his  ap- 
 probation of  the  principles  of  the  Second  Reformation, 
 and  his  loyalty  to  his  prince.  He  also  subscribed  the 
 oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king,  at  a  time  when  many 
 renounced  him  by  taking  the  tender  to  Cromwell 
 When  he  was  afterwards  prosecuted  by  the  government, 
 he  naturally  referred  to  these  proofs  of  his  loyalty  ;  but 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 59 
 
 this,  so  far  from  recommending  him  to  favour,  -was 
 treated  with  contempt  by  those  at  the  head  of  affairs.* 
 
 At  what  time  Mitchell  was  licensed  to  preach  the 
 gospel,  and  how  he  was  employed,  whether  in  teaching, 
 preaching,  or  otherwise,  prior  to  the  engagement  at 
 Pentland,  is  uncertain.  In  the  year  1661,  we  find  Mr 
 Robert  Trail,  minister  at  Edinburgh,  recommending 
 him  to  a  minister  in  Galloway,  as  a  pious  youth,  in 
 poor  circumstances,  and  as  qualified  for  a  school  or 
 teaching  gentlemen's  children. t 
 
 In  1666  he  joined  that  party  of  the  Covenanters  who 
 took  up  arms  and  Avere  routed  at  Pentland  Hills,  though 
 he  was  not  present  at  the  engagement.  From  his  own 
 confession  regarding  his  accession  to  that  insurrec- 
 tion made  before  the  Privy  Council,  we  learn  that  on 
 receiving  information  of  the  rising  in  the  west,  he 
 went  from  Edinburgh  with  Colonel  Wallace  and  others 
 to  meet  with  the  insurgents,  and  having  joined  their 
 ranks,  accompanied  them  in  their  progress  to  Pentland, 
 and  was  with  them  until  the  night  previous  to  the  battle, 
 when,  at  the  desire  of  Captain  Arnot,  he  went  toEdin- 
 
 *  In  a  Irtter  from  Pldinhurjfh  Tolbootli,  February  16.  1674,  to  a  friend, 
 he  tells  him,  that  when,  on  l)eing  questioned  before  the  Commissioner  and 
 Council  as  to  what  he  called  rebellion,  he  was  proceeding  to  answer,  that 
 at  his  laureation  he  took  the  National  Covenant  and  Solemn  League, 
 which  favoured  the  king's  interest,  and  also  subscribed  the  oath  of  alle- 
 giance,  the  Chancellor  stopped  him  saying,  I'll  wad  ye  are  come  here 
 to  give  a  testimony."    Naphtali,  p.  400. 
 
 t  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  j).  115.  "  That  which  occasions  me  to  write 
 to  you  at  this  time  is  this  young  man,  Mr  James  Mitchell,  his  coming  to 
 your  bounds.  I  have  been  acquainted  with  him  now  for  some  few  years 
 bygone.  I  hope  you  shall  find  him  an  honest  yoiingman.  If  you  can  find 
 out  an  occasion  for  him  that  he  may  live  either  in  some  gentleman's  fa- 
 mily, or  in  teaching  some  school,  and  i>recenting  in  a  parish,  it  will  be 
 charity  to  help  him  to  it,  as  I  believe  he  is  poor."  Letter  of  Mr  Robert 
 Trail,  minister  of  Edinburgh,  to  Mr  Thomas  Wylio,  minister  of  Kirkcud- 
 bright, dated  Juno  13.  1061.    Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxix.  4to,  no.  LM. 
 
60 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  0?  THE  BASS. 
 
 burgh  on  some  business  connected  with  the  party.*  He 
 was  afterwards  proclaimed  traitor,  with  many  other 
 principal  actors  in  this  affair,  and  expressly  excluded 
 from  his  Majesty's  gracious  act  of  indemnity. 
 
 About  a  month  or  six  weeks  subsequent  to  the  de- 
 feat, he  went  over  to  Flanders  on  mercantile  transac- 
 tions, where  he  staid  about  three  quarters  of  a  year, 
 and  then  returned  to  Scotland  in  a  Dutch  vessel,  bring- 
 ing with  him  a  cargo  of  goods  for  sale.  While  abroad, 
 he  had  opportunities  of  meeting  and  conversing  with 
 Mr  John  Livingstone,  and  the  other  ministers  who  had 
 been  banished  for  their  adherence  to  Presbytery.t 
 
 His  attempt  upon  the  life  of  Archbishop  Sharp  was 
 made  not  many  months  after  his  arrival  from  the  con- 
 tinent. Regarding  the  Primate  as  the  chief  author  of 
 all  the  oppression  and  cruelty  exercised  towards  his 
 suffering  brethren,  and  being  informed,  upon  what  he 
 conceived  to  be  good  authority,  that  a  letter  from  his 
 Majesty  forbidding  any  more  blood  to  be  shed  on  ac- 
 count of  the  Pentland  rising,  had  been  kept  back  by 
 Sharp  until  six  more  were  executed  ;  and  believing  far- 
 ther, that  his  own  exclusion  from  the  king's  indemnity 
 was  owing  to  the  enmity  of  Sharp ;  the  sense  both  of  pub- 
 lic and  personal  wrong  operated  so  powerfully  upon  his 
 mind,  as  to  give  birth  to  the  resolution  of  taking  the 
 life  of  the  ruthless  persecutor.  For  this  lawless  act  he 
 rested  his  warrant  upon  some  passages  of  Old  Testament 
 Scripture  erroneously  interpreted,^  persuading  him- 
 self that  if  thereby  he  could  put  a  stop  to  the  course  of 
 persecution,  he  would  perform  a  deed  at  once  accept- 
 able to  God  and  beneficial  to  his  country,  not  reflect- 
 
 *  Registei'  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  6th  January  1676, 
 t  Nuplitali,  i)p.  400,  432,  433. 
 
 J.  As  Deut.  xiii.  9 ;  Num.  xv.  8 ;  2  Cliron.  xxxi.  1 ;  and  Zcch.  xiii.  3. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 61 
 
 ing  upon  the  consequences  -which  would  result  to  so- 
 ciety by  admitting  the  principle,  that  an  individual 
 might  warrantably  take  the  execution  of  justice  into  his 
 own  hand,  nor  upon  the  increased  severities  he  might 
 thereby  entail  on  those  whose  sufferings  he  sought  to 
 mitigate.  Such  were  the  motives  and  views,  however 
 mistaken,  which,  according  to  his  own  account,  and 
 there  is  no  reason  to  discredit  it,  prompted  him  to  this 
 desperate  and  criminal  enterprise.*  Having  bought  a 
 pistol  and  loaded  it  with  three  balls,  in  the  afternoon  of 
 the  11th  July  1668,  he  watched  for  the  Archbishop  com- 
 ing down  from  his  lodgings  to  his  coach  at  the  head 
 of  Blackfriars  Wynd,  Edinburgh,  and  perceiving  him 
 enter  the  coach  and  take  his  seat,  stepping  to  the  north 
 side  of  the  coach  fired  the  pistol  at  his  intended  victim 
 by  the  door.  The  shot  missed  the  object  aimed  at  ; 
 but  Honeyman,  the  Bishop  of  Orkney,  at  that  mo- 
 ment entering  the  carriage  and  stretching  forth  his 
 hand,  was  wounded  by  one  of  the  balls  in  the  wrist. 
 Mitchell,  immediately  upon  firing  the  pistol,  coolly 
 withdrew,  none  seeming  to  take  any  notice  of  him, 
 save  one  man  who  offered  to  stop  him  at  the  head  of 
 '  Niddry's  Wynd,  but  who  let  him  go  on  his  presenting 
 a  pistol  at  him.  He  went  to  his  lodgings,  changed  his 
 clothes,  and  returned  to  the  street.  The  cry  being  in- 
 stantly raised  that  a  man  was  killed,  a  crowd  speedily 
 collected  to  the  spot  where  the  assault  had  been  made  ; 
 but  when  some  indifferently  said,  "  It's  but  a  bishop," 
 and  the  two  bishops  in  great  alarm  having  hastened 
 to  the  house  from  which  they  came,  the  streets  soon 
 resumed  their  usual  quiet  aj)pearance.  Honeyman's 
 wound  never  completely  healed,  and  in  a  few  years 
 after  it  proved  the  cause  of  his  death. 
 
 ♦  Naphtali,  pp.  401,  410. 
 
62 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 This  rash  and  unjustifiable  attempt  was  deeply  in- 
 jurious to  the  cause  of  the  persecuted  Presbyterians. 
 J ust  about  the  time  when  it  took  place,  there  appeared 
 some  prospect  of  a  mitigation  of  the  grievous  hardships 
 under  which  they  had  groaned;  the  Earl  of  Tweed- 
 dale  having  entered  into  consultation  with  some  of 
 the  outed  ministers,  who  were  in  concealment,  with 
 a  view  to  their  enjoying  liberty  to  discharge  their  mi- 
 nistry without  dependence  on  the  bishops.  But  this 
 unhappy  afi"air,  although  none  of  the  Presbyterians 
 either  approved  it  or  were  privy  to  it,  was  laid  to  the 
 charge  of  the  whole  body ;  it  was  alleged  to  be  the 
 result  of  a  conspiracy  among  them,  and  was  made  a 
 pretext  not  only  for  withholding  that  favour  which  the 
 government  might  have  been  induced  to  grant,  but  for 
 harassing  and  treating  with  cruelty  many  individuals, 
 who  were  presumed  to  be  acquainted  with  the  intend- 
 ed assassin,  or  with  the  supposed  combination  of  which 
 he  was  the  reputed  agent. 
 
 On  the  night  on  which  the  attempt  was  made,  the 
 aggressor  was  diligently  searched  for  ;  and  on  the  1 4th 
 of  July,*  the  Council  issued  a  proclamation  command- 
 ing all  magistrates  within  their  respective  jurisdic- 
 tions, and  officers  of  the  standing  forces,  to  search  for, 
 apprehend,  and  imprison  the  guilty  person ;  and  offer- 
 ing a  reward  of  two  thousand  merks  Scots  to  any  one 
 who  would  give  such  information  as  would  lead  to  his 
 apprehension,  and  of  four  thousand  merks  to  such  as 
 should  apprehend  and  "  deliver  him  to  sure  ward  and 
 firmance." 
 
 But  notwithstanding  these  efforts,  Mitchell  remained 
 undetected  till  the  beginning  of  February  1674.  Ac- 
 cording to  Bishop  Burnet,  the  Archbishop  having  ob- 
 
 *  Wodrow  says  the  13th  hy  mistake. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 63 
 
 served  that  the  man  who  kept  shop  at  his  door  was  in 
 the  habit  of  looking  very  narrowly  at  him  as  he  passed, 
 began  to  entertain  the  apprehension  that  he  intended 
 to  assassinate  him ;  and  this  circumstance,  together  with 
 the  recollection  of  the  features  of  the  man  who  shot  at 
 him  six  years  before,  excited  in  him  a  suspicion  that  it 
 li  was  the  same  person.  By  his  orders  this  individual,  who 
 was  no  other  than  Mitchell,  was  taken  up  and  examined. 
 He  was  apprehended  by  Sir  William  Sharp,  the  Arch- 
 bishop's brother,  with  five  or  six  of  his  servants  armed 
 for  the  purpose.  When  searched,  it  was  found  that  he 
 had  a  pistol  on  him,  deeply  charged,  which  increased 
 the  suspicion.*  When  questioned,  he  denied  having 
 any  hand  in  the  attempt  on  the  Archbishop's  life.  But 
 Sharp's  suspicions  that  he  was  the  person  being  strong, 
 he  employed  NicolSommervail,  Mitchell's  wife's  brother 
 to  deal  with  him  to  make  a  full  confession,  solemnly 
 promising  that  he  would  procure  his  pardon.  Sommer- 
 I  vail  expressed  his  hope  that  the  Archbishop  did  not 
 I  mean  to  make  use  of  him  as  an  instrument  to  trepan 
 a  man  to  his  ruin.  Upon  which  Sharp,  with  uplifted 
 hands,  promised  by  the  living  God,  that  no  hurt  should 
 come  to  him,  if  he  made  a  full  discovery.  Sommervail 
 returned  and  told  him  that  the  prisoner  was  ready  to 
 do  as  he  desired,  upon  his  receiving  a  promise  of  safety 
 made  in  the  king's  name. 
 
 The  case  was  accordingly  brought  before  the  Council. 
 
 *  Burnet  Bays  he  had  two  pistols  by  him.  History  of  his  own  Times, 
 Tol.  ii.  pp.  125,  126.  Mitchell,  in  his  examination  before  a  committee  of 
 the  Privy  Council,  on  the  10th  of  February,  speaks  only  of  one  pistol, 
 charged  with  three  balls,  wliich  ho  had  about  him  when  he  was  appre- 
 hended, and  declares  that  ho  bought  it  about  the  time  that  the  Arcli- 
 bishop  of  St  Andrews  was  shot  at,  from  Alexander  Logan,  dagmakor  in 
 Leith  Wynd.  This,  then,  was  probably  the  identical  pistol  which  ho  hud 
 used  against  tlie  Archbishop.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  250. 
 
THE  MARTYHS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 The  Lord  Chancellor,  Lord  Register,  Lord  Advocate, 
 and  Lord  Halton  were  appointed  as  a  committee  to  ex- 
 amine him.  One  of  them  observing,  that  "  it  would  be 
 a  strange  effect  of  eloquence,  to  persuade  a  man  to  con- 
 fess and  be  hanged,"  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  then  the 
 king's  Commissioner,  gave  them  power  to  promise  him 
 his  life.  Being  examined  by  the  committee  on  the 
 10th  of  February,  he  confessed  his  accession  to  the 
 Pentland  rising,  but  refused  to  confess  that  he  was  the 
 person  who  shot  the  pistol  at  the  Archbishop  of  St 
 Andrews,  until  the  Chancellor  took  him  apart,  and  gave 
 him  assurance  of  his  life  in  these  solemn  words,  "  Upon 
 my  great  oath  and  reputation,  if  I  be  chancellor,  I  shall 
 save  your  life  when  he  confessed  upon  his  knees  that 
 he  was  the  person.  Returning  to  the  committee  of 
 the  Council  he  repeated  the  confession,  and  subscribed 
 it  in  their  presence.  On  the  12th,  being  again  ex- 
 amined before  the  Council,  he  renewed  and  adhered  to 
 his  previous  confession,  both  as  to  his  accession  to  the 
 Pentland  rising,  and  as  to  his  attempt  upon  the  Arch- 
 bishop.* The  Council  having  thus  succeeded  in  bring- 
 ing Mitchell  to  be  his  own  accuser,  remit  him  to  the 
 Justiciary  Court,  and  grant  order  and  warrant  to  his 
 Majesty's  Advocate,  Sir  George  M'Kenzie,  to  raise  an 
 indictment  against  him  for  the  said  crimes,  and  to 
 pursue  him  before  the  Court.  At  the  same  time,  the 
 Council  consulted  about  the  punishment  which  should 
 be  inflicted  upon  him.  Some  proposed  that  his  right 
 hand  should  be  cut  off ;  others,  alleging  that  he  might 
 learn  to  practise  with  his  left,  thought  that  he  should 
 
 *  Burnet  speaks  as  if  Mitchell  confessed  that  there  was  one  person  privy 
 t)  his  design;  but  in  Mitchell's  confession,  as  recorded  in  the  Register  of 
 the  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  he  deponed  upon  oath  that  no  living  creature 
 knew  of  it.  In  his  letter  to  a  friend,  February  IGTi,  formerly  referred  to, 
 he  makes  a  similar  stateiueut.    Naphtali,  p.  410. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 65 
 
 be  deprived  of  both  hands.  One  of  them  moved  that 
 since  life  was  promised  him,  which  the  amputation  of 
 of  a  limb  might  endanger,  it  were  better  to  confine  him 
 for  life  in  the  prison  of  the  Bass.*  But  the  sentence 
 upon  which  they  ultimately  determined  was,  that  his 
 right  hand  should  be  cut  off  by  the  common  hangman 
 at  the  Cross  of  Edinburgh,  and  that  his  whole  goods 
 and  property  should  be  forfeited.  This  sentence,  how- 
 ever, was  not  to  be  executed  till  his  Majesty  was  pre- 
 viously acquainted.  Mitchell,  who  at  that  time  appears 
 to  have  had  some  fears  of  being  condemned  to  death, 
 notwithstanding  the  assurance  of  life  which  had  been 
 given  him,  wrote  a  long  letter  to  a  friend  from  the 
 Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  dated  16th  February  1674,  in 
 his  own  vindication,  Avith  the  speech  which  he  intended 
 to  deliver  from  the  scaffold.t 
 
 On  the  2d  of  March,  he  is  brought  before  the  Lords 
 of  Justiciary,  and  impeached  for  being  concerned  in  the 
 Pentland  rising,  and  for  attempting  to  assassinate  Arch- 
 bishop Sharp.  Of  these  charges  the  sole  evidence  was 
 his  OAvn  confession  ;  and  to  make  this  available  for 
 his  conviction,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  repeat 
 it  before  the  Justiciary  Court,  it  being  illegal  to  use 
 I  lie  extrajudicicd  confession  of  a  pannel  against  him- 
 self, as  was  that  of  Mitchell  before  the  committee  of 
 Council  and  the  Council  itself  Every  effort  was  there- 
 fore made  to  induce  him  to  make  a  judicial  confes- 
 sion ;  and  this  he  might  have  been  prevailed  on  to  do, 
 had  not  the  judge,  wlio  hated  Sharp,  whispered  to  him 
 in  passing  to  the  bench,  "  Confess  nothing,  unless  you 
 are  sure  of  your  limbs  as  well  as  of  your  life."  Bv 
 this  hint  his  fears  being  excited,  he  peremptorily  rc- 
 
 •  Burnet's  History  ufhis  <iwn  Times,  vol.  ii.  pp.  125,  126. 
 t  See  these  papers  in  Naphtali,  pp.  3U9-120. 
 
 V 
 
66 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 fused  to  own  or  subscribe  the  confession  lie  had  made 
 before  the  Council,  although  told  by  the  Lords  of  J us- 
 ticiary  and  his  Majesty's  Advocate,  that,  by  doing  so, 
 he  should  have  the  benefit  of  the  assurance  of  life 
 which  had  been  given  him,  but  that  otherwise  he  would 
 lose  it* 
 
 Thus  defeated  in  their  object,  the  Council,  on  the 
 12th  of  March,  passed  an  Act,  in  which,  after  stating 
 that  Mitchell  having  retired  with  one  of  the  committee 
 of  Council,  appointed  to  examine  him  as  to  his  concern 
 in  the  attempts  upon  the  life  of  Sharp,  "  did  then  con- 
 fess upon  his  knees  he  was  the  person,  u2)on  assurance 
 given  him  by  one  of  the  committee  as  to  his  life,  who 
 had  warrant  from  the  Lord  Commissioner  and  Council 
 to  give  the  same,"  they  declare  that,  as  he  refused  to 
 adhere  judicially  to  that  confession,  they  were  free  from 
 their  promise  or  assurance,  which  was  now  altogether 
 void  ;  that  the  pannel  ought  not  to  have  the  benefit  of 
 it ;  and  that  the  Lords  Justiciary  and  the  jury  ought  to 
 proceed  without  any  respect  to  such  an  assurance.  The 
 meaning  of  this,  says  Bishop  Burnet,  was,  "  that  if  any 
 other  evidence  was  brought  against  him,  the  promise 
 should  not  cover  him,  but  it  still  was  understood  that 
 this  promise  secured  him  from  any  ill  effect  of  his  own 
 confession/'  Such  is  obviously  the  natural  meaning  ; 
 but  whether  this  was  the  sense  in  which  the  Council 
 understood  their  own  declaration,  it  is  not  so  easy  to 
 say.  The  Council  at  the  same  meeting,  having  thus,  as 
 they  conceived,  released  themselves  from  the  obliga- 
 tion of  a  solemn  oath,  and  determined  to  proceed  with 
 vigour  in  his  trial,  "  did,  in  order  thereto,  ordain  let- 
 ters to  be  direct  for  citing  of  witnesses  to  appear  be- 
 
 *  Burnet's  IIistor7  of  hie  own  Times,  vol.  ii.  pp.  125-127. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 67 
 
 fore  them,  at  a  certain  day,  or  such  as  they  shall  ap- 
 point, under  the  pain  of  rebellion/' 
 
 Matters  being  thus  prepared,  he  was  again  brought 
 before  the  Justiciary  Court  on  the  25th  of  March,  but 
 there  being  no  evidence  except  his  own  extrajudicial 
 confession  made  before  the  Council,  which  he  now  re- 
 tracted, the  Lords  of  Justiciary,  with  consent  of  his 
 Majesty's  Advocate,  deserted  the  diet.  Mitchell  ought 
 now,  according  to  law  and  justice,  to  have  been  set  at 
 liberty,  but  instead  of  this  he  was  recommitted  to  pri- 
 son. After  lying  there  the  greater  part  of  two  years, 
 he  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  escape,  which  be- 
 ing discovered,  caused  him  to  be  more  closely  watched, 
 as  appears  from  the  act  of  Council,  dated  16th  Decem- 
 ber 1675  : — "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Coun- 
 cil being  informed  that  Mr  James  Mitchell,  prisoner 
 in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  hath  attempted  to  make 
 his  escape  by  breaking  up  through  the  prison,  do  or- 
 dain the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  cause  remove 
 him  from  the  room  in  which  he  is  at  present,  to  the 
 other  side  of  the  prison  called  the  Old  Tolbooth,  and 
 to  take  such  other  course  for  securing  him  from  mak- 
 ing his  escape,  as  they  will  be  answerable  at  their 
 peril."  For  securing  him  the  more  eflPectually,  he  was 
 laid  in  irons. 
 
 On  the  6th  of  January  1676,  the  Council  came  to  a 
 resolution  to  put  him  to  the  torture  before  the  Court 
 of  Ju.sticiary,  with  the  view  of  compelling  him  to  own 
 judicially  tlie  confession  which  he  had  made  to  tlie 
 Council  concerning  his  accession  to  the  Pentland  in- 
 surrection. The  examination  upon  torture  was  to  be 
 exclusively  confined  to  this.  The  reason  why  his  con- 
 fession as  to  his  attempted  assassination  of  Sharp  was 
 not  included,  docs  not  appear. 
 
68 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Previous  to  the  day  appointed  for  his  examination 
 by  torture,  he  was  brought  before  the  committee  of 
 Council,  and  the  Lords  of  Justiciary,  on  two  different 
 occasions,  namely  on  the  18th  and  22d  of  January, 
 with  the  view  of  bringing  him  to  adhere  to  his  former 
 confession,  but  this  he  refused  to  do.  On  the  second 
 occasion,  the  Earl  of  Linlithgow,  who  was  preses  of 
 the  Council,  addressed  him  thus  : — "  Sir,  you  are  here 
 again,  that  we  may  know  whether  you  will  adhere  to 
 your  former  confession,''  and  opened  a  paper  to  the 
 pannel,  which  he  alleged  was  his  subscribed  confes- 
 sion. Mitchell  answered,  "  My  Lord,  I  acknowledge 
 no  such  thing."  "  Then,  Sir,"  returned  the  preses, 
 pointing  to  the  boots,  "  you  see  what  is  upon  the 
 table  before  you,  I  shall  see  if  that  can  cause  you  do 
 it."  Mitchell  replied  with  much  good  sense,  and  as 
 became  a  Christian  and  a  freeman,  "  My  Lord,  I  con- 
 fess that  by  that  torture  you  may  cause  me  blaspheme 
 God,  as  Saul  did  compel  the  saints  ;  you  may  by  that 
 torture  cause  me  to  speak  amiss  of  your  Lordships,  to 
 call  myself  a  thief,  a  murderer,  or  warlock,  and  what 
 not,  and  then  pannel  me  upon  it.  But  if  you  shall, 
 my  Lords,  put  me  to  it,  I  here  protest  before  God  and 
 your  Lordships,  that  nothing  extorted  from  me  by  tor- 
 ture shall  be  made  use  of  against  me  in  judgment,  nor 
 have  any  force  against  me  in  law,  or  any  person  what- 
 soever. But  to  be  plain  with  your  Lordships,  I  am  so 
 much  a  Christian,  that  whatever  your  Lordships  shall 
 legally  prove  against  me,  if  it  be  a  truth,  I  will  not 
 deny  it.  But,  my  Lord,  on  the  contrary,  I  am  so  much 
 a  man,  yea  and  a  Scotsman,  that  I  never  held  myself 
 obliged,  either  by  the  law  of  God  or  nature,  or  by  the 
 law  of  the  nation,  to  become  my  own  accuser."  Re- 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 69 
 
 fusing  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  subscribed  the  pa- 
 j   per,  he  was  again  sent  back  to  prison. 
 
 Upon  the  24th,  according  to  the  appointment  of  the 
 Council,  the  committee  of  Council  and  Lords  of  Justi- 
 ciary, in  their  robes,  constituted  into  a  court,  assem- 
 bled in  the  Parliament  House,  where  the  Justiciary 
 Court  was  ordinarily  held.  The  executioner  was 
 also  present  with  the  boots.  Mitchell  being  brought 
 before  the  bar,  was  asked  by  the  Lord  Preses  if  he 
 would  yet  confess  before  he  was  put  to  the  tortura 
 He  still  declined ;  and  after  protesting  before  God  and 
 their  Lordships,  that  whatever  might  be  extorted  from 
 him  by  torture,  should  not  be  made  use  of  against  him 
 or  any  other  person  in  judgment,  nor  have  any  force 
 in  law,  he  said,  "  You  may  call  the  man  whom  you 
 have  appointed  to  your  work."  A  macer  was  in- 
 stantly ordered  to  call  upon  the  executioner  and  two 
 officers,  who  bound  him  in  an  arm-chair,  and  bringing 
 the  boots,  inquired  which  of  his  legs  they  should  take. 
 The  Lords  bade  the  executioner  take  any  of  them, 
 Mj)on  which  he  laid  the  left  leg  in  the  boot.  But 
 Mitchell,  lifting  it  out,  said,  "  Since  the  judges  have 
 not  determined  it,  take  the  best  of  the  two,  for  I 
 freely  bestow  it  in  the  cause  and  put  his  right  leg 
 into  the  engine.*  After  the  torture  was  begun,  the 
 King's  Advocate  lectured  him  upon  the  sovereignty  of 
 the  magistrate,  and  on  the  sinfulness  of  lying  upon 
 
 •  The  instrument  callod  tlio  Boots,  consisted  of  four  pieces  of  wood  very 
 firmly  fastened  together,  so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  box  oaiKtblo  of  adrait- 
 tinj^  the  leg.  Into  this  were  inserted  moveable  staves,  between  whicli 
 and  the  box  a  wedge  was  driven,  so  as  to  squeeze  or  compress  the  leg  to 
 almost  any  degree  according  to  the  number  of  strokes  given  to  it.  Bishop 
 Burnet  ol»serve8  that  the  common  torture  was  only  to  drive  the  wcdgea 
 between  the  instrument  and  the  calf  of  the  log,  but  that  he  had  becu 
 told  that  they  were  sometimos  driven  in  between  it  and  tlio  shin-bono. 
 
70 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 any  account.  Mitchell  replied,  I  would  say  more 
 than  the  advocate,  I  would  say  that  the  magistrate 
 whom  God  hath  appointed  is  Grod's  deputy,  and  that 
 both  the  throne  and  the  judgment  are  the  Lord's, 
 while  he  judges  for  God,  and  according  to  the  law  of 
 God,  and  that  a  great  part  of  his  office  is  to  deliver 
 the  oppressed  out  of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor,  and  to 
 shed  no  innocent  blood  ;  and  that  not  only  lying  is 
 sinful,  but  that  a  pernicious  speaking  of  the  truth 
 is  a  dreadful  sin  before  God,  when  it  tends  to  the 
 shedding  of  innocent  blood.''  During  the  torture,  up- 
 wards of  thirty  written  questions  were  put  to  him, 
 and  his  answers  were  taken  down  from  his  mouth. 
 The  executioner,  at  every  stroke,  inquired  if  he  had 
 any  more  to  say,  to  which  Mitchell  answered,  "  No 
 more,  my  Lords."  At  the  ninth  stroke,  he  fainted 
 through  the  extremity  of  pain,  upon  which  the  execu- 
 tioner exclaimed,  "  Alas  !  my  Lords,  he  is  gone,  he  is 
 gone."  Then  the  torture  was  stopped.  Recovering  in 
 a  short  time,  he  was  carried  to  prison  in  the  chair  on 
 which  he  had  suffered.  It  was  proposed  to  subject  the 
 other  leg  to  the  same  treatment,  but  some  of  his  friends, 
 on  hearing  of  this,  having  sent  a  letter  to  Sharp,  assur- 
 ing him  that  if  he  persisted  in  torturing  the  pannel, 
 he  should  have  a  shot  from  a  steadier  hand ;  nothing 
 farther  of  the  kind  was  attempted.*  Mitchell  endured 
 this  cruel  treatment  with  much  courage  and  fortitude, 
 discovering  nothing  which  could  implicate  either  him- 
 self or  others,  and  thus  entirely  defeated  the  end  pro- 
 posed by  his  inhuman  persecutors.! 
 
 *  Law's  Memorials,  p.  85. 
 
 t  Mr  .John  Carstairs,  in  a  letter  to  Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  dated  February 
 16. 1G76,  says,  "  You  have  heard,  no  doubt,  ere  now,  of  Mr  James  Mitchell's 
 torture  by  the  boot,  and  of  his  honest  and  resolute  courage  under  it,  and 
 of  the  Lord's  helping,  so  that  no  advantage  was  got  of  him.    There  was 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 71 
 
 Mitchell  continued  in  tlie  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh 
 till  the  80th  January  1677,  when  he  and  Mr  James 
 Fraser  of  Brea  were  carried  to  the  Bass  by  a  guard  of 
 twelve  horse  and  thirty  foot,  and,  on  their  arrival, 
 were  delivered  to  the  governor  of  the  garrison.  Here 
 he  lay  in  close  confinement  and  gi'eat  misery  till  near 
 the  end  of  the  year,  being  denied  the  mitigation  which 
 was  granted  to  the  other  prisoners. 
 
 But  the  revenge  of  Sharp  could  be  satisfied  with 
 nothing  less  than  the  Life  of  his  enemy,  and  on  the  9th 
 of  October,  the  Council,  doubtless  by  his  instigation, 
 recommend  to  his  Majesty's  Advocate*  to  insist  crimi- 
 nally against  Mitchell  for  his  attempted  assassination. 
 On  the  6th  December,  they  grant  the  advocate  war- 
 rant and  order  to  raise  a  criminal  process  before  the 
 Justiciary  Court  against  him  for  the  alleged  crime, 
 and  ordained  that  he  should  be  transported  prisoner 
 from  the  Bass  to  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  by  a  suf- 
 ficient party  of  horse  and  foot,  where  he  was  to  be 
 kept  close  prisoner  until  he  received  his  indictment ; 
 requiring  the  keeper  of  the  Tolbooth,  during  the  whole 
 time  of  his  imprisonment,  to  keep  him  "  in  sure  fir- 
 mance  that  he  escape  not,  as  he  would  be  answer- 
 able." His  indictment  was  now  limited  to  the  at- 
 tempt upon  the  bishops,  and  his  trial  commenced  on 
 the  7th  of  January  1678.  Sir  Archibald  Primrose, 
 lately  turned  out  of  the  office  of  Lord  Register,  to 
 make  way  for  a  friend  of  Lauderdale,  and  made  Jus- 
 tice-General, presided  at  the  trial.  Mitchell's  counsels 
 were  Sir  George  Lockhart  and  Mr  John  Ellis.  Both 
 
 much  talking  of  putting  him  to  further  torture  by  Halton's  instigation, 
 from  which  others  were  averse,  looking  on  it  as  cruel."  Wodrow  MSS. 
 Tol.  lix.  folio,  no.  47. 
 
 •  Sir  George  M'Kenzie  of  Rosehaugh,  called  "  the  bl...;.Jy  M  Kenzie." 
 
72 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 these  eminent  lawyers,  and  particularly  the  former, 
 pled  his  cause  with  much  ability,  and  they  would  have 
 succeeded  in  bringing  him  off,  had  it  not  been  the  de- 
 termination of  Sharp  to  have  his  life.  After  long  de- 
 bate upon  the  points  libelled,  both  on  that  day  and 
 on  the  9  til  of  the  same  month  to  which  the  Court  ad- 
 journed, the  Lords  Justiciary  found  the  several  parts 
 of  the  indictment  relevant,  and  that  his  confession  on 
 the  16th  of  February  1674,  in  presence  of  his  Majesty's 
 High  Commissioner  and  Lords  of  Privy  Council,  was 
 judicial,  and  could  not  be  retracted ;  but  that  the  de- 
 fence urged  by  Mitchell  against  the  said  confession, 
 viz.  That  the  same  was  made  upon  promise  or  assur- 
 ance of  impunity  of  life  and  limb,  was  relevant  to  se- 
 cure him  as  to  life  and  limb,  in  case  the  defence  should 
 be  proven.  All  these  points  being  remitted  to  a  jury, 
 and  the  jury  being  sworn,  and  no  objections  made  to 
 them,  the  Court  proceeded  with  the  probation.  The 
 depositions  of  the  witnesses  examined,  failed  in  prov- 
 ing the  guilt  of  the  prisoner.  The  great  proof  against 
 him  was  his  own  confession,  made  about  four  years 
 before,  and  as  he  had  been  induced  to  make  it  upon  a 
 solemn  promise  of  the  Council  that  his  life  would  be 
 spared,  it  ought,  in  the  absence  of  all  other  evidence, 
 to  have  secured  him  against  capital  punishment.  But 
 to  deprive  him  of  the  benefit  of  that  promise,  the 
 Earl  of  Rothes,  Chancellor,  Lord  Halton,  Treasurer- 
 Depute,  and  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  the  King's  Com- 
 missioner, solemnly  swore  that  no  such  promise  had 
 ever  been  made  to  him  ;  while  Sharp,  in  like  manner, 
 swore  that  he  never  heard  any  promise  of  life  given 
 him  by  the  Council,  and  that  lie  had  never  promised 
 to  Nicol  Sommervail  to  use  his  endeavours  to  obtain 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 73 
 
 favour  for  Mitchell,  upon  his  making  a  free  and  full 
 confession.*  The  depositions  of  these  four  individuals, 
 the  most  remarkable  in  the  prosecution,  excited  the 
 astonishment  of  all  who  were  present,  and  struck  with 
 horror  every  mind  which  had  any  sense  of  the  solem- 
 nity of  an  oath.  Four  of  the  principal  officers  of  state 
 thus  came  forward,  and  deliberately  perjured  them- 
 selves in  the  face  of  the  country  to  accomplish  the 
 death  of  an  individual  for  whose  blood  they  thirsted. 
 Lockhart,  upon  this,  produced  a  copy  of  the  act  of 
 Council,  containing  the  promise  made  to  Mitchell,! 
 craved  that  the  Register  of  Council  containing  that 
 act  might  be  produced,  or  the  clerk  obliged  to  give  an 
 extract,  and  desired  that  he  and  the  other  procurator 
 for  the  pannel  might  be  heard  in  writing  upon  it.  He 
 pleaded,  that  since  the  Court  had  judged  that  the 
 
 •  "  The  Archbishop,  on  oath,  likewise  denies  the  promise  of  life,  say- 
 ing it  was  not  in  his  power  to  grant  remissions.  Nicoll  Sommervail,  the 
 .'I'^ent,  brother-in-law  to  the  pannel,  boldly  contradicted  him,  and  bid  him 
 romember  such  and  such  times  and  words,  and  seemed  to  make  his  nar- 
 r;ition  very  probable.  The  Archbishop  fell  in  a  mighty  chaff  and  pas- 
 sion, exceedingly  unbecoming  his  station,  and  the  circumstances  he  was 
 then  stated  in,  and  fell  a  scolding  before  thousands  of  onlookers.  Nicoll 
 yielded  in  nothing;  and  after  the  Bishop  had  sworn,  he  cried  out,  that, 
 upon  his  salvation,  what  he  had  affirmed  was  true  ;  which  was  to  accuse 
 the  Archbishop  of  downright  perjury  ;  but  it  was  overlooked,  because 
 justo  dolori  temperare  non  poterat,  and  the  misfortune  was,  that  few  there 
 but  they  believed  Nicoll  better  than  the  Archbii^hop."  Fountainhall's 
 MSS.  vol.  i.  quoted  in  Kirkton's  History,  pp.  385,  386.  Wodrow  informs 
 us,  that  when  Sommervail  maintained,  in  the  face  of  the  Court,  that 
 Sharp  had  promised  to  secure  Mitchell's  life,  provided  he  confessed,  Sharp 
 boldly  denied  having  done  any  such  thing,  and  called  it  a  villanous  lie. 
 History,  vol.  ii.  p.  472. 
 
 t  Primrose,  the  L«»rd  Justice-General,  who  bore  the  deepest  malice 
 against  these  four  members  of  the  Government,  and  who  was  much  grati- 
 fied at  the  thought,  that  they  were  to  appear  before  him  to  i)erjuj  e  them- 
 selves, had  taken  a  copy  of  the  act  from  the  Books  uf  Council,  and  sent  it 
 to  Lockhart. 
 
74 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Council  was  a  judicature,*  all  persons  had  a  right  to 
 search  into  their  registers,  and  the  prisoner,  who  was 
 in  danger  of  suffering  on  the  ground  of  a  confession 
 made  before  the  Council,  ought  to  have  the  benefit  of 
 these  books.  The  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  who  was  in 
 Court  only  as  a  witness,  and  who  had  therefore  no 
 right  to  speak,  stood  up  and  said,  that  he  and  the  other 
 officers  of  state  had  come  thither  in  obedience  to  a  ci- 
 tation upon  his  Majesty's  letters  of  exculpation  to  de- 
 pone, and  not  to  be  accused  of  perjury  ;  adding,  that 
 the  books  of  Council  were  the  King's  secrets,  and  that 
 no  court  should  be  allowed  to  peruse  them.  The  Court 
 was  thus  overawed,  and  divided  in  opinion.  Primrose, 
 and  another  lord,  were  for  calling  the  books,  but  three 
 opposed  this,  on  the  ground  of  informality,  arguing,  that 
 as  "  the  copy  of  the  pretended  act  of  Council  produced, 
 was  never  urged  or  made  use  of,  nor  any  diligence  craved 
 for  producing  the  Registers  of  Council,  until  this  after- 
 noon that  the  assize  was  sworn  ;  after  which,  no  dili- 
 gence can  be  allowed  or  granted,  in  this  state  of  the 
 process,  by  the  laws  of  the  kingdom.'^t  This  defence 
 being  thus  rejected, — although  a  copy  of  the  act  which 
 Mitchell's  procurators  produced  was  publicly  read,  by 
 the  consent  of  the  King's  Advocate,  but  rejected  as  evi- 
 
 *  To  prove  that  Mitchell's  confession  before  the  Council  was  judicial, 
 the  King's  Advocate  asserted  in  his  reasoning  upon  the  articles  of  the 
 libel,  that  the  Privy  Council  was  the  supreme  judicatory  of  the  nation, 
 and  a  competent  judge  in  his  case.  Lockhart  shewed,  with  much  force  of 
 evidence,  that  the  Privy  Council  was  not  the  proper  court  for  such  crimes, 
 and  that,  when  taking  the  prisoner's  confession,  they  were  not  sitting  as 
 a  court  of  judicature.  But  this  was  overruled  by  the  Court,  and  the  con- 
 fession was  found  to  be  judicial, 
 
 t  "  It  choaked,"  says  an  eminent  lawyer,  "  the  principles  of  both  crimi- 
 nal law  and  equity  to  say  it  was  too  late,  for  mmquam  in  criminalihus  con- 
 duditur  contra  rera,  any  time  before  the  enclosing  of  the  assize."  Foun- 
 tiiinhall's  MSS.  vol.  i.  quoted  in  Kirkton's  History,  p.  386. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 75 
 
 dence,  because  it  was  a  bare  copy  not  attested  upon  oath ;  . 
 — the  jury  were  immediately  ordained  to  be  enclosed,  i 
 and  to  return  their  verdict  to-morrow  (10th  of  the  ' 
 month)  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.    Their  verdict  j 
 was,  that  they  had  unanimously  found  it  proven,  that  I 
 he  had  invaded  the  Archbishop  of  St  Andrews,  and  the  ' 
 Bishop  of  Orkney,  the  latter  of  whom  he  had  wounded,  | 
 and  that  he  had  confessed  these  crimes  before  his  Ma-  i 
 jesty's  High  Commissioner  and  Council,  but  that  his  j 
 exculpation  was  not  proven.*   Upon  the  return  of  this 
 verdict,  he  was  sentenced  "  to  be  taken  to  the  Grass-  j 
 market  of  Edinburgh,  upon  Friday,  the  18th  day  of  ! 
 January  instant,  betwixt  two  and  four  o'clock  in  the 
 iifternoon,  and  there  to  be  hanged  on  a  gibbet  till  he 
 ^('  dead,  and  all  his  moveable  goods  and  gear  to  be 
 
 cheat  and  inbrought  to  his  Majesty's  use." 
 
 As  soon  as  the  Court  broke  up,  and  the  four  lords 
 who  had  been  examined,  went  up  to  a  room  above  the 
 Court  in  which  the  books  of  Council  lay,  they  found 
 the  act  containing  the  promise  of  pardon  recorded, 
 and  signed  by  Lord  Rothes,  as  President  of  Council.t 
 Lauderdale,  for  a  momont  relenting,  seemed  inclined 
 
 •  To  obtain  such  a  verdict  as  was  desired,  the  jury  was  picked.    *•  It 
 was  judged  ane  argument  of  a  bad  deplorat  cause,"  says  Fountainhall, 
 "  that  they  summoned  and  picked  out  an  assize  of  soldiers,  under  the  j 
 King's  pay,  and  others  who,  as  they  imagined,  would  be  clear  to  condemn 
 him."    Quoted  in  Kirkton's  History,  p.  386. 
 
 t  It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  so  many  could  have  lost  all  recol- 
 lection of  the  promise  of  life  made  to  Mitchell,  especially  as  they  had  been 
 reminded  of  it.  Mitchell,  at  the  l)ar,  entreated  the  Chancellor  to  remember 
 the  honour  of  the  family  of  Rothes,  and  to  mind  that  he  took  him  by  the 
 hand  and  said,  *' Jacobe,now  confess,  and  as  I  am  Chancellor  of  Scotland 
 ye  shall  bo  safe  in  life  and  limb."  Fountainhall's  MSS.  "  They  were 
 not  probably  aware,"  Fays  Hume,  "  when  they  swore,  that  the  clerk  hav- 
 ing engrossed  the  promise  of  pardon  in  the  narrative  of  Mitchell's  confes-  ^ 
 sion,  the  whole  minutes  had  been  signed  by  the  Chancellor,  and  that  the 
 proofs  of  their  perjury  were  by  that  moans  committed  to  record."  See  , 
 p.  66. 
 
 j 
 
76 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 to  grant  a  reprieve  to  Mitchell,  and  to  refer  the  mat- 
 ter to  the  King  ;  but  Sharp,  proving  inexorable,  rigidly 
 insisted  on  his  execution,  alleging,  that  for  favour  to 
 be  shewn  to  such  an  assassin,  was,  upon  the  matter,  to 
 expose  his  person  to  any  man  that  would  attempt  to 
 murder  him.  Then,''  said  Lauderdale,  with  a  pro- 
 fane and  heartless  jest,  let  Mitchell  glorify  God  in 
 the  Grrassmarket/'  "  This  action,''  says  Burnet,  "  and 
 all  concerned  in  it,  were  looked  at  by  all  people  Avith 
 horror.  And  it  was  such  a  complication  of  treachery, 
 perjury,  and  cruelty,  as  the  like  had  not  perhaps  been 
 known."  He  adds,  "  Primrose  not  only  gave  me  an 
 account  of  this  matter,  but  sent  me  an  authentic  re- 
 cord of  the  trial,  every  page  signed  by  the  clerk  of  the 
 Court,  of  which  I  have  here  given  an  abstract.  This 
 I  set  down  the  more  fully,  to  let  my  readers  see  to  what 
 a  height  of  wickedness  man  may  be  carried,  after  they 
 have  once  thrown  off  good  principles.  What  Sharp 
 did  now  to  preserve  his  life  from  such  practices,  was 
 probably  that  which,  both  in  the  just  judgment  of  God, 
 and  the  infatuated  fury  of  wicked  men,  brought  him, 
 two  years  after,  to  such  a  dismal  end.  Primrose  did 
 most  inhumanly  triumph  in  this  matter,  and  said  it 
 was  the  greatest  glory  of  his  life  that  the  four  greatest 
 enemies  he  had,  should  come  and  consign  the  damna- 
 tion of  their  souls  in  his  hands.  I  told  him  that  was 
 an  expression  fitter  for  a  devil  than  a  Christian."* 
 
 Two  days  after  the  pronouncing  of  Mitchell's  doom, 
 orders  came  from  the  Court,  which  were  doubtless  pro- 
 cured by  Sharp,  that  his  head  and  hands  should  be 
 fixed  on  the  gates  of  the  city  ;  but  it  was  found  that 
 the  sentence  could  not  be  altered,  and  thus  the  re- 
 vengeful spirit  of  Sharp  was  deprived  of  the  gratifica- 
 
 *  Burnet's  History  of  his  own  Times,  pp.  125-132. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 77 
 
 tion  of  seeing  the  mangled  members  of  his  enemy  ex- 
 hibited as  a  public  spectacle.*    About  the  same  time, 
 
 ;  Mitchell's  wife,  Elizabeth  Sommervail,  presented  to 
 the  Council  a  petition,  beseeching,  in  very  affecting 
 terms,  that  their  Lordships  would  reprieve  him  for 
 
 I  some  time,  to  afford  her  an  opportunity  of  seeing  him, 
 and  taking  a  last  farewell,  which  she  could  not  at  that 
 time  do,  having  been  recently  delivered  of  a  child,  and 
 being  then  afflicted  with  fever.  But  this  petition*  was 
 rejected.  In  terms  of  the  sentence,  he  was  executed 
 at  the  Grassmarket  on  the  18th  of  January,  and  re- 
 
 \  signed  himself  to  his  fate  with  unshrinking  fortitude. 
 
 •  The  concluding  sentence  of  what  he  designed  for  his 
 speech  on  the  scaffold,  but  which  being  interrupted  by 
 
 J  the  beating  of  drums  in  attempting  to  deliver  it,  he 
 
 i  threw  over  the  scaffold,  and  some  copies  of  which  he 
 gave  to  a  few  of  his  friends,  is  in  these  words, — "  Fare- 
 well, all  earthly  employments  ;  and  welcome.  Father, 
 
 i   Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  into  whose  hands  I  commit  my 
 
 i  spirit." 
 
 I  Such  was  the  closing  scene  of  this  dismal  tragedy  ; 
 on  which  we  have  dwelt  the  longer,  because  it  sets  in  a 
 clear  light  the  unprincipled  character  of  the  men  who 
 were  conducting  the  persecution  against  the  Presby- 
 terians. From  such  men  good  government  was  not 
 to  be  expected,  and  every  thing  to  be  feared  which 
 the  malignant  passions  might  dictate.  The  attempt  of 
 Mitchell,  though  we  believe  him  to  have  been  a  man 
 of  piety,  and,  with  this  single  exception,  of  unblemished 
 life,  was  doubtless  criminal  in  itself,  and  what,  had  it 
 been  legally  proved,  demanded  to  be  punished,  though 
 the  punishment  of  death  might  be  deemed  unduly  se- 
 
 *  Kirkton's  History,  p.  384. 
 
 t  It  is  inserted  in  Naphtali.  p.  IKK 
 
78 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 vere.*  But  his  guilt  was  forgotten  by  thinking  men 
 of  all  parties,  in  the  abhorrence  with  which  they  re- 
 garded the  complicated  perfidy,  cruelty,  and  revenge, 
 by  which  the  proceedings  against  him  were  disgraced. 
 
 It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  Presbyterians  can- 
 not be  implicated  in  Mitchell's  attempt.  None  of 
 them  were  concerned  in  it ;  and  nearly  all  of  them,  not- 
 withstanding their  antipathy  to  Sharp,  condemned  it. 
 They  might,  no  doubt,  think  that  the  responsibility 
 connected  with  it  was,  in  a  great  measure,  to  be  laid 
 at  the  door  of  the  government,  whose  violence  and 
 cruelty  were  driving  the  people  to  desperation,  and 
 produced  on  the  mind  of  Mitchell  the  conviction  that 
 liberty  and  the  protection  of  property  and  life  could 
 only  be  secured  by  taking  away  the  life  of  a  man  whom 
 he  believed  to  be  the  chief  author  of  the  sufferings  of 
 his  countrymen  ;  but  they  repudiated  as  dangerous  and 
 unwarrantable  the  principle,  that  he  could  be  justified, 
 as  he  himself  maintained,  from  Phinehas  killing  Cosbi 
 and  Zimri,  and  from  the  law  of  Moses,  which  com- 
 manded that  the  seducer  to  idolatry  should  be  put  to 
 death  by  the  hand  of  those  whom  he  sought  to  seduce. 
 They  were  more  enlightened  interpreters  of  Scripture  ; 
 and  they  sought  relief  by  more  rational  and  defensible 
 means.  Amidst  a  protracted  and  most  exasperating 
 persecution,  there  were  only  a  very  few  individuals 
 whom  a  sense  of  intolerable  oppression  moved,  in  the 
 moment  of  feverish  excitement,  to  revenge  their  own 
 and  their  country's  wrongs  by  assassination.   The  body 
 
 *  "  The  law  that  reached  his  life  was  the  4th  Act  of  the  Parliament 
 1660,  against  invading  and  pursuing  of  counsellors,  though  it^was  only 
 made  ad  terrorem,  and  in  dissuetude,  and  never  practised  as  to  pain  of 
 death;  for  otherwayes,  Conatus  sine  effectu  consummato  nunqiiam  punitur 
 capitalitcr."  Fountainhall's  M8S.  vol.  i.,  quoted  in  Kirkton's  History, 
 p.  384. 
 
JAMES  MITCHELL. 
 
 79 
 
 of  them  indeed  viewed  with  indignation  the  maddened 
 attempts  of  government  to  rob  them  of  their  dearest 
 rights ;  but  it  was  with  restrained,  because  virtuous 
 and  Christian  indignation.  And  if,  at  a  subsequent 
 period,  when  their  feelings  had  become  irritated  and  in- 
 flamed by  a  continued  series  of  almost  unheard-of  cruel- 
 ties, a  portion  of  them  issued  a  Declaration,  denounc- 
 ing vengeance  against  mercenary  spies  and  others  who 
 had  an  active  part  in  shedding  their  blood,*  Avhat  they 
 chiefly  aimed  at  was  to  arrest  the  course  of  persecution, 
 by  inspiring  their  persecutors  with  a  salutary  terror  ; 
 and  so  reluctant  were  they  to  imbrue  their  hands  in 
 blood,  that  only  two  or  three  instances  have  been  ad- 
 duced in  which  that  declaration  led  to  murder.  Never 
 were  men  less  eager  to  take  revenge.  Never  has  any 
 country  or  age  exhibited  a  brighter  example  of  patience 
 and  forbearance  under  such  aggravated  and  long-con- 
 tinued wrongs.  The  Christian  virtues  were  too  largely 
 developed  in  the  Scottish  Covenanters  to  admit  of  the 
 exhibition  of  the  darker  passions  of  our  nature ;  and 
 the  moralist  or  philosopher,  who  would  find  illustra- 
 tions of  the  fanatical  and  sanguinary  in  character,  must 
 search  in  other  fields  than  their  history,  where  happily 
 he  will  glean  but  very  scanty  materials  for  his  purpose. 
 
 *  We  allude  to  "  The  Apologetic  Declaration  and  Admonitory  Vindi- 
 ♦-ation  auent  Intelligencers  and  Informers,"  published  by  the  Society 
 iVople. 
 
80 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 JOHN  GEEIG. 
 
 John  Greig  was  settled  in  Skirling,  a  small  parish  in 
 the  western  side  of  Peebles-shire,  subsequent  to  the  year 
 1649.  Of  his  history  while  in  that  charge,  as  well  as 
 during  the  earlier  part  of  his  life,  nothing  is  now  known. 
 Only  it  is  evident,  that  as  he  had  been  educated  dur- 
 ing the  best  days  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  he  had 
 embraced  those  views  of  ecclesiastical  polity  for  which 
 she  so  strenuously  contended,  and  regarded  them  as 
 worthy  of  every  worldly  sacrifice.  The  first  informa- 
 tion we  have  concerning  him,  relates  to  his  ejection 
 from  his  parish  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  for 
 refusing  to  conform  to  Prelacy.  He  thus  occupies  a 
 place  among  that  noble  band  of  confessors,  whose 
 Christian  principle  and  heroism  in  sacrificing  the  sta- 
 tus and  emoluments  of  their  ofiice  to  their  convic- 
 tions of  truth  and  duty,  entitle  them  to  the  lasting 
 admiration  and  gratitude  of  posterity.  How  he  was 
 employed  during  the  ten  years  subsequent  to  this  we 
 are  not  informed,  for  we  do  not  again  meet  with  him 
 till  1672,  when,  by  the  second  indulgence*  granted  on 
 
 ♦  The  first  indulgence  was  granted  by  a  letter  from  the  king  to  the  Privy 
 Council  in  July  16(59.  Though  in  some  respects  less  objectionable  than 
 the  second,  it  proceeded  from  the  same  source,  the  king's  usurped  supre- 
 macy over  the  church,  and  the  regulations  to  which  it  subjected  ministers 
 were  equally  Erastian.  It  was  extended  to  forty-two  ministers.  Wod- 
 row's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  131-133. 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 81 
 
 the  Sd  of  September  that  year,  he,  with  Mr  James 
 Kirkton,  who  became  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh 
 after  the  revolution,  were  appointed  to  the  parish  of 
 Carstairs  in  Lanarkshire. 
 
 This  indulgence  Greig  for  a  considerable  time  re- 
 fused to  accept,  although  he  occasionally  preached  in 
 Carstairs,  and  ultimately  engaged  to  the  Privy  Council 
 to  confine  himself  to  that  parish.*  He  seems,  however, 
 never  to  have  been  altogether  reconciled  to  it,  for  he 
 was  from  time  to  time  breaking  through  the  restric- 
 tions which  it  imposed  ;  and  considering  its  objection- 
 able character,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  should  have 
 been  embraced  by  any  of  those  who  had  acted  so  disin- 
 terested and  noble  a  part  in  sacrificing  their  worldly  all 
 for  the  sake  of  a  good  conscience  in  1662,  and  who  on 
 the  same  account  had  patiently  endured  poverty  and 
 persecution  during  many  years  subsequent. 
 
 The  second  indulgence,  which  was  granted  to  about 
 eighty  outed  Presbyterian  ministers,  who  by  twos, 
 threes,  and  fours,  were  confined  to  about  fifty-eight  pa- 
 rishes, is  laid  down  in  three  acts.  According  to  the  first 
 act,  the  preamble  of  which  expressly  states,  that  the 
 design  in  conferring  it  is  to  get  rid  of  conventicles,  the 
 indulged  were  to  remain  confined  within  those  parishes 
 allocated  to  them,  where  and  where  alone  they  were 
 allowed  to  preach  and  exercise  the  other  parts  of  their 
 ministerial  function.  According  to  the  second  act, 
 they  were  required  to  observe  rules  of  a  very  stringent 
 character,  such  as  to  marry  or  baptize  only  those  who 
 belonged  to  their  respective  parishes,  or  to  tlie  neigh- 
 bouring parishes  vacant  for  the  time — to  solemnise  the 
 Lord's  Supper  all  upon  the  same  day — to  preach  only  in 
 their  parish  kirks,  and  if  they  presumed  to  preach  in 
 
 •  R.iw'8  Continuation  of  the  Life  of  Robert  IJiiiir. 
 
82 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  church-yards,  or  in  any  other  place,  they  were  to  be 
 reputed  and  punished  as  keepers  of  conventicles — not 
 to  go  out  of  their  own  parishes  without  licence  from  the 
 bishop  of  the  diocese — to  pay  the  ordinary  dues  to 
 bursars,  clerks  of  Presbyteries  and  Synods  ;  and  in  the 
 exercise  of  discipline,  all  such  cases  as  were  formerly 
 referable  to  Presbyteries  were  to  continue  still  to  be  so. 
 By  the  third  act,  the  outed  ministers,  not  indulged,  were 
 required  to  hear  and  communicate  in  the  kirk  of  the 
 parish  where  each  happened  to  reside,  or  to  remove  to 
 some  other  parish  where  they  would  be  ordinary  hearers 
 and  communicants,  and  if  they  should  reside  in  the 
 parish  of  any  indulged  minister,  they  were  allowed  to 
 preach  there  on  his  invitation,  but  not  otherwise  ;  and 
 if  they  should  take  upon  them  to  preach  and  perform 
 other  functions  of  the  ministry,  the  sheriffs  and  other 
 magistrates  of  the  bounds  were  required  to  search  for, 
 seize  upon,  and  imprison  them,  and  give  information 
 to  the  Lords  of  Council,  who  were  to  determine  what 
 punishment  should  be  inflicted  upon  them.* 
 
 It  is  evident,  at  first  sight,  that  this  indulgence  was 
 in  a  very  high  degree  objectionable.  It  proceeded  from 
 the  supremacy  in  ecclesiastical  matters  claimed  by  the 
 Crown,  and  was  a  glaring  encroachment  upon  the  in- 
 trinsic rights  of  the  Church,  and  upon  the  liberties  of 
 the  ambassadors  of  Christ,  whom  it  degraded  and  en- 
 slaved, by  bringing  them,  in  the  discharge  of  their 
 Christian  ministry,  under  the  immediate  inspection 
 and  control  of  the  civil  authority,  which  claimed  the 
 power  of  excluding  from  or  appointing  to  the  exercise 
 of  the  ministry  whom  they  pleased, — of  arbitrarily  fix- 
 ing and  restricting  them  to  whatever  parishes  they 
 thought  fit, — of  prescribing  to  them  rules  how  to  dis- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  203-206. 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 83 
 
 charge  their  ministerial  functions, — of  calling  them  to 
 an  account  for  their  obedience  thereto, — and  of  sus- 
 pending and  silencing  such  as  disobeyed  their  instruc- 
 tions. It  laid  an  interdict  upon  the  extension  of  the 
 gospel,  by  yoking  them  by  twos,  threes,  and  fours,  to  a 
 parish,  confining  them  there  as  malefactors,  and  thus 
 depriving  the  rest  of  the  Church  of  the  benefit  of  their 
 labours,  at  a  time  when  there  was  never  more  need  of 
 the  faithful  preaching  of  the  gospel,  nor  greater  desire 
 among  the  people  to  enjoy  it.  It  was  granted  with 
 the  express  intention,  as  is  plainly  asserted  in  the  pre- 
 amble to  the  first  act,  of  suppressing  the  free  preach- 
 ing of  the  gospel  at  those  meetings,  nicknamed  con- 
 venticles, which  had  been  eminently  blessed  of  God 
 for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  true  religion  ;  and 
 it  gave  to  the  Government  a  pretext  for  persecuting 
 with  greater  severity  those  who  would  not  accept  of 
 it,  as  obstinate  and  impracticable  fanatics,  whom  no 
 favour  could  conciliate.  It  entirely  deprived  the  in- 
 dulged ministers  of  the  power  of  exercising  church  go- 
 vernment, an  essential  part  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
 as  appears  from  the  last  clause  of  the  last  act ;  and 
 thus,  among  other  things  necessary  for  the  good  of  the 
 Church,  they  were  precluded  from  licensing  or  ordain- 
 ing men,  for  the  preservation  of  a  succession  of  faith- 
 ful ministers. 
 
 Such  being  the  character  of  this  indulgence,  it  is  not 
 surprising  to  find  that  many  of  the  Presbyterians  re- 
 garded the  acceptance  of  it  as  involving  a  sacrifice  of 
 principle ;  and  that  the  indulgences  proved  more  dis- 
 astrous to  their  cause  than  all  that  they  had  suffered 
 from  their  enemies,  by  dividing  them  in  their  views 
 as  to  the  grounds  of  their  common  suft'ering,  creating 
 
84 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 jealousies,  animosities,  and  separation,  where  sympa- 
 thy, affection,  and  union,  were  so  much  required. 
 
 After  the  indulgence  was  published,  several  meet- 
 ings were  held  among  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  to 
 consider  whether  or  not  it  should  be  accepted.  There 
 appeared  much  opposition,  but  nothing  determinate 
 was  agreed  upon  ;  and  the  greater  part  to  whom  it  was 
 extended  ultimately  accepted  it,  conceiving  that  the 
 amount  of  liberty  which  it  granted,  might  be  embraced 
 without  homologating  the  Erastian  power  of  the  ma- 
 gistrate, from  which  they  admitted  that  it  proceeded, 
 or  sanctioning  its  objectionable  restrictions,  against 
 both  which  some  of  them  protested  when  they  first 
 entered  their  pulpits.* 
 
 Greig,  and  such  ministers  as  like  him  refused  to  ac- 
 cept of  the  indulgence,  were  special  objects  of  the  jeal- 
 ousy and  resentment  of  the  Government,  which  could 
 see  their  conduct  in  no  other  light  than  as  an  obsti- 
 nate rejection  of  a  favour,  for  which  they  ought  to 
 have  been  very  thankful.  Provided  he  had  gone  to 
 his  confinement,  and  observed  the  imposed  restric- 
 tions, he  would  have  enjoyed  outward  peace.  But  de- 
 clining to  do  this,  and  preaching,  as  occasion  offered, 
 in  other  places  besides  Carstairs,  he  was  soon  molested 
 as  a  keeper  of  conventicles,  and  subjected  to  the  pe- 
 nalty  of  the  laws  then  in  force  against  such  meetings. 
 The  curates,  than  whom  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
 had  no  greater  enemies,  and  who  acted  the  detestable 
 part  of  spies  and  informers,  observed  him  with  a  watch- 
 ful eye,  and  were  not  slack  in  conveying  information 
 to  the  proper  quarter.  In  the  grievances  given  in  by 
 the  several  Presbyteries  of  the  diocese  of  Glasgow  to 
 the  Synod,  October  22.  1674,  and  which,  they  intended, 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  210. 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 85 
 
 should  be  laid  before  the  Parliament  and  Privj  Coun- 
 cil, it  is  complained,  that  in  the  Presbytery  of  Lan- 
 ark, conventicles  are  kept  by  Mr  John  Greig,  at  Bog- 
 hall,  though  confined  to  Carstairs/'* 
 
 Nor  was  it  long  before  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
 Grovernment.  Towards  the  end  of  February  1675, 
 when  preaching  at  a  meeting  held  at  Leith  Mills,  in 
 the  house  of  Thomas  Stark,  who  was  married  to  his 
 sister,  he  was  apprehended  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tol- 
 booth  of  Edinburgh.  His  brother,  Mr  James  Greig, 
 and  his  brother-in  law,  with  several  other  persons  be- 
 longing to  Edinburgh  and  Leith,  who  had  been  pre- 
 sent at  the  conventicle,  were  also  apprehended  and  im- 
 prisoned ;  but  all  of  them,  with  the  exception  of  the 
 j)reacher,  his  brother,  and  brother-in-law,  were  shortly 
 after  dismissed,  upon  giving  bond  for  their  appearance 
 when  called.t  After  some  weeks'  imprisonment,  Greig, 
 for  no  other  cause  than  preaching  at  the  above  meet- 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  264.  Wodrow  has  "  James"  by  mistake. 
 Of  the  hostility  of  the  curates  to  the  Presbyterians,  this  paper  affords 
 abundant  proof.  One  of  the  grievances  is  thus  expressed  : — "  Several 
 horrid  crimes  are  committed  at  conventicles,  as  incest,  bestiality,  murder 
 of  children,  in  the  Presbyteries  of  Ayr  and  Lanark,  besides  frequent  adul- 
 teries, and  other  acts  of  wickedness,  as  our  registers  at  more  length 
 bear ;  particularly  one  who  was  apprehended,  and  confessed  bestiality  at 
 Lanark,  and  was  let  go  without  any  punishment."  Ibid.  p.  265,  Malice 
 never  invented  a  fouler  calumny  ;  and  of  such  accusations,  even  the  great 
 body  of  the  persecutors  appear  to  have  been  altogether  incredulous.  The 
 Government  was  liberal  in  loading  the  Presbyterians  with  odious  epithete, 
 ms  madcap?,  fanatics,  seditious  persons,  traitors,  and  so  forth,  of  which- the 
 registers  of  their  acts  are  full ;  but  you  may  search  these  documents  till 
 doomsday  without  di.«covering  any  instance  in  which  they  stigmatize 
 them  by  an  epithet  expressive  of  the  abominable  crimes  of  which  they 
 are  accu.'^ed  in  these  grievances.  IIow  much  does  this  resemble  the  slan- 
 ders brought  against  the  primitive  Christians  by  their  virulent  persecutors, 
 who  accused  them  of  practising  in  their  assemblies  the  most  scandalous 
 licentiousness  :  and  how  completely  liave  pcrsecutDrs  in  every  nge  proved 
 themselves  to  be  "  of  their  father  the  devil,  who  is  a  liar  from  the  begin- 
 ning, and  the  father  of  lies." 
 
 t  Row's  Continuation  of  the  Life  of  Robert  ni;iir. 
 
86 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ing,  was  sentenced,  by  an  act  of  Privy  Council,  dated 
 9tli  March,  to  be  carried  prisoner  to  the  Bass.  The  act 
 is  as  follows : — 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  here- 
 by grant  order  and  warrant  to  the  Earl  of  Errol,  or, 
 in  his  absence,  to  the  next  commanding  officer  of  the 
 troop  under  his  command,  upon  sight  hereof,  by  a 
 party  of  the  said  troop,  to  receive  from  the  Magistrates 
 of  Edinburgh  the  person  of  Mr  John  Grreig,  prisoner 
 in  the  Tolbooth,  upon  the  account  of  the  conventicle 
 kept  by  him  at  Leith  Mills,  and  to  transport  him  to 
 the  Bass,  and  to  deliver  him  to  the  commanding  officer 
 of  the  garrison  there,  who  is  hereby  ordered  to  receive 
 and  detain  him  prisoner  until  farther  orders :  and  grant 
 warrant  to  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  deliver  the 
 person  of  the  said  Mr  John  Greig  to  the  Earl  of  Errol, 
 or  any  having  his  order  to  the  effect  foresaid.'' 
 
 Such  was  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  Greig,  who 
 according  to  the  laws  against  conventicles  was  the  chief 
 culprit.  But  as  it  was  also  criminal  to  be  present  at 
 such  meetings,  those  who  had  been  apprehended  as 
 hearers,  and  set  at  liberty  upon  giving  security  to  ap- 
 pear when  called,  were  summoned  before  the  Council, 
 and  fined  in  various  sums,  as  we  learn  from  the  Act 
 of  Council,  dated  11th  March  1675  :— 
 
 "Forasmuch  as  the  persons  underwritten,  viz.  Patrick 
 Telfer,  tailor  in  Edinburgh,  Thomas  Stark  in  Leith  Mills, 
 James  Blackie,  baxter  in  Edinburgh,  William  Lawson, 
 merchant  there,  Thomas  Spence,  merchant  there,  Wil- 
 liam Fleming  in  Leith,  James  Tait,  merchant  in  Edin- 
 burgh, John  Walker,  smith  in  Calton,  William  M'Clair, 
 there,  Mr  James  Greig,  brother  to  Mr  John  Greig,  minis- 
 ter, James  Sinclair,  Thomas  Massie  in  the  Canongate, 
 William  Hislop  in  Leith,  being  charged  by  virtue  of  let- 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 87 
 
 ters  direct  at  the  instance  of  his  Majesty's  Advocate,  to 
 have  compeared  and  answered  for  being  present  at  a 
 conventicle  kept  in  the  house  of  the  said  Thomas  Stark, 
 in  Leith  Mills,  at  which  Mr  John  Greig,  an  outed  in- 
 dulged minister,  did  preach,  the  said  persons  compeared 
 personally,  and  did  confess  they  were  present  at  the  said 
 conventicle  :  The  Lords  of  Council  do  therefore  fine  the 
 said  persons  in  the  sums  following,  viz.  the  said  Patrick 
 Telfer  in  12  lbs.  Scots,  Thomas  Stark  in  50  lbs., 
 James  Blackie  in  6  lbs.,  William  Lawson  in  100  lbs., 
 Thomas  Spence  in  100  lbs.,  William  Fleming  in  12 
 lbs.,  James  Tait  in  100  lbs.,  John  Walker  in  12  lbs., 
 Mr  James  Greig  in  40  lbs. ;  which  sums  the  said  Lords 
 do  ordain  them  to  pay  to  Sir  William  Sharp,  cash- 
 keeper,  for  his  Majesty's  use,  within  48  hours,  and  to 
 find  caution  for  that  elFect ;  otherwise  to  go  to  prison 
 until  they  pay  the  same.  But  in  regard  the  said  James 
 Sinclair,  William  Hislop,  and  Thomas  Massie,  did  pro- 
 mise never  to  go  to  any  conventicles  hereafter,  there- 
 fore they  dismissed  them  without  any  censure  ;  and  in 
 respect  George  Anderson  did  not  compear,  they  declare 
 the  bond  of  cautionary  for  his  appearance  to  be  fore- 
 faulted,  and  ordain  the  cautioner  to  be  charged  for  the 
 penalty  therein." 
 
 The  order  appointing  Greig  to  be  carried  prisoner  to 
 the  Bass  was  not  at  this  time  executed,  the  Council  at 
 their  meeting  on  the  12th  of  March  having,  in  compli- 
 ance with  a  petition  which  he  presented  to  them,  sus- 
 pended the  execution  of  the  sentence  until  the  2d  day 
 of  May  following,  when  they  were  again  to  meet. 
 
 At  their  meeting  in  the  beginning  of  May,  he  pre- 
 sented a  second  petition,  oiiering  to  go  to  his  confine- 
 ment in  the  parish  of  Carstairs,  according  to  the  act  of 
 Council,  and  under  the  i)enalty  expressed  in  the  act. 
 
88 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 The  Council  offered  to  let  him  go  to  his  confinement,  pro- 
 viding he  would  engage  to  keep  it,  and  not  to  preach 
 in  any  other  place.  But  believing  that  this  was  to  re- 
 quire him  to  do  what  was  inconsistent  with  the  will  of 
 Christ,  who  commanded  him  "  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
 every  creature,''  and  that  when  civil  rulers  would  set 
 aside  the  commands  of  Christ  they  are  not  to  be  obeyed, 
 he  refused  to  come  under  such  an  obligation,  and  was 
 accordingly  remitted  to  prison.  The  Duke  of  Hamil- 
 ton spoke  in  his  favour,  alleging  that  his  offer  should 
 i  be  accepted,  as  being  obedience  to  the  act  of  Council ; 
 
 but  Halton,  one  of  the  most  severe  and  furious  of  the 
 persecutors,  opposing  this,  he  lay  in  prison  other  five 
 months,  during  which  time  he  was  usefully  employed 
 in  preaching  to  his  fellow-prisoners.* 
 
 Again  presenting  another  petition  to  the  Privy  Coun- 
 cil, an  act  was  passed  on  the  7th  of  October,  "  appoint- 
 ing the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  set  him  at  liberty, 
 and  ordaining  him  to  repair  to  and  remain  confined 
 within  the  parish  of  Carstairs,  to  which  he  was  for- 
 merly confined,  discharging  him  to  remove  forth  thereof 
 under  the  pain  of  two  thousand  merks  Scots  money." 
 With  his  sentence  Greig  complied  ;t  but  it  was  not 
 easy  for  him,  by  submitting  to  this  confinement,  to 
 exclude  himself  from  all  participation  in  the  society 
 and  religious  worship  of  highly  valued,  non-indulged 
 ministers,  who  magnanimously  preached  in  private 
 
 *  "  About  the  middle  of  July  there  were  three  ministers  taken  in  the 
 west,  who  were  assisting  at  the  celebration  of  the  Communion,  viz.  Messrs 
 Hugh  Peebles,  John  Campbell,  and  John  Blair,  from  Glasgow.  They 
 were  brought  to  Edinburgh,  and  imprisoned  in  the  Tolbooth,  with  Mr 
 John  Greig,  who  continued  prisoner,  and  was  constantly  preaching  to  the 
 rest  of  the  prisoners,  as  Mr  Peden  did  in  the  Bass." — Row's  Continuation 
 of  the  Life  of  Robert  Blair. 
 
 I  "  About  this  time  Mr  John  Greig  is  liberated,  and  goes  to  his  confine- 
 ment, in  obedience  to  the  act  of  Council."  Ibid. 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 S9 
 
 t  houses  and  in  the  fields  at  the  peril  of  their  lives.  At 
 the  risk  of  incurring  the  resentment  of  the  rulers,  and 
 of  losing  his  indulgence,  he  frequently,  at  least,  at- 
 tended such  meetings,  if  he  did  not  officiate  at  them. 
 Intelligence  of  this  being  conveyed  to  the  government, 
 he  is  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Council  on  the 
 I  7th  of  August  1677.    The  charge  for  which  he  was 
 I  called  to  answer  is  expressed  in  these  words,  that  Al- 
 beit the  Lords  of  Privy  Council  were  favourably  pleased 
 i  to  confine  him  to  the  parish  of  Carstairs,  with  liberty 
 to  preach  and  exercise  the  other  functions  of  the  mi- 
 nistry" within  that  parish,  he  had  "  nut  only  so  far 
 abused  the  said  favour  as  to  break  his  confinement,  but 
 '  had  also,  upon  the  first,  second,  third,  and  remanent 
 days  of  January,  February,  March,  April,  May,  June, 
 j  and  July  1677,  kept  and  been  present  at  diverse  house 
 and  field  conventicles,  within  the  shires  of  Lanark  and 
 other  places  adjacent,  where  he  hath  preached,  prayed, 
 and  exercised  the  other  functions  of  the  ministry,  at 
 the  least  hath  been  present  thereat."  As  he  did  not  com- 
 pear,   the  said  Lords  do  declare  that  he  has  forefaulted 
 J  and  lost  the  benefit  of  the  indulgence,  allowing  him  to 
 I  preach  at  the  said  kirk  of  Carstairs,  and  any  right  lie 
 j  can  pretend  to  the  bygone  stipends  of  the  said  kirk, 
 1  unless  he,  betwixt  and  the  first  Council  day  of  8ep- 
 !  tember,  compear  before  the  Council,  and  give  an  ac- 
 count of  himself  as  to  the  said  process  pursued  against 
 him." 
 
 An  act  of  Council  having  been  passed  on  the  2d  of 
 May  1677,  in  which  it  is  declared  that  in  future  no  more 
 Presbyterian  ministers  would  be  indulged,  but  that  the 
 kirks  of  such  as  died  or  were  removed  should  be  planted 
 with  "regular  ministers," Greigs place  should  have  been 
 filled  with  a  "regular  minister."  This  act  was  generally 
 
 u 
 
90 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 observed,  but  in  the  present  case  an  indulged  minister, 
 Mr  Anthony  Murray,  ejected  from  the  parish  of  Cul- 
 ter  after  the  Restoration  for  nonconformity,  was,  from 
 his  being  related  to  the  Duchess  of  Lauderdale,  ap- 
 pointed by  the  Council,  on  the  7th  of  August,  to  succeed 
 Greig  as  indulged  minister  in  the  parish  of  Carstairs. 
 But,  Murray  being  afterAvards  removed  to  Carmichael, 
 Greig,  it  appears,  was  restored  to  Carstairs.* 
 
 We  do  not  again  meet  with  him  till  the  8th  of  Oc- 
 tober 1684,  when  he,  with  eight  other  indulged  minis- 
 ters, were  put  to  trouble  for  breaking  several  of  their 
 instructions, — for  their  neglecting  to  observe  the  29th 
 day  of  May,  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  and  restora- 
 tion of  Charles  II.,t — and  for  refusing  to  read  from  the 
 pulpit  the  proclamation  enjoining  a  thanksgiving  to  be 
 observed  throughout  the  country  on  the  9th  of  Septem- 
 ber 1688,  for  his  Majesty  and  the  Duke  of  York's  de- 
 liverance from  the  Rye-house  plot,  and  which  was 
 ordered  to  be  read  from  the  pulpit  by  all  the  ministers 
 in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  upon  the  Sabbath  imme- 
 diately preceding  the  thanksgiving,  and  also  upon  the 
 thanksgiving  day.  J  It  was  from  no  disloyalty,  but  en- 
 tirely on  conscientious  grounds,  that  Greig  and  these 
 Presbyterian  ministers  declined  obser^dng  the  anniver- 
 sary of  the  29th  of  May,  and  reading  to  their  congrega- 
 tions the  proclamation  for  a  thanksgiving.  They  scru- 
 pled to  observe  the  anniversary,  because,  like  the  first  re- 
 formers who  abolished  all  the  holidays  which  Catholic 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  347,  349 ;  and  vol.  iv.  p.  39. 
 
 t  The  restoration  of  Charles  took  place  on  his  birth-day,  and  this  was 
 marked,  at  the  time,  among  the  other  presages  <tf  the  future  glory  of  his 
 reign. 
 
 I  There  was  also  an  English  Declaration  for  a  thanksgiving,  to  be  ob- 
 served throughout  England  and  Wales,  on  the  same  day,  which  the  minis- 
 ters in  Scotland  were  required  to  read,  along  with  the  proclamation  of  the 
 Council  in  Scotland.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  503. 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 91 
 
 superstition  had  imposed,  they  believed  that  it  was  the 
 exclusive  prerogative  of  God  to  consecrate  or  make  holy 
 any  portion  of  time — that  the  Sabbath  is  the  only  holy 
 day  which  he  has  instituted — and  that  for  the  Church 
 or  magistrates  to  assume  the  power  to  appoint  stated 
 or  anniversary  holy  days,  and  for  the  members  of  the 
 Imrch  to  observe  them,  was  contrary  to  the  second 
 j  >recept  of  the  moral  law,  which  forbids  all  devising, 
 counselling,  commanding,  urging,  and  any  wise  approv- 
 ing, any  religious  worship  not  instituted  by  God  him- 
 <qK"*  Besides,  they  objected  to  the  observance  of 
 this  anniversary,  because,  in  the  preamble  of  the  act 
 of  Parliament  appointing  it,  all  that  had  been  done 
 ibr  twenty-three  years  before  in  advancing  the  work 
 of  reformation  is  denounced  as  "  a  public  rebellion/' 
 designedly  and  violently  carried  on  "under  the  specious 
 pretences  of  reformation  and  they  could  not,  there- 
 fore, observe  that  day  Avithout  condemning  what  they 
 had  vowed  and  sworn  to  maintain,  and  acknowledging 
 themselves,  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  work  thus 
 stigmatised,  as  traitors  and  rebels.  Their  declining  to 
 read  the  proclamation  enjoining  a  thanksgiving  arose 
 from  difficulties  of  a  similar  kind.  It  was  given  out 
 in  the  proclamation  that  a  conspiracy  had  been  formed 
 to  take  away  the  life  of  the  King  and  his  brother  the 
 Duke  of  York  ;  whereas  there  was  no  such  design  ; 
 the  real  amount  of  the  matter  being  that  some  patriotic 
 noblemen,  gentry,  and  rich  merchants,  residing  in  Lon- 
 don and  other  places,  had  held  some  secret  meetings 
 to  consult  about  the  best  means  for  preserving  the 
 Protestant  religion,  and  preventing  these  nations  from 
 sinking  into  i)opery  and  slavery. t     IJesides,  the  ))ro- 
 
 ♦  Lurjrer  Catechism,  (iues.  lOJ. 
 
 t  M'l'ricV  Memoirs  of  Voitch  and  Bryssoti,  j..  Ul. 
 
92 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 clamation,  which  was  artfully  entitled  "  Proclamation 
 indicting  a  thanksgiving  for  the  deliverance  from  the 
 fanatical  conspiracy/'  was  studiously  intended  to  throw 
 the  odium  of  the  whole  upon  the  Presbyterians,  who 
 would  at  once  be  suggested  by  the  epithet  fanatical, 
 that  being  the  ordinary  designation  applied  to  them 
 by  the  government*  It  is  not  therefore  wonderful  that 
 conscientious  Presbyterian  ministers  chose  rather  to 
 hazard  their  reputation  for  loyalty,  and  to  expose  them- 
 selves to  the  penalty  of  the  law,  than  to  read  from  the 
 pulpit  a  document  which  branded  their  own  party  as 
 fanatics,  and  held  them  up  to  public  detestation  as  the 
 authors  of  a  desperate  purpose  to  murder  the  King  and^ 
 his  royal  brother,  while  no  evidence  had  been  adduced 
 of  their  guilt. 
 
 These  omissions  were  not  to  be  tolerated.  The  go- 
 vernment, having  little  conscience  themselves,  could 
 account  for  conscientious  scruples  in  others  in  no  other 
 way  than  by  imputing  them  to  obstinacy  of  temper, 
 and  never  thought  of  yielding  to  them  in  any  case. 
 Greig,  and  the  eight  other  indulged  ministers,  t  were 
 libelled  before  the  Privy  Council  at  Glasgow,  on  the 
 8th  of  October  1684,  for  these  delinquencies.  After 
 the  reading  of  the  libel,  on  being  asked  whether  they 
 pleaded  guilty  to  the  charges  brought  against  them, 
 they  ingenuously  confessed  their  having  broken  several 
 of  theirinstructions ;  their  neglecting  to  observe  the  29th 
 of  May  ;  and  that  they  had  not  read  the  proclamation, 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  503. 
 
 t  These  eight  other  ministers  were — Mr  James  Currie,  at  Shotts  ;  Mr 
 John  Oliphant,  at  Stonehouse  ;  Mr  .John  Lauder,  at  Dalziel ;  Mr  Patrick 
 Kid,  at  Carluke  ;  Mr  Anthony  Murray,  at  Carmichael  ;  Mr  Robert 
 Murray,  at  Neilston  ;  Mr  James  Hutchison,  at  Killean  ;  and  Mr  Robert 
 Mitchell,  at  Luss.  Minutes  of  Council  at  Glasgow,  8th  October,  in  War- 
 rants of  Privy  Council. 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 93 
 
 enjoining  the  thanksgiving  for  his  Majesty's  preserva- 
 tion from  "  the  late  fanatical  conspiracy."  This  con- 
 fession they  subscribed  at  the  bar  of  the  Council.  The 
 Lords  having  considered  the  case,  "  declare  their  in- 
 dulgence at  an  end,  and  the  same  to  be  void  and  null ; 
 and  discharged  them,  or  any  of  them,  to  exercise  any 
 ])art  of  the  ministerial  function  within  this  kingdom, 
 and  committed  them  to  prison  in  the  Tolbooth  of 
 Glasgow,  until  they  find  caution  each  of  them,  under 
 the  penalty  of  5000  merks,  not  to  preach  or  exercise 
 any  part  of  the  ministerial  office,  or  otherwise  to  de- 
 part out  of  his  Majesty's  three  kingdoms,  not  to  return 
 without  allowance  from  the  King  or  Council  under  the 
 -aid  penalty."* 
 
 On  the  9th  of  October,  order  is  granted  to  Captain 
 Cleland  to  send  these  nine  ministers  to  the  Tolbooth 
 of  Edinburgh  with  a  party  of  twenty-five  dragoons,  and 
 the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  are  ordered  to  receive 
 and  detain  them  prisoners.  But  all  of  them  "  having 
 found  sufficient  caution,  each  under  the  penalty  of 
 5000  merks  Scots  money,  to  enter  themselves  prison- 
 ers within  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  upon  Tuesday 
 next,  being  the  15th  instant;  and  that  in  the  mean 
 time  they  shall  not  preach  nor  exercise  any  part  of  the 
 ministerial  office,  under  the  said  penalty  for  each  of 
 them  ;  the  Lords,  at  their  meeting  of  the  10th,  order 
 them  to  be  set  at  liberty  on  these  terms."! 
 
 In  fulfihnent  of  this  engagement,  Greig,  and  the 
 other  ministers,  went  to  Edinburgh,  and  surrendering 
 
 •  Minutes  of  Council  at  Glasgow  in  Warrantb  ol'  Privy  Council. 
 
 t  Ibid.  It  was  at  this  time  tietcrinined  upon  by  tho  Council  to  eject 
 all  tho  indulged  ministers  from  their  charges,  "  because  they  kept  not 
 their  instructions,  and  some  of  them  did  not  keep  tho  thanksgiving  in  Sep- 
 tember last  year  ;"  and  eillier  obligo  them  to  promise  not  to  preach  or  to 
 engage  to  leave  the  kingdom.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  40. 
 
94 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 themselves  prisoners,  were  confined  in  the  Tolbooth  for 
 some  time.  "  They  kept  their  day/'  says  Walker,  "  and 
 came  to  the  Parliament  Close.  They  were  ordered  by 
 a  macer  to  go  to  the  Tolbooth.  There  came  a  great 
 cloud  of  them  and  called  at  the  outer  gate,  which  I 
 was  a  witness  to,  being  then  prisoner  ;  they  got  access, 
 where  they  continued  until  we  were  sent  unto  Dun- 
 notar  castle.''  The  same  writer  adds,  "  Their  courage 
 in  that  house  was  very  stumbling,  voluntarily  leaving 
 their  rooms,  coming  to  the  common  hall  and  hearing  the 
 curates  every  Sabbath,  to  the  great  offence  of  many  suf- 
 fering people  there  ;  upon  that  head  giving  occasion  to 
 the  wicked  to  mock  all  such.  And  after  Mr  Shields' 
 fainting  before  the  enemy,  for  which  there  was  much 
 grief  upon  his  spirit,  so  that  he  was  in  danger  of  a  fever, 
 he  was  advised  to  take  blood  ;  when  it  was  doing,  they 
 said  with  loud  laughter  among  them,  '  Take  more,  there 
 is  abundance  of  wild  blood  in  his  veins,  and  much  of  it 
 in  this  house — there  being  many  who  have  need  to 
 open  a  vein  ;'  and  many  other  offensive  speeches,  which 
 I  was  witness  to.  At  last  they  all  bound  themselves 
 to  walk  orderly,  and  live  peaceably,  and  keep  their 
 parish  kirks,  and  never  preach  more  without  a  licence 
 from  the  supreme  magistrate.  Some  few  of  them  were 
 sent  to  the  Bass,  as  Mr  Peter  Kid,  and  Mr  John  Greig, 
 for  refusing  this.  What  became  of  them  afterwards  I 
 know  not."* 
 
 *  Biograph.  Presb.  vol.  i.  pp.  304,  305.  Wodrow  names  several  others 
 who  refused  to  engage  not  to  preach.  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  41.  In  reading 
 the  above  quotations,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  at  this  time  the  differ- 
 ences among  the  Presbyterians,  with  respect  to  tlie  indulgence,  the  hear- 
 ing of  the  curates,  and  other  points,  had  risen  to  a  great  height,  and  created 
 Tnuch  bitterness  of  feeling.  Walker  adhered  to  the  stricter  party,  and  felt 
 for  the  indulged  ministers  the  greatest  contempt,  which  he  is  at  no  pains 
 to  conceal,  and  which  colours  all  that  he  says  about  them.  In  another 
 jdace  he  speaks  of  them  as  "  Balaam-like,  looking  greedily  over  the  steep 
 
JOHN  GREIG. 
 
 95 
 
 Greig's  imprisonment  in  the  Bass  took  place  in  the 
 month  of  May  1685,  and  he  was  confined  there  upwards 
 of  a  year.  Being  now  at  an  advanced  period  of  life, 
 his  imprisonment  much  impaired  his  health.  In  the 
 month  of  July  1686,  he  presented  a  petition  to  the 
 Privy  Council,  in  which,  after  stating  the  length  of 
 time  during  which  he  had  been  prisoner  in  the  Bass, 
 and  that  he  was  become  "  very  scorbutic  and  sickly,  so 
 that  his  life  was  in  great  danger,''  he  prays  that  their 
 Lordships  would  be  pleased  to  grant  warrant  for  his 
 liberation.  The  Council,  on  the  15th  of  July,  having 
 heard  and  considered  this  petition,  "grant  warrant  to 
 the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  Isle  of  the  Bass  to  set 
 the  petitioner  at  liberty;  he  first  finding  caution,  under 
 the  penalty  of  5000  merks  Scots  money,  to  compear 
 before  the  Council  upon  Tuesday  next,  the  20th  instant, 
 <  >r  that  day  to  enter  his  person  in  prison  within  the 
 Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  or  Canongate,  under  the  fore- 
 said penalty,  in  case  of  failure." 
 
 Greig's  health  still  continuing  in  a  very  precarious 
 state,  he  again  presented  another  petition  to  the  Coun- 
 cil, in  which  he  designates  himself  "  your  poor  old 
 suppliant,''  and  after  stating  that  he  is  now  ready  to 
 appear  before  their  Lordships,  and  that  his  entering  or 
 continuing  in  prison  any  longer  might  endanger  his 
 life,  prays  that  they  would  be  pleased  graciously  to  al- 
 
 slippery  brae  of  backsliding,  whore  there  is  no  standini;  ;  and  (;<>d  suffer- 
 ing them,  in  holy  justice,  to  follow  their  look,  and  headlong  they  went  to 
 the  unfatJiomable  depth  of  defection,  in  their  embracing  of  the  Christ- 
 dethroning,  Church-ruining,  remnant-renting,  zeal-quenching  indulgenct-  ; 
 where  they  lay  in  that  puddle  with  foul  liands  and  garments— the  tirst  of 
 them  for  eighteen  years,  and  the  second  for  eleven  years,  juggling  and  dis- 
 sembling, and  keeping  the  unhappy  birth  and  restoration  day,  and  other- 
 wise;  and  some  of  them  sometimes  challenged  by  the  Council  for  not 
 keeping  their  restrictions,  injuiu  tiuns,  and  terms  upon  which  they  g(.t 
 their  liberty." 
 
96 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 low  him  to  continue  at  liberty  "  for  some  competent 
 time,  to  use  medicaments  for  his  health,  upon  caution 
 to  live  peaceably,  and  to  appear  before  their  Lordships 
 when  called."  In  compliance  with  the  prayer  of  this 
 petition,  the  Council,  on  the  20th  of  July,  continue  his 
 liberty  until  the  first  Council  day  in  November  next, 
 upon  his  finding  caution  to  appear  before  them  that 
 day,  and  in  the  mean  time  to  live  peaceably,*  under 
 the  penalty  of  5000  merks  in  case  of  failure. 
 
 Greig  appearing  before  the  Council  at  their  meeting 
 of  the  4th  of  November,  his  former  liberty  is  continued, 
 upon  caution,  as  before,  to  compear  again  upon  the 
 18th  ;  on  which  day  the  Council  continue  the  liberty 
 formerly  granted  him,  "  until  the  20th  day  of  January 
 next,  in  regard  of  his  present  appearance,  upon  his 
 finding  sufiicient  caution  enacted  in  their  books  to 
 compear  the  said  day,  under  the  penalty  of  5000 
 merks  Scots  money,  in  case  of  failure.''  This  is  the 
 last  instance  in  which  Greig's  name  is  to  be  found  in 
 the  Records  of  the  Privy  Council.  How  long  he  sur- 
 vived, and  the  particulars  of  his  future  history,  we 
 have  not  been  able  to  discover. 
 
 *  In  the  dialect  of  the  Privy  Council,  for  a  minister  "  to  live  peaceably 
 or  orderly,"  was  to  refrain  from  preaching,  and  to  be  a  regular  hearer  in 
 the  parish  kirk  where  he  resided  ;  and  for  the  people  to  do  so,  was  to  re- 
 frain from  attending  conventicles,  and  to  attend  their  parish  kirk. 
 
THOMAS  ROSS. 
 
 97 
 
 THOMAS  ROSS. 
 
 Thomas  Ross  was  settled  in  a  parish  in  the  north  be- 
 fore the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.,  but  in  what  par- 
 ticular parish  is  uncertain.*  He  continued  at  his  charge 
 
 '        •  In  the  roll  of  the  nonconforming  ministers  ejected  after  the  Restora- 
 tion, Ross's  name  appears  among  the  nonconformists  of  the  Presbytery  of 
 Dingwall.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  329.    Wodrow  elsewhere  calls 
 him  "  minister  of  Kincardine,"  in  Ross.    Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  437.    His  only 
 authority  probably  is  Fraser  of  Brea,  who,  in  the  Dedication  of  his  Me- 
 moirs of  himself  to  Ross,  so  styles  him.    But  Fraser  appears  merely  to 
 designate  the  place  of  his  abode  ;  for  he  wrote  these  memoirs  when  about 
 thirty  years  of  age,  or  in  1669,  (see  Select  Biographies,  edited  for  the 
 Wodrow  Society,  vol.  ii.  pp.  89,  228),  and  at  that  time  Ross  held  no  paro- 
 chial charge,  having  been  ejected  some  years  previously.    That  Ross  was 
 J     then  residing  at  Kincardine  is  confirmed  by  a  sentence  in  Mrs  Ross's  me- 
 I     moirs  of  herself,  who,  writing  about  that  time,  says,  "  I  was  put  to  pray 
 1     for  Mr  Thomas  Ross  his  coming  to  the  country  of  Murray  on  the  fore- 
 !     mentioned  account,  and  was  pressed  to  go  over  to  Ross,  where  he  then 
 I     lived,"  p.  33,    If  he  was  minister  of  Kincardine,  it  must  have  been  be- 
 I     tween  1653  and  1665,  as  in  1653  a  Mr  John  Forbes  was  minister  of  that 
 I     parish ;  and  in  1665,  a  Mr  George  Burnet  was  its  minister.  Selections 
 j     from  the  Registers  of  the  Synod  of  Aberdeen,  printed  for  the  Spalding 
 j     Club,  pp.  225,  279.    A  Mr  Thomas  Ross  was  at  that  period  minister  of 
 I     Aboyne,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Kincardine.   His  name  appears  as  minister 
 j     of  that  parish  in  1652;  but  he  conformed  to  the  system  established  at  the 
 Restoration,  and  appears  as  minister  of  Aboyne  down  to  1675,  and  may 
 have  been  minister  there  much  longer,  as  there  is  no  register  roll  of  the 
 Synod  after  1660,  and  he  is  only  occasionally  mentioned  among  the  list 
 of  "  absents."    There  is,  therefore,  not  the  least  probability  that  he  is 
 the  same  person  with  the  subject  of  our  notice  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
 he  was  flourishing  on  Deesido,  at  the  time  when  his  namesake  was  cooped 
 up  in  the  Bass.    These  facts  from  the  MS.  Records  of  the  Synod  of  Aber- 
 deen, have  been  obligingly  communicated  by  John  Stuart,  Esq.  Aberdeen. 
 
98  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 some  time  after  tlie  establishment  of  Prelacy,  and  owed 
 his  leaving  it  to  an  interview  with  Mr  John  M'Gilligen, 
 an  eminent  minister  of  the  north,  whom  we  shall  shortly 
 introduce  to  our  readers.*  He  is  also  said  to  have  been 
 strengthened  and  established  in  grace  and  in  the  ways 
 of  God  by  means  of  Mr  Thomas  Hog,  minister  of  Kil- 
 tearn.t 
 
 About  1669  Ross  came  over  from  the  county  of  Ross, 
 where  he  then  lived,  to  Murrayshire,  and  continued 
 there  for  some  years  preaching  the  gospel  with  no  small 
 measure  of  success  ;  as  we  learn  from  the  diary  of  Mrs 
 Ross,  a  woman  of  eminent  piety,  who  was  then  living  at 
 Oldern.  "  I  had  at  that  time,"  she  observes,  "  several 
 answers  of  prayer  and  fulfilling  of  expectations.  He 
 set  me  a- work,  particularly  to  pray  for  the  gospel  com- 
 ing to  that  country  by  Mr  Thomas  Ross's  ministry. 
 Some  time  after,  the  Lord  brought  him  to  that  place, 
 and  great  was  the  blessing  he  proved  to  it ;  for  the 
 Lord  made  him  the  means  of  converting  that  eminent 
 worthy  Lady  Kilravock,J  who  built  a  house  for  him  on 
 her  own  land,  where  the  gospel  had  never  been  in  any 
 power.  There  the  Lord  blessed  his  ministry,  not  only 
 for  the  comfort  of  those  who  had  grace,  and  to  the  re- 
 forming of  others  ;  but  to  the  real  converting  of  seve- 
 rals,  some  of  whom  were  a  wonder  for  experience  in 
 the  ways  of  God,  attained  to  in  a  very  short  time.''§ 
 
 *  WodroVs  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  437.  ^ 
 t  Life  of  Thomas  Hog,  Free  Church  Cheap  Publications,  p.  85. 
 \  Mrs  Ross  farther  speaks  of  this  lady  as  "  that  burning  and  shining 
 light,  the  worthy  lady  Kilravock,  who  during  her  short  continuance,  proved 
 a  great  blessing  to  that  country,  by  promoting  the  gospel,  and  being  a 
 companion  to  all  those  that  feared  God,  and  discountenancing  all  ungod- 
 liness and  ungodly  persons."    Memoirs  of  Mrs  Ross,  written  by  herself, 
 p.  50.    Lady  Kilravock  died  on  the  20th  of  May  1676.    Diary  of  Jam- 
 Collace,  Mrs  Ross's  sister,  among  the  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxi.  8vo,  no 
 §  Memoirs  of  Mrs  Ross,  p.  34. 
 
 I 
 
VI 
 
 THOMAS  ROSS.  99 
 
 The  north  of  Scotland  at  that  period  was  deficient 
 in  faithful  ministers,  and  the  number  of  the  people  op- 
 Iposed  to  prelacy  and  adhering  to  presbytery  was  small 
 compared  vnih  those  in  the  south  and  west ;  but  still 
 they  were  more  numerous  in  the  counties  of  Ross  and 
 Murray  than  is  generally  supposed.  Mr  Robert  Bruce, 
 Mr  David  Dickson,  and  others,  who  in  the  reign  of 
 James  VI.  had  been  banished  to  the  north  for  their 
 stedfast  adherence  to  the  truth,  had  not  laboured  in 
 jvain.  There  were  also  in  these  counties,  previous  to 
 and  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  besides  Ross,  several 
 other  excellent  recusant  ministers,  as  Mr  Thomas  Hog, 
 Mr  John  M'Gilligen,  Mr  James  Urquhart,  and  others, 
 whose  faithful  and  zealous  ministry  had  been  eminently 
 blessed.  These  ministers,  however,  preached  the  gos- 
 pel in  a  very  quiet  and  unostentatious  way,  and  ap- 
 ]>ear  never  to  have  bet^Jfen  themselves  to  the  fields, 
 ''     numbers  who  collected,  from  the  thinly-peopled 
 
 ite  of  the  country,  not  being  so  great  as  to  render  this 
 1 1  -cessary .  But  still,  as  they  were  zealous  and  persever- 
 :  f  i  'J,  opposition  was  created.  This  particularly  appeared 
 in  1675.  In  the  summer  of  that  year,  Ross,  and  a  few 
 others  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  having  been 
 much  employed  in  preaching,  and  with  no  small  evi- 
 <l«'nces  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  accompanying 
 tlicir  labours,  intelligence  of  this  was  communicated 
 I ' '  the  Privy  Council,  doubtless  by  the  bishop  of  the 
 I'ounds.  The  Council  at  once  took  up  the  case,  and  in 
 the  close  of  the  summer,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Earl  of 
 M  iirray,  requiring  him  to  execute  the  laws  against  the 
 
 •  pers  of  conventicles  in  the  shire  of  Murray  as  well 
 
 in  the  neighbouring  places,  and  to  report.*  Steps 
 I  '  ing  immediately  taken  to  carry  this  order  into  exe- 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  284. 
 
100 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 cution,  Ross  was  apprehended,  dragged  from  his  home 
 and  family,  and  imprisoned  in  the  tolbooth  of  Nairn, 
 there  to  expiate,  not  the  crime  of  teaching  seditious  doc- 
 trine, or  creating  popular  irritation  and  tumult,  but  the 
 crime  of  having  taught  his  countrymen,  "  to  live  so- 
 berly, righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  world,''  for 
 so  entirely  demented,  was  the  government  of  Charles 
 II.,  that  they  accounted  and  punished  such  teaching  as  a 
 crime.*  Here  this  faithful  and  pious  minister  would 
 have  soon  ended  his  days,  had  he  not  been  removed  to  a 
 less  unwholesome  prison.  In  such  a  wretched  state  was 
 the  tolbooth  of  Nairn,  not  even  affording  shelter  from 
 the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  that  it  would  have  en- 
 dangered the  life  of  any  man,  and  much  more  the  life  of 
 a  man  like  Ross,  who  was  of  a  feeble  and  delicate  consti- 
 tution. Feeling  that  confinement  in  such  a  place,  and 
 especially  at  that  season  of  the  year,  it  being  then 
 winter,  would  soon  destroy  his  health  and  bring  him 
 to  the  grave,  he  presented  a  petition  to  the  Privy  Coun- 
 cil, "  bearing  that  he  being  apprehended  and  impri- 
 soned in  the  tolbooth  of  the  burgh  of  Nairn,  by  virtue 
 of  an  order  direct  from  the  Lords  of  Council,  and  see- 
 ing the  tolbooth  of  the  said  burgh  is  very  insufficient, 
 and  not  able,  for  want  of  roof  and  repairing,  to  shelter 
 him  from  the  rains  and  storm,  he  being  a  sickly  and 
 tender  person  is  in  hazard  of  his  life,  except  the  Coun- 
 cil were  favourably  pleased  to  give  order  for  his  liberty, 
 
 *  Jane  Collace,  writing  about  the  beginning  of  October  1675,  says  in 
 her  Diary,  "  On  the  Lord's  day  in  the  morning,  I  was  much  pressed  in  my 
 mind  (notwithstanding  of  my  frailty)  to  go  to  the  old  town  of  Kilravock 
 and  hear  sermon,  where  I  met  with  the  Lord  therein  with  power  and  pre- 
 sence, enlightening,  enlivening,  and  strengthening  my  soul,  both  as  to  my 
 own  case  and  the  Church's  condition  in  these  lands,  which  was  sent  to  me 
 as  furniture  for  a  sad  storm  I  was  to  meet  with,  for  on  the  morrow  we  got 
 the  sad  news  that  this  minister,  Mr  Thomas  Ross,  was  apprehended  by 
 the  enemy,  which  proved  a  sore  trial  to  me." 
 
humbly  therefore  supplicating  that  order  and  warrant 
 might  be  granted  to  that  effect."  In  answer  to  the 
 prayer  of  this  petition,  the  Lords  of  Council  recom- 
 mend to  the  Earl  of  Murray  "  to  change  the  place  of  the 
 petitioner's  imprisonment  from  the  tolbooth  of  Nairn 
 to  the  tolbooth  of  Tain  in  Inverness,  or  to  set  him  at 
 i|  liberty  upon  sufficient  caution  to  compear  and  answer 
 
 I  before  the  Council  when  he  shall  be  called,  as  the  said 
 
 '  Earl  shall  think  most  fit."    Upon  this,  the  Earl  of 
 Murray  ordered  him  to  be  carried  to  the  tolbooth  of 
 
 II  Tain,  as  we  are  informed  by  a  pious  female  who  lived  at 
 that  period.  "  The  next  week,"  says  she,  "  I  was  trysted 
 
 I  with  that  sharp  providence  of  the  removal  of  the  Lord's 
 !  faithful  servant  Mr  Thomas  Ross,  Jan.  15,  1676,  from 
 his  prison  at  this  place  to  the  tolbooth  of  Tain,  I  be- 
 ^  ing  witness  at  his  removal."    She  adds,  "  The  next 
 i  week  the  Lord  comforted  my  heart,  and  all  of  us,  in 
 ,  the  answer  of  prayer  concerning  his  faithful  servant 
 *  Mr  Thomas  Ross,  his  obtaining  from  his  keepers  some 
 :  more  freedom  in  prison  by  the  mercy  of  our  merciful 
 God.  Glory  to  his  name  !"  Here  he  continued  at  least 
 till  the  end  of  May  1676,  and  probably  longer ;  for  the 
 same  writer  speaks  of  a  letter  he  wrote  at  that  time  from 
 the  place  of  his  confinement,  in  reference  to  the  death 
 of  Lady  Kilravock.*  According  to  Wodrow,  he  was  sub- 
 sequently to  this  imprisoned  in  the  Bass.    After  re- 
 ferring to  the  above  act  of  Council,  this  historian  says, 
 l)ut  uj)on  what  authority  he  does  not  inform  us,  1 
 have  no  more  about  him,  only  he  was  brought  to  the 
 Bass,  and  continued  some  time  there  with  others  ol" 
 his  brethren."t    This  is  our  only  authority  for  includ- 
 ing Ross  among  the  prisoners  of  the  Bass.    \\\  tlic  re- 
 
 •  Diary  of  Juno  CoUacc. 
 
 t  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  ]».  L*S'). 
 
102 
 
 THE  MARTYES  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 cords  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Privy  Council,  we  have 
 not  met  with  any  act  sentencing  him  to  be  imprisoned 
 there,  nor  with  any  allusion  corroborating  Wodrow's 
 statement.  He  may,  however,  have  been  sent  thither 
 by  a  committee  of  Council  whose  proceedings  have  not 
 been  recorded.  We  again  find  him  a  prisoner  in  the  tol- 
 booth  of  Tain  in  October  1677,  but  how  long  he  had  lain 
 there  previous  to  that  date  is  uncertain.  On  petition- 
 ing the  Council,  he  was  ordained  to  be  set  at  liberty, 
 at  their  meeting  on  the  9th  of  October  that  year,  by 
 the  following  act : — "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy 
 Council  having  considered  the  petition  of  Mr  Thomas 
 Ross,  prisoner  in  Tain,  desiring  liberty,  do  ordain  him 
 to  be  set  at  liberty,  he  finding  caution,  under  the  pain 
 of  two  thousand  merks  Scots,  to  re-enter  himself  in 
 prison  Avhen  he  shall  be  called,  and  that  in  the  mean 
 time  he  shall  live  orderly,  in  obedience  to  law,  under 
 the  pain  foresaid.'"' 
 
 The  harsh  treatment  which  Ross  had  experienced, 
 could  not  fail  to  impair  the  health  of  one  of  so  delicate 
 a  frame  ;  and  he  did  not  survive  his  release  much  above 
 a  year.*  In  1678,  he  was  severely  afflicted  by  long 
 continued  pain  of  the  throat,  which  kept  him  from 
 speaking  in  his  family,  or  even  from  asking  a  blessing 
 on  his  food,  for  several  months.  This  was  followed  by 
 the  fever  of  which  he  died,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
 year  1679.  From  the  comm^cement  of  his  sickness 
 he  believed  that  it  would  issue,  in  death  ;  and  during 
 the  whole  time  of  it,  reposing  w4th  unshaken  confi- 
 dence in  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ,  his  hopes 
 
 *  The  editor  of  the  first  edition  of  Mr  James  Fraser  of  Brea's  Memoirs 
 of  himself,  speaking  of  Ross's  imprisonment  at  Tain,  aflBrms  that  he  "  died 
 there  in  prison  or  soon  thereafter."  Select  Biographies,  edited  for  the 
 Wodrow  Society,  vol,  ii.  p.  83.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  Ross  did  not 
 die  in  the  prison  of  Tain,  but  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  family. 
 
THOMAS  ROSS. 
 
 103 
 
 of  heaven  were  unclouded.  Some  of  the  expressions 
 which  he  then  uttered  have  been  preserved,  being  writ- 
 ten down  after  his  death  by  some  of  his  servants  who 
 were  present,  and  deserve  to  be  recorded,  as  affording 
 a  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel  in  supporting  and 
 tranquillising  the  soul  in  the  most  trying  of  all  circum- 
 stances— in  the  immediate  prospect  of  death  and  eter- 
 nity. 
 
 Between  Monday  and  Tuesday,  the  7th  of  January 
 1679,  he  plainly  told  his  friends  that  he  was  dying,  and 
 gave  directions  how,  upon  that  event,  things  should 
 be  conducted,  and  earnestly  exhorted  all  about  him  to 
 prepare  for  death  when  in  health.  "  You  will  assured- 
 ly find  it  work  enough  by  itself  to  die,"  said  he,  "  al- 
 though you  have  nothing  else  to  do,  which  few  have  ; 
 for  ordinarily  death  has  many  other  troubles  trysted 
 with  it,  as  trouble  of  mind^and  sickness  of  body,  and 
 such  like,  and  then  Satan  is  busiest  in  assaulting  people. 
 But,  for  myself,"  he  added,  "  I  bless  God  who  through 
 his  grace  has  enabled  me  so  to  spend  my  time,  as  that 
 now  there  is  nothing  to  do,  for  all  things  are  done 
 through  Christ  my  Lord  ;  and  now  the  only  thing  I 
 am  concerned  with  is  to  ,be  carried  through  to  the  end 
 which  He  has  j)romised  who  is  my  God,  and  therefore 
 it  is  the  duty  of  every  one  of  you  to  give  me  up  heart- 
 ily to  him,  and  to  seek  , also  that  the  Lord  may  hasten 
 liis  coming,  when  he  rand  I  and  all  his  people  shall 
 meet,  and  never  part/^igain." 
 
 On  Thursday,  hisifceakness  confining  him  to  his  bed, 
 and  his  family  stdbding  by  him  weeping,  he  endea- 
 voured to  comfort  them, — "  0  weep  not,  for  our  God 
 lives,  and  this  is  the  comfort  of  all  his  pe()])le,  and  so 
 your  comfort  also."  He  then  said  to  those  present, 
 his  sufferings  being  great,  "  0,  sirs,  you  may  wonder 
 
104 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 that  I  am  so  sorely  afflicted,  but  glory,  glory  to  Grod,  I 
 take  it  not  as  a  token  of  his  displeasure,  but  rather 
 as  a  token  of  love  to  my  soul,  and  the  greater  that  the 
 trouble  is,  the  greater  shall  be  the  future  joy/'  Again, 
 addressing  his  family,  he  said,  "  I  have  been  at  pains 
 with  you  to  get  you  advanced  to  the  highest  kingdom, 
 since  God  trysted  you  and  me  together.  0  then,  keep 
 near,  keep  near  Christ,  and  grip  him  fast,  for  assuredly 
 there  are  evil  days  coming,  when  you  shall  meet  with 
 many  temptations  ;  but  grip  Christ  fast,  and  then  you 
 shall  not  need  to  fear,  and  be  preparing  for  all  kind 
 of  trouble  before  it  come,  lest  it  be  a  surprise  when 
 it  comes,  for  there  are  very  evil  days  coming  that  none 
 is  like  to  bide  out,  save  those  that  have  real  grace. 
 But  I  will  go  oiF  with  the  faith  of  it,  that  Christ  shall 
 have  a  glorious  day  in  Scotland  yet." 
 
 On  another  occasion,  a  friend  inquiring  how  he  did, 
 he  replied,  "  I  am  poor  and  needy,  but  glory  to  Him, 
 he  thinks  upon  me :  he  is  pleading  for  me  :  I  thirst  for 
 that  inheritance  he  hath  purchased,  which  is  abiding 
 me  and  all  his.''  His  wife  asking  him  if  he  was  get- 
 ting much  of  God,  he  answered,  "  I  am  getting  as  much 
 of  him  as  keeps  me  up  in  the  hope  of  that  everlast- 
 ing inheritance,  in  being  with  God  when  time  shall  be 
 no  more.  And  I  have  his  word  for  it,  that  he  shall 
 be  with  me  in  going  through  the  vale  of  the  shadow  of 
 death."  He  added,  "  I  am  persuaded,  and  my  soul  has 
 been  triumphing  these  three  years  bypast  in  seeing  that 
 the  delivery  of  the  Church  and  people  of  God  is  coming." 
 And  a  little  after,  he  exclaimed,  "  Glory,  glory,  glory 
 and  praise  be  to  my  God,  and  to  my  Lord,  and  to  my 
 King,  for  thou  hast  given  me  the  shield  of  thy  salva- 
 tion, and  still  upholdest  me  by  thy  right  hand,  and 
 thy  gentleness  hath  made  me  great,  and  thou  art  to 
 
Jc^        ^^^p^^^<-  ^W-C  /?'''c. 
 
 THOMAS  ROSS.  105 
 
 me  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  weary  land."  When 
 one  inquired  how  he  did,  he  said,  "  My  God  that  hath 
 been  with  me  all  my  days,  does  not,  and  will  not  leave 
 me  now,  he  having  made  with  me  an  everlasting  cove- 
 nant, well  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure,  and  I  have 
 subscribed  heartily  to  it ;  and  although  I  be  lingering 
 here  a  little  while,  yet  my  Redeemer  is  near  at  hand, 
 and  soon  I  shall  see  him  as  he  is ;  and  0  how  glorious 
 will  that  sight  be  to  me  when  I  shall  get  Christ's  bosom 
 to  be  my  dwelling-place  !  0  then,  sirs,  my  light  shall 
 not  admit  a  darkness  any  more,  nor  my  morning  a 
 night !"  Being  asked  if  he  would  take  a  drink,  he  said, 
 .  "  Ere  long,  I  shall  be  drinking  of  the  water  of  the  river 
 of  life,  and  of  that  refreshing  river  that  runs  beneath 
 the  throne  of  God.''    He  then  exhorted  those  present 
 to  labour  diligently  to  obtam  an  interest  in  God  now, 
 and  they  also  would  drink  of  the  same  river.    On  Mon- 
 day the  13th,  the  last  day  he  spent  on  earth,  two  of 
 his  relatives  having  visited  him,  and  one  of  them  ex- 
 pressing their  hope  that  God  would  prepare  him  for 
 his  journey,  he  answered,  "  I  assure  you  there  is  neither 
 rock  nor  mountain  between  me  and  Christ ;"  and  when 
 they  had  gone  out,  he  was  heard  to  say,  "  Let  the  devil 
 and  the  world  do  what  they  will,  I  have  overcome,  I 
 have  overcome  through  Christ  my  Lord."    The  last 
 words  he  uttered  were,  "  My  king  Jesus  is  near  at  hand 
 now — my  king  Jesus  is  near  at  hand  now     and  short- 
 ly after  respiration  ceased,  and  the  spirit  entered  into 
 rest.    lie  died  on  the  13th  of  January  1679,  between 
 ten  and  eleven  o'clock  at  night* 
 
 •  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xcix.  4t(.,  no.  31. 
 
106 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ALEXANDEE  FOERESTER. 
 
 Alexander  Forrester*  was  minister  of  St  Mungo.t 
 Only  a  few  particulars  of  his  history  are  now  known. 
 In  1676,  he  was  apprehended  in  Fife  for  being  at  field 
 conventicles,  and  imprisoned  in  St  Andrews.  His  case 
 having  come  before  the  Committee  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
 cil for  Public  Affairs,  they  ordained  that  he  should  be 
 transported  to  the  Bass ;  and  the  report  of  their  pro- 
 cedure being  made  to  the  Council  on  the  8d  of  August 
 1676,  it  was  approved.  Not  long  after  he  was  set  at 
 liberty,  upon  finding  security  to  appear  before  the  Com- 
 mittee. Appearing  before  them,  as  he  had  engaged, 
 about  the  beginning  of  February  next  year,  he  was  ex- 
 amined regarding  the  field  conventicles,  for  the  keep- 
 ing of  which  he  was  apprehended,  and  in  reference  to 
 some  papers  found  upon  him,  which  were  produced  be- 
 fore the  Committee.  These  papers  were  the  minutes 
 of  a  meeting  of  outed  ministers,  of  which  he  was  clerk, 
 held  at  Edinburgh  between  two  and  three  months  be- 
 fore his  apprehension.  Some  account  is  given  of  this 
 meeting  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Council  con- 
 cerning his  examination,  given  in  to  the  Council  on  the 
 8th  of  February  1677,  which  is  as  follows  — 
 
 *  Wodrow  by  mistake  calls  him  Andrew.    History,  vol.  ii.  p.  355. 
 t  Crichton's  Memoirs  of  John  Blackadder,  p.  343. 
 
ALEXANDER  FORRESTER. 
 
 107 
 
 "  Mr  Alexander  Forrester,  who  was  formerly  prisoner  in  the 
 Bass,  being  taken  in  Fife  for  keeping  field  conventicles  ;  who 
 was  thereafter  set  at  liberty,  upon  caution  to  appear  before  the 
 Committee :  he  being  called  and  examined  thereupon,  and  con- 
 cerning some  papers  which  were  taken  upon  him  when  he  was 
 apprehended,  which  were  produced  before  the  Committee ;  by 
 which  papers  it  appears,  that  upon  the  24th  of  May  1676, 
 there  did  convene  within  Edinburgh  betwixt  fifty  and  three- 
 score outed  ministers,  who  did  constitute  themselves  in  form 
 of  a  Commission  of  the  Kirk,  leeted  and  voted  their  modera- 
 tor, appointed  a  committee  of  ten  of  their  number  at  their 
 first  meeting  to  prepare  overtures  ;  who,  accordingly  after  the 
 dissolving  of  the  meeting,  did  convene  that  same  night,  and 
 did  condescend  upon,  prepare,  and  agree  to  the  draft  of  a  peti- 
 tion and  overtures  of  a  most  seditious  nature,  to  be  offered  to 
 their  meeting ;  in  which  they  condescend  upon  ways  for  settling 
 and  keeping  a  correspondence  in  the  several  societies  and 
 synods  established  by  them,  and  for  entering  into  and  sending 
 out  young  men  into  the  ministry  in  their  several  societies 
 and  bounds,  and  for  one  synod's  corresponding  with  another, 
 and  for  providing  against  any  offer  from  the  State  in  order  to 
 Church  affairs,  without  advertisement  given  to  and  consent  of 
 the  several  societies,  and  for  correspondence  with  gentlemen 
 and  judicious  elders ;  which  overtures  being,  upon  the  said 
 25th  of  May,  presentdd  to  the  great  meeting,  the  same  were 
 voted  and  approven.  Which  papers,  containing  the  said  peti- 
 tion and  overtures,  with  another  paper,  beanng  the  leeting  and 
 voting  of  the  moderator,  and  what  votes  every  particular  mi- 
 nister had,  and  the  minutes  of  what  passed  at  these  meetings, 
 being  found  upon  the  said  Mr  Alexander  Forrester  when  he 
 was  apprehended,  and  being  presented  to  him  at  his  examina- 
 tion, he  confessed  that  the  said  minutes  were  in  his  own  hand- 
 writing, and  that  he  was  present  at  these  meetings,  and  that  ho 
 was  elected  and  did  oflficiate  as  clerk  ;  and  confessed  they  did 
 choose  a  proses ;  and  being  interrogate  who  was  the  person 
 that  was  chosen  preses,  or  in  what  house  or  place  in  Edin- 
 burgh the  said  meetings  were  kept,  and  who  were  present  at 
 
108 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  same,  and  other  circumstances  relating  to  the  discovery 
 thereof,  the  said  Mr  Alexander  refused  to  declare  any  thing 
 thereanent :  whereupon  the  Committee  thought  fit  to  order 
 him  to  be  kept  close  prisoner  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh, 
 until  the  Council  should  consider  farther  of  the  said  matter." 
 
 Of  the  meeting,  described  in  this  report,  we  have 
 elsewhere  met  with  no  account;  and  although  from 
 the  report  we  may  form  some  idea  of  its  nature,  yet 
 it  is  evidently  misrepresented.  That  these  ministers 
 "  constituted  themselves  in  form  of  a  Commission  of 
 the  Kirk"  is  very  doubtful,  this  being,  it  is  probable, 
 merely  the  interpretation  put  upon  the  character  of  the 
 meeting  by  the  Committee  of  Council ;  for  the  design 
 of  all  the  general  meetings  held  by  the  Presbyterian 
 ministers  during  the  persecution,  of  which  we  have  any 
 distinct  information,  was  professedly  for  nothing  more 
 than  consultation,  and  the  strengthening  of  one  an- 
 other's hands  ;  and  they  declined  to  take  to  themselves 
 judicial  power  or  authority,  although  they  were  blamed 
 for  assuming  such  power,  some  things  which  they  did 
 being  considered  as  amounting  to  an  exercise  of  it* 
 What  the  petition  and  overtures  which  they  prepared 
 and  agreed  to  were,  can  only  be  conjectured.  They 
 are  described  as  "  of  a  most  seditious  nature but  as 
 this  was  the  customary  language  applied  by  the  govern- 
 ment to  all  the  measures  to  which  the  Presbyterians  had 
 recourse  for  obtaining  relief  from  the  hardships  under 
 which  they  laboured,  it  may  be  fairly  enough  concluded, 
 in  the  absence  of  all  evidence,  that  they  contained  no- 
 thing inconsistent  with  loyalty  to  their  sovereign,  or 
 calculated  to  create  turbulence  in  the  State.  The  great 
 objects  aimed  at  obviously  were,  to  establish  a  general 
 correspondence  among  the  Presbyterians  throughout 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  346,  356. 
 
ALEXANDER  FORRESTER. 
 
 109 
 
 the  country,  that  they  might  act  in  concert  in  adopting 
 such  measures  as  seemed  for  the  good  of  the  general 
 body  ;  and  to  provide  for  the  licensing  of  young  men  to 
 preach  the  gospel,  the  number  of  ministers  being  but 
 few  compared  with  the  urgent  demand  for  the  faithful 
 preaching  of  the  word. 
 
 The  Council  having  heard  and  considered  the  above 
 report  of  their  Committee,  "  approved  of  their  pro- 
 ceedings, and  ordained  Mr  Forrester  to  be  kept  pri- 
 soner in  a  chamber  by  himself,  that  no  person  have 
 access  to  him  except  with  meat  or  drink,  and  that  he 
 be  not  allowed  the  use  of  pen,  ink,  or  paper  ;  and  an 
 order  to  be  delivered  to  the  keeper  of  the  tolbooth  to 
 that  effect."  How  long  Forrester  was  detained  in  pri- 
 son, and  what  became  of  him  afterwards,  we  have  not 
 discovered. 
 
no 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 WILLIAM  BELL. 
 
 William  Bell  was  distinguished,  during  the  persecu- 
 tion, as  a  field  preacher.  He  is  mentioned  by  a  con- 
 temporary as  one  of  those  recusant  ministers  who,  after 
 the  suppression  of  the  rising  at  Pentland,  when  they 
 were  "  driven  to  hiding  places  and  secret  corners,'' 
 "  went  out  and  preached  by  night  and  by  day  in  great 
 peril  of  their  lives  and  liberties.''*  In  this  work  he  per- 
 severed for  a  considerable  time  without  falling  into  the 
 hands  of  the  enemy.  But  he  was  at  length  apprehended 
 on  the  4th  of  September  1676,  by  a  party  of  soldiers  at  a 
 field  meeting,  held  on  that  day  at  Pentland  Hills,  where 
 he  had  been  preaching ;  for  at  this  time  soldiers  were 
 scouring  difiierent  parts  of  the  country  to  put  down 
 conventicles, — a  work  in  which  they  displayed  so  great 
 zeal,  that  wherever  they  found  any  whom  they  were 
 pleased  to  reckon  haunters  of  conventicles,  they  im- 
 prisoned, harassed,  robbed,  and  wounded  them  with- 
 out control.t  A  number  of  the  hearers  were  also 
 seized,  and  all  of  them  were  carried  prisoners  to  Edin- 
 burgh. In  coming  up  the  West  Bow,  an  attempt  was 
 made  to  rescue  them  from  the  military  by  some  of  their 
 friends ;  but  this  attempt  proving  unsuccessful,  they 
 
 *  Reid's  Memoirs  of  himself,  p.  26. 
 t  Wodrow's  History,  voL  ii.  p.  317. 
 
WILLIAM  BELL. 
 
 Ill 
 
 were  all  securely  imprisoned,  two  of  them,  Mr  Bell  and 
 Robert  Dick,  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  and  the 
 •jthers  in  that  of  the  Canongate. 
 
 On  the  10th  of  October,  the  case  of  these  prisoners 
 came  before  the  Lords  of  Council,  who  "  recommended 
 to  the  Committee  for  Public  Affairs  to  examine  the  per- 
 sons taken  at  a  conventicle  kept  at  Pentland  Hills  the 
 4th  of  September  last,  and  to  take  trial  and  inquiry 
 anent  the  persons  who  deforced  the  party  in  their  com- 
 
 i  j  ing  up  the  West  Bow  of  Edinburgh  with  the  prisoners, 
 and  that  a  citation  be  given  to  Mr  William  Bell  and 
 
 i  Robert  Dick,  prisoners,  for  being  at  the  said  conven- 
 ticle/' 
 
 BeU  having  preached  at  the  meeting,  and  Dick  hav- 
 ing convocated  the  people  to  it,  were,  according  to  the 
 persecuting  edicts  then  in  force,  the  chief  offenders ; 
 for  by  the  fifth  act  of  the  second  session  of  the  second 
 Parliament  of  Charles  IL,  1670,  it  is  statute  and  or- 
 i  dained,  "  that  whosoever  without  licence  or  authority 
 1  shall  preach,  expound  scripture,  or  pray  at  any  meet- 
 ings in  the  field,  or  in  any  house  where  there  are  more 
 persons  than  the  house  contains,  so  that  some  of  them 
 are  without  doors  (which  is  declared  to  be  a  house  con- 
 \  onticle),  or  who  shall  convocate  any  number  of  people 
 to  these  meetings,  shall  be  punished  with  death,  and 
 confiscation  of  their  goods."*  Their  case  was  accord- 
 ingly  first  disposed  of  On  the  12th  of  October,  a 
 lil>el  was  presented,  at  the  instance  of  his  Majesty's 
 Advocate,  to  the  Council  against  Bell  and  Dick,  "  pri- 
 soners in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  for  being  present 
 at  several  house  and  field  conventicles  since  the  25th 
 March  1674,  and  particularly  at  a  field  conventicle  kept 
 at  Pentland  Hills  in  September  last,  at  which  the 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  169. 
 
112 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 said  Mr  William  Bell  did  take  upon  him  to  preach  and 
 exercise  the  other  functions  of  the  ministry,  and  the 
 said  Robert  Dick  did  convocate  the  people  thereto/' 
 Bell  acknowledged  that  he  prayed  and  lectured  at  the 
 said  conventicle,  but  refused  to  give  oath  if  he  was 
 present  at  any  other  similar  meetings,  and  Dick  con- 
 fessed that  he  was  present  at  it.  The  Council  having 
 considered  the  libel  and  the  confession  of  the  prison- 
 ers, ordained  both  of  them  "  to  be  carried  to-morrow 
 morning  by  a  party  of  his  Majesty's  troop  of  guards 
 from  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  to  the  Isle  of  Bass,  to 
 remain  prisoners  there  until  the  Council  consider  what 
 further  punishment  shall  be  inflicted  on  them,  and  give 
 order  to  the  Earl  of  Kinghorn  to  command  such  a  num- 
 ber of  his  Majesty's  troop  of  guards  as  he  shall  think 
 fit  to  receive  and  convey  the  said  prisoners  to  the  said 
 isle,  ordaining  the  commander  of  the  garrison  to  receive 
 and  detain  them  prisoners  until  farther  order." 
 
 The  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  had  been  ordered  by 
 the  Council  to  inquire  into  the  attempt  made  to  release 
 the  prisoners  taken  at  the  Pentland  Hills'  field  meet- 
 ing, on  their  entering  Edinburgh ;  and  on  the  9th  of 
 November,  they  gave  in  a  report  of  their  diligence  in 
 this  matter.  Their  report  is  remitted  to  the  Commit- 
 tee for  Public  Affairs,  which  is  appointed  to  meet  "  to- 
 morrow in  the  afternoon,  for  the  transaction  of  that  and 
 other  similar  business." 
 
 The  Magistrates  being  called  by  the  Committee  to 
 give  an  account  of  their  diligence  in  the  trial  of  the 
 above  disorder,  represented  that  they  had  examined 
 many  witnesses,  a  copy  of  whose  depositions  they  had 
 given  in  to  the  clerks  of  Council.  The  Lords  of  Coun- 
 cil, on  receiving  this  report  from  their  Committee  on 
 the  16th  of  November,  express  their  approbation  of 
 
WILLIAM  BELL. 
 
 113 
 
 the  Magistrates  as  having  done  their  duty.  At  the 
 same  meeting,  the  libel  raised  at  the  instance  of  his 
 Majesty's  Advocate  against  the  prisoners  in  the  Can- 
 ongate,  for  being  at  the  conventicle  held  at  Pentland 
 Hills,  came  under  consideration,  and  it  was  remitted 
 to  Lord  Collington  to  call  them  before  him  and  set  them 
 at  liberty,  upon  their  giving  bond  or  other  assurance  to 
 his  satisfaction,  that  they  should  not  go  to  any  house  or 
 field  conventicles  in  future. 
 
 Bell  continued  in  the  Bass  for  the  period  of  nearly 
 three  years,  enduring  many  privations  and  hardships. 
 The  prisoners  were  obliged  to  support  themselves,  which 
 many  of  them,  on  account  of  their  poverty,  did  Avith 
 great  difficulty  ;  and  such  as  were  altogether  unable  to 
 provide  for  their  own  subsistence,  received  a  scanty  sup- 
 ply from  the  government.  Bell  being  poor,  was  under 
 the  necessity  of  supplicating  the  Council,  about  a  year 
 after  his  imprisonment,  either  that  he  might  be  libe- 
 rated, or  have  some  maintenance  allowed  hhn.  In  an- 
 swer to  his  petition,  the  Council,  on  the  5th  of  October 
 1677,  recommend  to  the  Lord  Commissioner  of  the 
 Treasury  to  allow  him  somcAvhat  for  his  aliment  dur- 
 ing the  period  of  his  confinement.  Bell  had  indeed 
 some  alleviations  to  the  grievousness  of  his  condition. 
 He  generally  enjoyed  the  society  of  fellow-j)risoners, 
 both  ministers  and  others,  who  were  suffering  in  the 
 same  cause,  and  among  whom  the  greatest  harmony  pre- 
 vailed. He  had,  for  the  most  part,  liberty  granted  him 
 of  going  up  the  hill  to  breathe  the  fresh  air,  and  beguile 
 the  weary  hours  of  his  captivity,  ])y  such  prospects  as 
 the  ocean,  or  the  adjacent  coast,  i)resented  to  please 
 the  eye  or  arrest  the  attention.  His  heart  was  cheered 
 by  occasional  visits  of  friends,  who,  taking  a  deej*  in- 
 terest in  him  and  his  brethren  in  the  same  tribulation. 
 
THE  MAKTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 came  from  Edinburgh  and  other  places  to  see  them.  He 
 was  allowed  to  preach  the  gospel  to  his  fellow-prisoners, 
 and  to  hear  it  preached  by  such  of  them  as  were  minis- 
 ters. But  notwithstanding  these  mitigating  circum- 
 stances, his  condition,  and  that  of  his  felloAV-prisoners, 
 was  abundantly  distressing.  Their  victuals  were  often 
 bad,  and  purchased  at  an  extravagant  cost,  as  they  were 
 obliged  to  take  them  from  the  governor  at  his  own  price. 
 Sometimes  their  Avhole  fare  consisted  of  a  scanty  sup- 
 ply of  dried  fish  ;  and  in  stormy  weather,  from  the  diffi- 
 culty of  approaching  the  island,  the  boat  which  brought 
 their  provisions  from  the  shore  being  detained,  they 
 were  in  some  instances  almost  reduced  to  starvation. 
 There  being  no  spring  on  the  rock,  they  also  suffered 
 much  from  the  want  of  water.  The  way  in  which  they 
 obtained  this  important  element  was  by  collecting  the 
 rain  which  fell  from  the  clouds  in  cavities ;  and  in 
 winter  and  spring  they  procured  it  by  melting  snow. 
 Such  Avater  soon  becoming  putrid  and  disagreeable,  they 
 used  to  sprinkle  it  with  oat-meal  to  render  it  in  some 
 degree  palatable.  Nor  could  they  obtain  any  thing 
 better,  without  paying  an  exorbitant  price.  They 
 were  obliged  to  drink  the  twopenny  ale  of  the  gover- 
 nor's brewing,  scarcely  worth  a  halfpenny  the  pint.'' 
 In  addition  to  this,  they  were  removed  from  the  so- 
 ciety of  beloved  relatives  and  friends,  so  comforting 
 and  encouraging  in  these  times  of  persecution  ;  and 
 were  surrounded  and  coming  into  constant  contact 
 with  the  governor  and  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  from 
 whose  rudeness,  barbarity,  and  impiety,  they  suffered 
 much.  The  servantvS  whom  they  had  themselves  pro- 
 cure dwere  often  dismissed,  apparently  without  any 
 other  reason  but  to  annoy  them,  and  they  were  obliged 
 to  hire  other  servants  of  Avhose  character  they  were 
 
WILLIAM  BELL. 
 
 1]5 
 
 ignorant.  Thej  had  difficulty  in  obtaining  female  ser- 
 vants, for  women  of  a  respectable  character  were  un- 
 willing to  engage,  from  the  licentiousness  of  the  sol- 
 diers, who,  in  some  instances,  were  offered  rewards  by 
 their  unprincipled  officers,  to  debauch  the  females, 
 with  the  wicked  design  of  calumniating,  by  indirect 
 insinuations,  the  character  of  the  prisoners.  At  last, 
 they  were  precluded  from  preaching,  or  unitedly  wor- 
 shipping God,  and  even  from  eating  together,  by  which 
 the  expence  of  their  maintenance  was  increased,  while 
 they  were  deprived  of  a  source  of  much  comfort,  as 
 well  as  of  spiritual  improvement.  The  letters  which 
 came  to  them  from  their  relatives  and  friends,  and 
 those  which  they  sent  ashore,  were  frequently  opened 
 and  read  by  those  to  whom  they  were  intrusted,  though 
 they  had  no  orders  from  the  Council  to  that  effect. 
 When  it  suited  the  humour  of  their  governors,  they 
 were  made  close  prisoners,  each  shut  up  in  a  gloomy 
 dungeon  by  himself,  and  kept  in  this  desolate  state  as 
 long  as  their  caprice  dictated.  This  was  indeed  done, 
 not  only  without,  but  contrary  to,  the  sentence  of  the 
 Council,  which  had  committed  them  ''free  prisoners,"  or 
 such  as  had  the  liberty  of  the  rock  ;  but  the  governors, 
 if  not  invested  with  irresponsible  power,  exercised  it 
 with  impunity,  the  helpless  captives  being  without  re- 
 dress from  a  government  which  would  have  lent  a  deaf 
 ear  to  their  complaints.  Their  hearts  were  lacerated  by 
 the  blasphemy  of  the  governors  and  officers,  who,  so  far 
 from  trcatiiig  them  with  humanity  and  courtesy,  some- 
 times intruded  into  their  company  for  the  cruel  purpose 
 of  wounding  their  feelings  by  pn)fanity,  and  at  other 
 times,  of  leading  them  artfully  and  insidiously  into  the 
 expression  of  sentiments  on  public  matters  then  ac- 
 '  'Minted  seditious.    To  those  of  them  who  were  minis- 
 
U6 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ters  laid  aside  from  the  public  exercise  of  their  mi- 
 nistry, and  especially  to  such  of  them  as,  like  Bell,  had 
 preached  in  the  fields,  and  who  could  no  longer  address 
 the  vast  assemblages  which  collected  at  such  meetings, 
 this  confinement  would  be  more  deeply  distressing  than 
 can  well  be  conceived.  They  would  look  back  with  re- 
 gret to  those  days  and  nights,  full  of  peril  though  they 
 were,  in  which  they  proclaimed  the  unsearchable  riches 
 of  Christ  to  the  multitudes  that  hung  upon  their  lips.* 
 Such  were  some  of  the  privations  and  hardships 
 which  Bell  had  to  suffer  while  a  prisoner  on  the  Bass. 
 After  lying  on  this  desolate  rock  for  nearly  three  years, 
 an  event  occurred  which  led  him  and  his  fellow-pri- 
 soners to  anticipate  still  greater  sufferings,  and  which  ' 
 even  excited  apprehensions  that  their  lives  might  be 
 sacrificed  to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  government.  In 
 1679,  the  Covenanters,  to  shake  ofi"  the  yoke  of  oppres- 
 sion, rose  up  in  arms  at  Bothwell  Bridge  ;  but  this 
 premature,  ill-concerted,  and  still  worse-conducted  at- 
 tempt, having  been  defeated  by  the  king's  forces,  the 
 rage  of  their  persecutors  becoming  more  fierce,  all  who 
 belonged  to  the  Presbyterian  body  had  reason  to  dread 
 the  effects  of  their  exasperated  fury.  Their  fears  were, 
 however,  disappointed.  The  king,  with  the  view  of 
 allaying  discontent,  and  restoring  tranquillity  to  the 
 distracted  country,  was  induced  to  grant  an  indemnity 
 and  indulgence,  called  the  Third  Indulgence,t  and  at 
 the  same  time  to  give  orders,  by  a  letter  to  the  Council, 
 dated  Tlth  July  1679,  that  the  ministers  then  impri- 
 
 *  For  this  account  of  the  state  of  tlio  prisoners  on  the  Bass,  during  the 
 time  of  Bell's  confinement  there,  we  are  indebted  to  Eraser  of  Brea,  who 
 was  his  fellow-prisoner. — Frasor's  Memoirs  in  Select  Biographies,  print«>d 
 lor  the  Wodrow  Society,  vol.  ii.  pp.  347,  348. 
 
 t  This  third  indulgence  extended  to  all  non-conforming  Prof  hyicvian  mi- 
 nisters, with  the  exception  of  those  who  hud  been  at  Botliwt  ll  J]ridge.  It 
 
■WILLIAM  BELL. 
 
 J17 
 
 soned,  who  had  not  been  accessory  to  "the  rebellion," 
 as  it  was  called,  or  who  had  been  imprisoned  merely 
 for  non-conformity,  should  be  set  at  liberty,  "  without 
 any  other  engagement,  but  that  they  shall  live  peace- 
 ably, and  not  take  up  arms  against  us,  or  our  authority, 
 or  find  caution  to  answer  when  called  on  by  us  or 
 you."  Upon  this  Bell  and  seven  other  prisoners  were 
 taken  out  of  the  Bass,  and  carried  to  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh,  that  the  Council  might  give  them  an  op- 
 portunity of  taking  the  bond  to  live  peaceably,  and 
 not  to  lift  up  arms  against  the  king  or  his  authority. 
 The  act  of  Council  in  reference  to  this  is  as  folloAvs  : — 
 
 "  Edinburgh,  V^tk  July  1679. 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council,  do  hereby  give 
 warrant  to  General  Dalziel,  Lieutenant-General  of  his  Ma- 
 jesty's forces,  to  order  such  a  party  of  his  Majesty's  forces  as 
 he  shall  think  fit  to  transport  the  persons  underwritten,  pri- 
 soners from  the  Isle  of  the  Bass  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh, 
 
 wa«  less  clogged  than  the  two  preceding  indulgences.  Field-meetings 
 were  prohibited  under  the  same  penalties  as  before,  but  meetings  for  di- 
 vine worship  in  private  houses  were  allowed.  Only  one  minister  was  al- 
 lowed to  each  parish ;  and  such  parishes  as  wished  a  minister  were  re- 
 quired to  petition  the  Privy  Council,  and  also  to  give  security  by  their 
 bond,  that  he  would  keep  the  public  peace,  or  live  peaceably,  under  the 
 penalty  of  500  merks,  to  be  paid  by  the  cautioners  in  case  of  failure. 
 "  Thi^,"  8uy»  Blackadder,  "  ib  commonly  called  the  Third  or  bonded  iudul- 
 genre  ;  the  worst  of  the  three,  for  ministers  embracing  this  way  «lid  for- 
 mally bring  their  ministry  under  bonds,  as  is  clearly  made  out  at  length  in 
 that  paper  railed  '  The  Bandos  Disbanded.'"- BlaJkadder's  Memoirs  iMS., 
 Wodrow  M.SS.  vol.  xcvii.  This  indulgence,  says  Wodrow,  was  much 
 owing  to  the  present  struggle  for  liberty  in  England,  and  the  just  infur- 
 motion  the  Duke  (»f  Monmouth  gave  the  king  ..f  the  good  inclinations  and 
 intentions  of  the  body  of  Presbyterians  in  Scotland  to  his  pcrM>n  and  g.»- 
 vemment."  But  a  change  haN  ing  taken  pbicu  in  the  g..vernment  within 
 the  course  of  a  few  w^M-ks,  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  bi-ing  removed  from 
 the  king's  council,  and  the  Duke  of  V(,rk's  party  succe  eding,  the  moderate 
 niea«ure«  contnnpli.tvd  for  the  Presbyterians  w«.re  crushed  ;  restrictions 
 were  lirst  impoKed  on  the  indulgence,  and,  before  the  end  of  th..  ytar.  it 
 was  compIetelN  removed.— Wodrow's  HiHtory.  \«d.  iii.  pp.  147  l.-,7. 
 
118  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS.  ] 
 
 j 
 
 viz.,  ]Mr  Patrick  Anderson,  James  Fraser  of  Brea,  Mr  Thomas  i 
 Hog,  Mr  John  M'Gilligen,  Mr  John  Macauly,  Mr  Robert 
 Ross,  Mr  John  Law,  and  Mr  William  Bell;  ordaining  hereby  \ 
 the  Grovemor  of  the  said  Isle  of  Bass  to  deliver  the  said  per-  ! 
 sons  to  the  said  party,  and  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to 
 receive  and  detain  them  in  prison  till  further  order."* 
 
 Bell  and  the  other  ministers,  great  as  had  been  the 
 sufferings  of  their  captivity,  were  not  however  inclined 
 to  purchase  liberty  by  a  dishonourable  compromise  of 
 principle,  and  knowing  that  the  king's  letter  allowed 
 them  to  adopt  one  of  two  courses,  either  to  engage  to  , 
 live  peaceably,  that  is  to  forbear  preaching  in  the  field,  ' 
 and  not  to  rise  up  in  arms,  or  to  give  security  to  appear 
 when  called,  refused  to  comply  with  the  first  alterna- 
 tive, but  expressed  their  readiness  to  comply  with  the 
 terms  of  the  second.    The  Council  upon  this,  contrary 
 to  the  king's  letter,  sent  them  back  to  prison  ;  but  after-  • 
 wards  set  them  all  at  liberty,  upon  their  granting  bond  ' 
 to  appear  when  called  under  the  penalty  of  a  certain  ' 
 sum  for  each-t    Thus  they  obtained  their  liberty  with- 
 out making  any  unworthy  compliance. 
 
 Bell,  though  he  did  not  join  with  the  party  of  Came- 
 ron, appears  never  to  have  accepted  of  the  indulgence. 
 Whether  after  his  liberation  he  preached  in  the  field  is 
 uncertain,  for  so  hot  did  the  persecution  become  in  con-  \ 
 sequence  of  the  insurrection  at  Bothwell  Bridge  against 
 such  as  preached  in  the  fields,  that  nearly  all  who  had 
 formerly  practised  this,  confined  their  ministry  to  pri- 
 vate houses.  +  It  is  however  probable,  that  he  lived  a  ; 
 wandering  and  unsettled  life,  preaching  the  gospel  as  . 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council.  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  pp.  152, 153. 
 t  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  153.    Eraser's  Memoirs  in  Select  Biogra- 
 
 ].hies  printed  for  Wodrow  Society,  vol.  ii.  p.  349. 
 
 *  When  Richard  Cameron  returned  to  Scotland  from  Holland  in  the 
 beginning  of  the  year  1680,  none  of  the  ministers  would  venture  with  him 
 
WILLIAM  BELL. 
 
 119 
 
 jiie  found  opportunity,*  until  the  close  of  the  year  1680, 
 jwhen  he  was  apprehended  at  a  conventicle  held  in 
 Edinburgh  and  thrown  into  prison.    Shortly  after  his 
 )  imprisonment,  he  petitioned  the  Council  for  being  set 
 iat  liberty,  and  this  he  might  have  obtained  had  he 
 .  promised  to  refrain  from  conventicles  in  time  to  come  ; 
 but  refusing  to  come  under  any  such  engagement,  it 
 was  remitted  to  the  Committee  of  Council  for  Public 
 Affairs,  to  consider  where  he  should  be  confined  pri- 
 i  soner.    The  Committee  agreed  that  he  should  be  sent 
 I  to  Blackness,  another  horrible  dungeon,  where  many 
 of  our  suffering  ancestors  languished  for  years  in  the 
 endurance  of  much  privation  and  hardship. 
 
 How  long  he  remained  in  this  place  of  confinement 
 is  uncertain  ;  but  after  again  enjoying  liberty,  he  em- 
 ployed himself  as  before,  in  the  face  of  danger  and  suf- 
 fering, to  which  he  had  been  so  long  inured  that  they 
 had  become  familiar  to  him.  The  last  notice  of  him 
 which  we  have  met  with  is  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr 
 
 to  the  fields  except  Mr  Donald  Cargil.  Mr  John  Blackadder,  howevfr, 
 though  he  did  not  join  with  Cameron,  not  agreeing  with  him  in  consider- 
 ing the  acceptance  of  the  indulgence  a  warrantable  ground  of  separation, 
 though  he  w(»u]d  rather  have  sacrificed  his  life  than  have  accepted  it  him- 
 self, continued  fearlessly  to  preach  in  the  fields  till  he  was  apprehended 
 aud  imprisoned  in  the  Bass  in  April  1681.  Mr  John  Welsh,  so  celebrated 
 as  a  field  preacher,  went  to  London  after  the  battle  of  Bothwell  Bridge, 
 "  when,"  says  Kirkton,  "  all  forsot^k  field  meetings,"  and  there  died  on 
 the  9th  of  January  1681.  Kirkt.m's  History,  p.  220.  Mr  Archibald 
 Riddell,  the  coodjut»»r  of  Blackadder  and  Welsh,  when  examined  before  a 
 Committee  of  the  Privy  C.uncil  in  October  1680,  admitted  that  he  had 
 not  preached  in  the  fields  since  the  indemnity  published  after  Bothwell 
 Bridge,  but  refused  to  come  under  an  engagement  not  to  preach  in  the 
 fields.  He,  how«ver,  a«lnutted  that  he  had  not  preached  in  such  a  public 
 manner  since  the  indemnity  ;  and  he  was  prevented  from  doing  so  in  fu- 
 ture, for  after  being  kept  in  prison  at  Edinburgh  for  some  months,  he  wiu* 
 sent  to  the  Bass,  where  he  continued  three  years  and  a  lialf.  and  then  had 
 to  leave  the  country.    W.nirow'B  History,  vol.  iii.  \>\<.  198,  202. 
 
 •  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council  from  Wudrow  s  Notes.  Defeu.ber 
 9.  1680,  among  the  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xliv.  8vo. 
 
1 
 
 120  THE  MAHTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Colin  M'Kenzie,  clerk  of  the  Privy  Council,  in  the  be- 
 ginning of  the  year  1688  : — 
 
 "  Sir, — Since  my  last,  we  have  had  only  two  fanatic  preach- 
 ers, one  Mr  "VViUiam  Bell,  who  preached  at  Houlatstown,  and 
 
 one  Mr  James  Drummond  at  the  Lady  's  malt-barn.  The 
 
 oflFering  is  so  small  they  are  not  able  to  feed  upon  it,  so  I  hope 
 we  shall  be  quit  of  them.  My  service  and  wife's  to  your  lady. 
 I  rest,  your  humble  servant,  Borthwick."* 
 
 ''Stow,  Feb.  1.  1688." 
 
 The  future  history  of  Bell  is  unknown.  These  few 
 gleanings  concerning  him  are  highly  honourable  to  the 
 consistency,  stedfastness,  and  intrepidity  of  his  cha- 
 racter. In  the  execution  of  his  high  commission  as  a 
 minister  of  Christ  under  the  persecuted  banner  of  Pres- 
 bytery, he  braved  contumely,  poverty,  the  dungeon,  and 
 death,  and  deserves  to  occupy  a  place  among  those  of 
 our  Scottish  worthies  who  were  most  faithful  and  un- 
 compromising in  resisting  the  claims  of  the  Crown  to 
 absolute  power  in  spiritual  matters,  and  in  practically 
 asserting  the  paramount  claims  of  duty  to  God  and 
 faithfulness  to  conscience. 
 
 i 
 
 *  Warrants  of  Privy  Council. 
 
]21 
 
 ROBERT  DICK. 
 
 Robert  Dick,  who  was  a  merchant,  and  "  salt-grieve''* 
 to  Lord  Carrington,  has  been  introduced  to  our  no- 
 tice in  the  preceding  Life.  We  have  seen  that  he  was 
 apprehended  at  a  conventicle  held  at  Pentland  Hills 
 on  the  4th  of  September  1676,  carried  prisoner  to  Edin- 
 burgh, and  lodged  in  the  tolbooth. 
 
 Being  brought  before  the  Lords  of  Privy  Council  on 
 the  12th  of  October,  he  is  charged,  in  the  letters  raised 
 against  hiiri  at  the  instance  of  Sir  George  M'Kenzie,  of 
 Rosehaugn,  his  Majesty's  Advocate,  with  being  present 
 at  house  and  field  conventicles  kept  at  Caldermuir 
 Drum,  Stirling  Muir,  Kirkliston,  Borthwick,  Edmon- 
 ston  Chapel,  Wolnett,  Corstorphine,  Torwood,  Glads- 
 muir,  Dunbar,  Whitehill,  Eastbarns,  Broxburn,  New- 
 tonlies,  and  diverse  other  places,  and  particularly  for 
 being  at  the  conventicle  kept  at  Pentland  Hills,  above 
 referred  to,  and  for  convocating  the  people  "  to  these 
 disorderly  and  seditious  meetings,"  which  last  was  then 
 a  capital  offence.t 
 
 Dick  acknowledged  that  he  was  present  at  the  con- 
 venticle at  Pentland  Hills  ;  and  this  confession  made 
 
 •  Snlt-yrieve,  that  is,  inspector  of  salt-works. 
 
 t  Registor  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  Octobor  12. 167G  ;  Decreets  of  Privy 
 Council,  September  13.  1678. 
 
 L 
 
122  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 .  -I 
 
 him  liable  to  a  fine  of  25  pounds  Scots,  according  to  j 
 the  fifth  act  of  the  second  session  of  the  second  Parlia-  j 
 ment,  1670,  by  which  it  is  statute  and  enacted,  "  that  i 
 every  person  who  shall  be  found  to  have  been  present  ! 
 at  such  meetings,  shall  be  fined  according  to  his  qua-  j 
 lity,  each  tenant  labouring  lands  in  25  pounds  Scots,  | 
 each  cottar  in  12  pounds  Scots  ;  and  where  merchants  j 
 or  tradesmen  do  not  belong  to  or  reside  within  burghs- 
 royal,  that  each  merchant  or  chief  tradesman  be  fined  as  | 
 a  tenant,  and  each  inferior  tradesman  as  a  cottar/'   He  \ 
 however,  wisely  refused  to  depone  upon  oath  whether  | 
 he  was  present  at  any  other  conventicles,  for  the  Coun-  j 
 cil  had  no  right  to  force  him  to  become  his  own  ac-  | 
 cuser.    The  onus  i^robandi,  or  obligation  of  adducing  j 
 evidence,  rested  with  those  who  brought  the  charge  I 
 against  him.  Such  is  the  rule  of  procedure  dictated  by  | 
 justice,  as  well  as  observed  in  all  civilized  nations  ;  but  ! 
 the  practice  of  that  iniquitous  government  was  the  very 
 reverse.    When  the  Presbyterians  were  summoned  be- 
 fore it  for  conventicles  or  nonconformity,  instead  of  \ 
 proceeding  according  to  the  forms  of  judicial  inquiry,  | 
 by  calling  and  examining  witnesses,  it  required  them 
 to  give  their  oath  whether  the  accusations  brought  ; 
 against  them  were  true  or  not,  and  if  they  refused  to  i 
 do  so,  guilt  was  presumed,  and  upon  that  presumption  I 
 punishment  was  inflicted.    Dick  refusing  to  give  his  | 
 oath,  whether  he  was  present  at  any  other  conventicle 
 beside  that  of  Pentland  Hills,  his  refusal  was  consi-  I 
 dered  equivalent  to  a  confession  of  guilt ;  and,  accord- 
 ingly, the  Council  ordained  him  to  be  carried  by  a  party 
 of  his  Majesty's  troop  of  guards  to  the  Isle  of  the  Bass, 
 to  remain  prisoner  there  until  they  should  consider  what 
 farther  punishment  should  be  inflicted  upon  him. 
 Here  Dick  continued  prisoner  till  the  month  of  Sep- 
 
 i 
 
ROBERT  DICK. 
 
 123 
 
 tember  1678,  when  he  was  charged  to  compear  person- 
 ally, and  hear  and  see  such  farther  censure  and  pun- 
 I  ishment  inflicted  upon  hira,  for  his  being  present  at 
 I  the  said  field  conventicle  kept  at  Pentland  Hills,  and  for 
 refusing  to  depone  respecting  other  conventicles,  as  the 
 Privy  Council  should  think,  conform  to  the  laws  and 
 acts  of  Parliament  made  thereanent.    He  appeared  on 
 j  the  loth  of  September,  and  the  Council  "  having  again 
 I  heard  and  considered  the  foresaid  libel,  and  Robert 
 I  Dick,  the  defender,  having  in  their  presence  refused  to 
 declare  or  depone  as  to  his  being  present  at  the  conven- 
 ;  tide  foresaid,  or  concerning  other  persons  who  were  pre- 
 j  sent  at  the  same,  did,  conform  to  the  act  of  Parliament,* 
 banish  him  to  the  plantations,  and  ordain  him  to  con- 
 tinue in  prison  till  an  opportunity  should  offer  for  his 
 transportation."  Here  we  lose  sight  of  our  martyr  :  it  is 
 highly  probable  that  he  was  doomed  to  end  his  days  in 
 slavery  ;  and  he  may  be  numbered  with  those  who  died 
 in  prison  and  banishment,  but  of  whom  Defoe  has  ob- 
 served, "  Nor  could  any  roll  of  their  names  be  preserved 
 in  those  times  of  confusion  any  where  but  under  the 
 altar,  and  about  the  throne  of  the  Lamb/' 
 
 ♦  The  act  of  Parliament  according  to  which  sentence  of  banishment  was 
 pronounced  upon  Dick,  was  the  "  act  anent  deponing,"  passed  in  August 
 1670.  It  ordained,  that  such  as  refused  to  take  an  oath,  called  the  oath 
 of  discovery,  that  they  would  discover  what  they  knew  of  "  any  conven- 
 ticles, or  other  unlawful  meetings,"  as  the  names  of  the  minister  and 
 others  present  at  them,  when  so  "  called  by  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council, 
 or  any  others  having  authority  from  his  Majesty,"  should  bo  punished  by 
 "  fining  and  clr»so  imprisonment  or  banishment,  by  sending  them  to  his 
 Majesty's  plantations  in  the  Indies,  or  elsewhere,  as  his  Majesty's  Council 
 should  think  fit."  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  167.  Blackadder's  Me- 
 moirs, MS.  copy. 
 
124 
 
 JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 James  Fraser  of  Brea  was  born  on  the  29th  of  July 
 1689.  His  father,  Sir  James  Fraser  of  Brea,  was  the 
 second  son  of  Simon,  seventh  Lord  Lovat,  by  his  second 
 wife  Jane  Stewart,  daughter  of  James  Lord  Doun.*  His 
 mother  too  was  descended  of  nobles.  But  what  he  con- 
 sidered still  more  honourable,  both  his  parents  feared 
 God,  and  were  warm  friends  to  the  second  reformation 
 cause.t 
 
 When  hardly  ten  years  of  age  he  had  the  misfortune 
 to  lose  his  father,  who  died  leaving  behind  him  other 
 six  children,  three  of  whom  were  younger  than  the  sub- 
 ject of  our  notice.  His  father  having  left  his  worldly 
 affairs  in  a  very  embarrassed  state,  the  family  were  re- 
 duced to  great  straits  ;  they  suffered  much  from  being 
 persecuted  by  creditors  ;  sentences  in  inferior  and  su- 
 preme courts  of  justice  were  daily  passing  against  them ; 
 the  interest  of  the  debts  on  the  estate  accumulated  ;  and 
 their  condition,  which  was  judged  good  when  the  father 
 was  alive  and  at  his  death,  was  so  desperate  that  the 
 debts  were  nearly  equal,  if  they  did  not  exceed,  the 
 
 *  Douglas's  Peerage,  vol.  ii.  p.  158. 
 
 t  Sir  James  Fraser  of  Brea  was  a  member  of  the  famous  General  As- 
 sembly held  at  Glasgow  in  1638,  being  sent  as  elder  from  the  Presbytery 
 of  Inverness.  Stevenson's  History,  p.  277.  He  was  also  a  member  of  seve- 
 ral subsequent  Assemblies. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 125 
 
 value  of  the  property.*  This  involved  young  Eraser, 
 who  retained  the  burdened  estate,  in  many  difficulties 
 during  the  first  half  of  his  life. 
 
 Fraser  having  been  taught  to  read  English  at  home, 
 was  sent  by  his  parents  to  another  county  to  learn  the 
 Latin  language,  and  to  be  under  the  care  of  a  pious  min- 
 ister. But  his  father  falling  sick,  and  being  apprehen- 
 sive of  death,  sent  for  him  to  give  him  his  dying  bene- 
 diction, and  if  he  lived,  to  have  him  educated  under 
 his  own  inspection  ;  for  which  purpose  he  had  engaged 
 a  pious  young  man  to  be  his  tutor.  Soon  after  the  death 
 of  his  father,  being  deprived  of  his  tutor  from  the  in- 
 
 *  Fraser's  Memoirs  of  himself,  in  MS.  This  MS.,  in  which  he  assumes 
 the  name  of  Philocris,  and  from  which  we  frequently  borrow  our  materials, 
 contains  many  facts  in  reference  to  Fraser's  personal  history,  which  are  not 
 in  the  copy  of  his  Memoirs  lately  published  by  the  Wodrow  Society.  The 
 causes  of  the  embarrassed  state  of  the  father's  affairs  were  various,  such  as 
 his  living  above  his  condition  ;  laying  out  his  money,  not  on  the  purchase 
 of  lands  in  heritage,  but  upon  mortgage  or  woodset,  a  right  which  by  sub- 
 sequent laws  of  the  land  was  rendered  liable  to  many  inconveniences  and 
 alterations ;  his  dealing  with  broken  men,  who  were  in  debt  to  others  by 
 prior  obligations,  so  that  a  great  part  of  such  of  their  lands  as  were  "  evicted 
 or  purchased  by  him,  were  revicted  from  him"  by  such  creditors  as  hud 
 right  anterior  to  his,  and  of  which  he  was  ignorant ;  his  not  sufficiently 
 securing  himself  in  what  he  had  purchased,  from  his  ignorance  of  law,  so 
 that,  in  consequence  of  this  omission,  some  years  after  his  death,  lands  to 
 the  value  of  £80  per  annum,  were  evicted  from  young  Fraser  ;  his  lending 
 to  the  public  €2000,  for  which  he  had  the  public  faith,  but  not  a  farthing 
 of  which  was  over  recovered.  But  that  which  injured  his  temporal  inte- 
 rests most  was  the  time  he  spent  in  attending  to  the  ullaird  of  his  brother 
 Hugh,  eighth  Lord  Lovat,  who  was  very  weak,  and  altogether  unfit  to  guide 
 his  own  affairs.  And  after  the  death  of  his  brother,  and  his  brother's  son, 
 the  management  of  the  estate  of  the  grandchild,  of  which  ho  was  appointed 
 the  guardian,  not  only  took  up  his  whole  time  to  tlie  neglect  iA'  his  own 
 affairs,  but  he  became  engaged  as  guardian  in  great  sums  of  money  for  his 
 pupil,  which  young  Fraser  had  to  i)ay  after  his  father's  death,  and  only  a 
 fourth  part  of  which  was  rec«»verod.  liesides,  judging  that  ho  would  never 
 1)0  called  upcm  to  pay  these  sums  of  money,  for  which  ho  had  thus  become 
 surety,  and  that  what  he  had  laid  out  for  tho  i)ublic  was  secure,  he  bur- 
 dened his  estate  with  several  considerable  sums  as  provision  to  liis  other 
 children,  amounting  to  £2000  sterling. 
 
126 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ability  of  the  family  to  provide  one,  he  was  often  re- 
 moved from  one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  and 
 placed  under  very  indifferent  teachers.  Sometimes  he 
 was  kept  at  home,  sometimes  sent  to  another  part  of 
 the  north,  and  sometimes  to  the  south  ;  so  that,  when 
 learning  the  Latin  language,  he  had  six  or  seven  differ- 
 ent times  changed  his  masters  ;  all  of  whom  he  describes 
 as  "  unfit  for  teaching  children,  save  the  last  he  had/' 
 In  these  circumstances,  it  is  wonderful  how  he  could 
 have  made  any  progress  at  all  in  the  elements  of  learn- 
 ing. But  possessing  a  good  capacity,  and  eagerly  bent 
 on  being  a  scholar,  he  attained,  notwithstanding  these 
 disadvantages,  to  such  proficiency  as  to  be  qualified  for 
 entering  the  university  about  the  1 4th  year  of  his  age, 
 having  then  become  so  familiar  with  the  Roman  classics 
 as  to  be  able  to  understand  any  of  them,  and  to  speak 
 Latin  almost  as  freely  as  his  mother  tongue. 
 
 Upon  completing  his  course  of  education  at  the  uni- 
 versity, he  lived  mostly  at  home  with  his  mother,  bro- 
 ther, and  sisters,  not  meddling  for  some  time  with  the 
 temporal  affairs  of  the  family,  which  being  in  great  dis- 
 order, required  both  a  prudent  and  diligent  person  to 
 rectify  ;  but  applying  his  mind  wholly  to  study,  and  to 
 the  state  of  his  soul,  which,  he  observes,  ^'  was  more  sad 
 and  dark  than  his  temporal  circumstances  were.'" 
 
 It  was  at  this  period  that  Fraser,  according  to  his  own 
 belief,  became  the  subject  of  the  regenerating  work  of 
 the  Holy  Spirit.  At  an  early  age  he  had  been  taught 
 to  pray  in  the  morning  and  evening,  and  sentiments  of 
 piety  had  been  instilled  into  his  mind,  but  his  nature 
 being  still  unrenewed,  its  corrupt  propensities  retained 
 the  mastery,  and  exhibited  themselves  in  many  kinds  of 
 wickedness,  as  lying,  swearing.  Sabbath-breaking,  steal- 
 ing in  some  instances,  and  mocking  at  religion  and  re- 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 127 
 
 ligious  persons.  And  when,  through  sharp  convictions 
 of  conscience,  and  after  a  struggle  between  good  and 
 evil  principles,  he  became  at  the  time  of  his  going  to 
 college  to  a  great  extent  reformed,  so  that  he  left  off 
 his  former  vices,  and  engaged  in  all  the  duties  of  re- 
 ligion, private  and  public,  he  was  still  a  stranger  to  the 
 saving  grace  of  God ;  for  he  trusted  in  his  duties  as 
 his  saviours,  and  performed  them  rather  to  satisfy  con- 
 science than  from  love  to  Grod.  But  in  the  eighteenth 
 year  of  his  age,  his  views  and  feelings  underwent  an  en- 
 tire change.  The  way  of  salvation  was  savingly  re- 
 vealed to  him,  and  from  a  discovery  of  the  glory  and 
 loveliness  of  the  Saviour,  he  was  drawn  to  embrace  him 
 by  a  true  and  living  faith. 
 
 Fraser  had  hitherto  suffered  in  various  ways  from 
 the  state  of  embarrassment  in  which  his  father  s  affairs 
 were  left.  It  was  not,  however,  till  about  the  close  of 
 the  year  1663,  when  demands  were  made  for  the  pay- 
 ment of  some  debts  which  had  lain  over  for  a  long  time, 
 that  his  difficulties  arising  from  this  source  became 
 most  distressing.  Being  altogether  unable  to  pay  these 
 debts,  he  was  prosecuted  before  courts  of  justice,  and  so 
 low  was  his  temporal  condition,  that,  as  he  informs  us, 
 "  he  had  hardly  decent  clothing,"  entirely  lost  his  cre- 
 dit, and  was  "  under  much  contempt  and  hatred."  "  My 
 carnal  friends  and  relations  according  to  the  flesh,"  he 
 adds,  "  were  afraid  at  me,  I  was  a  terror  unto  them, 
 they  blessed  themselves  when  they  saw  me  ;  and  even 
 my  godly  friends  could  not  but  wonder  how  we  were 
 brought  down,  and  could  not  justify  all  I  had  done.  I 
 and  our  family  were  the  common  proverb  among  all  our 
 neighbours.  Now  see,  say  they,  what  too  much  religion 
 and  conscience  have  done.  Others  would  say,  I  love 
 not  that  religion  that  destroys  our  interest  in  the  world. 
 
128 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Surely,  would  some  say,  were  not  these  dissenters  fana- 
 tics, gross  hypocrites,  and  displeasing  to  God,  he  would 
 not  so  testify  against  them.  And  I  still  was  the  in- 
 stance and  proof  they  gave  of  their  blasphemies  ;  and 
 this  did  wound  my  heart  as  a  sword.  I  continued  in 
 this  afflicted,  despised,  low  condition,  for  the  space  of 
 six  years,  and  could  not  borrow  £5  upon  either  my 
 write  or  word/'  These  things  were  trying  enough,  and 
 they  taught  him  lessons  which  he  could  not  have 
 learned  from  a  thousand  homilies. 
 
 After  completing  his  academical  course,  though  he 
 desired  to  be  employed  in  the  work  of  the  sacred  mi- 
 nistry and  had  devoted  himself  to  it,  he  was  discou- 
 raged from  entering  on  the  study  of  theology  from  the 
 circumstances  of  the  times.  Presbytery  being  sub- 
 verted and  Prelacy  established,  he  saw  no  channel 
 through  which  he  could  obtain,  consistently  with  his 
 principles,  licence  and  ordination.  "  The  form  of 
 government  by  bishops,  deans,  &c.,''  says  he,  "  as  being 
 of  the  nature  of  an  earthly  kingdom  and  not  like  the 
 kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  being  likewise  sworn 
 against,  and  being  accompanied  with  much  ignorance 
 and  ungodliness,  I  could  not  acknowledge,  join  with  or 
 submit  to,  and  therefore  could  receive  no  power  from 
 them,  and  all  presbyterial  government  extinct,  cut  off 
 and  dissolved,  I  did  not  see  how  I  could  accomplish  my 
 vows,  and  did  therefore  think  myself  discharged  of  the 
 same."  He  adds,  "  Besides,  I  was  engaged  in  a  multi- 
 tude of  civil  business  that  I  had  no  leisure  to  look  into 
 any  other  thing,  and  hereupon  the  design  of  entering 
 the  public  office  of  the  ministry  did  cease  and  sleep." 
 
 Accordingly,  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  to  fit 
 him  for  civil  business.  But  this  study  not  suiting  his 
 inclination,  he  relinquished  it  to  prepare  for  the  sacred 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 129 
 
 ministry,  discouraging  as  that  work  was  in  every  worldly 
 point  of  view.  Meanwhile,  the  word  of  the  Lord  being 
 "  as  a  fire  within  him,''  he  not  only  in  his  own  private 
 family  exhorted  and  expounded  the  Scriptures,  but  also 
 with  the  approbation  and  desire  of  others  preached, 
 though  he  had  not  as  yet  received  licence,  to  great  mul- 
 titudes assembled  in  private  houses,  with  much  accept- 
 ance, and  not  without  good  effect ;  for  his  plain  fami- 
 liar manner  of  address,  which  was  accommodated  to  the 
 meanest  capacity,  the  apt  similitudes  with  which  he 
 illustrated  his  subject,  at  once  interested  and  edified 
 the  common  people,  among  whom  he  was  highly  popular. 
 He  officiated  almost  every  Sabbath,  and  whenever  he 
 paid  a  visit  to  a  pious  minister  he  was  employed  by 
 him  to  preach. 
 
 On  coming  to  the  south,  following  the  same  course 
 as  he  had  done  in  the  north,  some  of  the  ministers 
 were  displeased,  conceiving  it  to  be  irregular  for  him  to 
 preach,  as  he  had  not  yet  received  licence ;  nor  were 
 they  without  apprehensions  that  he  intended  to  form 
 a  sect  of  his  own,  in  which  they  were  confirmed  from 
 hearing  that  he  maintained  several  singular  opinions, 
 and  made  use  of  some  strange  forms  of  expression. 
 Accordingly,  they  appointed  one  of  their  number  to 
 desire  him  to  forbear  a  practice  which  gave  offence. 
 The  minister  did  so,  and  at  the  same  time  candidly 
 told  him  some  other  grounds  of  offence  his  brethren 
 had  at  him,  such  as  that  they  heard  he  was  congre- 
 gational in  his  views  of  church  government,  at  least 
 that  he  was  lax  in  his  principles  as  to  presbyterial  go- 
 vernment, and  that  they  had  strong  susi)icions  that 
 he  was  inclined  to  Arminianism,  because  he  expressed 
 himself  favourable  to  universal  redemption.  Fraser, 
 thanking  him  for  the  freedom  he  liad  used,  told  him 
 
130 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 that  he  did  not  pretend  to  an  immediate  extraordinary 
 mission, — that  he  abhorred  the  thought  of  making  fac- 
 tions,— that  it  was  true  he  expounded  the  scriptures  and 
 exhorted  from  them,  though  he  was  never  formally 
 licensed  or  ordained  ;  but  that  he  did  this  because  the 
 times  were  extraordinary,  the  church  being  in  a  troubled 
 state,  when  ministers  could  not  do  things  regularly,  and 
 that  not  having  freedom  according  to  his  judgment  to 
 take  prelatic  orders,  he  conceived  that  it  was  lawful  for 
 him,  yea,  that  he  was  bound,  to  employ  any  talent  Grod 
 had  given  him  for  the  use  of  his  people, — that  he  was 
 willing  to  submit  himself  to  the  trials  of  the  ministry 
 and  to  pass  in  a  regular  way,  and  in  the  mean  time  to 
 forbear  what  was  offensive  to  them, — that  as  to  the 
 government  of  the  church,  there  were  so  many  godly 
 men  amongst  the  Independents,  that  he  could  not  but 
 love  them  and  acknowledge  them  a  true  church  of 
 Christ,  and  that  the  diiference  betwixt  them  and  Pres- 
 byterians being  so  small,  it  was  indifferent  to  him  to  live 
 in  fellowship  either  with  the  one  or  the  other*, — that 
 he  abhorred  Arminianism  in  all  its  branches,  and  that 
 as  to  universal  redemption,  although  in  a  certain  sense 
 he  maintained  a  common  redemption,  yet  he  acknow- 
 ledged a  special  redemption  in  which  none  but  the 
 elect  had  interest.  This  was  the  substance  of  what  he 
 stated  at  several  times  and  to  several  persons  for  the 
 satisfaction  of  those  ministers,  with  which  at  last  they 
 were  satisfied. 
 
 Fraser,  after  this  returning  to  the  north,  was  licensed 
 to  preach  the  gospel,  and  also  ordained  for  discharging 
 all  the  duties  of  the  ministerial  function,  by  a  few  non- 
 
 *  Fraser's  sentiments  on  chnrch  government  were  more  loose  than  tliose 
 held  by  the  nonconforming  Presbyterian  ministers  in  general,  who  strictly 
 held  the  exclusive  divine  right  of  Presbytery. 
 
JAMES  ERASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 131 
 
 conforming  Presbyterian  ministers  in  that  part  of  the 
 country,  after  delivering  such  trial  discourses,  and  un- 
 dergoing such  examinations  as  were  deemed  necessary. 
 This  was  in  the  year  1670^*  in  the  sfst  year  of  his  age. 
 
 Being  thus  formally  admitted  to  the  office  of  the  sa- 
 cred ministry,  he  continued  preaching  on  the  Sabbath 
 almost  uninterruptedly,  and  often  to  great  multitudes 
 of  people,  both  in  the  south  and  north,  in  prison  and 
 out  of  it,  except  when  he  was  prisoner  in  Blackness 
 and  Newgate,  none  having  been  admitted  to  him  on 
 the  Sabbath  when  he  was  confined  in  these  places.  In 
 his  sermons,  he  tells  us  that  he  insisted  very  little  on 
 public  matters,  or  on  duties,  or  such  like  topics,  but 
 handled  those  points  in  which  the  life  and  heart  of  re- 
 ligion consisted,  as  regeneration,  faith,  the  covenant  of 
 grace,  marks  of  grace,  spiritual  exercise,  doubts,  and 
 conflicts,  and  that  he  especially  laboured  to  distinguish 
 betwixt  the  law  and  the  gospel.t 
 
 About  two  or  three  years  after  receiving  licence,  du- 
 ring which  time  he  lived  with  his  mother,  having  oc- 
 casion to  go  to  the  south  about  some  worldly  business, 
 he  became  acquainted  with  the  lady  who  soon  after  be- 
 came his  wife.  This  lady  was  a  widow,  whose  first  hus- 
 band, to  whom  she  had  several  children,  died  al)road  ; 
 and  if  Fraser  may  be  credited  in  this  matter,  she  was 
 l>ossessed  of  no  ordinary  personal  beauty  and  mental 
 qualities.  His  first  acquaintance  with  her,  and  the  at- 
 tractions by  which  she  engaged  his  heart,  he  thus  de- 
 scribes : — "  There  [in  the  south]  I  became  acquaint 
 with  the  gentlewoman  I  shortly  afterwards  married  ; 
 but  I  was  put  upon  it  by  others  to  make  licr  at  least  a 
 
 *  In  the  M.S.  Memoirs,  iind  also  in  those  publislio*!,  it  is  1(572,  evidently 
 by  niistuko.   h  /^y  "! 
 ■f  Fraser's  Memoirs,  MS.  copy. 
 
132 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 visit,  which  I  did,  and  seeing  and  conversing  with  her, 
 I  cannot  say  but  I  liked  her,  and  did  I  find  the  Lord 
 allow  it,  I  should  gladly  have  married  her  ;  but  I  could 
 determine  nothing  until  I  had  sought  the  Lord  in  it. 
 .  .  .  Two  visits  yet  I  made  her  ;  I  came  to  understand 
 she  was  of  honest  extraction, — that  she  had  yearly  of 
 dowry  about  44  or  45  lbs. ;  she  was  pleasant  and  lovely 
 to  look  upon,  of  a  discreet  carriage,  well-behaved,  witty 
 and  prudent,  well-humoured,  and  finally  virtuous,  and 
 that  loved  the  best  things,  and  followed  them  in  single- 
 ness of  heart,  though  many  had  a  fairer  and  greater 
 profession  than  she.  ' 
 
 To  this  lady  he  was  united  in  marriage  on  the  last 
 day  of  July  1672,  having  then  completed  the  thirty- 
 third  year  of  his  age  ;  and  in  this  new  relation  he  ex- 
 perienced all  the  happiness  which  can  arise  from  the 
 union  of  congenial  minds,  and  from  the  exercise  of  every 
 endearing  domestic  virtue.  Writing  on  this  subject 
 long  after  she  had  been  laid  in  the  dust,  from  the  ful- 
 ness of  a  heart  overflowing  with  tender  recollections, 
 he  says,  Avith  an  artless  simplicity  and  truthfulness 
 which  are  apt  to  provoke  a  smile,  "  I  was  not  many 
 days  married,  when  I  perceived  the  goodness  of  the 
 Lord  in  giving  me  so  good  and  comfortable  a  yokefellow. 
 I  was  fully  satisfied  in  my  choice,  insomuch  that  I  have 
 several  times  said  and  thought,  that  were  all  the  women 
 of  the  Avorld  before  me  to  choose  a  wife  of,  and  were  I 
 as  free  as  ever  I  was,  that  verily  I  should  have  picked 
 
 out  mine  own  wife,  J  G  ,  for  so  was  she  called, 
 
 from  them  all.  If  our  love  before  marriage  needed  any- 
 thing to  perfect  it,  it  received  that  when  we  were  mar- 
 ried, nor  was  her  love  less  to  me  than  mine  to  her.  She 
 was  a  very  good-taking  mistress,  but  I  found  her  a 
 better  wife.    She  had,  in  a  word,  extraordinary  good 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 1S3 
 
 qualities,  and  powerful  attractive  charms,  insomuch 
 that  I  thought  many  times  she  was  made  to  be  a  meet- 
 help  to  comfort  poor  sorrowful  man  in  his  wearisome 
 pilgrimage/' 
 
 Fraser  also  found  much  comfort  in  her  friends,  who 
 contributed  in  various  ways  to  promote  his  temporal 
 interests.  "  Nor/'  says  he,  "  had  I  satisfaction  in  her 
 only,  but  in  all  her  relations,  sisters,  nephews,  and  al- 
 lies, who  all  of  them  both  loved  and  honoured  me  as  if 
 I  had  been  their  brother,  and  much  better  than  I  de- 
 served, and  their  respect  continueth  without  a  breach 
 unto  this  day,  so  that  I  may  truly  say,  I  no  less  loved 
 them  than  my  nearest  natural  relations  ;  nor  was  their 
 love  in  word  or  show  only,  but  likewise  in  deed,  and 
 really  in  several  things  relating  to  law  affairs,  they 
 were  very  useful  to  me,  and  served  me  freely/'  Being 
 lawyers,  they  not  only  assisted  and  defended  him  in  his 
 law  actions,  but  made  some  of  his  debtors  pay  who 
 never  intended  to  do  so,  and  besides  negotiated  affairs 
 in  his  absence  better  than  he  could  have  done  himself 
 
 Not  later  than  a  few  days  after  his  marriage,  and 
 when  he  and  his  wife  were  preparing  to  go  to  the  north, 
 a  messenger  came  to  the  house  where  they  resided,  with 
 a  summons  to  him  to  appear  before  the  Council  for 
 keeping  conventicles.  The  Bishop  of  ^lurray,  in  whose 
 diocese  he  had  preached,  and  a  Privy  Counsellor,  who 
 had  a  grudge  at  his  wife,  were  the  persons  who  occa- 
 sioned him  this  trouble ;  but  his  wife's  friends,  to  whom 
 he  made  known  the  matter,  prevailing  with  the  mes- 
 senger to  take  away  the  summons,  and  to  indorse  on 
 the  back  of  his  execution  that  he  liad  not  found  him, 
 a  new  summons  was  necessary,  llis  persecutors,  en- 
 raged at  this,  sent  a  new  summons  after  him  when  he 
 had  gone  to  the  north,  to  the  distance  of  160  miles. 
 
134 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 On  receiving  it,  he  came  to  the  determination,  though 
 contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  friends,  not  to  appear ; 
 upon  which  he  was  denounced  a  rebel,  and  outlawed. 
 Coming  shortly  after  to  the  south,  through  the  influ- 
 ence of  his  friends,  the  Counsellor  referred  to  above, 
 to  whom  the  executions  were  delivered,  would  never 
 give  them  up,  and  so  they  came  to  nothing.*  He,  how- 
 ever, enjoyed  only  a  brief  respite.  Being  summoned 
 with  other  ministers  to  appear  before  the  Council  on 
 the  16th  of  July  1674,  for  keeping  conventicles,  and 
 failing  to  appear,  he  was  anew  denounced  a  rebeLt  In 
 consequence  of  this,  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  fre- 
 quently changing  his  lodgings  ;  he  often  preached  un- 
 der great  apprehensions  of  being  seized  by  his  enemies, 
 who  were  seeking  after  him,  and  was,  in  several  in- 
 stances, interrupted  in  the  very  act  of  preaching,  by 
 soldiers  who  had  come  with  orders  to  arrest  him.  "  My 
 spirit,  by  these  tossings,"  says  he,  "  was  rather  distem- 
 pered and  jumbled,  than  bettered.'' 
 
 In  August  1675,  when  letters  of  intercommuning 
 were  proclaimed  against  upwards  of  a  hundred  of  the 
 most  zealous  nonconformists,  consisting  of  ministers, 
 laymen,  and  ladies,  Fraser  was  included  among  the 
 number.  His  friends  used  their  influence  to  secure 
 him  from  this  severe  punishment,  but  without  success ; 
 for  the  Bishops,  knowing  his  hostility  to  the  established 
 government  of  the  Church,  his  popularity  among  the 
 people,  and  that  he  was  a  person  of  considerable  abili- 
 ties, regarded  him  with  great  jealousy,  and  were  deter- 
 mined that  his  name  should  be  put  into  the  letters. 
 
 *  Eraser's  Memoirs  in  Select  Biographies,  printed  for  Wodrow  Society, 
 vol.  ii.  p.  337. 
 I  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  286. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 135 
 
 But  "this  bolt  did  not  hit."  He  never  found  the  least 
 prejudice  from  that  severe  measure,  nor  did  any  who 
 harboured  him  ever  suffer  on  his  account.  He  went 
 about  his  business  with  as  much  freedom  and  success 
 as  he  had  ever  done.  Notwithstanding  these  letters, 
 "  never  one,''  says  he,  "  that  cared  for  me,  shunned  my 
 company  ;  yea,  a  great  many  more  carnal  relations  and 
 acquaintances,  did  entertain  me  as  freely  as  ever  they 
 did  ;  yea,  so  far  did  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  turn  this 
 to  my  good,  that  I  observed  it  was  at  that  time  I  got 
 most  of  my  civil  business  expede."* 
 
 All  the  blessings  of  life  are  held  by  a  very  precari- 
 ous tenure.  Fraser  had  now  to  undergo  a  severe  trial 
 in  the  death  of  his  invaluable  and  beloved  wife,  which 
 it  required  all  his  faith  and  fortitude  to  sustain.  In 
 the  beginning  of  October  1676,  he  had  gone  to  North- 
 umberland upon  business,  and,  while  there,  received 
 intelligence  that  she  was  lying  dangerously  ill  of  a 
 fever.  Without  losing  a  moment,  he  hurried  home  in 
 deep  agony  of  spirit,  to  see  her  if  possible  in  life.  But 
 he  was  too  late,  for,  on  his  arrival,  he  found  that  what 
 he  dreaded  had  taken  place  ;  death,  that  destroyer  of 
 human  hopes  and  human  joys,  having  done  its  work 
 four  hours  before.  The  loss  of  this  excellent  woman 
 he  felt  as  no  ordinary  bereavement.  His  grief  was  sin- 
 cere, deep,  and  lasting,  though  he  sorrowed  not  as  those 
 who  have  no  hope,  and  bowed  in  submission  to  the  will 
 of  his  heavenly  Father.  After  this,  he  was  heard  to  say, 
 "  that  he  never  knew  what  it  was  to  rejoice  in  any  out- 
 ward enjoyment  from  his  heart,  and  that  the  whole 
 world  looked  to  him  as  an  empty,  ghastly  room,  de- 
 spoiled of  its  best  furnishing."    He  had  been  married 
 
 *  Eraser's  Memoirs  in  Select  Biographies,  printed  for  Wodruw  Sooietv. 
 vol.  ii.  p.  339. 
 
136 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 four  years  and  a  quarter ;  and  survived  his  wife  more 
 than  twenty  years,  but  did  not  again  marry.  ^ 
 
 Within  three  months  after  this  bereavement,  when 
 the  wound  was  still  fresh,  Fraser  fell  into  the  hands  of 
 his  persecutors.  From  the  time  of  his  being  outlawed, 
 which  was  now  about  two  years  and  a  half  ago,  his 
 friends  the  bishops  had  not  ceased  to  keep  a  watchful 
 eye  upon  him,  and  the  more  especially  as,  during  all 
 that  period,  he  was  assiduous  in  fulfilling  the  commis- 
 sion he  had  received  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  by  preach- 
 ing the  gospel.  Accordingly,  they  represented  him  to 
 the  Privy  Council  as  a  person  of  disloyal  principles 
 and  practices,  and  he  had  the  honour  to  be  one  of  three 
 for  the  apprehension  of  whom  a  considerable  sum  of 
 money  was  oflPered.  For  several  years  many  unsuccess- 
 ful attempts  had  been  made  to  apprehend  him.  But 
 at  last  the  provost  of  Edinburgh,  at  the  instigation  of 
 Archbishop  Sharp,  and  encouraged  by  the  promise  of 
 great  rewards,  succeeded,  through  the  treachery  of  a 
 servant-maid  whom  he  had  bribed,  in  apprehending 
 him  in  the  house  of  a  friend  on  the  evening  of  the  28th 
 January  1677,  being  Sabbath,  as  he  was  engaged  after 
 supper  in  family  prayer.  The  provost  immediately 
 carried  him  to  prison,  and  informed  the  Archbishop, 
 who  early  next  morning  sent  orders  to  the  jailor  to 
 keep  the  prisoner  closely  confined,  and  entirely  secluded 
 from  visitors.  In  the  afternoon  at  five  o'clock,  he  was 
 brought  before  a  Committee  of  the  Council,  and  ex- 
 amined. The  charges  preferred  against  him  in  the 
 course  of  his  examination  were,  that  he  preached  with- 
 out authority  from  the  bishop  and  in  the  fields,  that 
 he  held  seditious  principles  and  was  extremely  active 
 in  propagating  them,  that  he  maintained  the  lawful- 
 ness of  rising  up  in  arms  against  the  king  upon  pretence 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 187 
 
 of  religion,  whenever  the  people  thought  themselves 
 wronged,  and  that  he  had  corresponded  with  one  of  the 
 prisoners  in  the  Bass.  None  of  these  charges  were 
 true,  except  that  he  preached  without  the  authority  of 
 the  bishop,  and  that  he  preached  in  the  fields.  As  this 
 last,  according  to  the  law  at  that  time,  was  a  capital 
 offence,  he  very  properly  declined  to  make  any  confes- 
 sion in  reference  to  it,  telling  his  examinators  that  he 
 could  not  be  expected  to  put  into  their  hands  a  weapon 
 with  which  to  take  away  his  life  by  becoming  his  own 
 accuser,  and  that,  if  they  intended  to  try  him  on  that 
 matter,  they  might  bring  forward  their  witnesses  to  sub- 
 stantiate the  charge.  He,  however,  freely  acknowledged 
 that  he  preached,  although  he  had  never  received  licence 
 from  a  bishop,  adding  that,  though  his  extraction  was 
 not  altogether  despicable,  he  gloried  more  in  serving 
 God  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son  than  in  any  thing  else  he 
 pretended  to.  To  the  other  charges  he  replied  in  the 
 negative.  All  the  members  of  Committee,  with  the 
 exception  of  Archbishop  Sharp,  treated  him  with  mo- 
 deration and  seemed  inclined  to  leniency.  But  that 
 prelate,  whose  antipathies  were  most  inveterate  and 
 active  against  such  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  as 
 were  most  gifted  and  zealous,  vehemently  denounced 
 him  as  a  demagogue,  who  had  been  traversing  the 
 country  disseminating  the  most  seditious  principles. 
 "  This  gentleman,"  says  he,  "  seems  not  at  all  to  be  in- 
 genuous with  us  ;  possibly  he  would  be  more  so  if  he 
 knew  the  state  he  stands  in,  which  is  not  ordinary,  for 
 he  is  of  most  pernicious  principles,  destructive  to  all 
 kind  of  government,  and  withal  is  very  active  in  spread- 
 ing them,  so  that  there  is  scarce  a  conventicle  1  hear  of, 
 but  it  is  still  Mr  Fraser  who  is  the  preacher;  and  like- 
 wise he  is  given  out  to  be  a  man  of  parts  and  learning, 
 
 M 
 
138 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  therefore  the  more  to  be  taken  notice  of,  since  parts 
 that  way  improven  are  most  dangerous/'  To  this  bitter 
 invective,  Fraser  calmly  answered,  taking  due  care  how- 
 ever not  to  address  Sharp  by  the  title  of  "  My  Lord 
 "  I  have  no  pernicious  principles,  I  hold  ;  such  as  you 
 mean  may  concern  either  church  government  or  loyalty ; 
 as  to  the  first,  I  fully  acknowledge,  as  it  is  now  esta- 
 blished, I  have  a  very  great  aversion  from  it ;  as  to  my 
 loyalty,  I  would  not  care  much  though  you  all  saw  what 
 were  in  my  heart  anent  it ;  as  to  my  spreading  of  them, 
 I  have  been  preaching  Christ  and  exhorting  people  to 
 mend  their  ways  and  repent,  and  if  the  doing  of  that 
 be  pernicious  I  confess  myself  guilty  of  it/'  Fraser,  it 
 is  very  likely,  would  mortify  Sharp  by  not  giving  him 
 his  lordly  title,  and  for  this  omission  he  was  reproved 
 by  one  of  the  members  of  Council  as  guilty  of  a  breach 
 of  good  manners.  "  You  seem,"'  said  Lord  Halton,  "  to 
 be  of  the  quaker  principles,  for  though  ye  give  us  our 
 due  titles,  yet  my  lord  St  Andrews,  whom  his  Majesty  is 
 pleased  to  honour,  ye  give  him  not  so  much  as  he  gives 
 you ;  he  gives  you  Sir,  and  ye  give  him  nothing  at  all ; 
 that  is  no  civility.''  Fraser,  who  purposely  and  on 
 principle  made  the  omission,  not  simply  because  he  re- 
 cognised in  Sharp  the  perjured  betrayer  and  remorse- 
 less persecutor  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  but  because 
 he  believed  the  lordly  titles  of  prelates  to  be  condemned 
 in  the  word  of  God,  acknowledged  that  he  was  "  a  rude 
 man  ;"  but  reminded  their  lordships,  that  he  had  been 
 called  before  them  for  a  different  purpose  than  to  jus- 
 tify himself  on  the  score  of  good  breeding.* 
 
 After  his  examination  he  was  remanded  to  the  pri- 
 son, and  orders  were  given  to  keep  him  under  severer 
 restrictions  than  formerly.   His  pockets  were  searched 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  353,  35i. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA.  139 
 
 for  letters  ;  knives,  ink,  paper,  and  pens,  were  taken 
 from  him,  and  he  was  secluded  from  all  company.  A 
 little  before  six  o'clock  next  morning,  he  was  awakened 
 by  one  of  the  jailors,  who  ordered  him  to  make  himself 
 ready  by  six  o'clock  to  go  to  the  Bass,  as  the  Commit- 
 tee of  Council  had  determined  to  send  him  thither. 
 Their  act  is  as  follows : — "  Mr  James  Fraser  of  Brea, 
 who  is  a  known  keeper  of  house  and  field  conventicles, 
 and  guilty  of  many  disorderly  practices,  to  the  disturb- 
 ance of  the  peace,  and  is  a  declared  fugitive  and  an  in- 
 tercommuned  person,  being  apprehended  in  the  burgh 
 of  Edinburgh,  upon  Sunday  night,  the  Committee  hav- 
 ing called  for  him  and  examined  him,  he  acknowledged 
 his  keeping  of  conventicles  in  several  places  ;  and  find- 
 ing him  to  be  a  person  of  most  dangerous  and  perni- 
 cious principles  and  practices,  they  thought  fit  to  send 
 him  prisoner  to  the  Bass  by  a  party  of  guards,  until  the 
 Council  shall  take  some  further  course  with  him.  They 
 thought  fit  also,  by  the  same  party,  to  send  Mr  J ames 
 Mitchell  prisoner  to  the  said  place.''* 
 
 Accordingly,  Fraser,  along  with  Mitchell,  who  had 
 been  in  the  same  prison  with  him,  were  escorted  to  their 
 new  place  of  confinement  by  a  party  of  twelve  horsemen 
 and  thirty  foot ;  and,  after  stopping  one  night  by  the 
 way,  were  delivered  up,  on  landing  at  the  island,  to  the 
 custody  of  the  governor. 
 
 Here  Fraser  continued  a  prisoner  for  two  years  and 
 a  half,  enduring  many  inconveniences  and  hardships. 
 Severe  and  harassing  as  his  former  troubles  in  the  cause 
 of  the  gospel  had  been,  he  felt  his  present  condition 
 
 *  The  date  of  this  act  is  the  29th  of  January.  On  the  1st  of  F<!bruary 
 the  "  Council,  having  heard  and  considered  the  f<)rcsai<l  Report,  approve 
 the  same,  and  the  Committee's  proceedin<^s  mentioned  therein  ;  and  they 
 discharge  the  commander  of  the  garrison  in  the  Bass  to  allow  tlio  prison- 
 ers therein  any  servants  of  their  own  to  attend  thoni,  but  that  he  apjtoint 
 Biich  serving  wonuMi,  for  waiting  upon  tlicm,  as  lie  w  ill  be  iinswcrabb-." 
 
140 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 still  more  distressing.  Precluded  from  proclaiming  the 
 glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  his  fellow-sinners,  he  felt 
 this  to  be  the  most  poignant  part  of  his  affliction.  Be- 
 reaved of  or  separated  from  the  dearest  of  his  earthly 
 connections  and  friends,  he  looked  back  with  melan- 
 choly interest  to  the  days  that  were  past,  when  the 
 candle  of  the  Lord  shone  upon  his  tabernacle,  when  he 
 "  rejoiced  with  the  wife  of  his  youth,"  when  his  chil- 
 dren were  "  like  olive  plants  round  about  his  table,"  when 
 he  enjoyed  the  society  of  friends,  and  went  with  the  mul- 
 titude that  kept  holy  days  ;  and  at  the  remembrance  of 
 these  things  his  soul  was  poured  out  within  him.  These 
 affecting  changes  in  his  condition,  with  many  positive 
 hardships,  which  have  been  specified  in  a  former  no- 
 tice,* and  need  not  here  be  repeated,  rendered  his  con- 
 dition very  painful  to  flesh  and  blood.  Still  he  was  far 
 from  being  unhappy  or  wretched.  The  retrospect  was 
 not  darkened  by  the  memory  of  crime.  Nor  did  he  in- 
 dulge in  unavailing  murmurs  or  complaints,  but  raised 
 himself  above  the  sorrows  which  oppressed  him,  and 
 sustained  his  faith  and  hope  in  God  by  reflecting  on  the 
 blessings  which  he  still  possessed;  while,  at  the  same 
 time,  the  judicious  manner  in  which  he  employed  the 
 passing  hours  tended,  in  no  small  degree,  to  render  his 
 imprisonment  both  tolerable  and  advantageous. 
 
 In  illustration  of  the  calm,  contented,  and  grateful 
 spirit  which  he  cherished  in  his  dreary  exile,  we  may 
 quote  the  following  passage  from  his  Memoirs. 
 
 "  Here,"  says  he,  "  I  had  likewise  experience  of  the  good- 
 ness of  God  towards  me  ;  and  1.  In  providing  for  me,  without 
 being  chargeable  to  any  for  such  things  as  I  stood  in  need  of. 
 2.  In  preserving  and  supporting  me  under  great  pressures  of 
 spirit  from  sin,  sufierings,  temptations,  griefs,  sorrows,  and  un- 
 
 *  See  Notice  ol  Willicun  Bill,  pi..  114-llG. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 141 
 
 tenderness  of  brethren  and  friends,*  so  as  I  was  not  therewith 
 overwhelmed.  3.  In  preserving  me  in  health  all  that  time. 
 4.  That  in  this  time,  partly  by  selling  household  plenishing,  and 
 improving  of  my  estate,  I  paid  and  cleared  one  hundred  pounds 
 of  debts.  5.  I  had  the  comfort  and  edification  of  fellow-pri- 
 soners, both  ministers  and  others,  some  there  before  me,  and 
 others  brought  in  since  my  coming,  whose  company  was  sweet 
 and  edifying  many  times  to  me.  6.  We  had  liberty,  for  the 
 most  part,  of  taking  the  air  up  the  hill ;  my  solitary  walks  were 
 sometimes  very  pleasant  to  me.  7. 1  had  the  comfort  of  friends 
 that  came  in  kindness  to  see  me  from  the  city  and  country. 
 
 8.  I  had  some  special  visits  from  God,  ordinarily  in  private  du- 
 ties, and  sometimes  in  worshipping  and  conference  with  others. 
 
 9.  Some  increase  (I  think)  I  find  in  gifts,  knowledge,  and 
 grace ;  some  further  discoveries  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
 and  the  gospel  I  never  had  before.  10.  I  was  made  some  way 
 useful  by  writing  of  letters  abroad,  praying  with,  and  preach- 
 ing to,  and  conference  with  others.  11.  And  that  I  had  a 
 cleanly  unexpected  deliverance  from  this  sad  place.  12.  Some 
 improvement  I  made  of  this  price  that  was  put  in  my  hand, 
 through  grace,  that  helped  me.  These  things,  I  think,  I  was 
 bound  to  take  notice  of,  and  be  thankful  for  to  the  Lord."f 
 
 How  noble  a  pattern  for  imitation  !  So  far  from 
 brooding  over  his  calamities,  repining  at  divine  provi- 
 dence, and  indulging  in  a  spirit  of  irritation  against 
 his  enemies,  effects  which  his  circumstances  naturally 
 tended  to  produce,  Fraser  cherished  the  profoundest 
 gratitude  to  God  for  the  mercies  still  left  him,  took  de- 
 light in  revolving  these  mercies  in  his  mind,  and  re- 
 pressed every  improper  feeling  towards  his  persecutors. 
 
 *  The  "  untendernesB  of  brethron  and  friends,"  from  wliich  FriistT  here 
 speaks  of  having  sulTored,  probably  refers  to  the  oirenoo  taken  at  the  un- 
 sound doctrine  contained  in  his  Treatise  on  .Iut.til'yin}i  Faith  by  some  of 
 his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  hy  whom  he  thoujjht  he  was  not  treated,  in 
 reference  to  that  matter,  with  suHicient  tenderness.    See  pp.  143-145. 
 
 t  Friiser's  Monmirs  in  Select  IJiopraphies,  j)rinte*i  for  Wodrow  Society, 
 vol.  ii.  pp.  34o,  34(3. 
 
142 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 To  beguile  the  tedious  hours  of  his  confinement,  and 
 turn  the  leisure  afforded  him  to  some  profitable  ac- 
 count, besides  employing  a  due  proportion  of  his  time 
 in  devotional  exercises,  he  engaged  in  the  study  of  the 
 original  languages  of  the  Scriptures,  in  reading  books 
 on  theology,  and  in  writing  on  various  religious  sub- 
 jects ;  and  in  these  agreeable  occupations,  which  alter- 
 nately relieved  each  other,  he  found  a  source  of  true 
 pleasure,  as  well  as  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  im- 
 provement. "  As  for  my  exercises  here,''  says  he,  "  and 
 improvement  of  my  time,  I  judged,  when  I  first  came 
 here,  that  I  was  called  to  some  work  and  improvement 
 of  this  price  put  in  my  hand;  and  therefore  did  I,  1. 
 Exercise  myself  in  lamenting  my  sins,  and  misspent 
 life,  and  great  shortcoming.  2.  I  laboured  after,  and 
 desired  some  further  knowledge  of  God  and  Christ,  and 
 grace,  and  to  glorify  Grod  in  my  sufferings.  8.  Some 
 hours,  morning  and  evening  and  mid- day,  I  spent  in 
 meditation,  in  praising,  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  for 
 keeping  up  and  increasing  communion  with  God,  and 
 increase  of  grace,  and  this  constantly  ;  besides  several 
 fast-days,  which  were  my  sweetest  seasons,  and  best 
 times.  4.  Every  day  I  read  the  Scriptures,  exhorted 
 and  taught  therefrom,  did  sing  psalms,  and  prayed  with 
 such  of  our  society  as  our  masters  did  allow  and  per- 
 mit to  worship  God  together,  and  this  two  times  a-day. 
 5. 1  studied  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  gained  some  know- 
 ledge in  these  Oriental  languages.  6.  I  likewise  read 
 some  divinity,  and  wrote  a  Treatise  of  Faith,  with 
 some  other  miscellanies,  and  several  letters  to  Chris- 
 tian friends  and  relations.  Thus  I  spent  my  time,  and 
 not  without  some  fruit.''* 
 
 *  Frasor's  Memoirs  in  Select  Biographies,  printed  for  the  Wodrow  So- 
 ciety, vol.  ii.  p.  346. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 143 
 
 As  the  ^'  Treatise  on  Justifying  Faith''  which  Fraser 
 composed  in  the  Bass  involved  him  in  a  controversy 
 with  some  of  his  brethren,  in  consequence  of  certain 
 erroneous  doctrinal  views  which  it  undertakes  to  de- 
 fend, it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  give  a  brief  ac- 
 count of  that  controversy.  In  that  work,  besides  other 
 erroneous  sentiments,  he  adopts,  and  labours  at  length 
 to  establish,  the  doctrine  of  universal  atonement, — the 
 doctrine  that  "  Christ  did,  by  his  one  infinite,  indivi- 
 sible satisfaction  and  ransom,  satisfy  Divine  justice  for 
 the  sins  of  all  mankind,  though  with  different  intention 
 and  ends  according  to  the  different  objects  thereof  f* 
 with  intention  to  save  the  elect,  "  but  not  to  save  the 
 rest,  but  that  they,  contemning  and  rejecting  the  offer 
 of  salvation,  might  be  made  fit  objects  to  show  his  just 
 gospel-vengeance  and  wrath  upon  them/'t  This  was 
 startling  doctrine,  as  well  as  novel,  to  the  Church  of 
 Scotland,  and  it  could  not  fail  to  create  alarm.  Ac- 
 cordingly, Fraser  having  given  the  MS.  of  this  treatise 
 — for  it  was  not  printed  until  long  after  his  death — 
 to  his  sister-in-law,  by  whom  it  was  communicated  to 
 some  others,  several  ministers,  coming  to  understand 
 the  objectionable  opinions  which  it  maintained,  took 
 offence  at  the  author. 
 
 Hearing  of  this,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  self- 
 vindication,  admitting  that  he  would  not  stand  to  every 
 expression  he  had  employed,  and  in  order  to  reconcile 
 dissatisfied  brethren,  expressing  it  as  his  purpose,  tliat 
 "  as  he  had  not  broached  these  views  formerly  to  the 
 disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the  Church,  so  he  would 
 not  in  time  to  come  disturb  or  endanger  its  peace  by 
 doing  so."  Meanwhile,  Mr  John  Carstairs,— father  of 
 the  celebrated  William  Carstairs,  principal  of  the  Col- 
 
 *  Treatise  on  Justifying  Fiiitli,  p.  222.  f  I  hid.  24G. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 lege  of  Edinburgh, — who  had  never  seen  the  volume,  but 
 who  had  learned  its  character  from  a  minister  in  whose 
 judgment  he  had  great  confidence,  wrote  to  Eraser  a 
 long  letter,  in  which  he  animadverts  upon  his  opinions 
 with  great  freedom,  and  plainly  intimates  that  he  could 
 not  do  better  than  destroy  the  book.  "  I  humbly  wish," 
 says  he,  "  especially  since  yourself  judged  there  were 
 some  things  in  it  to  be  corrected,  it  had  never  been 
 seen,  and  that  you  had  smothered  and  destroyed  it  as 
 an  untimely  birth,  since  any  good  things  in  it,  I  sup- 
 pose, you  will  in  humility  judge,  might  have  been  got 
 elsewhere,  to  no  worse,  if  not  altogether  to  as  good  pur- 
 pose ;  and  the  ill  and  unsound,  or  raw  and  undigested 
 things  in  it,  would  thus  happily  never  have  been  heard 
 tell  of"* 
 
 Fraser  was  much  hurt  at  the  dissatisfaction  which  his 
 brethren  felt  on  account  of  his  novel  opinions,  and 
 thought  that  they  had  not  altogether  treated  him  so 
 tenderly  as  they  ought  to  have  done.j  It  was  no  doubt 
 natural  for  him  to  feel  and  think  so,  especially  as  he  had 
 not  published  that  treatise  to  the  world,  as  it  had  got 
 into  several  hands  without  his  knowledge  or  consent, 
 and  as  he  had  engaged  not  to  spread  these  views  to  the 
 disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the  church.  But  as  the 
 book  defended  a  scheme  of  doctrine  very  objectionable, 
 and  as  its  being  written  by  a  man  highly  esteemed  for 
 piety  and  zeal,  and  who  had  suffered  much  in  the  cause 
 of  the  gospel,  would  render  it,  if  circulated  or  published, 
 so  much  the  more  dangerous,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
 at  if  they  were  alarmed.   Though  he  was  dear  to  them, 
 
 *  Wodrow  MSS.  vol,  lix.  folio,  no.  60.  Carstairs'  Letter  is  dated  June 
 4.  1677.  Fraser  wrote  a  long  letter  in  reply,  which  Carstairs  again  an- 
 swered ;  and  there  the  correspondence  appears  to  have  ended, 
 
 t  See  p.  141. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 145 
 
 and  they  were  unwilling  to  add  to  his  affliction,  yet  they 
 felt  themselves  bound,  as  the  guardians  of  sacred  truth, 
 to  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  prevent  the  dis- 
 semination of  error  ;  and  Carstairs,  one  of  the  mildest, 
 as  well  as  the  most  devout  of  men,  reminded  him  of 
 the  ancient  adage,  "  Amicus  Socrates,  amicus  Plato, 
 sed  magis  amica  Veritas/'  This  controversy  appears  to 
 have  been  suppressed.  If  Fraser  did  not  alter  his  opi- 
 nions, which  it  is  not  likely  he  did,  he  acted  in  the 
 discharge  of  his  public  ministry  with  such  prudence, 
 that  we  do  not  find  any  objections  taken  at  the  doc- 
 trine he  preached,  nor  did  he  ever  publish  the  treatise,* 
 though  he  lived  many  years  after  this  correspondence 
 between  him  and  Carstairs. 
 
 Fraser  continued  a  prisoner  in  the  Bass  for  two  years 
 and  a  half  During  that  period  endeavours  were  re- 
 peatedly made  by  his  friends  to  procure  his  release 
 but  without  success,  the  terms  offered  being  such  as  he 
 could  not  conscientiously  submit  to.  On  the  5th  of 
 October  1677,  the  Council,  having  considered  a  petition 
 which  he  presented  to  them  supplicating  to  be  liberated, 
 "  granted  order  and  warrant  to  the  Governor  of  the 
 Isle  of  Bass  to  set  him  at  liberty,  upon  his  finding  suffi- 
 
 *  It  was  however  preserved,  and  several  copies  of  it  were  taken  after  his 
 death.  The  first  part  of  it  was  published  in  1722.  The  second  part,  which 
 is  the  most  exceptionable,  did  not  appear  till  1749,  when  it  produced  a  di- 
 vision in  the  Reformed  Presbytery  or  Cameronian  body,  its  principles  hav- 
 ing  been  adopted  by  some  of  the  members  of  that  denomination.  It  also 
 occasioned  warm  debates  in  the  Antiburpjhor  Secession  Synod,  and  Mr 
 Thomas  Mair,  minister  at  Orwell,  a  member  of  that  body,  was  deposed  for 
 declining  to  abstain  fnmi  teaching  the  views  which  it  advocates.  Mair 
 hud  been  employed  to  transcribe  tlie  MS.  when  a  boy  at  school,  by  his  uncle, 
 Mr  George  Mair,  who  succeeded  Fraser  as  minister  of  Culross.  Gib's  Dis- 
 play of  tlie  Secession  Testimony,  vol.  ii.  pj).  131-148.  (!ib  was  disposed 
 to  questiftn  the  autlicnticity  of  the  work ;  but  there  is  now  no  room  for 
 doubting  that  it  was  written  by  Fraser.  Account  of  the  Marrow  Contro- 
 versy by  Dr  M'Cric,  in  the  Christian  Instructor  for  18.31. 
 
 N 
 
146 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 cient  caution,  under  the  pain  of  ten  thousand  pounds 
 Scots,  to  enter  himself  in  prison  when  he  should  be  called, 
 and  that  during  the  time  of  his  enlargement  he  should 
 live  orderly,  in  obedience  to  law,  under  the  pain  fore- 
 said/' As  the  government,  by  "  living  orderly,''  meant 
 that  he  was  to  abstain  from  preaching  in  the  fields  or 
 in  houses,  Fraser  not  being  prepared  to  engage  to  do 
 this,  and  refusing  to  come  under  any  other  obligation 
 than  to  appear  when  called,  the  Council,  influenced  in  a 
 great  measure  by  Archbishop  Sharp,  refused  to  grant 
 him  liberty  on  such  terms.  But  when  the  king  issued 
 a  third  indulgence,  after  the  battle  of  BothAvell  Bridge, 
 and  at  the  same  time  gave  orders  in  a  letter  to  the 
 Council  that  such  prisoners  for  nonconformity  as  had 
 not  been  accessory  to  that  rising  should  be  liberated, 
 Fraser,  according  to  an  act  of  Council,  was  removed 
 from  the  Bass  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  from  which 
 he  was  soon  after  liberated,  on  giving  bond  to  appear 
 when  called  under  the  penalty  of  ten  thousand  merks 
 Scots  in  case  of  failure.*  Fraser's  cautioner  was  Sir 
 Hugh  Campbell  of  Caddell ;  and  the  bond  is  dated  18th 
 August  1679. 
 
 Fraser  continued  to  enjoy  liberty  for  nearly  two 
 years  and  a  half ;  and  during  that  time,  he  led  a  wan- 
 dering and  unsettled  life,  residing  sometimes  with  one 
 and  sometimes  with  another,  but  living  for  the  most 
 part  in  the  north,  and  preaching  both  privately  and 
 publicly  wherever  he  found  opportunity.  But  bonds  and 
 imprisonment  still  awaited  him.  On  his  return  from 
 the  south,  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1681,  having 
 preached  one  Sabbath  in  a  barn  to  a  considerable  num- 
 ber of  people,  the  Council  being  informed  that  it  was  a 
 
 *  Seven  other  prisoners  in  the  Bass  were  liberated  at  tlie  same  time. 
 See  Life  of  WUliam  Bell,  pp.  117, 118. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA.  147  j 
 
 field-meeting,  summoned  him  and  Sir  Hugh  Campbell,  ■ 
 his  surety,  to  appear  before  them.   But  on  learning  that  j 
 it  was  a  house  conventicle,  they  allowed  the  citation  to  - 
 rest,  and  only  spoke  on  the  subject  to  his  cautioner,  who 
 was  at  that  time  in  Edinburgh.   Sir  Hugh  shortly  after 
 going  to  the  north  found  Fraser  lying  sick  of  an  ague, 
 and  informed  him  how  matters  went,  at  the  same  time  i 
 telling  him  that  he  intended  to  send  the  Bishop  of 
 Edinburgh  and  the  Lord  Advocate  information  of  his 
 sickness.   Fraser,  who  well  understood  the  spirit  which  ; 
 actuated  these  men,  earnestly  dissuaded  him  from  such 
 a  purpose,  assuring  him  that  if  the  prelates  heard  of 
 this  they  would  most  certainly  summon  him  to  appear  I 
 before  the  Council,  in  the  hope  that,  either  through  his  j 
 [     inability  to  appear,  they  would  get  into  their  hands  the  | 
 }     ten  thousand  merks  which  his  surety  in  that  case  would  | 
 I     forfeit,*  or  that  if  he  appeared,  his  life  by  so  long  a  i 
 [    journey  would  be  endangered.    The  event  proved  that  j 
 I     these  were  far  from  groundless  and  uncharitable  suspi-  | 
 )     cions.   Campbell,  disregarding  this  prudent  advice,  and 
 j    judging  too  favourably  of  the  men  with  whom  he  had 
 I     to  deal,  wrote  to  the  Bishop  concerning  Eraser's  sick- 
 i     ness,  and  that  he  did  not  preach  in  the  fields.    The  | 
 I     Bishop,  immediately  on  receiving  the  letter,  informed  l 
 the  Council,  who,  as  Fraser  had  anticipated,  cited  him  to 
 appear  before  them  on  the  22d  of  December  1681.  The 
 I    Council,  at  that  time  greatly  irritated,  had  found  the 
 Earl  of  Argyle  guilty  of  treason  ;  and  Fraser  and  his 
 friends  were  not  without  apprehensions  that  his  life  J 
 was  aimed  at.    Though  he  had  not  preached  in  the  1 
 fields  since  his  liberation  from  the  Bass,  yet  as  he  had 
 
 *  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Caddell  was  very  friondly  to  the  Prosbytorian  < 
 ministers,  and  for  several  of  them,  in  the  same  circumstanros  as  Fraser,  l 
 he  had  come  under  engagements  wliich  amounted  in  all  to  not  loss  than 
 £1700.    On  this  account  the  government  had  no  good  will  towards  him. 
 
148 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 preached  in  private  houses  when  some  of  the  people 
 were  without  doors, — which  according  to  the  law  was  a 
 field  conventicle,  he  had  thereby  rendered  himself  liable 
 to  the  punishment  of  death.  He  had  besides  learned 
 that  the  Council  were  in  possession  of  some  notes  of  a 
 sermon  he  had  delivered,  upon  which  they  intended  to 
 proceed  against  him  criminally.  His  friends  therefore, 
 alarmed  for  his  safety,  advised  him  not  to  appear  before 
 the  Council.  Only  one  consideration  prevented  him 
 from  complying  with  this  advice.  By  failing  to  appear, 
 his  cautioner,  who  had  so  deeply  interested  himself  in 
 his  welfare,  would  have  had  to  pay  for  him  a  large  sum, 
 and  Fraser,  rather  than  subject  him  to  any  loss,  resolved 
 to  make  his  appearance  whatever  the  consequences 
 might  be ;  in  doing  which,  he  was  much  encouraged 
 by  his  sudden  and  unexpected  recovery.  Accordingly, 
 he  and  his  friend  set  out  for  Edinbiifgh,  where  they 
 arrived  the  day  previous  to  that  on  which  he  had  been 
 summoned  to  appear.  On  presenting  himself  at  the  bar 
 of  the  Council,  who  were  astonished  to  see  him  there, 
 his  indictment  was  read,  which  bore,  that  although 
 "  by  his  Majesty's  royal  clemency,  and  in  expectation 
 of  his  future  good  behaviour,"  he  had  been  liberated 
 from  the  Bass  where  he  had  been  confined  "  upon  the 
 account  of  several  disorders,''  yet  he  had  "  so  far  abused 
 his  Majesty's  favour  and  clemency,  as  that  ever  since 
 he  was  liberated  he  hath  continued  to  trouble  and  in- 
 fest the  several  places  of  the  country  whether  he  hath 
 had  occasion  to  resort,  by  venting  seditious  and  dis- 
 loyal principles  and  taking  upon  him  the  ofiice  of  the 
 ministry,  albeit  he  be  not  in  orders,  and  keeping  of 
 conventicles,  and  at  these  seditious  meetings  abusing 
 and  debauching  his  Majesty's  subjects  from  their  loyalty 
 and  allegiance  to  his  Majesty,  and  infusing  in  them  se- 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 149 
 
 ditious  and  disloyal  principles,  to  the  great  disturbance 
 of  his  Majesty's  peace  in  these  places  where  he  resorts, 
 for  which  he  ought  and  should  be  exemplarly  punished 
 in  his  person  and  goods,  to  the  terror  of  others  to  com- 
 mit and  do  the  like  in  time  coming/'* 
 
 The  King's  Advocate  referred  the  whole  to  his  oath, 
 and  the  President  required  him  to  depone  Avhether  he 
 had  preached  in  the  fields  or  in  houses  since  his  libera- 
 tion from  the  Bass.  Fraser  having  just  the  day  before 
 arrived  in  town,  after  a  tedious  journey  and  severe 
 sickness,  and  having  never  seen  nor  heard  his  indict- 
 ment till  it  was  read,  desired  that  a  few  days  might  be 
 granted  him  to  answer  it.  This  reasonable  request  be- 
 ing denied  him,  and  being  ordered  immediately  to  give 
 his  oath,  or  stand  to  the  consequences  of  refusing,  he 
 declared  his  readiness  to  swear  that  he  was  innocent  of 
 every  article  charged  against  him  in  the  indictment ; 
 but  to  prevent  his  being  teased  with  vexatious  questions, 
 to  state  the  true  grounds  of  his  sufferings,  and  to  vin- 
 dicate himself  and  others  from  false  imputations,  he 
 desired  the  favour  of  being  permitted  to  address  the 
 Council.  This  being  granted,  he  defended  himself  with 
 much  ability  and  spirit  from  the  charges  of  having 
 preached  in  the  fields  since  his  liberation  from  the 
 Bass, — of  i)reaching  without  authority,  having  been 
 solemnly  licensed  and  ordained  to  the  ministerial  office 
 by  such  as  were  competent  to  do  so, — and  of  preach- 
 ing disloyal  and  seditious  principles.  His  defence,  which 
 was  patiently  listened  to,  produced  so  favourable  an 
 impression  on  many  of  the  counsellors  that  they  were 
 inclined  to  acquit  him.  But  the  bishops,  to  whom  the 
 matter  was  ultimately  left,  and  who  never  seem  to  have 
 been  troubled  with  scruples  of  conscience  about  con- 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council,  22d  Dt'coiubcr  1(>81. 
 
150 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 demning  a  zealous  nonconformist,  however  completely 
 he  may  have  defended  himself,  gave  it  as  their  opinion 
 that  he  ought  to  be  punished  ;  upon  which  the  Council 
 found  him,  "  by  his  own  confession,  guilty  of  a  con- 
 tinued habit  of  keeping  conventicles  for  many  months 
 since  his  Majesty's  act  of  indemnity,  and  the  favour  al- 
 lowed him  of  liberty  forth  of  the  Bass,  where  he  was 
 prisoner  for  the  like  disorders ;  and  therefore,  conform 
 to  the  fifth  act,  Parliament  second,  session  second, 
 Charles  the  Second,  he  being  an  heritor,  fine  him  in 
 the  sum  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots  money,  to  be 
 paid  to  his  Majesty's  cash-keeper  for  his  Majesty's  use  ; 
 and  ordain  him  to  be  committed  prisoner  in  the  Castle 
 of  Blackness,  there  to  remain  till  he  pay  his  said  fine, 
 and  find  caution,  under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand 
 merks  that  he  shall  not  preach  at  conventicles  here- 
 after, or  remove  himself  off  the  kingdom,  conform  to 
 the  foresaid  act  of  Parliament ;  and  appoint  him  in-' 
 stantly  to  be  carried  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  till 
 he  be  transported  to  Blackness,  and  grant  warrant  to 
 the  Earl  of  Linlithgow  to  receive  and  detain  him  ac- 
 cordingly ;  and,  in  regard  the  Laird  of  Caddell  has  pro- 
 duced the  defender  at  the  bar,  ordain  him  to  have  his 
 bond  delivered  up  to  him." 
 
 Accordingly,  after  continuing  six  weeks  prisoner  at 
 Edinburgh,  he  was  sent  to  Blackness,  where  he  was 
 kept  in  close  confinement,  and  subjected  to  much  hard- 
 ship from  the  caprice  of  a  tyrannical  governor,  for  seven 
 weeks  ;  after  which,  through  a  petition  which  his  bro- 
 ther-in-law, without  his  knowledge,  presented  to  the 
 Council  in  his  behalf,  he  was  set  at  liberty,  and  his 
 fine  remitted,  on  condition  tliat  he  should  immediately 
 remove  himself  out  of  the  kingdom,  not  to  return  witli- 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 151 
 
 out  the  King's  or  Council's  permission.*  On  learning  this 
 decision,  the  thought  of  leaving  the  land  of  his  birth, 
 his  dear  mother,  children,  brothers,  and  sisters,  as  well 
 as  his  friends  and  relatives,  whom  he  might  never  again 
 see  in  this  world,  and  of  spending  the  remainder  of  his 
 days  among  strangers,  by  whom  he  reckoned  on  being 
 counted  as  "  a  barbarian,"  was  for  some  time  painful 
 to  him.  But  the  condition  on  which  he  was  liberated 
 involving  no  dereliction  of  principle,  he  had  a  good 
 and  clear  conscience,  and  labouring  to  bring  his  mind 
 to  his  condition,  he  left  Scotland,  and  the  friends  dear 
 to  him,  for  London,  about  the  end  of  May  1682.  Con- 
 ceiving that  his  Scottish  dialect  and  accent  would  be 
 ungrateful  to  the  English  ear,  he  at  first  resolved  to 
 forbear  preaching,  but  being  invited  to  preach  at  seve- 
 ral places,  he  was  drawn  forth  from  the  privacy  he  had 
 contemplated,  and  his  character  and  gifts  being  soon 
 appreciated  by  the  English,  of  whose  sympathy  and  ge- 
 nerosity towards  him  he  makes  honourable  mention, 
 he  discharged,  as  he  was  helped,  the  ministry  which  he 
 had  received  of  the  Lord,  preaching  every  Sabbath,  and 
 sometimes  also  on  the  week  days.  But  here  new  suf- 
 ferings awaited  him.  After  the  execution  of  Lord  Rus- 
 sell and  Colonel  Sidney,!  for  their  accession  to  an  alleged 
 
 *  Eraser's  Memoirs  in  Select  Biographies,  vol.  ii.  p.  357.  In  the  decreet 
 of  the  Privy  Council  (16th  March  1682),  it  is  called  "  A  Petition  by  James 
 Fraser  of  Brea."  But  these  petitions  are  sometimes  called,  in  the  Regis- 
 ters, the  petitions  of  the  prisoner,  when  they  were  dra\\-n  up  and  j)resented 
 by  some  of  his  friends  :  which  was  sometimes  done  even  without  his  know- 
 ledge. 
 
 t  Lord  Russell,  Colonel  Sidney,  and  several  others  of  liberal  sentiments, 
 alarmed  at  the  influence  of  the  Duke  of  York  at  court,  and  the  steps 
 taken  for  the  overthrow  of  the  constitution,  held  secret  meetings,  to  devise 
 measures  for  excluding  the  Duke  of  York  from  the  throne,  and  preserving 
 the  Protestant  religion  and  the  liberty  of  the  subject.  There  was  no  mur- 
 derous design.  This  was  denied  by  themselves,  and  it  has  never  been  proved 
 against  them.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  498. 
 
152 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 plot  for  murdering  the  King  and  the  Duke  of  York, 
 he  was  apprehended  on  suspicion  of  being  concerned 
 in  the  plot,  and  brought  before  the  King,  the  Duke  of 
 York,  and  some  members  of  the  Council,  who,  after 
 examining  him,  although  apparently  satisfied  from  his 
 answers  that  he  had  no  share  in  the  plot,  and  could  give 
 them  no  information  concerning  it,  handed  him  over 
 to  the  Lord  Mayor,  who  was  ordered  to  test  his  loyalty 
 by  putting  to  him  the  oath  of  allegiance,  the  oath  of 
 supremacy,  and  the  Oxford  oath.  Fraser  expressed  his 
 willingness  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,*  but  demur- 
 red at  taking  the  oath  of  supremacy,  until  further 
 consideration,  while  he  absolutely  refused  to  take  the 
 Oxford  oath,t  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  that  if  the 
 
 *  "  The  English  oath  of  allegiance  was  much  less  exceptionable  than 
 the  Scottish,  having  been  drawn  up  by  James  VI.  to  meet,  if  possible,  the 
 views  of  Roman  Catholics,  whom  he  was  very  desirous  of  attaching  to  his 
 government.  The  Scottish  oath  consisted  of  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and 
 supremacy  blended  together."  Note  of  Dr  M'Crie  in  Memoirs  of  Veitch 
 and  Brysson,  p.  299. 
 
 t  The  Oxford  oath  was  as  follows : — "  I,  A.  B,,  do  swear,  that  it  is  not 
 lawful,  upon  any  pretence  whatsoever,  to  take  arms  against  the  king  :  And 
 that  I  do  abhor  the  traitorous  position  of  taking  arms,  by  any  authority, 
 against  his  person,  or  against  those  that  are  commissionated  by  him,  in 
 pursuance  of  such  commission  :  And  that  I  will  not  at  any  time  endeavour 
 any  alteration  of  the  government,  either  in  Church  or  State."  Calamy's 
 Abridgment  of  Baxter's  History  of  his  Life  and  Times,  &c.,  vol.  i.  p.  313. 
 The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  imposition  of  this  oath  were  these  : — 
 In  1665,  when  the  plague  was  raging  in  London,  carrying  off  at  the  rate 
 of  ten  thousand  in  the  week,  and  when  the  city  ministers  fled  through  ter- 
 ror and  left  their  flocks  in  the  time  of  their  extremity,  several  of  the 
 ejected  nonconforming  ministers,  such  as  Mr  Thomas  Vincent,  Mr  Ches- 
 ter, Mr  Janeway,  Mr  Turner,  Mr  Grimes,  Mr  Franklin,  and  others,  actu- 
 ated by  sympathy  for  the  sick  and  dying,  who  had  no  man  to  care  for  their 
 souls,  resolved,  though  against  the  law,  to  enter  the  deserted  pulpits  and 
 preach  to  the  people  the  gospel ;  and  this  they  actually  did.  But  while 
 they  were  so  emjdoyed,  the  Pa,rliament  which  sat  at  Oxford  were  busy  in 
 making  an  act,  the  amount  of  which  was,  that  all  the  silenced  ministers 
 should  take  the  above  oath  ;  and,  upon  their  refusal,  they  were  prohibited 
 to  come  (unless  upon  the  road)  within  five  miles  of  any  city  or  corpora. 
 
taking  of  the  oath  of  allegiance  did  not  secure  his  re- 
 lease, he  would  take  none  of  them.  The  result  was, 
 that  he  was  committed  prisoner  to  Newgate,  there  to 
 remain  for  the  space  of  six  months.  Fraser  was  agree- 
 ably disappointed  in  finding  that  this  was  far  from  be- 
 ing so  melancholy  and  sad  a  place  of  confinement  as 
 the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  the  Bass,  or  Blackness,  for 
 he  had  one  of  the  best  rooms  in  the  prison,  large,  cleanly, 
 and  lightsome  ;  the  jailors  treated  him  with  no  small 
 civility  and  kindness ;  he  had  much  pleasant  intercourse 
 with  intelligent  and  learned  nonconformists  of  his  own 
 persuasion,  also  prisoners,  who  were  permitted  to  asso- 
 ciate together  during  the  whole  day;  and,  in  short,  he 
 wanted  nothing ;  which  made  him  say  that  he  "  could 
 hardly  call  it  suffering."  Thus  lenient  was  the  treat- 
 ment of  nonconformists  in  England  compared  with  the 
 barbarity  exercised  by  the  government  towards  those 
 in  Scotland.  On  being  set  at  liberty,  resuming  his 
 work  of  preaching  the  gospel,  he  met  with  much  favour 
 and  respect  among  his  new  acquaintances  and  friends 
 in  England. 
 
 Returning  to  Scotland  after  the  Revolution,  he  be- 
 came minister  of  Culross,  a  parish  in  the  county  of 
 Fife,  where  he  continued  faithfully  to  discharge  his 
 pastoral  duties  till  his  death,  beloved  and  revered  by 
 the  good  for  his  wisdom  and  piety.  He  had  preached 
 in  the  meeting-house  there  from  the  beginning  of  Jan- 
 uary 1689;  and  when,  in  May  following,  the  incum- 
 bents* of  that  parish  were  deprived  by  the  Committee 
 
 tion,  or  any  place  where  they  had  hcoii  ministors,  or  had  iiroarhod  after 
 the  act  of  oblivion.  This  was  called  the  "  Five  Mile  Act."  (Ibid.  vol.  i. 
 pp.  310,  311.) 
 
 *  Culross  was  a  colleKiato  charj^e.  The  twu  incumbents  were  Mr  Ro- 
 bert Wrif^ht  and  Mr  Alexander  Youn^.  Mr  Wrij^lit  was  admitted  in  16(52  ; 
 the  date  of  Mr  Young's  admission  is  unknown.     There  wa^  no  second 
 
154 
 
 THE  ilARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  Estates  for  not  reading  their  proclamation  against 
 owning  King  James  YII.,  and  for  not  praying  for  King 
 William  and  Queen  Mary,  as  king  and  queen  of  this 
 realm,*  the  Committee  of  Estates,  in  compliance  with 
 a  petition  of  some  in  the  parish,  ordained  him  to  re- 
 move from  the  meeting-house  to  the  kirk,  and  therein 
 to  preach  and  exercise  his  other  ministerial  functions. 
 In  defiance  of  this  act,  the  Earl  of  Kincardine  and  the 
 Magistrates  of  Culross,  who  had  the  keys  of  the  church 
 in  their  custody,  being  Jacobites,  refused  on  the  Sab- 
 bath morning  to  allow  Eraser  access  to  the  church  ; 
 but,  at  the  desire  of  some  in  the  parish,  two  companies  of 
 the  Laird  of  Kenmure's  regiment  broke  open  the  church 
 betwixt  eight  and  nine  on  the  Sabbath  morning,  and 
 brought  Eraser  and  another  minister  into  it.  The  Earl  of 
 Kincardine  and  the  Magistrates  complained  to  the  Lords 
 
 minister  of  the  parish  fropi  1689  to  1698,  when  Mr  George  Mair  was  ad- 
 mitted second  minister  on  the  2d  of  September.  It  is,  however,  probable, 
 that  Mair,  before  that,  had  been  assistant  to  Fraser.  Selections  from  the 
 Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Fife,  p.  236. 
 
 *  By  an  act  of  the  Committee  of  Estates,  passed  the  3d  of  April  1689, 
 all  ministers  were  expressly  commanded  to  read  a  proclamation  of  that 
 date,  and  publicly  to  pray  for  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  as  king  and 
 queen  of  Scotland,  upon  the  days  particularly  mentioned  therein,  under 
 the  pain  of  being  deprived  of  their  benefices.  In  the  proclamation  referred 
 to,  "  all  the  lieges  are  certified  that  they  presume  not  to  own  or  acknow- 
 ledge the  late  King  James  VII.  for  their  king,  or  presume,  upon  their 
 highest  peril,  by  handwriting,  in  sermons,  or  any  other  manner  of  way,  to 
 impugn  or  disown  the  royal  authority  of  William  and  Mary,  king  and 
 queen  of  Scotland."  A  large  number  of  the  prelatic  incumbents  refused 
 to  read  the  proclamation,  and  pray  for  King  William  and  Queen  Mary, 
 upon  which  they  were  prosecuted  before  the  Privy  Council,  and  nearly  two 
 hundred  of  them  were  unceremoniously  deprived  of  their  benefices.  The 
 trials  of  these  delinquents  occupy  several  large  volumes  of  the  Records  of 
 the  Privy  Council.  This  was  a  piece  of  policy  which  the  Earl  of  Craw- 
 ford, a  sagacious  old  whig,  recommended  to  King  William,  with  the  view 
 of  taking  from  such  of  the  prelatic  clergy  as  were  favourable  to  King  James 
 VI  I.,  that  influence  against  the  Revolution  government  which  their  situa- 
 tion, as  Tninisters  of  the  Established  Church  of  Scotland,  gave  them. 
 
JAMES  FRASER  OF  BREA. 
 
 155 
 
 of  Council,  from  whom,  however,  they  received  little 
 sympathy,  being  "  discharged  from  troubling  or  molest- 
 ing him  in  the  peaceable  exercise  of  his  ministerial 
 function,  until  the  said  kirk  should  be  legally  filled/'* 
 
 At  length  Fraser  was  visited  with  his  last  illness, 
 but  death  did  not  come  upon  him  unprepared.  His 
 life  had  been  a  constant  course  of  preparation  for  it, 
 and  now  it  was  divested  of  its  terrors.  In  the  promises 
 of  the  gospel,  the  theme  on  which  he  had  delighted  to 
 dwell  in  his  private  meditations  and  public  ministry, 
 he  found  a  sure  foundation  of  hope,  an  infinite  spring 
 of  joy,  and  his  last  words  were, — "  I  am  full  of  the 
 consolations  of  Christ.''  He  died  at  Edinburgh  on  the 
 13th  of  September  16^^  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock 
 at  night,  aged  fifty-nine.t 
 
 Fraser  had  by  his  Avife  three  children,  a  boy,  who 
 died  in  infancy,  and  two  daughters,  both  of  whom  he 
 mentions  as  being  alive  when  he  Avrote  his  Memoirs, 
 which,  as  they  bring  down  his  history  to  his  release 
 from  Newgate,  must  have  been  at  least  as  late  as  1684. 
 One  of  these  daughters,  Jane,  became  the  second  wife 
 of  Hugh  Rose  of  Kilravock,  a  man  of  integrity  and 
 merit.    She  died  without  issue.  J 
 
 Fraser  never  appeared  as  an  author  during  his  life- 
 time. His  Treatise  on  Justifying  Faith,  and  his  Me- 
 moirs of  himself,  which  have  been  repeatedly  referred 
 to,  are  posthumous  publications.  Of  this  last  work  he 
 wrote  two  copies,  which  differ  considerably  from  each 
 other.  One  copy,  which  he  dedicated  to  Mr  Thomas  Ross, 
 formerly  noticed,  is  chiefly  confined  to  an  account  of 
 
 *  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  2<1  S(  i>tcnil»(  r  U?90. 
 •f  AdvcrtiKcment  prefixed  to  Fruser's  Momoirs  of  liim«elf,  printed  at 
 Edinburgli,  1738. 
 
 J  Douglas's  Baronage,  p.  4.%. 
 
156 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 his  religious  experience.  The  other,  in  which  he  as- 
 sumes the  name  of  Philocris,  gives  a  more  particular 
 account  of  the  events  of  his  life.  His  published  Me- 
 moirs consist  of  the  first  copy  entire,  together  with 
 several  chapters  added  from  the  other.  A  work  of  his, 
 entitled,  "  The  Lawfulness  and  Duty  of  Separation  from 
 Corrupt  Ministers  and  Churches,''  was  also  published  in 
 1744.  The  MS.  of  this  volume  is  among  the  Wodrow 
 MSS.  vol.  xxii.  8vo,  no.  1,  under  the  title  "  An  Argu- 
 ment shewing  that  by  the  Covenant  we  are  bound  not 
 to  hear  Conform  Ministers."  So  early  as  about  the 
 close  of  the  year  1663,  Fraser  began  to  entertain  scru- 
 ples about  the  lawfulness  of  hearing  the  curates,  whose 
 ministry  he  had  previously  regularly  attended.  On 
 studying  the  question,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
 it  was  wrong  for  him  to  do  so,  and  this  treatise  contains 
 his  views  on  that  subject.  There  is  also  among  the 
 Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxii.  8vo,  no.  2,  a  paper  of  his  of 
 considerable  length,  entitled,  "  Defence  of  the  Conven- 
 tion of  Estates,  1689/'  Its  object  is  to  vindicate  the 
 Convention  of  Estates  for  having  declared  King  James 
 VII.  to  have  forfeited  his  right  to  the  Crown,  and  the 
 throne  to  be  vacant. 
 
lo7 
 
 GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 George  Scot  of  Pitlochie,  Avas  tlie  son  of  Sir  J ohn  Scot 
 of  Scotstarvet,*  by  his  second  wife,  Margaret,  daughter 
 of  Sir  James  Melvill  of  Hallhill.  He  was  somewhat  of 
 an  eccentric  character,  and  though  imprisoned  in  the 
 Bass  for  Presbyterian  principles,  which  he  does  not  ap- 
 pear ever  to  have  renounced,  yet  he  did  not  throughout 
 maintain  that  consistency  which  we  like  to  find  in  the 
 history  of  a  sufferer  for  religion.  The  first  instance  in 
 which  we  meet  with  him  in  the  history  of  the  prelatic 
 persecution,  is  in  1674,  when,  on  the  5th  of  June,  he 
 and  several  others  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Lords  of 
 Council,  before  whom  they  had  been  summoned,  to  an- 
 swer for  "  keeping  conventicles  and  other  disorders  of 
 that  nature."  They  acknowledged  that  theyhad  been  pre- 
 sent at  two  field  conventicles,  upon  which  the  Council, 
 "  conform  to  the  fifth  act  of  the  second  session  of  his  Ma- 
 
 *  8ir  Jolin  Srot  of  Scotstarvet  was  a  man  of  uncoiiiinoii  al)iliti«'S,  and 
 madct  a  j^reat  fij^uro  in  his  time.  As  soon  as  ho  became  of  age,  he  ol)taiiuMl 
 the  office  of  Director  of  the  Chancery.  Being  in  great  favour  witli  King 
 James  VI.,  ho  had  conferred  upon  liim  the  Ijonour  of  knighthood  in  the 
 year  1617,  and  was  appointed  a  member  of  tlie  I'rivy  C'ouncil.  lie  was 
 also  much  esteemed  by  King  Charles  I.,  who  appointed  him  one  of  his 
 Privy  Council,  and  a  Senator  of  the  College  of  Justice.  lie  died  in  1670, 
 in  the  84th  year  of  his  age.  Douglas's  Baronage,  p.  'J23.  He  is  the  autJior 
 of  a  curious  work,  entitled,  "  Staggering  State  of  Scots  Statesmen,"  which 
 contains  sketches  of  the  principal  statesmen  of  Scotland  in  liis  day. 
 
158 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 jesty's  second  Parliament,  fine  each  of  them  in  the  half 
 of  a  year's  valued  rent  for  each  of  the  said  conventicles 
 confessed  by  them."  Scot's  fine  for  conventicles,  ac- 
 cording to  this  estimate,  amounted  to  one  thousand 
 pounds  ;  and  he  was  besides  fined  500  merks  "  for  his 
 impertinent  and  extravagant  carriage,  and  expressions 
 uttered  before  his  Majesty's  Council."*  Scot  and  the 
 others  who  appeared,  were  also  ordained  to  be  carried 
 to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  in  which  they  were  to 
 lie  till  they  paid  their  respective  fines,  and  longer, 
 should  it  so  please  the  Council ;  while  letters  were  or- 
 dained to  be  directed  against  such  as  had  not  appeared, 
 denouncing  them  rebels  for  their  disobedience.  On  the 
 2Sd  of  July  the  same  year,  he  is  fined  an  additional 
 thousand  pounds  for  harbouring  and  resetting  Mr  John 
 Welsh.t 
 
 After  this,  he  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the 
 Council  to  answer  for  new  alleged  delinquencies,  such  as 
 being  present  at  several  field  conventicles,  receiving  dis- 
 orderly baptism  for  his  children,  and  resetting  and  cor- 
 responding with  several  persons  who  were  declared 
 rebels  and  traitors,  and  others  against  whom  letters  of 
 intercommuning  had  been  directed.  In  this  instance  he 
 failed  to  appear,  and  was  therefore  declared  a  fugitive. 
 But  being  apprehended  within  the  city  of  Edinburgh, 
 he  was  brought  before  the  Committee  of  Council  for 
 Public  Affairs,  and  charged  with  the  "  said  crimes,  as 
 also  with  uttering  and  venting  several  insolent  ex- 
 pressions against  his  Majesty's  government,  and  those 
 intrusted  by  him  in  the  exercise  thereof,  which  was 
 offered  instantly  [to  be]  proven  against  him."  Refus- 
 ing to  declare  any  thing  as  to  the  matters  for  which 
 
 *  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council, 
 t  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  244. 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 159 
 
 he  was  impeached,  or  to  give  any  assurance  as  to  his 
 future  good  behaviour,  the  Committee  considering  him 
 
 to  be  a  person  of  most  pernicious  and  factious  prac- 
 tices, and  altogether  irreclaimable,  notwithstanding  of 
 all  the  fair  means  and  endeavours  used  for  that  effect, 
 did  give  order  for  transporting  him  to  the  Isle  of  the 
 Bass,  until  the  Council  shall  consider  what  further 
 course  to  take  with  him/'  This  report  of  the  Commit- 
 tee was  given  in  to  the  Council  on  the  8th  of  February 
 1677  and  approved. 
 
 After  remaining  for  some  months  in  the  Bass,  on  pre- 
 senting to  the  Council  a  petition  for  being  set  at  liberty, 
 an  order  was  issued,  on  the  5th  of  October  1677,  for  his 
 being  immediately  liberated,  in  regard  he  had  found 
 sufficient  security,  that  within  the  space  of  fourteen 
 days  after  his  release  he  should  repair  to  his  own  lands, 
 and  not  go  without  the  bounds  thereof,  under  the  pain 
 of  two  thousand  merks  Scots  money  in  case  of  failure, 
 and  that  he  should  live  orderly,  in  obedience  to  law, 
 under  the  foresaid  penalty.* 
 
 Nearly  two  years  subsequent  to  this,  letters  were 
 raised  against  Scot  before  the  Privy  Council,  at  the 
 instance  of  Sir  George  M'Kenzie  of  Rosehaugh,  his 
 Majesty's  Advocate,  charging  him  with  having  several 
 times  since  the  granting  of  the  said  bond,  broken  his 
 
 •  Scot,  after  this,  does  not  appear  to  have  ever  again  been  confined  in 
 the  Bass.  Crichton,  in  his  Memoirs  of  John  Bhickadder  (p.  343),  speaks 
 of  him  as  lil)orated  in  1G84,  which  would  imply  that  ho  was  imprisoned 
 there  a  second  time.  Crichton's  auth<jrity  is  Wodrow,  who  says  in  his 
 History,  (vol.  iv.  p,  56),  under  the  year  1684,—"  At  the  same  diet  of  Coun- 
 cil, [December  24],  the  laird  of  Pitlocliie  is  let  out  of  the  Bass  upon  pro- 
 mise to  go  to  the  plantations."  But  Wodrow  has  evidently  fallen  into  a 
 mistake  from  misunderstanding  the  act  of  that  date,  in  reference  to  a  pe- 
 tition which  Scot  presented  to  the  Council.  See  the  act  in  the  Life  <.f  Mr 
 Archibald  Riddell.  At  that  time,  and  for  a  considerabbr  time  before.  Scot 
 was  actively  engaged  about  the  scheme  of  f(»rming  a  plantation  abroad  ;  and 
 this  scheme  Eeeuis  to  have  originated  entirely  with  himself. 
 
160 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 confinement,  in  going  without  the  bounds  of  his  own 
 lands,  attending  conventicles,  resetting  and  correspond- 
 ing with  intercommuned  persons,  and  withdrawing 
 from  public  ordinances  in  his  o^Yn  parish  church,  by 
 which  his  cautioners  had  incurred  the  penalties  con- 
 tained in  their  bonds  ;  and  declaring  that  therefore 
 the  principal  and  cautioners  respectively,  being  found 
 guilty  of  the  disorders  above  written,  ought  to  be  pro- 
 ceeded against  and  punished,  conform  to  the  laAvs  and 
 acts  of  Parliament :  and  declaring  farther,  that  he  and 
 his  cautioners  ought  to  be  decerned  to  make  payment 
 of  the  penalties  incurred  by  them,  conform  to  their  re- 
 spective bonds.  He  appeared  before  the  Council  on 
 the  13th  of  May  1679  ;  and  on  the  14th,  the  considera- 
 tion of  the  libel  against  him  and  his  cautioners  was  taken 
 up.  Being  interrogated  if  he  had  been  at  any  conven- 
 ticles since  the  bond  given  by  him  and  his  cautioners, 
 he  acknowledged  that  one  minister  had  preached  in  his 
 house,  but  refused  to  give  his  name.  Being  farther 
 asked  if  he  had  entertained  or  corresponded  with  any  in- 
 tercommuned persons,  and  particularly,  if  he  had  enter- 
 tained John  Balfour  of  Kinloch,  he  refused  to  make  any 
 declaration  on  that  point,  upon  which  "  the  Lords  held 
 him  as  confessed,  found  the  bond  given  by  him  and  his 
 cautioners  forfeited,  and  ordained  the  cautioners  to 
 make  payment  of  the  sum  of  8000  merks  of  the  10,000 
 merks  contained  in  the  bond,  to  his  Majesty's  cash- 
 keeper,  betwixt  and  the  last  of  that  month  ;  and  let- 
 ters of  horning  to  be  directed  against  them  for  that 
 effect,"  but  suspended  exacting  the  rest  of  the  sum  until 
 it  appeared  what  would  be  Scot's  future  behaviour,  and 
 allowed  him  the  period  between  that  and  the  22d  of 
 the  current  month  to  return  to  his  confinement. 
 As,  however,  at  a  subsequent  meeting  of  Council,  he 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 161 
 
 declared  upon  oath  that  he  never  saw,  harboured, 
 reset,  or  corresponded  with  John  Balfour  of  Kinloch, 
 David  Hackston  of  Rathillet,  or  any  of  those  persons 
 who  are  reputed  to  be  murderers  of  the  Archbishop  of 
 St  Andrews,  at  any  time  since  his  murder,''  the  fine 
 was  remitted.*  Here  his  sufferings  for  nonconformity 
 terminated.  To  avoid  farther  molestation,  he  appears 
 in  future  to  have  lived  "  regularly,''  that  is,  to  have 
 attended  his  own  parish  church,  and  refrained  from 
 attending  conventicles,  as  well  as  from  having  inter- 
 course with  outlawed  or  intercommuned  persons. 
 
 At  last  Scot  formed  a  design  of  emigrating  with  his 
 family  to  America,  and  founding  a  plantation,  which 
 he  intended  to  stock  with  prisoners  banished  from  this 
 country  on  account  of  their  Presbyterian  principles. 
 With  this  view  he  entered  into  transactions  with  the 
 Privy  Council,  which  are  fully  recorded  among  the 
 registers  of  their  acts,  ])ut  which  are  far  from  creditable, 
 either  to  his  Christian  principle,  or  to  his  wisdom  in 
 the  management  of  his  worldly  affairs.    Being  a  pro- 
 fessed Presbyterian,  and  one  who  had  suffered  in  the 
 cause  of  Presbytery,  it  is  a  strange  inconsistency  to 
 find  him  entering  into  negociations  with  the  govern- 
 ment for  carrying  into  banishment  and  servitude  a 
 cargo  of  his  suffering  brethren.     Sympathy  towards 
 the  sufferers,  reverence  for  the  truths  in  behalf  of 
 which  they  suffered,  indignation  at  cruelty  and  9p- 
 pression,  had  they  predominated  in  his  mind,  as  they 
 might  have  been  expected  to  do,  would  have  led  him 
 to  scorn  to  pollute  his  hands  l)y  carrying  into  exile 
 and  receiving  as  slaves  men  and  women,  who,  so  far 
 from  deserving  i)unishment,  were  wortliy  of  admiration 
 for  their  fearless  and  persevering  adherence  to  great 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Trivv  Council. 
 
 0 
 
162 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  important  principles  amidst  sore  temptations  and 
 sufferings.  He  could  not  be  guiltless  in  what  lie  did ; 
 for  to  be  the  instrument  of  executing  an  oppressive 
 and  persecuting  sentence,  is  to  be  partaker  in  the  sin 
 of  those  who  pronounced  it.  How  much  more  com- 
 mendable the  part  acted  by  William  Sutherland,  hang- 
 man at  Irvine ;  who,  on  becoming  convinced,  from  read- 
 ing the  Bible,  that  the  covenanters  condemned  to  death 
 for  the  Pentland  rising  were  the  people  of  God,  and 
 had  done  nothing  worthy  of  punishment,  refused,  with 
 the  fortitude  and  resolution  of  a  martyr,  to  become 
 their  executioner  !  Though  threatened  to  be  tortured 
 in  the  boots,  and  to  have  a  cruise  full  of  boiling  lead 
 poured  upon  his  hands,  though  bound  to  a  stake,  with 
 a  file  of  musketeers  presenting  their  pi'eces  before  him, 
 and  assured  that  he  would  instantly  be  shot  if  he  did 
 not  consent ;  yet  this  poor  and  illiterate  man,  taught  by 
 the  Spirit  of  God,  was  willing  to  endure  all  rather  than 
 to  execute  an  unjust  sentence.*  But  the  desire  of  enrich- 
 ing himself  and  his  family,  the  principle  evidently  per- 
 vading the  whole  of  this  transaction  between  Scot  and 
 the  government,  so  far  prevailed  over  him  as  to  blind 
 his  mind  to  the  iniquity  of  becoming  their  agent,  in 
 transporting  these  persecuted  individuals ;  which  was 
 in  fact  to  become  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  tyranny.  Nor 
 was  the  scheme  at  all  promising  as  a  means  of  advanc- 
 ing his  temporal  interests.  Many  of  the  prisoners  gifted 
 to  him  we  re  debilitated  and  diseased  by  cruel  treatment ; 
 and  in  that  case,  the  probability  of  failure  being  so 
 great,  it  was  a  piece  of  folly,  even  in  a  worldly  point 
 of  view,  to  lay  out  money  for  their  transportation  and 
 maintenance,  and  on  other  things  necessary  to  the  un- 
 dertaking. Indeed,  the  whole  history  of  this  affair  seems 
 
 *  V/odrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  54. 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 163 
 
 to  confirm  the  character  given  of  him  by  Mr  William 
 Moncrieff,  minister  of  Largo,  who  knew  him  well  "  He 
 was/'  says  this  excellent  man,  "  a  professor,  and  nothing 
 of  vice  or  immorality  known  to  him,  but  not  deep  drawn 
 in  religion,  and  a  very  foolish  and  unwise  man  in  any 
 matters  he  engaged  in/'* 
 
 Besides  intending  to  engage  himself  in  the  formation 
 of  a  plantation,  Scot  was  anxious  to  obtain  for  himself 
 and  his  son,  as  a  gratification  for  his  father's  MS.  Ab- 
 breviate of  Charters, t  the  office  of  keeper  of  the  Re- 
 cords of  New  England,  as  appears  from  his  petitioning 
 the  Council  to  request  the  King  to  recommend  him  to 
 the  government  of  New  England  for  that  office,  or  some 
 other  of  a  suitable  kind  in  that  province ;  which  the 
 Council  agreed  to  do.  J 
 
 To  enable  Scot  to  carry  into  effect  his  scheme  of 
 forming  a  plantation,  the  Council,  in  November  1684. 
 granted  him  liberty  to  transport  a  hundred  prisoners, 
 according  to  the  list  given  in  by  him  to  the  clerks  of 
 Council,  and  at  the  same  time  ordered  that  such  as  should 
 find  caution  to  transport  themselves  with  Scot  should 
 be  liberated  thereupon,  to  have  time  to  order  their  af- 
 fairs. §    To  carry  these  prisoners  to  their  place  of  des- 
 
 *  Wodrow  AISS.  vol.  xl.  folio,  no.  67. 
 
 t  Scot's  father,  when  director  of  the  Chancery,  had,  with  great  care  and 
 labour,  written  out  an  abbreviate,  or  short  abstracts  of  charters  from  the 
 public  records  from  the  year  14.'>6 ;  and  Scot  having  been  told  by  those  in 
 the  profession  of  the  law,  "  that  since  many  of  the  registers  and  charte^^ 
 were  miscarried,  by  which  subjects  not  only  want  their  securities  them- 
 selves, but  likewise  adminicles  for  making  them,  these  MSS.  would  be 
 useful  in  supplying  that  defect,  offered  to  give  them  to  the  Li»rds  of  Ses- 
 sion, upon  receiving  "  some  gratifu-ati<.ii.*'  The  Lords  entertaining  this 
 proposal  favourably,  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale  to  obtain  a  gratifi- 
 cation to  Scot,  for  his  care  in  preserving  these  documents.  But  this  "  gra- 
 tification'' he  had  never  yet  obtained.    Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council. 
 
 I  Decreets  of  Privy  Council,  2d  July  1685. 
 
 §  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  12th  March  U^').    The  C.mi.  il 
 
164 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 tination,  he  freighted  a  Newcastle  vessel,  whose  mas- 
 ter s  name  was  Richard  Hutton.  It  Avould  appear  that 
 he  intended  at  first  to  take  out  to  his  plantation  only- 
 such  prisoners  as  were  willing  to  go  ;  for  on  the  12th  of 
 March  1685,  he  presented  a  petition  to  the  Council,  sup- 
 plicating that,  as  he  was  "now  to  go  to  Stirling,  Glasgow, 
 as  well  as  the  other  prisons,  to  intimate  his  design  to 
 the  prisoners,  the  Council  would  order  the  liberation 
 of  such  as  he  should  engage  to  transport  with  him,  they 
 not  being  heritors  above  one  hundred  pounds  yearly  of 
 valued  rent/'  He  was  permitted  to  do  as  he  desired. 
 But  whether  he  succeeded  in  engaging  any  of  the  pri- 
 soners in  these  places,  we  are  not  informed.  It  seems, 
 however,  probable,  that  he  had  not  been  very  success- 
 ful, as  may  be  inferred  from  the  facts  that  the  Council 
 afterwards  agreed  to  grant  him  fifty  prisoners  from  the 
 jails  of  Edinburgh,*  and  fifty  from  Dunnotar  Castle  ; 
 and  that,  on  obtaining  these,  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
 taken  into  account  whether  they  were  willing  to  go 
 with  him  or  not.t    To  make  up  the  number  promised 
 
 afterwards  signified  that  all  heritors  above  one  hundred  pounds  yearly  of 
 valued  rent  were  to  l>e  excepted. 
 
 *  The  jails  of  Edinburgh  were  at  this  time  crowded  with  prisoners  for 
 nonconformity,  and  vast  numbers  were  banished  to  his  Majesty's  planta- 
 tions. As  a  specimen  of  the  barbarity  of  the  Council,  it  may  be  mentioned, 
 that  by  their  orders  many  of  the  men  had  their  left  ears  cut  off  by  the 
 rommon  hangman  ;  while  the  women  were  burnt  on  the  cheek  by  a  red  hot 
 iron  marked  with  certain  letters,  before  they  were  put  on  board  for  trans- 
 portation, and  a  surgeon  was  appointed  to  be  present  and  to  see  to  their 
 cure.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  pp.  218,  220. 
 
 t  Mr  Archibald  Riddell,  who  was  liberated  from  the  Bass  on  condition 
 of  his  leaving  the  country,  chose  to  go  out  with  Scot ;  and  some  others 
 may  have  preferred  to  be  transported  by  him  rather  than  another,  while 
 a  few  were  induced  to  leave  the  country  to  escape  persecution.  But  there 
 is  reason  to  believe  that  the  great  body  were  taken  out  by  him  against 
 their  will,  and  a  number  protested  against  his  carrying  them  into  banish- 
 ment and  slavery.  "  I,  myselfj"  says  James  Forsyth,  one  of  the  banished, 
 "  v/as  carried  abo.ard,  by  soldiers,  of  one  Richard  Ilutton's  ship,  an  Eng- 
 lishman, hired  by  George  Scot  of  Pitlochie,  who  suited  us  from  the  Coun- 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 165 
 
 from  Dunnotar,  the  Council  ordered  seventy-two  pri- 
 soners, consisting  of  men  and  women,  to  be  brought 
 thence  to  Leith ;  and  on  the  18th  of  August,  they  sat 
 in  the  tolbooth  of  Leith,  and  called  all  the  prisoners 
 before  them.  Those  who  took  the  oaths  of  allegiance 
 and  abjuration,*  and  owned  the  king's  authority,  were 
 dismissed  ;  while  those  who  refused  to  comply  with 
 these  impositions  were  banished  "  to  his  Majesty's  plan- 
 tations, and  discharged  ever  to  return  to  this  kingdom 
 hereafter,  without  the  King's  or  the  Council's  special 
 licence,  under  the  pain  of  death,  to  be  inflicted  on  them 
 without  mercy  ;"  and  all  the  above  persons,  with  twen- 
 ty-three more  "  formerly  sentenced  to  the  plantations, 
 and  now  prisoners  in  the  tolbooth  of  Leith,"  are  or- 
 dained "  to  be  delivered  to  Mr  George  Scot  of  Pitlochie, 
 and  to  be  by  him  transported  to  his  Majesty's  planta- 
 tions in  East  New  Jersey,  in  the  ship  lying  in  the  roads 
 of  Leith  now  bounding  thither,  upon  his  finding  suflfi- 
 cient  caution  to  transport  the  whole  of  the  forenamed 
 persons  to  the  foresaid  plantation,  and  to  report  a  cer- 
 tificate of  their  landing  there,  from  the  governor  or  de- 
 puty-governor of  the  place,  once  in  September  1686 
 years,  under  the  penalty  of  500  merks  for  each  one  of 
 
 cil  to  bo  his  slaves.  He  told  me,  if  I  would  t;^i\e  him  live  i)ouiuis  storlinj,' 
 for  my  passage,  I  should  be  liberated  iu  America.  I  told  hiiu  I  would  i)ay 
 money  to  none  to  carry  mo  out  of  my  native  land,  while  I  had  done  nothing 
 worthy  of  I)anishment,  but  would  protest  against  him,  and  all  that  i>aid  ; 
 and  so  subscribed  a  protestation  with  others,  December  4, 1(385,"  Wodrow 
 MSS.  vol.  xxxvii.  4to.  no.  13, 
 
 •  The  oath  of  abjuration  required  them  to  renounce  and  disown  the 
 Apologetical  Decluraticm  and  A<lmonitory  Vindication  of  tho  true  Pres- 
 byterians of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  esi>ecially  an»>nt  Intelligencers  and 
 Informers,"'  "  in  so  far  as  it  declares  war  against  his  Majesty,  and  asserts 
 that  it  is  lawful  to  kill  such  as  serves  his  Majesty  in  church,  state,  army, 
 or  country."  Wodrow's  History,  vol,  iv,  pj..  l/j?,  IGl.  The  Society  people 
 refused  to  take  this  oath,  because  it  implied  that  the  j.aju'r  referred  to  as- 
 serted it  to  be  lawful  to  commit  assassination,  which  they  could  not  admit 
 that  it  did. 
 
166 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 them  in  case  of  failure,  sea  hazard,  mortality,  and  pi- 
 rates, being  always  excepted/'*  After  being  confined 
 a  day  or  two  in  prison,  these  individuals  were  all  set 
 on  board  the  vessel  in  which  they  were  to  be  trans- 
 ported, and  lay  in  the  roads  of  Leith  a  fortnight  before 
 they  set  sail.t 
 
 The  voyage  was  tedious  and  disastrous  ;  and  as  ac- 
 counts of  it,  furnished  by  several  of  the  banished  mar- 
 tyrs, have  been  preserved,  J  Ave  shall  collect  these  dif- 
 ferent accounts  into  one  narrative,  as  a  specimen  of 
 the  hardships  and  sufferings  to  which  those  who  were 
 banished  for  their  stedfast  adherence  to  the  Presbyte- 
 rian interest  were  subjected. 
 
 The  ship  set  sail  on  the  5th  of  September.  With  a 
 heavy  heart  these  good  people  left  the  land  of  their 
 birth  ;  for  though  their  lives  had  been  made  bitter  in 
 it  with  hard  bondage,  still  it  was  endeared  to  them  by 
 many  tender  associations,  and  as  they  were  receding 
 from  its  shores,  leaving  behind  them  many  of  their 
 dear  friends  and  never  again  expecting  to  return,  a 
 multitude  of  melancholy  and  distressing  thoughts  aris- 
 ing from  the  reminiscences  of  the  past,  the  sorrows  of 
 the  present,  and  the  uncertainty  which  hung  over  the 
 future,  would  rush  into  their  minds.  When  the  vessel 
 set  out,  the  wind  and  weather  were  highly  favourable 
 for  about  eight  or  ten  days,  promising  a  speedy  and 
 prosperous  voyage.  Although  the  wind  did  not  favour 
 them  by  blowing  from  the  north  and  carrying  them  in 
 that  direction,  which  was  judged  by  all  the  passengers 
 to  be  the  most  wholesome  way  ;  yet  it  was  so  propitious 
 that  before  the  beginning  of  October,  they  reckoned 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council ;  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  pp.  221,  222. 
 t  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxvii.,  4to,  no.  165. 
 
 +  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxiii,,  folio,  no.  117;  vol.  xxxvi.,  4to,  no.  65; 
 vol.  xxxvi.,  4to,  no.  66;  vol.  xxxvii.,  4to,  nos.  13,  165. 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 167 
 
 themselves  to  be  about  three  hundred  leagues  beyond 
 the  coast  of  England.  This  fortunate  commencement, 
 however,  soon  received  a  check  ;  for  after  that,  they  had 
 never  a  favourable  wind  of  three  days'  continuance,  and 
 in  addition  to  adverse  winds  they  had  sometimes  to  en- 
 counter great  storms. 
 
 Besides  the  unfavourable  state  of  the  weather,  the 
 sufferings  of  their  cruel  lot  were  not  a  little  aggravated 
 by  the  insolence  and  profanity  of  the  captain  of  the 
 vessel,  the  crew,  and  others.  The  malignity  of  these 
 wretches  appears  to  have  been  particularly  excited  when 
 the  prisoners  engaged  in  devotional  exercises,  so  that, 
 as  one  of  them  observes,  they  "  hardly  had  liberty  to  go 
 about  the  worship  of  God  by  reason  of  a  wicked  crew  of 
 seamen,  and  other  vile  persons  in  the  ship  and  the 
 captain  of  the  vessel  in  particular  must  have  been  a 
 man  of  brutal  character,  for  the  same  prisoner  adds,  that 
 he  "  thrcAv  down  great  planks  of  wood  amongst  them 
 in  time  of  worship,  by  which  some  narrowly  escaped 
 with  their  life."*  Such  rude  and  unfeeling  as  well  as 
 impious  behaviour  could  not  fail  to  excite  in  these  re- 
 ligious people  the  most  painful  sensations,  and  would 
 have  rendered  their  voyage  very  uncomfortable  how- 
 ever fortunate  circumstances  might  otherwise  have 
 been. 
 
 By  the  cross  winds,  and  sometimes  great  storms,  to 
 which  we  have  adverted,  they  were  driven  to  about  ten 
 degrees  of  latitude  out  of  their  straight  course  towards 
 the  south.  They  were  thus  brouglit  into  .so  warm  a 
 climate  that  it  was  impossible  for  them,  from  the  in- 
 tenseness  of  the  heat,  to  stay  above  deck  witli  their  or- 
 dinary wearing  clothes  ;  and  when  they  went  under 
 deck  they  found  it  nearly  as  difficult  to  remain  there, 
 
 ♦  James  Forsyth's  account,  Wodrow  MSS.,  vol.  xxxvii.,  4to,  no, 
 
168 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  confined  air  arising  from  the  crowded  state  of  the 
 cabins,  together  with  the  heat,  being  almost  sufibcating. 
 About  this  time  a  pestilential  spotted  fever  unfortu- 
 nately broke  out  and  raged  with  appalling  violence.  It 
 especially  attacked  and  proved  fatal  to  such  of  the  pri- 
 soners as  had  been  in  the  great  vault  of  Dunnotar,  not 
 a  few  of  whom  were  sick  when  they  came  on  board, 
 in  consequence  of  the  almost  unexampled  privations 
 and  hardships  which  they  had  endured  in  that  abomi- 
 nable place  of  confinement*  But  it  was  not  limited  to 
 them.  About  a  month  after  their  setting  sail,  it  was 
 very  general  in  the  ship,  and  became  so  universal  that 
 none  escaped  it  except  two  or  three.  So  great  too  was 
 the  mortality,  that  it  was  usual  for  three  or  four  dead 
 bodies  to  be  thrown  over  board  in  a  day,  and  when  any 
 
 *  Mr  John  Fraser,  minister  at  Alness,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Dingwall, 
 after  the  Revolution,  who  was  banished  with  Scot's  ship,  and  who  was  one 
 of  the  prisoners  of  Dunnotar,  in  describing  the  great  misery  of  himself 
 and  his  fellow-prisoners  there,  says,  "After  our  arrival  at  Dunnotar  Castle, 
 some  having  escaped  by  the  way,  there  were  166  prisoners  imprisoned  in 
 one  vault,  and  that  of  men  and  women.  This  vault  was  full  of  sand  that 
 was  higher  than  our  ankles,  and  it  had  but  one  window.  We  could  not 
 sit  without  pressing  and  leaning  upon  one  another.  This  was  not  only  an 
 inhuman  barbarous  usage,  men  and  women  being  greatly  straitened  as  to 
 the  necessity  of  nature,  but  such  as  threatened  our  speedy  death.  After 
 the  cruel  governor  had  kept  us  in  this  plight  two  days,  he  ordered  forty 
 of  the  men  to  be  removed  to  another  vault,  which  being  but  very  small, 
 and  having  therein  only  a  small  slip  for  light,  we  were  not  much  less 
 straitened  there  than  in  the  greater  vault,  being  greatly  endangered 
 throuo^h  want  of  air  and  our  confined  breath.'"  "Wodrow  MSS.,  vol.  xxxvii., 
 4to,  no.  165.  In  these  two  vaults  were  the  most  of  these  prisoners  pent 
 up  almost  the  whole  of  that  summer,  without  air,  without  room,  either  to 
 lie  or  walk,  and  without  any  comfort  except  what  religion  supplied.  So 
 suffocating  did  the  place  become  from  the  want  of  air  and  from  offensive 
 smells,  that  several  of  them  died,  and  the  wonder  is,  that  any  survived  such 
 barbarous  treatment.  The  governor's  lady,  indeed,  on  visiting  the  pri- 
 soners, prevailed  with  her  husband  to  remove  twelve  of  the  men  from  the 
 forty  to  a  better  place,  and  the  women  from  tlu-  large  vault  into  two  rooms, 
 which  aflbrded  much  relief.  But  still  their  hardships  were  great.  Wod- 
 row's  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  324. 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 169 
 
 recovered  from  it,  it  was  reckoned  a  singular  mercy. 
 The  number  altogether  who  died  was  about  seventy  ; 
 among  whom  were  the  most  of  the  seamen,*  Scot  who 
 had  freighted  the  vessel,  and  his  excellent  lady,  whose 
 memory  is  mentioned  with  respect  by  all  who  refer  to 
 her  death.  Mr  Riddell,  in  this  trying  situation,  acted 
 with  a  sympathy  and  zeal  worthy  of  all  praise,  doing 
 all  he  could  to  comfort  the  sick  and  dpng  by  adminis- 
 tering to  them  the  consolations  of  religion.! 
 
 The  distressing  condition  of  these  suffering  people 
 was  aggravated  from  scanty  and  unwholesome  food,  the 
 flesh  which  the  captain  of  the  ship  allowed  them  being 
 in  a  putrid  state  before  they  left  Leith  Roads,  so  that 
 within  a  few  days  it  was  scarcely  fit  "  for  dogs  to  eat." 
 Their  condition  was  also  aggravated  from  their  meet- 
 ing with  some  of  those  great  storms  which  take  place 
 in  the  mighty  Atlantic,  so  that,  as  one  of  them  observes, 
 they  "  expected  to  have  been  all  swallowed  up  in  the 
 midst  of  the  sea's  boisterous  waves,  and  sometimes  they 
 shipped  in  so  great  seas  as  made  some  of  them  to  swim 
 above  decks,''  It  was  truly  appalling  to  hear  the  groans 
 of  the  dying  mingled  with  the  roar  of  the  waves,  and  to 
 witness  the  raging  pestilence  busy  at  its  work  of  death, 
 while  that  vast  ocean,  lashed  into  tremendous  confusion, 
 was  threatening  every  moment  to  engulf  them.  In  ad- 
 dition to  this,  they  were  in  great  danger  from  a  leak  in 
 the  vessel,  which  broke  out  on  two  different  occasions. 
 In  one  of  these  instances  they  found  it  almost  impos- 
 
 •  "  The  leading  men  of  tlie  frhij)  were  all  remuved  by  death,  except  the 
 captain  and  boatswain."  Mr  John  Fraser's  account,  Wtnlrow  MSS.,  vol. 
 xxxvii.,  4to,  no.  165.  "  There  died  likewise  six  seamen  who  wanted  not 
 victuals  nor  were  strangers  to  the  sea  ;  w  hich  made  some  of  them  say  upon 
 their  deathbed,  that  the  hand  of  God  was  pursuing  thvm  for  meddling 
 with  us,  though  many  of  the  prisioners  died  from  nature  and  sickness." 
 James  Forsyth's  account.  Ibid.  vol.  xxxvii,  4to,  no.  13, 
 
 t  Mr  KiddcU'b  wife  was  also  cut  off  by  the  fe%er. 
 
 P 
 
170 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 sible  to  overcome  it,  though  the  most  of  those  on  board 
 who  were  able  were  alternately  employed  at  both  pumps, 
 night  and  day,  for  the  period  of  nearly  a  fortnight ;  but 
 at  length  they  succeeded  in  getting  it  stopped  with  a 
 little  oakum,  just  when  they  were  reduced  to  the  last 
 extremity,  and  all  of  them  imagined  they  were  going 
 to  the  bottom. 
 
 The  awful  mortality  which  had  taken  place  in  the 
 vessel,  it  might  be  supposed,  would,  for  a  time  at  least, 
 have  loosened  the  grasp,  and  softened  the  unrelenting 
 heart  of  avarice.  But  it  was  not  so.  The  ship  being 
 frequently  beat  back  from  East  New  Jersey  by  stormy 
 north-west  winds,  the  captain,  as  if  unimpressed  by  all 
 that  had  happened,  proposed  to  Scot's  son-in-law,  Mr 
 John  Johnston,*  who  had  now  the  disposal  of  the  pri- 
 soners,t  and  who  seems  to  have  been  equally  avaricious 
 with  the  captain,  to  steer  the  ship  for  J amaica  or  Virgi- 
 nia, offering,  in  that  case,  to  purchase  the  whole  of  them 
 from  him,  and  urged,  in  support  of  this  proposal,  that  a 
 higher  price  would  be  obtained  for  them  there  than  at 
 New  Jersey.  But  while  they  were  thus  treating,  and 
 were  about  to  come  to  an  agreement,  the  wind  shifted 
 to  the  quarter  favourable  for  their  entering  New  Jer- 
 sey, which  led  the  captain  and  Johnston,  to  the  great 
 advantage  of  the  passengers  and  prisoners,  to  alter  their 
 purpose.  The  propitious  gale  carried  them  straight 
 into  Sandy  Hook,  their  desired  haven,  on  a  Sabbath 
 morning,  being  the  13th  day  of  December,  after  they 
 
 *  Mr  John  Johnston,  who  was  married  to  Scot's  daughter,  is  called  hy 
 Fountainhall  "  a  druggist,"  and  represented  as  joint  undertaker  with  Scot 
 to  take  the  banished  prisoners  to  East  New  Jersey.  F'ountainhall's  Notes, 
 ,..  1  W. 
 
 t  In  one  of  the  accounts  of  this  voyage,  it  is  said,  "  Pitlochie  and  his  lady, 
 died  at  sea,  and  he  gave  the  prisoners  for  a  tocher  to  his  daughter."  Wod- 
 row  MSS.  vol.  xxxvii.  4to,  no.  141. 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 171 
 
 had  been  about  fifteen  weeks  at  sea,  and  they  were 
 taken  ashore  on  the  Wednesday  following.  Many  were 
 then  sick,  and  one  of  their  number,  Mr  J ohn  Hutchi- 
 son, whom  Mr  Fraser  calls  "  a  worthy  gentleman  of  the 
 West  of  Scotland,''  died  that  same  day  in  a  small  boat 
 as  they  were  taking  him  and  others  to  land.  He  was 
 the  first  corpse  that  was  buried  after  their  arrival,  and 
 his  death  was  much  lamented  by  all  who  knew  him. 
 Several  died  soon  after,  exhausted  by  the  hardships 
 they  had  endured  before  leaving  Scotland,  and  on  that 
 fatal  voyage. 
 
 Johnston  had  once  intended  not  to  allow  any  of 
 them  to  leave  the  vessel,  until  they  had  first  subscribed 
 a  "  voluntary  declaration,''  as  he  termed  it,  engaging  to 
 serve  him  for  four  years.  This  they  all  not  only  de- 
 cidedly refused  to  do,  but  united  in  a  protestation 
 against  their  banishment,  in  which  they  gave  a  narra- 
 tive of  the  hardships  they  had  endured  for  the  sake  of 
 conscience,  both  during  that  voyage  and  before  they 
 had  embarked.  Johnston  and  the  captain,  however, 
 seeing  them  in  a  dying  condition,  took  them  ashore  till 
 they  recovered.  On  landing,  they  had  no  acquaint- 
 ances or  friends  to  greet  or  welcome  them.  They  were 
 strangers  in  the  land,  knowing  nobody  and  known  by 
 none.  The  people  who  lived  in  the  two  or  three  towns 
 nearest  the  coast,  and  who  did  not  enjoy  the  gospel, 
 shewed  them  little  or  no  kindness,  but  what  they 
 shewed  for  their  money.  The  inhabitants  of  one  town, 
 however,  who  were  blessed  with  a  gospel  ministry,  on 
 knowing  that  they  were  sufferers  for  the  cause  of  civil 
 and  religious  freedom,  compassionated  their  condition, 
 and  liberally  supplied  their  wants.  "  They  shewed  them 
 kindness  at  their  first  arrival,  and  after  the  banished 
 sufferers  were  able  to  travel,  sent  men  and  horses  six- 
 
172 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 teen  miles  to  convey  them  to  their  own  houses,  where 
 they  were  freely  and  kindly  entertained  that  winter/' 
 In  the  spring  following,  Johnston,  upon  the  ground  that 
 these  prisoners  had  been  gifted  to  his  father-in-law  by 
 the  Scottish  government,  pursued  them  for  four  years' 
 service  before  the  court  of  that  province.  They  were 
 accordingly  laid  in  prison  till  the  case  was  tried  ;  and 
 the  governor  called  a  jury  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  it. 
 The  jury  having  found  that  the  prisoners  did  not  of 
 their  own  accord  embark  in  that  vessel,  nor  bargained 
 with  Scot  for  money  or  service,  returned  a  verdict  in 
 favour  of  the  prisoners,  so  that  Johnston  was  deprived 
 of  all  right  to  their  service.  Being  thus  declared  free- 
 men, who  had  power  to  dispose  of  their  time  and  labour 
 as  they  chose,  the  greater  number  of  them,  fearing  that 
 farther  means  would  be  employed  by  Johnston  to  get 
 them  as  his  property,  left  New  Jersey ;  and  going  to  New 
 England,  which  during  the  earlier  part  of  that  century 
 had  become  an  asylum  for  many  of  the  English  perse- 
 cuted non-conformists,  they  were  there  kindly  treated 
 and  employed  according  to  their  several  occupations. 
 Some  of  them,  though  they  had  departed  with  but  slen- 
 der hopes  of  again  seeing  their  native  land,  returned  to 
 it  at  the  memorable  Revolution,  when  a  happier  state 
 of  things  was  introduced. 
 
 Such  is  the  history  of  this  calamitous  voyage.  How 
 much  did  these  banished  prisoners  suffer  for  faithful- 
 ness to  God  and  conscience  !  At  home,  we  see  them 
 oppressed,  trodden  down,  and  thrown  into  dungeons, 
 where  they  met  with  treatment  which  stands  unequal- 
 led save  in  the  annals  of  the  prisons  of  the  Inquisition  ; 
 and  as,  on  their  banishment  from  their  native  country, 
 we  trace  their  progress  to  the  land  of  their  exile  and 
 bondage,  we  find  the  great  bulk  of  them,  when  in  the 
 
GEORGE  SCOT  OF  PITLOCHIE. 
 
 173 
 
 midst  of  the  deep,  and  cribbed  up  in  a  small  vessel,  cut 
 off'  by  a  pestilential  sickness,  and  consigned  to  the  ocean  ' 
 as  their  grave.    Surely  these  persons,  like  many  others 
 who  perished  in  a  similar  manner,  are  as  much  entitled  ; 
 to  a  place  in  the  martyrology  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
 land, as  any  of  those  who  died  by  the  hands  of  the  j 
 public  executioner.    They  exhibited  hardly  less  forti- 
 tude, constancy,  and  faith.    They  fell  not  less  the  vic- 
 tims of  persecution,  and  on  that  merciless  government 
 lies  the  guilt  of  their  untimely  death,  so  that  as  one  of 
 the  surviving  prisoners  observed,  their  "  blood  will  be 
 found  on  the  enemy's  skirts,  as  really  as  if  they  had 
 shed  it  in  the  Grassmarket  on  gibbets.''    Over  their  , 
 melancholy  fat^  we  linger  with  sympathy  and  regret.  I 
 Not  so  over  the  total  defeat  of  the  scheme  of  Scot  to  j 
 stock  a  plantation  with  them,  and  enrich  himself  and  ^ 
 his  family  with  the  sweat  of  their  brow.  To  endeavour  j 
 to  advance  the  temporal  interests  of  himself  and  his  j 
 family,  was  a  laudable  enough  object,  to  be  sure,  had  1 
 he  employed  only  honourable  means  ;  but  his  scheme 
 was  founded  on  a  violation  of  the  most  obvious  claims  | 
 of  justice  and  humanity.   It  therefore  deserved  the  dis-  j 
 astrous  issue  it  met  with  ;  and  this  may  well  teach  us  I 
 the  hazard  of  engaging,  from  the  love  of  wealth,  in  en- 
 terprises upon  which  sound  moral  and  religious  prin-  j 
 ciple  frowns.      It  was  well  known,''  says  one  of  the  1 
 banished,  "  that  the  said  George  Scot  thought  to  make  j 
 himself  and  his  family  rich  by  the  suffering  remnant  ; 
 of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  it  was  well  known  that  ' 
 that  way  was  the  means  to  bring  him  to  death  and  ; 
 ruined  his  estate  and  the  family's.  lie  sold  his  land  to  ; 
 pay  the  freight,  and  what  remained,  his  daughter  spent 
 in  pursuing  us,  as  I  was  informed."*  , 
 
 *  ^^  udrow  MSS.,  vol.  xxxvii.,  4to,  no.  1.'3. 
 
174 
 
 THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 Thomas  Hog  was  born  about  the  beginning  of  the  year 
 1628.  His  parents,  who  were  somewhat  above  the  com- 
 mon rank,  resided  in  Tain,  a  burgh  in  Ross-shire.  Re- 
 solving to  give  their  son  a  Hberal  education,  they  sent 
 him  to  the  grammar  school,  probably  of  his  native 
 parish,  where  he  acquired  the  elements  of  literature, 
 and  gave  indication  of  more  than  ordinary  capacity, 
 united  with  proportioned  diligence  and  proficiency.  Be- 
 ing of  an  active  and  energetic  mind,  he  was  much  ad- 
 dicted to  the  innocent  amusements  common  to  boys  of 
 his  age ;  but  these  neither  so  engrossed  his  mind  as  to 
 divert  his  attention  from  his  lessons,  nor  were  they  ac- 
 companied by  any  thing  vicious  or  unbecoming.  After 
 acquiring  the  requisite  initiatory  instruction  at  the 
 grammar  school,  he  was  sent  to  Marischal  College,  Aber- 
 deen, where  he  prosecuted  his  studies  with  distinguished 
 success  ;  and,  on  completing  his  course,  received  the 
 degree  of  Master  of  Arts  with  the  unanimous  approba- 
 tion of  the  professors. 
 
 According  to  his  own  belief.  Hog  did  not  become  tlie 
 subject  of  renewing  grace  tiU  after  he  had  finished  his 
 course  of  academical  education.  Previous  to  this,  his 
 life  was  indeed  blameless,  and  even  exemplary,  so  that 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 175 
 
 he  was  regarded,  by  all  the  good  who  knew  him,  as  a 
 truly  pious  young  man  ;  while  his  pleasing  manners, 
 affability  of  address,  and  varied  accomplishments,  ren- 
 dered him  generally  beloved.  He  attended  private  fel- 
 lowship meetings  for  prayer  and  Christian  conference. 
 He  was  assiduous  in  the  acquisition  of  religious  know- 
 ledge, in  which  his  attainments,  for  his  age  and  oppor- 
 tunities, were  very  considerable  ;  and  cordially  espous- 
 ing the  cause  of  Presbytery  and  the  Covenant,  he  felt 
 as  if  prepared  to  submit  with  resolution  to  whatever 
 sufferings  Providence  might  call  him  in  its  defence. 
 Still  it  was  his  decided  impression  in  after  life,  that  he 
 was  all  the  while  a  stranger  to  the  saving  work  of  the 
 Spirit  of  God.  All  the  particulars  now  mentioned,  he 
 was  satisfied,  were  by  themselves  no  evidence  of  a  gra- 
 cious state ;  and  he  had  never  been  penetrated  with 
 that  sense  of  his  depravity  and  misery  by  nature  which 
 is  invariably  produced  in  all  on  whom  the  Holy  Spirit 
 savingly  operates.  But  at  the  period  referred  to,  he 
 fell  under  such  deep  convictions  of  his  guilt  and  dan- 
 ger as  almost  brought  him  to  the  brink  of  despair.  This 
 was  followed  by  such  discoveries  of  the  glory  of  Christ 
 in  his  person  and  offices,  as  ravished  his  soul,  produced 
 cordial  trust,  and  rendered  him  willing  to  renounce, 
 suffer,  and  hazard  every  thing  for  his  sake.  To  this  lie 
 looked  back  as  the  important  epoch  when  he  passed 
 from  spiritual  death  to  spiritual  life. 
 
 At  this  time  he  was  chaplain  to  the  Earl  of  Suther- 
 land, in  whose  family  he  discharged  with  fidelity  liis 
 trust,  and  felt  himself  very  comfortable.  The  lady 
 of  that  nobleman,  in  particular,  who  was  an  eminent 
 Christian,  and  much  experienced  in  religion,  had  a  high 
 regard  for  him,  and  treated  him  with  the  greatest  kind- 
 ness and  respect.    Wliile  in  this  situation,  lie  was  the 
 
176 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 instrument  of  converting  a  young  gentleman  of  tlie 
 name  of  Monro,  a  relative  of  the  family,  and  a  frequent 
 visitor.  This  gentleman,  who  was  strictly  moral  in  his 
 conduct,  though  a  stranger  to  true  religion,  attracted 
 by  the  amiable  dispositions  and  high  accomplishments 
 of  Hog,  took  great  delight  in  his  society ;  in  which, 
 however,  he  wasted  the  time  by  idle,  vain,  and  useless 
 conversation.  Hog,  grieved  at  squandering  away  time 
 in  so  unprofitable  a  manner,  and  that  their  interviews 
 were  so  unproductive  of  good  to  either  of  them,  came  to 
 the  determination  to  speak  freely,  though  prudently,  to 
 his  friend  on  the  subject,  and  embraced  an  early  oppor- 
 tunity for  that  purpose.  The  gentleman  listened  with 
 the  closest  attention  to  the  grave  advice  of  his  mentor, 
 and  so  far  from  shewing  any  symptoms  of  displeasure, 
 felt  that  Hog  had  performed  an  act  of  true  friendship, 
 for  which  he  ought  to  be  thankful.  "  Sir,''  said  he,  "  I 
 always  looked  on  you  as  my  true  friend,  and  now  you 
 have  given  me  the  best  demonstration  of  it.  By  what 
 you  have  said,  I  am  persuaded  of  the  evil  of  the  sin 
 charged  on  me,  and  of  my  danger  by  it ;  and  noAV  that 
 you  have  obliged  me  beyond  what  any  have  done  hither- 
 to, I  beg  a  continuance  of  your  favour,  and  that  I  may 
 have  free  access  to  converse  with  you  afterwards."  Their 
 future  intercourse  became  more  frequent,  and  their  con- 
 versation, turning  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  upon  subjects 
 relating  to  the  soul  and  eternity,  this  gentleman  under- 
 went an  entire  change  of  character,  as  appeared  from 
 the  whole  of  his  future  life,  which  was  eminently  adorned 
 by  the  Christian  virtues,  and  particularly  by  those  op- 
 posite to  the  blemishes  for  which  Hog  remonstrated 
 with  him  ;  so  that,  by  his  prudence  and  wisdom,  he 
 became  eminently  qualified  for  composing  differences, 
 and  was  frequently  chosen  by  gentlemen  of  his  ac- 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 177 
 
 quaintance,  when  they  disagreed,  as  an  arbiter  by  whose 
 decision  they  were  ready  to  abide.  The  cordial  inti- 
 macy between  Hog  and  him  thus  ripened  into  a  Chris- 
 tian friendship,  which  continued  not  only  uninterrupted, 
 but  was  more  and  more  cemented,  improved  and  sweet- 
 ened, by  a  free  interchange  of  thoughts  on  those  sub- 
 jects which  related  to  their  eternal  peace.  So  strong 
 was  the  affection  of  this  gentleman  to  Hog,  that  he  felt 
 an  ardent  desire  to  end  his  days  on  earth  under  his 
 roof ;  which  he  actually  did,  after  Hog  was  settled  at 
 Kiltearn.  Having,  some  time  before  his  last  illness, 
 though  in  perfect  health,  been  impressed  with  a  strong 
 presentiment  that  his  death  was  approaching,  he  paid 
 a  visit  to  the  friend  whom  he  so  warmly  loved,  and 
 their  meeting  was  of  the  most  endearing  description. 
 After  they  had  been  some  short  time  together,  Monro 
 surprised  Hog  by  the  following  address :  "  Sir,  my  course 
 is  well-nigh  finished,  and  I  am  upon  my  entrance  into 
 a  state  of  eternal  rest.  The  Lord  hath  his  own  way  of 
 giving  the  watchful  Christian  previous  warning  con- 
 cerning the  end  of  his  warfare  ;  and  I,  being  so  privi- 
 leged, have  been  seriously  pondering  where  it  may  be 
 most  convenient  to  breathe  out  my  last,  and  quietly 
 lay  down  this  tabernacle :  and  seeing,  after  delibera- 
 tion, I  can  find  no  place  or  company  so  fit  as  with  you, 
 I  have  adventured  to  come  and  die  with  you.''  Monro 
 being  at  that  time  in  good  health,  Hog  endeavoured  to 
 divert  his  mind  from  such  an  idea.  But  it  had  taken 
 too  firm  a  hold  on  his  mind  to  be  dislodged  ;  and  the 
 event  proved  that  the  presentiment,  however  it  may  be 
 accounted  for,  was  too  well  founded,  for  in  the  course 
 of  a  few  days,  he  was  seized  by  a  fever  which  termi- 
 nated in  death. 
 
 Hog  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  2(jth 
 
178 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OP  THE  BASS. 
 
 year  of  his  age,  and  such  was  his  acceptability,  that  be- 
 fore the  lapse  of  a  year  he  received  calls  from  several 
 parishes.  He  preferred  that  of  Kiltearn,  although  its 
 temporal  emoluments  were  less  than  those  of  some  of 
 the  competing  parishes,  because  he  understood  that  some 
 in  that  parish  were  awakened  to  a  concern  about  their 
 eternal  interests,  and  that  several  gentlemen  in  it,  espe- 
 cially Sir  Robert  Monro  of  Fowlis,*  were  friend[_s  to  re- 
 ligion.   His  ordination  took  place  in  the  year  1654 
 
 ;  and  receiving  a  general  and  cordial  welcome  from 
 the  parishioners,  he  commenced  his  ministry  with  the 
 most  favourable  prospects  of  success. 
 
 Deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  responsibility  of 
 the  ministerial  office,  Hog  entered  upon  the  discharge 
 of  its  duties  with  diligence  and  devotedness.  As  his 
 parishioners,  who  had  scarcely  ever  enjoyed  the  gospel 
 before,  were  very  ignorant,  he  was  at  great  pains  in  cir- 
 culating the  catechisms  then  in  use,  and  other  compen- 
 diums  of  divine  truth,  for  their  instruction.  He  also 
 spent  much  time  in  family  visitation.  Nor  was  he  remiss 
 in  exercising  a  careful  inspection  over  the  morals  of  the 
 people.  Vice  in  all  its  forms  he  was  zealous  in  repress- 
 ing. The  many  heathenish  and  superstitious  customs 
 which  prevailed  among  them,  such  as  charming  and 
 witchcraft,  he  exerted  himself  to  abolish.t  To  assist 
 him  in  this  important  work,  he  remodelled  the  ses- 
 sion, by  ordaining  for  elders  such  as  from  their  piety 
 and  judgment  were  best  qualified  for  that  important 
 office.  In  the  exercise  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  among 
 that  ignorant,  rude,  and  profane  people,  much  firmness 
 
 *  Wodrow,  speaking  of  Sir  Robert  Monro,  says,  ho  was  "  a  jjentleman 
 of  great  piety  and  sense,  and  head  of  all  the  Monroes,  and  Sheriff  of  the 
 fihire."    Analecta,  vol.  ii.  pp.  162-171. 
 
 t  Il)id,  vol.  ii.  pp.  162-171. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 179 
 
 and  decision  of  character  were  required  ;  nor  was  Hog 
 wanting  in  these  qualities.    Every  attempt  made  to 
 weaken  his  own  authority  as  a  minister,  as  well  as  that 
 of  the  session,  he  was  prepared  resolutely  to  resist.  As 
 a  proof  of  this,  the  following  anecdote,  may  be  ad- 
 duced : — One  day  he  had  been  led,  from  the  subject  of 
 his  discourse,  to  dwell  at  some  length  upon  the  sin  of 
 murder.   Two  gentlemen.  Colonel  Monro  of  Lumlair,* 
 and  another,  taking  it  into  their  heads  that  he  was  aim- 
 ing at  them,  became  indignant,  and,  in  the  height  of 
 their  passion,  resolved  to  go  in  to  the  session  and  fix  a 
 quarrel  upon  him.  The  courage  of  the  other  gentleman 
 failing  him  on  the  way  when  he  reached  the  churchyard, 
 he  returned ;  but  the  Colonel  went  alone,  and  intruding 
 himself  into  the  session,  addressing  himself  to  the  Laird 
 of  Fowlis,  one  of  its  members,  said,  "  Sir,  you  have 
 brought  in  a  stranger,  or  one  of  the  new  lights  among 
 us,  and  he  has  slighted  several  gentlemen  who  might 
 have  been  useful  in  his  session,  and  brought  in  a  com- 
 pany of  websters  and  tailors  into  it,  besides,  every  day 
 almost  he  rails  and  abuses  us  from  the  pulpit ;  and  one 
 day  in  particular  he  charged  me  with  bloodshed  and 
 murder adding,  "  It  is  true  I  was  in  the  army,  and 
 such  things  as  these  cannot  well  be  avoided.''  To 
 this  unprovoked  attack  Hog  was  not  disposed  tamely 
 to  submit.    Judging,  that  if  behaviour  of  this  nature 
 were  allowed  to  pass  without  censure,  it  would  impair 
 or  destroy  his  usefulness  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  by 
 encouraging  others  to  insult  and  abuse  him  whenever 
 they  took  offence  at  his  faithfulness  in  rci)roving  and 
 repressing  sin,  addressing  himself  to  the  Laird  of  Fowlis, 
 he  said,  "  Sir,  this  gentleman  is  come  in  to  aiFront  me 
 
 *  Ho  was  an  heritor  of  the  parish  of  Kiltoani,  and  Colonel  or  Coni- 
 mandor  of  the  militia  in  the  shire  of  Ross. 
 
180 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  the  session ;  I  knew  before  I  came  here  that  this 
 was  a  stiff  and  untowardly  people,  and  I  told  you  so 
 much,  but  I  had  Grod's  call  and  your  promise  and  hand 
 to  assist  me  in  bearing  down  sin,  and  maintaining  the 
 authority  of  the  session,  and  discipline.  I  declare  I  had 
 not  in  my  eye  this  gentleman  who  has  come  in  this  in- 
 solent manner  to  abuse  us,  nor  till  he  has  now  owned 
 it,  did  I  know  he  was  guilty  of  bloodshed.    And  now 
 I  require  you,  under  pain  of  perjury  to  God  and  breach 
 of  promise  to  me,  to  take  a  course  with  this  insolence, 
 and  as  sheriff  to  punish  this  affront.''  Fowlis,  strongly 
 disapproving  of  the  Colonel's  behaviour,  told  him,  that 
 he  behoved  to  give  the  minister  and  session  satisfac- 
 tion, otherwise  he  would  immediately  cause  him  to  be 
 arrested ;  upon  which  the  Colonel's  courage  fell.  Fowlis 
 asked  Hog  what  satisfaction  he  desired,  whether  in  body 
 or  goods.  Hog  said  he  desired  none  of  these,  but  as  the 
 affront  had  been  open,  he  thought  it  reasonable  that  the 
 offender  should,  next  Lord's  day,  appear  before  the  con- 
 gregation and  acknowledge  his  offence.  Accordingly, 
 Hog  preached  that  day  upon  Jeremiah  i.  18,  19,  and 
 after  narrating  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  called 
 the  Colonel  up,  who  acknowledged  his  offence  and  re- 
 ceived his  rebuke.  It  is  said,  that  this  proved  the  cause 
 of  leading  him  to  serious  reflection,  and  that  he  after- 
 wards became  an  eminent  and  useful  Christian.* 
 
 Hog's  pious  labours  among  that  people  were  produc- 
 tive of  the  happiest  effects.  Mr  William  Stuart,  who 
 succeeded  him  as  minister  of  Kiltearn  after  the  Revo- 
 lution, says,  "  His  people  were  awakened  to  hear,  and 
 he  was  encouraged  to  preach  Christ  Jesus  unto  them, 
 so  that  the  dry  bones  began  to  revive,  and  pleasant 
 blossoms  and  hopeful  appearances  displayed  themselves 
 
 *  Wodrow's  Analccta,  vol.  ii.  pp.  102-171. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 181 
 
 every  where  through  the  parish/'  When  a  considerable 
 number  were  thus  brought  in  good  earnest  to  attend  to 
 the  things  that  belonged  to  their  eternal  peace,  he  re- 
 commended them  to  join  together  in  private  meetings 
 for  prayer  and  Christian  conference,  as  a  means  emi- 
 nently conducive  to  their  spiritual  improvement,  and 
 over  these  meetings  he  exercised  a  special  superintend- 
 ence, encouraging  and  assisting  them  in  every  way  in 
 his  power. 
 
 Hog  continued  for  several  years  to  pursue  without 
 disturbance  the  successful  discharge  of  his  pastoral 
 duties,  growing  in  experience,  and  acquiring  a  deeper 
 hold  on  the  respect  and  affections  of  the  people.  But 
 after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  an  interruption  was 
 put  to  his  ministry  at  Kiltearn.  To  such  a  height  did 
 the  controversy  between  the  resolutioners  and  the  pro- 
 testers* reach,  that  in  those  Presbyteries  and  Synods 
 where  any  of  them  had  a  considerable  majority,  they 
 went  in  many  cases  to  great  lengths  in  censuring  their 
 opponents.  In  October  and  November  1660,  the  Synod 
 
 *  The  resolutioners  and  protesters  were  two  parties  formed  in  the 
 Church  of  Scotland,  in  consequence  of  certain  resolutions  agreed  upon  by 
 the  Commission  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  afterwards  ap])roved  of  by 
 the  Assembly  itself,  with  respect  to  the  admission  into  places  of  power 
 and  trust  in  the  army  and  state,  such  as  had  by  various  acts  of  Parliament 
 been  excluded  on  account  of  their  malignancy  or  opposition  to  the  cove- 
 nant and  liberties  of  the  nation,  provided  they  gave  satisfaction  to  the 
 Church.  Those  who  approved  of  these  resolutions  were  called  "  Resolu- 
 tioners ;"  those  who  were  opposed  to  them  were  called  "  Anti-resolutioners" 
 or  "  Protesters,"  from  their  having  given  in  or  adhered  to  a  i»n»te.station 
 against  the  lawfulness  of  the  Assembly  held  July  1G51  at  St  Andrews  and 
 adjourned  to  Dundee,  by  which  these  resolutions  were  ratified.  The  pro- 
 testation was  given  in  by  the  famous  Samuel  Rutherford,  and  signed  by 
 twenty-two  members.  Future  events  shewed  the  impolicy  of  these  re- 
 solutions. The  men  who  were  admitted  by  them  into  places  of  power  and 
 trust  in  the  army  and  state,  became,  as  the  protesters  always  predicted, 
 the  persecutors  of  the  Church.  Had  the  counsels  of  the  jtrotesters  pre- 
 vailed, the  twenty-eight  years'  persecution  might  not  have  existed. 
 
182 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  Merse  and  Teviotdale  deposed  three  or  four  of  their 
 protesting  brethren.  The  Synod  of  Aberdeen  and  the 
 Synods  of  Ross  and  Murray  acted  in  a  similar  manner 
 towards  three  or  four  of  their  number.*  To  the  Synod 
 of  Ross  Hog  belonged,  and  in  1661  they  inflicted  on  him 
 the  censure  of  deposition  ostensibly  because  he  adhered 
 to  the  protesting  party.  Never  was  a  church  censure 
 pronounced  upon  so  slender  grounds.  His  ministry  at 
 Kiltearn  they  well  knew  had  been  a  diligent  and  labo- 
 rious one,  as  well  as  abundantly  blessed  in  reclaiming 
 many  from  ignorance  and  sin,  to  the  saving  knowledge 
 and  practice  of  the  truth.  To  the  soundness  of  his  doc- 
 trine, they  could  make  no  objections.  His  whole  con- 
 duct too  was  so  exemplary  and  unimpeachable,  that  it 
 lay  beyond  the  reach  of  malice.  And  although  in  the 
 controversy  between  the  resolutioners  and  protesters 
 he  took  the  side  of  the  latter,  yet,  so  far  from  being  vio- 
 lent, he  had  exhibited  much  moderation  and  forbear- 
 ance. But  how  flagrantly  will  men  prostitute  ecclesi- 
 astical censures  under  the  influence  of  personal  ani- 
 mosity !  That  Synod,  lying  in  the  distant  north,  felt 
 but  slightly  the  genial  influence  of  the  Second  Reforma- 
 tion, and  the  great  majority  being  hostile  to  the  Cove- 
 nant, and  ready  in  ecclesiastical  matters  to  conform  to 
 the  court,  they  disliked  Hog,  whose  character  and  prin- 
 ciples were  so  difi'erent  from  their  own.  One  of  his 
 brethren  in  particular,  Mr  Murdoch  M'Kenzie,  who 
 secretly  had  an  eye  to  the  bishoprick  of  Murray,  dread- 
 ing from  a  man  of  such  strict  Presbyterian  principles, 
 superior  talents,  and  decision  of  character,  formidable 
 opposition  to  the  darling  object  of  his  heart,  wished  him 
 removed  out  of  the  way.  Accordingly,  the  deposition 
 of  Hog  was  resolved  upon,  and  the  ground  the  Synod 
 
 •  Continuation  of  the  Life  of  Robert  Blair  by  Row. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 183 
 
 selected  on  which  to  proceed  against  him,  was  his  favour- 
 ing the  views  of  the  protesters.  When  he  appeared 
 before  the  Synod,  the  moderator,  who  was  Murdoch 
 M'Kenzie,  demanded  what  he  thought  of  the  protestation 
 against  the  lawfulness  of  the  Assembly  of  St  Andrews 
 and  Dundee.  Hog  with  much  caution  and  calmness  re- 
 plied, that  as  he  lived  at  a  great  distance  from  the  scene 
 where  that  controversy  was  agitated,  he  had  not  much 
 occasion  to  meddle  with  it,  nor  had  he  done  so.  This 
 answer  not  being  judged  satisfactory,  he  was  farther 
 asked,  whether  he  accounted  it  a  just  and  reasonable 
 deed.  Knowing  what  use  they  would  make  of  a  de- 
 claration of  his  sentiments,  he  declined  to  give  an  an- 
 swer,— either  to  own  or  to  disclaim  the  protestation. 
 On  his  being  removed,  the  moderator  addressed  the 
 Synod  as  follows  :  "  The  brother  who  has  been  before 
 us,  is  certainly  known  to  be  a  great  man ;  but  as 
 the  king  has  espoused  the  defence  of  that  Assembly 
 against  which  the  protestation  was  given  in,  we  must 
 go  on  with  our  work,  and  cannot  spare  any,  however 
 high  their  standing,  who  favour  that  protestation." 
 When  again  called  in.  Hog  was  required  judicially  to 
 disown  the  protestation  against  that  Assembly.  Re- 
 fusing to  do  any  such  thing,  it  was  moved  that  he  should 
 be  deposed.  No  time  was  given  him  to  deliberate  ; 
 no  attempt  was  made  to  convince  him  of  his  alleged 
 error  ;  the  sentence  was  immediately  proposed,  agreed 
 to,  and  j)ronounccd.  But  unprincipled  men  sometimes 
 betray,  in  perpetrating  an  act  of  injustice,  the  violence 
 they  inflict  on  their  own  conscience,  and  the  respect  they 
 inwardly  feel  for  the  victim  of  their  vengeance.  It 
 was  strikingly  so  in  the  present  instance.  Hog  himself 
 was  wont  to  observe,  that  the  sentence  was  pronounced 
 with  a  peculiar  air  of  veneration,  as  if  they  had  been 
 
184 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 consecrating  him  a  prelate  ;  and  that  the  moderator,  as 
 if  conscience  stricken,  so  lost  his  self-possession,  as  to 
 speak  perfect  nonsense,  in  a  sort  of  consolatory  speech 
 addressed  to  him  after  the  pronouncing  of  the  sentence, 
 reminding  him  among  other  things,  that  "  the  Lord 
 Jesus  Christ  had  suifered  great  wrong  from  the  Scribes 
 and  Pharisees/'*  But  Hog,  when  thus  persecuted  by  his 
 brethren  in  the  ministry,  so  far  from  being  discouraged, 
 rejoiced  that  he  was  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame 
 for  the  name  of  Jesus.  How  he  acted  immediately 
 after  his  deposition  we  are  not  informed.  He  very 
 likely  disregarded  the  sentence,  and  continued  to  dis- 
 charge his  ministerial  duties  as  before. 
 
 He  was,  however,  forced  to  leave  his  charge  in  1662, 
 for  refusing  to  conform  to  Prelacy.  Before  leaving  his 
 people  he  delivered  a  farewell  sermon,  in  which  he  took 
 God  and  their  own  consciences  to  witness,  that  he  had 
 not  shunned  to  declare  to  them  the  whole  counsel  of 
 God.  He  is  also  reported  to  have  said,  "  that  the  storm 
 would  be  of  long  continuance ;  but  that,  after  all,  the 
 sky  would  clear  ;  and  that  he  would  live  to  see  it,  and 
 be  called  to  his  own  charge  again,  as  minister  of  Kil- 
 tearn,  and  die  with  them.''t  Whether  he  would  ever 
 again  be  permitted,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to  exer- 
 cise his  ministry  in  that  place,  he  could  not,  it  is  obvi- 
 ous, foresee,  without  being  possessed  of  a  prophetic  gift. 
 That  gift  he  was  believed  by  many  to  possess  ;  and  nu- 
 merous instances  have  been  adduced  of  his  having  exer- 
 
 *  This  information  was  communicated  to  Wodrow  in  a  letter  from  Mr 
 James  Hog  of  Carnock,  March  23,  1720.  Wodrow  MSS.,  vol.  xxx.,  4to, 
 no.  i.  James  Hog  received  the  account  from  an  eye-witness  ;  see  also  Wod- 
 row's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  129. 
 
 t  Mr  Stuart,  who  succeeded  Hog  in  Kiltoarn  after  the  Revolution,  gives 
 this  account,  and  says  that  the  truth  of  it  was  attested  by  several  old  men 
 who  were  elders  in  his  jiarish. 
 
THOMAS  HOG, 
 
 185 
 
 cised  it.  To  these  alleged  prophecies,  some  of  the  re- 
 marks made  on  the  prophecies  of  Alexander  Peden  are 
 equally  applicable, — to  which  we  refer  the  reader.*  In 
 the  present  case,  there  may  be  some  mistake  as  to  what 
 Hog  actually  said.  He  perhaps  expressed  a  hope  that, 
 though  the  storm  should  last  long,  he  might,  neverthe- 
 less survive  it,  and  after  it  had  spent  its  fury,  be  restored 
 to  the  people  who  were  so  dear  to  him  ;  and  this,  being 
 but  indistinctly  remembered,  might,  after  his  return  to 
 his  old  parish,  subsequently  to  the  Revolution,  be  re- 
 presented by  the  good  men  who  heard  the  statement, 
 as  a  prediction,  and  the  more  especially,  as  he  was  re- 
 garded by  many  as  gifted  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 
 In  the  same  discourse,  he  earnestly  exhorted  his  people 
 to  stedfastness,  and  warned  them  of  the  apostasy.  "  If 
 any  of  you,"  said  he,  "  shall  decUne  from  that  good  way, 
 and  these  truths  wherein  you  have  been  taught,  and 
 shall  comply  with  the  wicked  designs  now  carried  on, 
 I  take  heaven  and  earth  to  be  witnesses  against  you  ; 
 I  take  the  stones  of  these  walls  I  preach  in,  every  word 
 that  was  spoken,  and  every  one  of  you,  to  be  witnesses 
 against  another."  These  solemn  admonitions  were  not 
 without  effect ;  "for  there  was  not  a  parish  in  Scot- 
 land which  complied  less  with  the  corruptions  and 
 defections  of  the  time  than  his  did." 
 
 After  his  ejection  he  had  invitations  to  come  to  re- 
 side at  several  places,  and  he  was  for  some  time  at  a 
 loss  whither  he  would  go  ;  but  at  length  he  resolved  to 
 remove  to  Knockgaudy,  near  Auldearn  in  Murrayshire, 
 upon  the  invitation  of  the  Laird  of  Park,  who  had  of- 
 fered him  a  house  there,  and  every  facility  in  his  power 
 for  the  exercise  of  his  ministry.  Here  he  preached  in 
 his  own  private  house  ;  and  so  eminently  blessed  were 
 
 •  See  p.  5.5. 
 
186 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS 
 
 his  labours,  that  after  he  came  to  that  place,  there  were 
 thirty  or  forty  who  could  give  a  distinct  account  of  the 
 saving  work  of  God's  Spirit  upon  their  souls.*  This 
 success  encouraged  him  to  dispense  the  ordinance  of  the 
 Lord's  Supper ;  and  a  considerable  number  of  the  de- 
 vout in  that  part  of  the  country  joined  in  that  solemn 
 ordinance.  The  occasion  was  accompanied  with  sig- 
 nal tokens  of  the  divine  presence ;  and  the  communi- 
 cants returned  to  their  homes  refreshed  in  spirit  and 
 rejoicing  in  the  Lord. 
 
 Murdoch  M'Kenzie,  now  bishop  of  Murray,  Hog  s 
 old  friend,  kept  a  watchful  eye  over  his  conduct,  and 
 finding  that  he  continued  to  preach  in  defiance  of  the 
 sentence  of  deposition  pronounced  against  him  by  the 
 Synod  of  Ross,  and  in  defiance  of  the  acts  of  Parlia- 
 ment and  Council  against  nonconforming  ministers, 
 sent  information  to  the  Privy  Council,  that  measures 
 might  be  taken  to  reduce  him  to  silence.  On  receiving 
 this  intelligence,  the  Council,  on  the  30th  of  July  1668, 
 grant  commission  to  the  Earl  of  Murray  and  Lord  Dufius, 
 to  apprehend  and  imprison  him  in  Forres ;  and  being 
 apprehended,  he  lay  in  the  tolbooth  of  that  place  for 
 some  time.  While  there  he  was  frequently  visited  by 
 persons  of  all  classes,  and  his  manners  and  conversation 
 produced  generally  on  these  visitors  a  strong  impression 
 in  his  favour,  removing  prejudices  and  conciliating  good 
 will  and  esteem.  "  About  Mr  Thomas  Hog,''  says  Mrs 
 Ross,  "  I  was  kept  still  praying,  and  got  many  promises 
 of  his  deliverance  ;  and  was  tried  not  only  with  impro- 
 babilities, but  with  what  seemed  contrary  to  my  ex- 
 pectation, which  proved  trying  and  constant  exercise : 
 but  the  Lord  comforted  me  with  these  things  ;  1st,  That 
 it  was  more  for  the  Lord's  glory  that  he  was  there, 
 
 *  Wodrow's  Analecta,  vol.  ii.  pp.  162-171. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 187 
 
 where  he  had  greater  opportunity  of  a  public  testimony, 
 having  frequent  visits  from  all  ranks  and  airths  of  the 
 country ;  whereas  formerly  he  lived  obscure,  and  in  a 
 private  place.  2dly,  It  was  for  his  greater  honour,  not 
 only  by  making  known  what  of  God  was  in  him,  but  by 
 discovering  him  to  be  another  thing  than  what  he  was 
 represented  to  be,  viz.  unconversible ;  whereas  he  was 
 found  to  be  very  affable  for  the  edification  of  all  that 
 came  to  visit  him.''"^  At  length,  contrary  to  his  expecta- 
 tion, he  was  set  at  liberty,  through  an  order  procured  by 
 the  Earl  of  Tweeddale,  simply  upon  his  giving  bond  to 
 appear  before  the  Council  when  called.!  Nor  was  the 
 bishop  of  the  bounds  anxious  any  longer  to  detain  him, 
 finding  that  since  his  imprisonment  he  had  been  more 
 free  in  speaking  against  the  prelates  than  before,  his  op- 
 portunities being  greater  than  formerly. After  this  he 
 preached  in  his  own  private  house  for  eight  years  with 
 remarkable  success,  many  being  converted  by  his  in- 
 strumentality, while  "  ministers  about  did  likewise  wax 
 bold,  by  his  example,  to  fall  about  the  work  of  preach- 
 ing. He  was  also  one  of  the  first  that  licensed  minis- 
 ters in  Scotland  after  he  was  put  out  of  his  kirk.§  And 
 great  was  the  blessing  he  proved,  not  only  by  his  walk 
 to  take  off  the  reproach  from  the  way  of  God,  that  he 
 who  was  before  him  had  brought  upon  it,  but  by  bring- 
 ing many  to  Christ  of  as  lively  professors  as  ever  I  did 
 see,  or  expect  to  see  again."  ij 
 
 Being  anew  delated  to  the  Council  in  1674,  as  follow- 
 ing seditious  and  disorderly  practices,"  he  was  pub- 
 licly charged  at  the  mai-ket-cross  of  the  principal  towns 
 
 •  Memoirs  of  Mrs  Ross,  p.  32.  f  Wodruw's  History,  vol,  ii.  p.  112. 
 
 *  Memoirs  of  Mrs  Ross.  p.  33. 
 
 §  Mr  James  Fraser  of  Brea  was  probably  the  first  whom  Hog  and  his 
 recusant  brethren  in  the  north  licensed  after  their  ejection.    See  p.  13(». 
 II  Memoirs  of  Mrs  Ross,  p.  33. 
 
188 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 in  the  south  and  west,  to  appear  before  the  Council  on 
 the  16th  of  July  that  year,  to  answer  to  the  complaint  of 
 having  kept  conventicles,  under  the  pain  of  rebellion. 
 On  his  not  compearing,  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy 
 Council  "  ordain  letters  to  be  directed  to  a  messenger- 
 at-arms,  to  denounce  him  his  Majesty's  rebel,  and  to 
 put  him  to  the  hornV  and  on  the  6th  of  August  1675, 
 they  issue  letters  of  intercommuning  against  him.* 
 While  these  proceedings  are  going  on  in  the  south,  he 
 is  diligently  employed  in  his  ministerial  work  in  the 
 north.  A  few  particulars  concerning  him  at  this  time, 
 are  preserved  in  the  diary  of  a  pious  female  who  highly 
 valued  him,  and  who  enjoyed  his  friendship.  From  this 
 document  we  learn  that  about  the  close  of  the  year  1674, 
 he  was  visited  with  a  severe  sickness.  This  female, 
 who  was  then  living  in  the  south,  has  the  following 
 entries  in  reference  to  him: — "  Another  particular 
 discovered  to  me  wherein  I  was  called  of  God  to  yield 
 to,  was  the  sickness  and  threatened  death  (in  my  ap- 
 prehension) of  the  blessed  servant  of  God,  Mr  Thomas 
 Hog,  which  was  a  duty  above  my  strength.  I  desired 
 to  lay  the  weight  of  this  upon  the  Lord,  who  alone  could 
 do  this  in  me,  and  he  had  compassion  on  me,  and 
 strengthened  my  heart  with  that  word  of  Paul,  '  Epa- 
 phroditus  was  sick  unto  death,  but  the  Lord  had  mercy 
 on  him,  and  on  me  also,  lest  I  should  have  sorrow  upon 
 sorrow.'''  ....  "  December  21.  1674,  it  pleased 
 the  Lord  to  send  me  the  comfortable  news  of  the  reco- 
 very of  his  blessed  servant,  by  a  letter  under  his  own 
 hand."t  Writing  about  the  beginning  of  September 
 1675,  shortly  after  he  was  intercommuned,  she  says, 
 being  then  in  the  north,  "  The  Lord  dealt  very  boun- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  243,  244,  286. 
 
 t  Diary  of  Jane  Colbu  e,  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxi.  8vo,  no.  7. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 189 
 
 tifullj  with  my  soul,  though  we  were  deprived  that 
 day  of  sermon,  and  I  was  privileged  before  great  per- 
 sons, who  came  to  seek,  and  found  not ;  and  I  got  as 
 useful  a  sermon,  by  way  of  conference,  from  His  ser- 
 vant, Mr  Thomas  Hog,  as  almost  any  I  have  heard, 
 which  proved  to  me  both  enlightening,  strengthening, 
 and  comforting.  The  subject  was,  that  the  various  con- 
 ditions of  the  people,  or  child  of  Grod,  were  decreed  from 
 all  eternity,  and  the  ground  of  that  determination  was 
 unchangeable  love.''  ....  "On  Saturday  evening 
 [I  returned]  from  visiting  Mr  Thomas  Hog,  and  did  see 
 the  Lord's  kindness  in  blessing  the  means  appointed 
 for  his  health.  I  thought  it  revived  my  spirits  a  little." 
 Again,  about  the  close  of  October  1675,  she  says,  "  The 
 next  Lord's  day  I  was  much  strengthened  and  con- 
 firmed of  my  duty  of  waiting  in  a  sermon  by  His  ser- 
 vant, Mr  Thomas  Hog,  who  had  been  long  restrained, 
 but  then  got  a  large  commission,  with  much  confidence, 
 to  vindicate  the  truth."* 
 
 About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1677,t  Hog  was  ap- 
 ])rehended  and  imprisoned  in  the  north.  The  Lords  of 
 the  Committee  of  Privy  Council  for  Public  Affliirs,  on 
 receiving  intelligence  of  this,  order  him  to  be  trans- 
 ])orted  from  sheriff  to  sheriff  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edin- 
 burgli.  The  Council,  at  their  meeting  on  the  1st  ot 
 February  1677,  approve  of  the  Committee's  proceed- 
 ings, and  in  their  act  call  him  "  a  noted  keeper  of  con- 
 venticles, who  is  declared  fugitive  and  intercommuned." 
 Hog  was  not  unpre})ared  to  suffer  whatever  might  be 
 the  will  of  God,  and  on  this  occasion  he  said  to  some 
 wlio  were  with  him,  "  I  thank  my  God,  this  messenger 
 
 ♦  Diary  of  Jant-  Collare. 
 
 t  In  the  Memoirs  of  Hog,  Cbeap  Vuh.  of  tli.  Vrv<  V]nir>  h  i  f  iScoUuiid, 
 it  is  1676  instead  of  1677. 
 
190 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 was  most  welcome  to  me/'  Being  brought  to  Edinburgh, 
 he  was  called  before  the  Council ;  and  refusing  to  come 
 under  an  obligation  not  to  preach,  he  was  sent  to  the 
 Bass.  Not  long  after  his  imprisonment,  his  health, 
 through  the  cold  and  damp  air  of  the  place,  together 
 with  his  close  confinement,  soon  became  affected,  and 
 he  was  seized  with  a  dangerous  bloody  flux.  A  phy- 
 sician being  called  to  visit  him  from  Edinburgh,  ex- 
 pressed it  as  his  opinion,  that  his  recovery  was  hope- 
 less, unless  he  were  removed  from  his  place  of  confine- 
 ment, and  advised  him  to  petition  the  Council  for  tem- 
 porary liberty.  Hog  having  some  scruples  about  doing 
 this,  the  physician,  of  his  own  accord,  and  without  con- 
 sulting him  in  the  matter,  drew  up  a  petition  in  his 
 behalf  to  the  Council,  expressed  in  very  strong  terms. 
 Some  of  the  lay  lords  of  Council,  upon  the  reading  of 
 the  petition,  were  disposed  to  grant  its  prayer,  and 
 pleaded  in  Hog's  behalf  that,  when  at  liberty,  he  had 
 lived  more  peaceably  than  other  Presbyterian  ministers, 
 not  perambulating  the  country  as  they  were  in  the  habit 
 of  doing.  But  Archbishop  Sharp,  as  if  inspired  with 
 the  rancour  and  malignity  of  an  evil  spirit,  urged  that 
 the  prisoner  was  in  a  capacity  to  do  more  hurt  to  their 
 interests,  sitting  in  his  elbow  chair,  than  twenty  others 
 could  do  by  traversing  the  whole  country ;  that  if  the 
 justice  of  God  was  pursuing  him,  to  remove  him  from 
 the  world,  the  clemency  of  the  government  should 
 not  interpose  to  hinder  it ;  and  that,  if  there  was  a 
 place  in  the  Bass  Avorse  than  another,  he  should  be 
 put  there.  This  motion  being  seconded  by  another  pre- 
 late, and  put  to  the  vote,  it  was  carried  that  Hog  should 
 be  shut  up  in  the  closest  prison  in  the  Bass.  When  the 
 act  of  Council  was  communicated  to  the  good  man,  he 
 raised  himself  up,  with  some  difficulty,  in  his  bed  to 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 191 
 
 read  it  ;  and  on  learning  its  import,  feeling  that  to 
 subject  him  to  the  hardships  of  such  a  confinement,  in 
 his  present  state  of  health,  was  almost  equivalent  to 
 signing  his  death-warrant,  he  said  it  was  as  severe  as 
 if  Satan  himself  had  penned  it.  In  execution  of  the 
 sentence,  he  was  carried  down  to  a  low  filthy  dun- 
 geon ;  and  to  all  appearance  his  speedy  death  was  in- 
 evitable. But  when  he  found  no  mercy  at  the  hands 
 of  man,  he  looked  by  faith  and  prayer  to  Him  "  who 
 hears  the  groaning  of  the  prisoner  and  to  the  wonder 
 of  all,  he  in  a  short  time  completely  recovered.  Hog 
 never  afterwards  shewed  any  resentment  at  Sharp  for 
 this  savage  treatment,  but  when  speaking  of  him,  used 
 to  say  merrily,  "  Commend  him  to  me  for  a  good  phy- 
 sician \" 
 
 About  the  beginning  of  October  1677,  Hog  was 
 brought  from  the  Bass  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinbugh, 
 and  an  act  of  Council,  at  the  recommendation  of  the 
 Committee  for  Public  Affairs,  was  passed  in  his  favour 
 on  the  9th  of  that  month,  ordaining  him  to  "  be  set 
 at  liberty,  upon  his  finding  caution  to  confine  himself 
 to  Kintyre  ;  and  that  within  a  fortnight  after  his  libe- 
 ration he  should  go  to  the  said  place  of  confinement, 
 and  keep  the  same,  under  the  penalty  of  two  thousand 
 merks."  But  it  would  appear  that  this  act  was  not 
 carried  into  eff'ect,  and  that  he  was  again  sent  back 
 prisoner  to  the  Bass,*  where  he  lay  till  July  lG7i),  when 
 he  was  set  at  liberty,  along  with  several  other  ministers, 
 simply  upon  the  condition  of  his  finding  security  to  ap- 
 
 •  Fraser  of  Brea  was  about  the  same  time  recommended  by  the  C«>un- 
 cil's  Committee  to  be  liberated,  upon  his  giving  bond  to  appear  when 
 called  ;  and  yet,  through  the  particular  animosity  of  Shaq),  ho  was  con- 
 tinued in  the  Bass.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  .?5G. 
 
192 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 pear  before  the  Council  when  called,  under  the  penalty 
 of  ten  thousand  merks  Scots  in  case  of  failure.* 
 
 Hog,  on  being  released,  immediately  resumed  the 
 exercise  of  his  ministerial  function,  and  he  does  not 
 appear  to  have  met  with  renewed  molestation  till  No- 
 vember 1683,  when  letters  were  raised  against  him  at 
 the  instance  of  Sir  Greorge  M'Kenzie  of  Rosehaugh,  his 
 Majesty's  Advocate,  accusing  him  of  having,  "  notwith- 
 standing his  Majesty's  said  favour,  returned  to  his  for- 
 mer seditious  and  disorderly  .practices,"  and  charging 
 him  and  Sir  Hugh  Campbell,  his  surety,  to  appear  per- 
 sonally before  the  Council  on  the  8th  of  that  month, 
 to  answer  to  the  premises,  under  the  pain  of  rebellion  ; 
 and  farther  charging  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  to  bring  "  with 
 him,  exhibit,  and  produce  before  the  Lords  of  Coun- 
 cil the  person  of  the  said  Mr  Thomas  Hog,  to  answer 
 as  aforesaid,  under  the  said  penalty  of  ten  thousand 
 merks/'  "When  Hog,  in  obedience  to  this  summons,  ap- 
 peared, his  Majesty's  Advocate  referred  it  to  his  oath 
 whether  or  not  he  was  guilty  of  conventicles,  or  such 
 like  disorders,  since  his  Majesty's  late  act  of  indemnity. 
 Hog  refusing  to  give  his  oath,  the  Council  held  him  as 
 having  "  confessed,  and  therefore  fined  him  in  the  sum 
 of  five  thousand  merks  Scots,  and  ordained  him  to  be 
 committed  prisoner  within  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh 
 until  he  made  payment  of  the  fine,  and  found  caution 
 not  to  exercise  any  part  of  the  ministerial  function,  or 
 otherwise  to  depart  forth  of  the  kingdom  at  such  a 
 time  as  the  Council  should  appoint,  and  never  to  return 
 without  the  King's  or  the  Council's  licence,  and  that  un- 
 
 ♦  See  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  liberation  of  these  prisoners 
 in  the  notice  of  William  Bell,  p.  118.  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Caddell  be- 
 came surety  for  Hog. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 193 
 
 der  the  penalty  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots  in  case  of 
 failure/'* 
 
 On  the  3d  of  January  1684,  Hog  presented  a  peti- 
 tion to  the  Council,  representing  his  willingness  "  to 
 give  obedience  to  the  Councirs  sentence,  by  leaving 
 the  kingdom,  and  not  returning  without  licence  under 
 the  foresaid  penalty ;  and  therefore  humbly  supplicating 
 to  be  set  at  liberty,  upon  his  enacting  himself  to  depart 
 out  of  the  kingdom  betwixt  and  such  time  as  the  Coun- 
 cil should  think  fit  to  appoint.''  The  Council  having 
 heard  and  considered  this  petition,  "  give  order  and 
 warrant  to  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  set  him  at 
 liberty  upon  his  finding  sufficient  caution  that,  within 
 a  month  after  his  liberation,  he  shall  leave  the  king- 
 dom, and  not  return  without  his  Majesty's  or  the  Coun- 
 cil's special  licence,  under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand 
 merks  ;  and  that  in  the  mean  time,  till  his  removal, 
 he  shall  live  orderly,  and  not  keep  any  conventicles."t 
 
 With  this  last  condition.  Hog  felt  that  he  could  not 
 conscientiously  comply,  and  told  the  Council,  that  being 
 under  much  frailty  of  body.  It  was  not  likely  he  would 
 be  able  to  preach  ;  but  as  he  had  his  commission  from 
 God,  he  would  not  bind  up  himself  one  hour  if  the  Lord 
 called  him  and  gave  him  strength.  Accordingly,  be- 
 ing only  allowed  forty-eight  hours  for  removing  him- 
 self out  of  the  kingdom,  he  ordered  a  coach  to  take 
 him  up  at  the  tolbooth  door  and  set  off  for  Berwick, 
 where  he  remained  till  1G85,  when  he  went  to  London, 
 with  some  thoughts  of  embarking  for  Carolina  by  the 
 first  oj)portunity.  But  in  this  he  was  disappointed. 
 The  rei)ort  of  Monmouth's  intended  invasion  being 
 then  current.  Hog,  shortly  after  liis  arrival  in  London, 
 was  apprehended  on  suspicion  of  being  connected  with 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council.  t  llii.J. 
 
 R 
 
194 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  conspiracy  of  that  nobleman  ;  and  on  refusing  the 
 English  oaths  tendered  to  him,  he,  with  his  servant 
 William  Balloch,  were  thrown  into  prison.*  Here  he 
 had  to  support  himself  and  his  servant ;  and  besides 
 this,  paid  a  considerable  sum  weekly  for  a  room  to 
 himself,  in  order  to  avoid  being  put  in  the  same  prison 
 with  felons,  by  which  he  was  reduced  to  great  pecuniary 
 difficulties.t  On  being  set  at  liberty,  he  retired  to  Hol- 
 land. When  there  he  was  introduced  to  the  Prince 
 of  Orange,  who  was  then  contemplating  his  accession 
 to  the  English  throne,  and  at  whose  court  the  expa- 
 triated Scottish  clergy  received  much  attention. ^ 
 
 Upon  the  toleration  granted  by  King  J  ames  VII.  to 
 pave  the  way  for  the  introduction  of  Popery,  when 
 several  Scottish  Presbyterian  exiles  in  Holland  returned 
 to  Scotland,  Hog,  finding  the  infirmities  of  age  grow- 
 ing upon  him,  and  probably  anticipating  the  deliver- 
 ance of  his  country  by  the  Prince  of  Orange,  to  whom 
 the  eyes  and  best  wishes  of  many  were  directed  as  their 
 deliverer,  thought  also  of  returning  home  ;  which  he 
 did  about  the  beginning  of  1688,  the  memorable  year 
 in  which  an  end  was  put  to  the  misgovernment  and 
 tyranny  of  a  long  twenty-eight  years.  Hog,  however, 
 never  approved  of  that  toleration,  nor  preached  by  vir- 
 tue of  it.  After  the  Revolution,  his  old  parishioners 
 of  Kiltearn,  in  whose  hearts  he  still  lived,  were  anxious 
 again  to  secure  the  benefit  of  his  labours  ;  and  he  was 
 settled  anew  among  them  in  June  or  July  1691.  The 
 joy  with  which  these  simple-minded  people  received  him, 
 afforded  a  pleasing  proof  of  the  fidelity  and  acceptance 
 with  which  he«^had,  previous  to  his  ejection,  discharged 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  512. 
 
 t  Ilog's  Memoirs,  Free  Church  Publications,  p.  106. 
 
 [  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  512;  Memoirs  of  Alexander  Rcid,  p.  24. 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 195 
 
 the  duties  of  his  pastoral  function  among  them  ;  but  be- 
 ing now  advanced  in  years,  and  his  constitution  broken, 
 he  performed  little  public  duty.  Shortly  after,  he  was 
 appointed  by  King  William  to  be  one  of  his  domestic 
 chaplains  ;  an  appointment  which,  had  he  accepted  it, 
 would  have  separated  him  from  the  parish  of  Kiltearn  ; 
 but  before  he  received  it,  he  was  seized  with  a  compli- 
 cation of  maladies,  which  unfitted  him  for  public  ser- 
 vice in  the  church,  and  which,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
 months,  terminated  in  his  death. 
 
 Under  his  last  sickness,  Avhich  was  protracted.  Hog 
 enjoyed  much  spiritual  comfort  and  support.  Though 
 often  subjected  to  severe  pain,  he  never  uttered  the 
 language  of  complaint.  On  one  occasion,  his  servant, 
 hearing  the  heavy  moans  which  his  bodily  sufferings 
 extorted  from  him,  asked  him  whether  it  was  soul  or 
 bodily  pain  that  he  felt ;  to  which  he  replied,  "  No 
 soul  trouble,  man,  for  a  hundred  and  hundred  times 
 my  Lord  hath  assured  me  that  I  shall  be  with  him  for 
 ever  ;  but  I  am  making  moan  for  my  body.''  On 
 another  occasion  he  said,  "  Pity  me,  0  my  friends  !  and 
 do  not  pray  for  my  life  ;  you  see  I  have  a  complication 
 of  diseaseSj-rallow  me  to  go  to  my  eternal  rest and 
 then  with  deep  emotion  he  exclaimed,  "  Look,  0  my 
 God  !  upon  my  affliction  and  my  pain,  and  forgive  all 
 my  sins."  At  another  time,  he  said  to  Mr  William 
 Stuart,  who  became  his  successor  at  Kiltearn,  "  Never 
 did  the  sun  in  the  firmament  shine  more  brightly  to 
 the  eyes  of  my  body,  than  Christ,  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
 ness, hath  shined  on  my  soul.''  Some  time  after,  when 
 the  same  person,  understanding  him  to  be  very  low, 
 paid  him  his  last  visit,  and  asked  him  how  he  was,  he 
 answered,  "  The  unchangeableness  of  my  God  is  my 
 rock."    He  retained  his  faculties  to  his  last  hour,  and 
 
19G 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 surrounded  by  his  wife  and  friends,  who  were  dissolved 
 in  tears,  he  breathed  out  his  life  with  these  words, — 
 "  Now  he  is  come,  my  Lord  is  come  ;  praise,  praise  to 
 him  for  evermore.  Amen.''  He  died  on  the  4th  of 
 January  1692,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age. 
 
 Hog  was  highly  respected  by  the  religious  of  his  day  ; 
 and  his  memory  was  cherished  with  peculiar  venera- 
 tion by  all  the  devout  who  knew  him,  and  particularly 
 by  the  parishioners  of  Kiltearn,  long  after  his  death. 
 His  natural  and  acquired  accomplishments — the  meek- 
 ness, humility,  forbearance,  fortitude,  and  other  Chris- 
 tian virtues  by  which  he  was  distinguished — his  devo- 
 tedness  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel — the  success  which 
 attended  his  ministry,  and  the  sufferings  which  he  en- 
 dured in  the  cause  of  Christ — all  these  exalted  his 
 character,  and  shed  a  lustre  around  it  commanding  the 
 respect  of  all,  and  securing  the  affection  and  veneration 
 of  the  good. 
 
 As  to  Hog's  views  in  reference  to  the  points  about 
 which  the  Presbyterians  of  his  day  were  divided,  we 
 have  already  seen  that,  in  the  controversy  between  the 
 Resolutioners  and  Protesters,  he  adhered  in  his  judg- 
 ment to  the  latter,  but  was  far  from  going  to  the  ex- 
 treme of  thinking  that  the  differences  between  the  two 
 parties  ought  to  interrupt  friendly  intercourse.  He 
 was  decidedly  opposed  to  the  hearing  of  the  curates, 
 regarding  this  as  inconsistent  with  the  Solemn  League 
 and  Covenant — as  amounting  to  a  virtual  approbation 
 of  prelacy,  since  the  laws  enjoined  the  hearing  of  them 
 upon  the  people,  as  a  public  test  of  their  sanctioning 
 and  complying  with  the  prelatic  government  of  the 
 ^  Church.  He  condemned  the  indulgences  granted  to  the 
 /  the  Presbyterians  by  Charles  II.,  and  thought  that  Mr 
 Welsh,  Mr  Blackadder,  and  others,  who  rejected  them, 
 
THOMAS  HOG. 
 
 197 
 
 and  preached  in  the  fields  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives, 
 acted  a  more  upright  and  honourable  part  than  such 
 as  had  embraced  these  ensnaring  favours.  Still  he  was 
 wholly  opposed  to  separating  from  such  Presbyterian 
 ministers  as  had  accepted  them  ;  and  although  he  sym- 
 pathised with,  yet  he  entirely  disapproved  of,  those 
 good  people  who  would  hear  none  but  Mr  Cargill  and 
 Mr  Renwick.  Nor  did  he  agree  with  them  in  denying, 
 as  they  had  too  much  reason  to  do,  though  the  avowal 
 in  their  circumstances  was  imprudent,  the  la^vfulness 
 of  the  then  existing  despotic  and  oppressive  govern- 
 ment. At  the  Revolution,  however,  he  and  nearly  the 
 whole  nation  adopted  and  acted  upon  the  sentiments 
 of  these  people  on  that  point. 
 
 In  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties.  Hog  was  a  pat- 
 tern to  the  Christian  minister.  He  was  instant  in  season 
 and  out  of  season  ;  he  reproved,  rebuked,  exhorted  with 
 all  long-suffering  and  doctrine.  To  the  success  of 
 his  labours  the  sanctity  of  his  deportment  powerfully 
 contributed.  He  was  "  an  example  of  the  believers  in 
 word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in 
 purity.''  His  great  ambition  was  to  recommend  the 
 gospel,  and  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  His  diligence,  la- 
 boriousness,  and  perseverance  as  a  minister  among  his 
 parishioners  at  Kiltearn,  evinced  how  near  their  spiri- 
 tual interests  lay  to  his  heart.  Nor  was  he  unmindful 
 of  them  in  the  prospect  of  death.  That  they  should  be 
 provided  with  an  active  and  spiritual  man  for  their 
 minister  when  he  was  sleeping  in  the  dust,  was  to  him, 
 at  that  solemn  period,  an  object  of  ardent  solicitude  ; 
 and  few  things  could  have  given  him  more  pain  than 
 the  thought  that  his  beloved  flock  "  would  I'all  into  the 
 hands  of  a  careless  and  worldly-minded  pastor/'  So 
 anxious  was  he  about  this  matter,  that  on  his  death- 
 
198 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 bed  he  is  said  to  have  given  charge  to  dig  his  grave  in 
 the  threshold  of  his  church,  that  his  people  might  re- 
 gard him  as  a  sentinel  placed  at  the  door  to  keep  out 
 intruders  ;  and  on  his  tombstone  was  written  the  fol- 
 lowing striking  inscription  : — 
 
 THIS  .  STONE  .  SHALL  .  BEAR  .  WITNESS  . 
 AGAINST  .  THE  .  PARISHIONERS  .  OF  .  KILTEARN  . 
 IF  .  THEY  .  BRING  .  ANE  .  UNGODLY  .  MINISTER  . 
 IN  .  HERE . * 
 
 Wodrow's  Correspondence,  note  by  the  Editor,  voL  i.  p.  189. 
 
199 
 
 JAMES  DEUMMOND. 
 
 Of  James  Drummond  only  a  few  particulars  are  known. 
 He  was  for  some  time  chaplain  to  the  Marchioness  of 
 Argyle,  the  lady  of  the  Marquis  of  Argyle,  the  proto- 
 martyr  for  Presbytery  after  the  restoration  of  Charles 
 II.*  His  name  does  not  occur  in  the  annals  of  the 
 persecution  till  1674,  when  he  was  apprehended  and 
 incarcerated  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  for  preach- 
 ing in  families  ;t  but  he  did  not  remain  long  in  prison. 
 The  Privy  Council  having  appointed  a  Committee  of 
 their  number  to  examine  him,  he  confessed  the  charge 
 brought  against  him,  and  engaged  to  the  Committee  not 
 to  keep  any  conventicles  in  future.^  Upon  this  condi- 
 tion, the  Council,  July  21,  1674,  ordained  the  Magis- 
 trates of  Edinburgh  to  set  him  at  liberty.  The  engage- 
 ment which  Drummond  in  this  instance  made  was  what 
 very  few  of  the  recusant  ministers  during  the  perse- 
 cution could  be  prevailed  on  to  make.  They  readily 
 gave  bond  to  appear  when  called  ;  but  all  of  them,  Avith 
 few  exceptions,  felt  so  strongly  the  necessity  laid  upon 
 them  of  preaching  the  gospel,  that  on  no  consideration 
 
 ♦  Wod row's  Analecta,  vol.  i.  i>.  73. 
 t  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  270. 
 
 *  This  is  stated  in  im  Act  ol' Council  dated  Juno  28,  1(?7(>. 
 
200 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 would  they  come  under  a  promise  to  desist  from  preach- 
 ing it.  And  although  Drummond  had  been  led  to  make 
 such  a  promise  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  from  the  fear 
 of  suffering,  yet  he  regretted  having  done  so  in  the  mo- 
 ments of  calm  reflection  ;  and  not  feeling  a  promise  to 
 be  binding,  the  keeping  of  which  he  believed  would  be 
 to  commit  sin,  he  resumed  preaching,  both  in  houses 
 and  in  the  fields,  on  being  released. 
 
 While  pursuing  this  course,  he  was  again  apprehend- 
 ed and  imprisoned  in  Glasgow,  but  was  liberated  upon 
 giving  caution  to  appear  before  the  Committee  of  Privy 
 Council  for  Public  Affairs,  on  the  28th  of  January  1677. 
 Having  then  appeared  and  been  examined,  he  did  not 
 deny  that  he  had  kept  both  house  and  field  conventicles 
 since  his  being  set  at  liberty,  although  contrary  to  his 
 former  engagement.  He  was  asked,  if  he  would  yet 
 promise  to  forbear  keeping  all  such  meetings  in  time  to 
 come,  and  had  he  engaged  to  do  this,  he  would  probably 
 have  been  set  at  liberty  ;  but  more  stedfast  to  his  prin- 
 ciples, and  more  fearless  of  suffering  than  before,  he  de- 
 cidedly refused  to  come  under  any  such  obligation.  Upon 
 which  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  was,  that  he  should 
 without  delay  be  transmitted  to  the  prison  of  the  Bass, 
 and  in  the  mean  time,  be  put  into  the  tolbooth  of  Edin- 
 burgh. The  report  of  the  Committee  having  been  ap- 
 proved of  by  the  Council,  he  was  sent  prisoner  to  the 
 Bass. 
 
 In  that  place  of  confinement,  however,  he  did  not 
 remain  above  three  months.  On  a  petition  being  pre- 
 sented for  him  to  the  Council,  the  following  act,  dated 
 October  5, 1 677,  was  passed  in  his  favour : — "  The  Lords 
 of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  having  heard  and  con- 
 sidered a  petition  presented  to  them  in  behalf  of  Mr 
 James  Drummond,  at  present  prisoner  in  the  Bass, 
 
JAMES  DRUMMOND. 
 
 201 
 
 humbly  supplicating  for  his  liberty  upon  the  grounds 
 and  reasons  therein  contained,  do  hereby  give  order 
 and  warrant  to  the  governor  of  the  Isle  of  the  Bass  to 
 set  the  said  Mr  J ames  Drummond  at  liberty,  in  regard 
 sufficient  caution  is  found  for  him  acted  in  the  books  of 
 Privy  Council,  that  within  the  space  of  fourteen  days 
 after  his  liberation  he  shall  repair  to  Kilmarnock,  and 
 confine  himself  to  that  parish  until  the  first  day  of  May 
 next,  and  that  at  the  said  first  day  of  May,  he  shall  re- 
 move himself  from  Kilmarnock  to  Kintyre  until  the 
 CounciFs  further  orders,  under  the  pain  of  five  thousand 
 merks  Scots  money/' 
 
 After  this  Drummond's  name  occurs  only  incident- 
 ally in  the  history  of  the  persecution.  In  the  begin- 
 ning of  the  year  1677,  a  number  of  persons  are  sum- 
 moned to  appear  before  the  Council,  for  "  being  present 
 at  house  and  field  conventicles  kept  at  Balvie,  Drumry, 
 &c.  where  they  have  heard  diverse  outed  ministers 
 preach,  expound  scripture,  pray,  and  exercise  the  other 
 functions  of  the  ministry,  and  particularly,  Mr  James 
 Drummond,  Mr  Thomas  Melville,  Mr  John  King,"  &c.* 
 In  June  that  same  year,  a  number  of  other  persons  are 
 summoned  before  the  Council,  for  having  been  "  present 
 at  house  and  field  conventicles,  kept  at,  about,  or  near 
 to  Glasgow,  Cathcart,  Cumnock,  Mearns,  Eastwood,  and 
 diverse  other  adjacent  parishes,  where  they  have  heard 
 diverse  ministers  preach,  expound  scripture,  pray,  and 
 exercise  the  other  functions  of  the  ministry,  and  par- 
 ticularly, Mr  John  Welsh,  Mr  Andrew  Morton,  Mr 
 Donald  Cargill,  Mr  John  King,  Mr  John  Law,  and  Mr 
 James  Drummond/'t  In  tlie  beginning  of  the  year 
 1688,  one  of  the  persecutors  sends  information  to  the 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council,  2l8t  June  1G77. 
 t  Ibid.  2d  February  1G77, 
 
202  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS.  | 
 
 Privy  Council,  that  he  had  been  preaching  in  the 
 malt-barn  of  a  lady  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Stow,  ; 
 and  honours  him  with  the  appellation  of  a  "  fanatical  I 
 preacher/'* 
 
 Drummond  survived  the  storm  of  persecution,  and 
 after  the  Revolution  became  minister  of  Kilconquhar. 
 In  the  latter  end  of  March  1691  he  began  to  preach  in 
 the  kirk  of  that  parish,  by  the  appointment  of  the  Pres- 
 bytery of  St  Andrews  and  Cupar,  and  at  the  desire  of  I 
 the  parishioners.    His  ministry  in  that  parish  being  i 
 generally  acceptable,  he  received  a  call  to  be  its  minis-  1 
 ter,  subscribed  by  the  majority  of  the  heritors,  the  whole  I 
 eldership,  and  the  body  of  the  people.  He  was  admitted  | 
 on  the  25th  of  June  that  same  year,  and  there  he  con-  j 
 tinned  to  labour  till  his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  j 
 29th  of  September  1699.t  ] 
 
 *  See  notice  of  William  Bell,  p.  120, 
 
 t  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  February  4. 1692.   Selections  from 
 the  Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Fife,  printed  for  the  Spalding  Club,  p.  208. 
 
 i 
 ) 
 
203 
 
 ROBEET  BENXET  OE  CHESTEES. 
 
 Robert  Bennet  of  Chesters  was  the  son  of  Roger  Ben- 
 net  of  Chesters.  His  father  must  have  died  before  the 
 13th  of  January  1670,  as  at  that  date  he  is  returned 
 heir  to  him  in  the  lands  of  Raflat,  in  the  lands  of  Ryk- 
 now,  at  the  east  end  of  the  manor-house  of  Belschies, 
 kc*  Robert  was  in  principle  strictly  Presbyterian, 
 and  so  cordially  did  he  disapprove  of  the  ecclesiastical 
 changes  which  followed  the  Restoration  of  Charles  IL, 
 that  immediately  upon  their  introduction  he  entirely 
 deserted  his  own  parish  church,  judging  it  wrong  to 
 countenance  conforming  ministers  even  by  occasionally 
 attending  their  ministry. 
 
 Rennet's  imprisonment  in  the  Bass  was  chiefly  ow- 
 ing to  his  being  present  at  a  very  numerous  field  meet- 
 ing, held  in  the  year  1676,  at  Lilliesleaf  moor,  and  to 
 the  manner  in  which  he  was  said  to  have  conducted 
 himself  on  that  occasion.  Of  this  meeting  we  have 
 two  accounts  preserved,  the  one  by  the  minister  who 
 preached  at  it,  the  venerable  Mr  John  Blackadder, 
 whose  la])ours  and  sufferings  are  immortalized  in  the 
 history  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  the  other  by  the 
 government  ;  both  which  we  shall  lay  before  the  reader. 
 Blackadder's  narrative  is  in  substance  as  follows:  — 
 Having  learned,  on  assembling,  that  the  sheriff  of  the 
 
 •  Jnquis.  Rt'tor.  Abbri'v.  Ruxbui^;li,  no.  249. 
 
204 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 county,  with  some  of  the  life-guards  and  militia,  were 
 ranging  Lilliesleaf  moors,  the  congregation  shifted  their 
 ground  so  as  to  be  within  the  shire  of  Selkirk,  whether 
 his  authority  did  not  extend,  expecting  that  he  would 
 not  attempt  to  disturb  them  there ;  but  in  this  they 
 were  disappointed.  Before  the  commencement  of  divine 
 worship,  they  set  watches  to  give  timely  alarm  in  case 
 their  enemies  should  come  upon  them, —  a  precaution 
 of  which  experience  had  taught  the  Covenanters  the 
 necessity.  During  the  forenoon's  service  no  disturb- 
 ance was  met  with,  but  about  the  middle  of  the  sermon 
 in  the  afternoon,  the  alarm  was  given  that  the  sheriff, 
 with  a  party  of  dragoons  and  militia,  all  on  horseback, 
 were  within  a  short  distance,  rapidly  coming  up  to  them. 
 The  preacher  immediately  closed  his  discourse,  and  ex- 
 horted the  audience  to  be  composed  and  unalarmed. 
 They  were  so,  and  all  of  them  stood  in  their  places. 
 Two  horses  were  brought  for  the  minister  to  assist  him 
 in  making  his  escape,  but  when  he  saw  the  people  keep- 
 ing their  ground  he  refused  to  withdraw,  resolving  to 
 wait  to  see  the  issue  of  the  affair ;  and,  a  little  after, 
 one  of  the  hearers  "  cast  a  gray  cloak  about  him,  and 
 put  a  broad  bonnet  on  his  head,"  by  which  he  was  so 
 effectually  disguised,  that  though  the  soldiers  searched 
 for  him  among  the  crowd,  and  often  passed  by  him,  he 
 remained  undiscovered.  The  militia,  eager  to  get  hold 
 of  their  prey,  came  riding  towards  the  people  at  full 
 gallop,  and  drew  up  on  a  declivity  over  against  them  ; 
 but  when  they  saw  them  remain  firm,  their  courage 
 seemed  to  be  somewhat  abated.  The  sheriff,  who  was 
 the  Laird  of  Heriot,  after  standing  for  some  time  with 
 his  men  about  him,  called  out,  but  in  a  faint  tone,  as  if 
 he  were  afraid  of  danger,  "I  charge  you  to  dismiss  in  the 
 King's  name    to  which  the  people  resolutely  answered 
 
ROBERT  BENNET  OF  CHESTERS. 
 
 205 
 
 from  several  quarters,  "  We  are  all  met  here  in  the 
 name  of  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth  to  hear  the  gospel, 
 and  not  for  harm  to  any  man."  The  sheriff,  on  observ- 
 ing their  intrepidity,  appeared  to  be  still  more  appre- 
 hensive of  danger.  Meanwhile  his  own  sister,  a  reli- 
 gious lady,  who  was  one  of  the  audience,  offended  at 
 his  rudeness  and  impiety  in  interrupting  the  worship 
 of  God,  went  up  to  him,  and  taking  his  horse  by  the 
 bridle,  clapping  her  hands,  cried  out  in  a  passionate 
 tone,  "  Fye  on  ye,  man,  fye  on  ye ;  the  vengeance  of 
 God  will  overtake  you  for  marring  so  good  a  work 
 at  which  unceremonious  salutation,  he  stood  as  if  thun- 
 derstruck. Some  of  the  soldiers  mingled  with  the  crowd, 
 in  order,  if  possible,  to  discover  the  minister,  and  one 
 of  them,  coming  riding  among  them,  said  laughing, 
 "  Gentlemen  and  friends,  we  hope  you  will  do  us  no 
 harm but  the  people  ordered  them  instantly  to  re- 
 move to  their  own  party.  The  meeting  still  refusing  to 
 separate,  the  sheriff  at  length  calling  upon  Bennet  and 
 another  gentleman,  Thomas  Turnbull  of  Standhill,  who 
 had  been  hearers,  earnestly  desired  them  to  use  their  in- 
 fluence in  persuading  the  people  to  disperse,  and  ren- 
 der it  unnecessary  for  him  to  have  recourse  to  force. 
 Bennet,  yielding  to  this  request,  entreated  them  to  se- 
 parate, and  as  they  held  him  in  high  respect,  his  advice 
 had  more  influence  with  them  than  all  the  threatenings 
 of  the  sheriff'.  Such  is  the  history  of  this  field  meeting 
 as  given  by  Blackadder.* 
 
 The  account  of  it  given  by  the  government  is  very 
 different,  and  is  probably  exaggerated.  It  is  contained 
 in  a  decreet  against  Bennet,  the  substance  of  which  is 
 engrossed  in  an  act  in  reference  to  him,  which  we  will 
 
 •  See  Crichton'a  Memoirs  of  Blarkadder,  pp.  190,  191 ;  also  MS.  copy 
 in  Adv.  Lib. 
 
206 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 afterwards  meet  with.*  After  adducing  various  charges 
 against  him,  the  document  proceeds  as  follows : — 
 
 "  And  more  particularly  upon  the  26th  of  November  last 
 [1676]  being  a  Sabbath  day,  a  field  conventicle  being  to  be 
 kept  at  the  said  place  called  Lislie  moor,  being  the  common 
 and  ordinary  place  and  rendezvous  of  these  seditious,  rebeUious, 
 and  disorderly  meetings,  and  there  being  reason  to  apprehend 
 (after  so  many  numerous  meetings  kept  at  that  place  before), 
 the  sheriff  of  the  shire,  and  some  other  persons  or  parties,  em- 
 powered and  authorised  by  us  and  our  Council,  might  endea- 
 vour to  hinder  and  prevent  the  foresaid  meeting,  or  to  scatter 
 and  dissipate  the  same,  and  might  take  notice  of  and  seize  upon 
 such  persons  as  should  be  found  at  such  a  meeting,  yet  such 
 was  the  boldness  and  insolency  of  the  said  Robert  Bennet  of 
 Chesters,  and  a  great  multitude  of  other  disaffected  persons, 
 that  they  did  convocate  themselves  together  on  the  said  day 
 in  that  same  place,  to  the  number  of  t  for  keep- 
 ing the  said  seditious,  rebellious,  and  disorderly  meeting  upon 
 pretext  of  religious  worship :  At  which  meeting  the  said  Mr 
 David  Williamson,^  or  one  or  other  of  the  foresaid  persons,§ 
 did  take  upon  them  to  exercise  the  office  of  the  ministry,  al- 
 beit they  be  persons  not  only  not  warranted  by  lawful  autho- 
 rity, but  outed  and  deprived  for  disaffection  to  his  Majesty's 
 government,  and  denounced  and  declared  rebels,  and  letters  of 
 intercommuning  directed  against  them,  which  are  printed  and 
 published  :  And  the  said  Robert  Bennet  of  Chesters  had  not 
 only  the  presumption  and  confidence  to  be  at  the  said  disor- 
 derly meeting  and  field  conventicle,  but  to  encourage  others 
 to  be  at  the  same.  In  hope  and  assurance  of  security  and 
 protection,  they  did  proceed  to  that  height  of  disloyalty  and 
 
 *  See  pp.  212-214. 
 t  Blank  in  MS. 
 
 I  Mr  John  Blackadder,  and  not  Mr  David  "Williamson,  was  the  minister 
 who  preached. 
 
 §  That  is,  the  ministers  named  in  the  preceding  part  of  the  decreet,  viz. 
 Mr  John  Welsh,  Mr  Robert  Traill  junior,  Mr  George  Johnston,  Mr  John 
 Blackadder.    See  p.  212. 
 
ROBERT  BENNET  OF  CHESTERS. 
 
 207 
 
 rebellion,  as  to  come  to  the  said  meeting  in  arms,  with  swords, 
 pistols,  and  other  weapons,  of  purpose  to  oppose  and  afiront 
 his  Majesty's  authority,  and  any  person  or  party  that  by  war- 
 rant of  the  same  should  offer  to  hinder  or  dissipate  the  said 
 dissorderly  meeting  ;  and  the  day  foresaid,  a  party  of  his  Ma- 
 jesty's forces,  commanded  by  Captain  Innes,  in  obedience  and 
 in  pursuance  of  the  order  that  was  given  him,  having  come  to 
 the  said  moor  to  take  notice  of  and  dissipate  the  said  meeting, 
 the  said  Robert  Bennet  of  Chesters,  and  a  great  number  of 
 those  who  were  then  in  arms,  to  the  number  of  three  or  four 
 hundred,  with  swords,  pistols,  and  other  weapons,  did  come 
 from  the  body  of  the  said  meeting,  and  did  send  of  their  num- 
 ber about  thirty  armed  men,  in  order  foresaid,  upon  horses  to 
 the  party,  and  the  said  Robert  Bennet  of  Chesters  having 
 uttered  many  opprobrious  and  reproachful  expressions,  both 
 against  his  Majesty's  person  and  authority,  did  presume  to 
 show  the  said  party  they  were  ready  and  resolved  to  withstand 
 and  resist  whatever  the  consequence  might  be,  if  the  party 
 should  any  ways  offer  to  disturb  or  trouble  them,  and  had  the 
 confidence  to  draw  their  swords,  and  to  shew  and  hold  out 
 their  bended  pistols  in  their  hands ;  so  that  the  said  Captain 
 Innes,  considering  they  were  so  numerous  and  desperate,  and 
 that  they  were  like  to  overpower  him,  and  that  not  only  the 
 said  party  that  came  towards  him  and  his  party,  but  a  great 
 multitude  of  others  that  were  in  arms,  did  endeavour,  and  were 
 about  to  surround  and  encompass  him,  and  he  apprehending 
 the  effusion  of  blood,  and  upon  assurance  given  by  the  said 
 persons,  that  if  he  should  not  proceed  further,  the  said  meet- 
 ing should  be  dissolved  in  a  peaceable  manner  presently  with- 
 out delay,  he  thought  fit  to  give  them  time  to  dissolve,  yet, 
 nevertheless,  they  did  continue  and  proceed  to  keep  the  said 
 meeting  by  the  space  of  an  hour  thereafter,  at  which  time  they 
 dissolved,  and  went  off  in  three  several  bodies  in  a  most  brav- 
 ing and  insolent  manner." 
 
 Thus  from  the  account  of  the  Privy  Council,  the 
 meeting  at  Lilliesleaf  moor  seems  to  have  been  what 
 
208 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 was  called  "  an  armed  conventicle."  The  charges 
 brought  against  the  Presbyterians  in  the  records  of 
 that  body,  are  indeed  to  be  received  with  caution  ;  but 
 several  things  contained  in  Blackadder's  narrative, 
 though  it  does  not  expressly  speak  of  any  of  the  peo- 
 ple as  having  arms,  confirm  the  statement  of  the  Coun- 
 cil in  this  particular.  It  is,  however,  probable  enough, 
 that  the  number  stated  as  in  arms  is  exaggerated,  as  is 
 the  case  in  other  decreets  and  acts  of  Council  in  refer- 
 ence to  the  number  armed  at  other  field  conventicles. 
 
 This  was  not  the  first  instance  in  which  the  Presby- 
 terians assembled  in  this  bold  attitude  to  hear  their 
 beloved  ministers.  Similar  "  armed  conventicles''  be- 
 gan to  be  held  several  years  previous  to  this  ;  and  it 
 was  from  the  irritation  and  alarm  created  in  the  minds 
 of  the  rulers  by  one  of  these,*  that  in  1670  all  field 
 meetings  were  declared  treasonable,  and  discharged 
 under  the  pain  of  death  to  the  minister  and  convoca- 
 tor.  Such  armed  meetings,  however,  only  occurred  in  a 
 few  cases  ;  and  when  they  did  occur,  all  who  were 
 present  had  not  arms,  but  only  a  comparatively  small 
 number,  and  their  object  was  simply  to  protect  from 
 hostile  aggression  the  unarmed  assembly,  many  of  whom 
 were  aged  persons,  females  and  children.  It  was,  no 
 doubt,  a  very  unhappy  state  of  matters  for  the  people 
 to  convene  together  in  this  manner;  but  it  can  be 
 ascribed  to  no  other  cause  than  the  oppression  of  the 
 government,  as  will  appear  from  a  glance  at  the  facts 
 of  the  case.  These  field  meetings,  which  began  to  be 
 held  in  some  instances  at  an  early  period  of  the  per- 
 
 *  One  kept  by  Mr  John  Black  adder  and  Mr  John  Dickson  at  Beath-hill 
 above  Dunfermline  in  the  18th  of  June  1670.  For  a  particular  account  of 
 this  meeting,  which  was  among  the  first  armed  conventicles,  see  Notice  of 
 .lohn  Dickson. 
 
ROBERT  BENNET  OF  CHESTERS.  201) 
 
 secution,  and  which  were  afterwards  kept  more  fre- 
 quently and  attended  by  greater  numbers,  were  con- 
 ducted in  the  most  peaceable  manner.  The  chief  ob- 
 ject of  the  great  bulk  of  those  who  assembled  to  them, 
 was  to  listen*  to  the  message  of  the  gospel  delivered 
 by  their  favourite  preachers,  and  nothing  was  farther 
 from  their  mind  than  to  create  tumult  and  confusion. 
 But  as  these  meetings  fostered  Presbytery  and  strength- 
 ened the  opposition  to  Prelacy,  they  were  proscribed 
 under  severe  penalties.  Soldiers  and  other  parties 
 were  sent  out  to  disperse  them,  and,  if  possible,  to  ap- 
 prehend the  ministers  who  preached  at  them,  and  the 
 principal  hearers.  Still  the  people  attended  them  de- 
 fenceless, and  offered  no  resistance  to  such  as  attempted 
 to  dissolve  them,  "  so  that,"  as  a  judicious  defender  of 
 field  meetings  writing  in  June  1678  says,  "  two  or  three 
 idle  fellows,  without  any  warrant,  have  at  their  own 
 hand  fallen  upon  meetings  of  seven  or  eight  hundred, 
 and  scattered  them  without  resistance,  and  ofttimes 
 about  Glasgow  and  in  other  parts  three  or  four  red 
 coats  have  and  may  still  dissipate  a  thousand  of  these 
 meeters  most  securely."*  Some  of  the  people,  however, 
 after  they  had  been  frequently  molested  in  this  way, 
 and  when  they  found  that  the  military  and  other  j)arties, 
 not  content  with  dispersing  them,  beat,  plundered, 
 and  committed  other  outrages  upon  them,  which  hu- 
 man nature  could  hardly  submit  to  without  resistance, 
 at  length  came  armed  to  these  meetings,  not  with  any 
 hostile  intention,  but  solely  for  the  purpose  of  defend- 
 ing their  ministers  and  the  helpless  and  unarmed  mul- 
 titude. "  All  that  can  be  with  truth  alleged  is,"  says 
 the  same  writer,  "  that  partly  to  protect  three  or  four 
 ministers  in  more  special  hazard  by  reason  of  a  price  set 
 
 •  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxvi.,  ito,  no.  9  ;  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.,  p.  488. 
 
 S 
 
210 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 by  the  Council  on  their  heads,  and  partly  to  prevent 
 the  profane  interrupting  and  abusing  of  God's  holy 
 worship  and  sincere  worshippers  by  the  boldness  of  con- 
 temptible and  ofttimes  not  warranted  parties,  some  few 
 in  remote  parts  have  been  moved  to  come  together  in 
 such  condition  as  might  secure  them  from  such  at- 
 tempts/' "  But/'  adds  he,  in  farther  defence  of  those 
 about  whom  he  is  speaking,  and  as  a  proof  of  their  peace- 
 able dispositions,  "  if  these  things  are  a  little  offensive, 
 may  it  not,  think  you,  be  a  reasonable  allegiance  to  re- 
 flect upon  all  the  violences,  even  to  the  wounding  and 
 killing  of  several  persons  that  have  been  committed  in 
 our  meetings  without  opposition,  and  how  often  have 
 sheriffs  with  their  men,  and  parties  of  the  militia,  and 
 standing  forces,  come  to  our  meetings  and  been  en- 
 countered by  double,  yea  treble  their  number,  who 
 could  have  cut  them  up,  and  yet  so  great  was  the  de- 
 ference to  authority,  that  all  [that  was]  done  was  to 
 break  off  and  capitulate  for  a  safe  retreat." 
 
 Thus  it  was  from  no  intention  to  create  tumult  or 
 insurrection,  but  simply  to  defend  the  public  worship 
 from  hostile  invasion,  that  some  came  armed  to  these 
 field-meetings.  That  such  was  the  case  as  to  the  people 
 who  assembled  at  Lilliesleaf  moor  is  evident,  even  from 
 the  act  of  the  Privy  Council,  for  they  are  said  to  have 
 threatened  resistance  only  in  case  the  sheriff's  party 
 "  offered  to  disturb  or  trouble  them."  Similar  was  the 
 manner  in  which  the  people  acted  in  general  at  the 
 other  field  meetings  where  they  were  armed.  Though 
 denied  their  most  natural  rights,  invaded  in  their 
 dearest  interests,  and  treated  with  great  cruelty,  yet 
 they  felt  strong  repugnance  to  commit  acts  of  violence, 
 self-protection  and  not  retaliation  being  the  object  they 
 anxiously  sought  for. 
 
ROBERT  BEXXET  OF  CHESTERS. 
 
 211 
 
 Bennet  with  several  others,  for  their  concern  in  this 
 conventicle,  and  for  "  other  seditious  and  disorderly 
 practices/' were  charged  by  letters  raised  at  the  instance 
 of  Sir  John  Nisbet  of  Dirleton,  his  Majesty's  advocate, 
 to  compear  personally  before  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty's 
 Privy  Council,  on  the  14th  of  December  1676,  and  an- 
 swer to  the  several  articles  of  their  libel,  and  give  their 
 oaths  upon  them,  under  the  pain  of  rebellion.  Failing 
 to  make  their  appearance,  the  Council  "  ordain  letters 
 to  be  directed  to  messengers-at-arms  to  pass  to  the  mar- 
 ket-cross of  *  and  other  places  needful,  and 
 
 thereat,  in  his  Majesty's  name  and  authority,  duly,  law- 
 fully, and  orderly  denounce  them  his  Majesty's  rebels, 
 and  put  them  to  the  horn  and  escheat,  and  inbring  all 
 their  moveable  goods,  and  give  them  to  his  Highness' 
 use  for  their  contempt/'t 
 
 Bennet  did  not  long  escape  falling  into  the  hands  of 
 the  government.  He  was  apprehended  by  Alexander 
 MoncrielF  and  Robert  Spottiswood,  two  of  the  guards, 
 and  imprisoned  in  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh.  Being 
 brought  before  the  Council,  and  the  probation  of  the 
 articles  in  the  libel  against  him  being  referred  to  his 
 oath,  he  refused  to  give  his  oath  on  the  matter,  upon 
 which  he  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Bass 
 by  the  following  act : — 
 
 "  2d  May  1677. 
 llobert  Bennet  of  Chesters  apprehended  and  imprisoned 
 in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  as  being  declared  fugitive  for 
 not  appearing  before  the  Council  to  have  answered  for  being 
 at  a  field  conventicle  held  at  Lislie  moor,  and  for  resisting  and 
 opposing  the  king's  forces  in  arms,  he  being  convened  before 
 the  Committee  of  Council  and  examined  thereupon,  and  upon 
 several  other  interrogators  relating  thereto,  and  required  to 
 
 •  Blank  in  MS. 
 
 t  Decreets  of  Privy  Council. 
 
212 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 give  his  oath,  he  altogether  refused  so  to  do  in  a  most  insolent 
 and  arrogant  manner ;  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Coun- 
 cil therefore  do  ordain  him  to  be  carried  to  the  Isle  of  the  Bass, 
 there  to  be  kept  prisoner  until  farther  order ;"  and  give  order 
 and  warrant  to  the  Earl  of  Linlithgow,  Colonel  of  his  Majesty's 
 regiment  of  foot,  "  to  give  order  to  six  footmen  to  convey  him 
 from  the  Tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  to  the  Isle  of  the  Bass,  and 
 to  join  with  the  three  horsemen  appointed  for  their  assistance 
 and  "  grant  order  and  warrant  to  the  Lord  Marquis  of  Athol, 
 Captain  of  his  Majesty's  troop  of  guards,  or  the  next  command- 
 ing officer  in  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  to  give  orders  to  three 
 horsemen  to  join  with  the  six  foot  appointed  for  their  assistance 
 in  transmitting  him,  appointing  the  governor  of  the  Isle  to  re- 
 ceive and  detain  him  in  sure  firmance  till  farther  order." 
 
 At  the  same  meeting  of  Council  it  was  agreed  to  re- 
 commend the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  to  give  the  guards 
 who  apprehended  Bennet  a  reward  of  ^20  sterling. 
 
 Bennet,  notwithstanding  this  act  of  Council,  was  still 
 kept  prisoner  at  Edinburgh  till  the  28th  of  June,  when 
 he  was  again  brought  before  the  Council.  A  long  libel 
 was  read  against  him,  containing  a  variety  of  charges. 
 He  is  accused  of  having,  "  upon  the  first,  second,  third, 
 and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of  April,  May,  June, 
 and  remanent  months  of  the  year  1674 ;  the  first,  second, 
 third,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of  January,  Feb- 
 ruary, March,  and  remanent  months  of  the  year  1675  ; 
 upon  the  first,  second,  third,  and  remanent  days  of  the 
 months  of  January,  February,  March,  1676  ;  and  upon 
 the  first,  second,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of 
 January,  February,  March,  and  April,  1677;  or  upon  one 
 or  other  of  the  days  of  the  months  of  the  said  years,  been 
 present  at  house  and  field  conventicles,  kept  at  Lislie 
 moor,  Hassenden  moor,  Blackriddel-hill,  or  near  to  or 
 about  the  said  places,  or  some  other  places  within  Te- 
 viotdale,  or  at  one  or  other  of  them  ;  at  which  places, 
 
ROBERT  BE>'NET  OF  CHESTERS. 
 
 213 
 
 Mr  John  Welsh,  a  declared  rebel  and  traitor,  Mr  Robert 
 Traill,  son  to  the  deceased  Mr  Robert  Traill,  Mr  George 
 Johnston,  Mr  John  Blackadder,  Mr  David  Williamson, 
 
 who  are  intercommuned  persons,  and  *,  or 
 
 one  or  other  of  them,  did  take  upon  them  to  preach, 
 pray,  and  exercise  the  other  functions  of  the  ministry/' 
 A  farther  charge  brought  against  him  is,  that  he  "  did 
 not  only  meet  and  convene  in  the  fields  in  the  places 
 foresaid,  and  did  invite  and  desire  these  ministers  to 
 keep  the  said  disorderly  meetings,  but  also  at  diverse 
 times  before,  and  after  the  said  disorderly  meetings, 
 did  harbour,  reset,  and  intercommune  with  the  said 
 Mr  John  Welsh,  and  remanent  persons  foresaid,  and 
 entertain  them  in  his  house,  and  elsewhere,  and  did 
 guide  and  conduct  them  to  several  places  on  this  and 
 the  other  side  of  the  border  of  England  in  a  hostile 
 manner,  armed  with  swords  and  pistols,  with  resolution 
 to  fall  in  blood  with  any  person  ^who]  should  molest, 
 interrupt,  or  offer  to  apprehend  the  said  Mr  John  W^elsh, 
 and  the  other  persons  foresaid/'  He  is  also  charged 
 with  having  been  present  at  the  field  conventicle  held 
 on  the  26th  of  November  last  at  Lislie  moor,  and  for 
 acting  there  in  the  manner  previously  describedf 
 
 Being  examined  upon  the  various  articles  of  the  libel, 
 he  frankly  confessed  that  he  had  never  attended  his  own 
 parish  church  since  the  establishment  of  Prelacy ;  that 
 he  was  present  at  the  meeting  held  at  Lilliesleaf  moor  ; 
 that  he  had  heard  Mr  John  Welsh  preach,  and  con- 
 versed with  him,  although  a  declared  traitor  ;  and  that 
 lie  had  been  present  at  the  sermons  of  other  ministers 
 who  were  intercommuned,  and  liad  conversed  with 
 them.  Being  asked  whether  he  would  engage  in  future 
 to  attend  his  own  parish  church,  and  refrain  from  at- 
 
 •  Blank  in  MS.  t  St-c  pp.  20t),l.W. 
 
214 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 tending  conventicles,  and  hearing  "Welsh,  he  refused  to 
 come  under  any  such  engagements,  although  by  doing 
 so  he  would  probably  have  got  easily  olF.  Upon  this 
 he  was  fined  in  the  sum  of  four  thousand  merks  Scots, 
 and  ordained  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Bass  until  he 
 paid  the  fine,  and  until  the  CounciFs  further  orders. 
 The  act  of  Council  is  in  these  terms : — 
 
 ''Edinburgh,  2Sth  June  1677. 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  having  heard 
 and  considered  the  foresaid  Hbel,  with  the  defender's  own  con- 
 fession, they  find  that  he  has  deserted  his  own  parish  kirk,  and 
 never  heard  any  orderly  minister  preach  therein  since  the  re- 
 stitution of  the  Church  government;  that  he  was  at  a  field 
 conventicle  at  Lillie  moor;  that  he  has  conversed  with  Mr  John 
 Welsh,  a  declared  traitor,  and  with  Mr  David  Williamson,  and 
 with  Mr  Greorge  Johnston,  persons  intercommuned,  and  heard 
 them  preach.  And  in  regard  he  refused  to  engage  to  keep  his 
 parish  kirk,  and  not  go  to  conventicles,  or  hear  the  said  Mr 
 John  Welsh  preach  in  time  coming :  therefore,  the  said  Lords 
 do  fine  the  said  Robert  Bennet,  defender,  in  the  sum  of  four 
 thousand  merks  Scots,  and  ordain  him  to  be  carried  to  the 
 Bass,  to  remain  prisoner  there  until  he  make  payment  of  the 
 said  fine,  and  until  the  Council  give  further  order  concerning 
 him." 
 
 A  few  months  after  this,  on  his  presenting  a  petition 
 to  the  Council,  their  Committee  for  Public  AlFairs,  upon 
 considering  it,  gave  it  as  "  their  opinion  that  he  should 
 be  set  at  liberty  on  his  paying  to  the  cash-keeper  one 
 thousand  merks  of  the  fine  of  four  thousand  merks  im- 
 posed upon  him  by  the  Council,  and  finding  caution 
 for  his  orderly  behaviour  under  the  penalty  of  five  thou- 
 sand merks  ;  and  farther,  they  were  of  opinion  that  exe- 
 cution should  be  superseded  for  the  other  three  thou- 
 sand merks  of  his  fine,  until  the  Council  saw  what  should 
 be  his  future  behaviour."  .  .  .  This  report  was  approved 
 
ROBERT  BEXNET  OF  CHESTERS. 
 
 215 
 
 of  by  the  Council  at  their  meeting  of  the  9th  of  Octo- 
 ,    ber  1677. 
 
 But  this  act  in  his  favour  does  not  appear  to  have 
 been  carried  into  effect,  for  we  find  him  still  prisoner 
 in  the  Bass  the  18th  of  February  1678,  when  his  wife, 
 Anna  Douglas,  being  afilicted  with  sickness,  and  ap- 
 prehending the  near  approach  of  death,  petitioned  the 
 Council  that  her  husband,  "  at  present  prisoner  in  the 
 Bass,  might  have  liberty  to  visit  her  on  her  bed  of 
 sickness  before  her  death,  which  in  all  probability  will 
 shortly  ensue/'    In  answer  to  this  petition,  the  Coun- 
 cil "  granted  warrant  and  order  to  the  commander  of 
 the  garrison  of  the  Bass  to  set  him  at  liberty,  in  regard 
 he  hath  found  sufficient  caution  under  the  pain  of  four 
 thousand  merks  Scots,  to  re-enter  himself  prisoner  in 
 the  Bass  on  the  18th  day  of  March  next/'   When  the 
 time  appointed  for  his  returning  to  prison  drew  near,  the 
 indisposition  of  his  wife  still  continuing,  he  presented  a 
 petition  to  the  Council,  praying  that  the  former  liberty 
 granted  him  might  be  prorogued  ;  upon  which  the  Coun- 
 cil, on  the  14th  of  March,  allowed  him  to  remain  at 
 liberty  until  the  first  council-day  of  May  next,  provided 
 he  gave  the  same  security  as  before.    On  the  13th  of 
 J une,  having  considered  another  petition  which  he  pre- 
 sented to  them,  they  "  confined  him  to  his  own  house,  he 
 finding  sufiicient  caution,  under  the  pain  of  four  tliou- 
 sand  merks  Scots,  that  he  should  appear  before  the 
 Council  when  he  should  be  called,  and  that  in  the 
 mean  time  he  should  keej)  his  confinement,  and  that 
 conventicles  should  not  be  kept  in  his  house  under  the 
 foresaid  penalty/'    Owing  to  a  blank  which  occurs  in 
 the  Register  of  the  Acts  of  Council,  some  years  after 
 this,  we  are  unable  to  state  the  future  proceedings  ol 
 that  body  in  reference  to  him,  except  that  on  the  16th 
 
216 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  December  1 680,  they  passed  an  act  by  which  he  was 
 ordained  to  be  set  at  liberty  upon  his  paying  a  fine  of 
 one  thousand  merks,  and  discharged  of  all  fines  imposed 
 upon  him  by  the  Council  preceding  that  date.  This 
 fine  was  to  be  paid  to  the  widow  of  a  deceased  major 
 in  the  army,  who  had  left  her  with  several  children  in 
 destitute  circumstances.  Whether  this  act  refers  to 
 Bennet's  liberation  from  the  Bass,  or  from  some  other 
 prison,  is  uncertain.  His  name  does  not  again  occur  in 
 the  Records  of  the  Privy  Council. 
 
217 
 
 EGBERT  TEAILL. 
 
 Robert  Traill  was  descended  from  an  ancient  family 
 which  had  at  an  early  period  possessed  the  estate  of 
 Blebo  in  the  county  of  Fife.  The  earliest  notice  of 
 it  we  have  met  with  is  in  Keith's  Catalogue  of  Scottish 
 Bishops,  which  informs  us  that  Walter  Traill,  who  was 
 elevated  to  the  See  of  St  Andrews  in  1385,  in  the  reign 
 of  Robert  XL,  by  the  apostolic  authority  of  the  pope, 
 was  a  son  of  the  laird  of  Blebo.*  For  a  few  subsequent 
 generations  a  geneological  account  of  the  family  cannot 
 be  given  in  regular  succession,  but  it  still  continued  to 
 retain  the  estate  ;  and  Andrew  Traill,  the  great-grand- 
 father of  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was  a  younger 
 brother  of  the  then  proprietor.  Following  the  military 
 profession,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  colonel,  and  was 
 for  some  time  in  the  service  of  the  city  of  Bruges  and 
 other  towns  in  Flanders,  in  the  wars  which  the  Nether- 
 lands carried  on  in  defence  of  their  liberties  against 
 Spain.  On  leaving  their  service,  his  arrears  amounted 
 to  c£^2700  sterling,  for  which  sum  the  city  of  Bruges 
 and  the  other  towns  concerned  granted  him  a  bond. 
 After  this,  he  served  with  distinction  under  the  king  of 
 Navarre,  subsequently  Henry  IV.  of  France,  in  the  civil 
 
 •  Edition  1755,  p.  17. 
 
 T 
 
218 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 wars  of  that  kingdom  ;  and  on  liis  return  to  Britain,  he 
 was  made  a  gentleman  of  Prince  Henry's  bed-chamber.* 
 James,  the  son  of  the  preceding,  endeavoured  to  re- 
 cover the  money  due  to  his  father  by  the  cities  of  Flan- 
 ders, and  upon  a  petition  to  King  James  VI.,  which 
 was  referred  to  the  Judge  of  the  Admiralty,  he  obtained 
 warrant  to  arrest  a  ship  belonging  to  the  city  of  Bru- 
 ges at  London.  This  he  accordingly  did ;  but  the  other 
 party  having  gained  the  interest  of  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
 ingham, his  object  was  defeated,  the  ship  being  set 
 free.  Nor  could  he  afterAvards  obtain  any  part  of  the 
 debt  due  to  his  father,  in  consequence  of  which,  to- 
 gether with  the  expenses  of  prosecution,  he  was  so  far 
 reduced  as  to  be  under  the  necessity  of  disposing  of  a 
 small  estate  he  possessed  in  the  parish  of  Denino  in 
 Fife-t 
 
 Robert  Traill,  the  son  of  the  preceding,  and  father 
 of  the  subject  of  our  notice,  was  first  ordained  minis- 
 ter of  Elie,  in  Fife,  in  1639,  a  parish  belonging  to  the 
 Presbytery  of  St  Andrews.  He  was  afterwards,  in  1 649, 
 translated  to  the  Grreyfriars'  Church,  Edinburgh,  to  be 
 colleague  to  Mr  Mungo  Law.  The  prominent  situation 
 he  thus  came  to  occupy,  and  his  stedfast  adherence  to 
 Presbyterian  principles,  connected  him  with  the  most 
 important  ecclesiastical  transactions  of  his  day,  as  well 
 as  involved  him  in  the  sufferings  to  which  public  men 
 in  those  troublous  times  were  exposed.  In  the  contro- 
 versy between  the  resolutioners  and  protesters,  he  took 
 the  side  of  the  latter,  but,  during  the  Commonwealth, 
 lie  zealously  adhered  to  tlie  interest  of  Charles  II. 
 Upon  the  restoration  of  that  prince,  when  almost  the 
 whole  nation  was  so  intoxicated  and  blinded  by  extra- 
 
 *  Notice  of  Traill,  prefixed  to  his  works,  Glasgow  edition,  1775,  p.  iii. 
 t  Ibid. 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 219 
 
 vagant  loyalty,  as  to  forget  the  duty  which  they  owed 
 to  the  Church,  Traill  and  other  nine  ministers,  with 
 two  ruling  elders,  all  protesters,  met  at  Edinburgh  to 
 draw  up  an  humble  address  and  supplication  to  the 
 king,  in  which,  while  congratulating  his  return,  and 
 professing  their  entire  and  unfeigned  loyalty,  they  took 
 the  liberty  to  remind  him  of  the  sacred  obligations 
 of  the  Covenant  which  he  had  sworn,  and  expressed 
 their  earnest  desire  that  his  reign  might  be  like  that 
 of  David,  Solomon,  Jehoshaphat,  and  Hezekiah.  For 
 this  they  were,  by  the  orders  of  the  Committee  of  Es- 
 tates then  sitting,  apprehended  and  committed  close 
 prisoners  to  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.  After  being  con- 
 fined for  some  months,  Traill  was  libelled  for  high  trea- 
 son, but  on  appearing  before  the  Parliament,  so  com- 
 pletely did  he  vindicate  himself  in  a  speech  of  consi- 
 derable length,  that  not  long  after  he  was  set  at  liberty. 
 He  was,  however,  regarded  with  much  suspicion,  and 
 opportunity  being  eagerly  sought  to  treat  him  with  still 
 greater  severity,  a  pretext  for  doing  so  was  not  long  in 
 being  found  ;  for  having  one  vSabbath  afternoon  ex- 
 pounded the  Scrii)tures  to  a  few  friends  in  the  family 
 where  he  resided,  he  was  summoned  before  the  Privy 
 Council  to  answer  for  holding  conventicles.  Refusing, 
 on  making  his  api)earance,  to  swear  and  subscribe  the 
 oath  of  allegiance,  though  he  declared  his  willingness  to 
 take  it  in  the  sense  in  which  the  managers  professed  they 
 themselves  had  taken  it,  he  was  banished  for  life  ;  and 
 towards  the  end  of  March  IGGo,  when  at  the  advanced 
 age  of  sixty,*  he  embarked  at  Dundee  for  Holland,  bid- 
 ding a  sorrowful  adieu  to  his  ])cloved  Avife  and  children. 
 He,  however,  again  returned,  and  died  in  Scothind.  He 
 left  behind  him  manuscript  memoirs  of  his  life.  Two 
 
 •  He  was  born  in  Marclj  or  April  10(>3. 
 
220 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  his  letters  written  to  his  wife  and  children  from  Hol- 
 land, during  his  captivity,  have  been  repeatedly  printed. 
 They  breathe  deep  paternal  solicitude,  and  are  rich  in 
 pious  counsels.  He  married  Jane  Annan,  daughter  to 
 the  Laird  of  Auchterallan,  in  the  north,  a  woman  of 
 great  worth,  by  whom  he  had  six  children,  three  sons, 
 and  three  daughters  :  1.  William,  who  became  minister 
 of  Borthwick  ;  2.  Robert,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  ;  3. 
 James,  a  lieutenant  of  the  garrison  of  Stirling  Castle  ; 
 4.  Helen,  married  to  Mr  Thomas  Paterson,  minister  of 
 Borthwick  ;  5.  Agnes,  married  to  Sir  James  Stewart  of 
 Goodtrees,  Lord  Advocate  of  Scotland ;  and  6.  Mar- 
 garet, married  to  J ames  Scot  of  Bristo,  writer  in  Edin- 
 burgh.* 
 
 Robert,  the  second  eldest  of  the  family,  was  born  at 
 Elie  in  May  1642.  After  being  initiated  in  the  prepar- 
 atory branches  of  learning,  he  attended  the  College  of 
 Edinburgh,  where  he  distinguished  himself  by  a  sedu- 
 lous attention  to  his  studies,  and  the  extent  of  his  ac- 
 quirements in  the  several  classes  through  which  he 
 passed.  As  his  views  were  directed  to  the  sacred  office 
 of  ministry,  after  attending  the  literary  and  philoso- 
 phical classes,  he  went  through  a  course  of  theological 
 study.  Placed  under  the  vigilant  and  affectionate 
 superintendence  of  his  excellent  father,  he  possessed 
 invaluable  advantages  for  improvement  in  learning,  as 
 well  as  for  advancing  in  true  piety,  and  attaining  an 
 acquaintance  with  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
 land. These  advantages  he  did  not  fail  to  improve,  and 
 he  gave  early  indications  of  inheriting  much  of  his 
 father's  spirit.  With  the  intrepidity  of  pious  and  gen- 
 erous youth,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  age,  he 
 
 *  Letters  to  Wodrow,  vol.  xix.  no.  68  ;  and  Notice  of  Traill  prefi-xed  to 
 the  edition  of  his  works  printed  at  Ghisgow  1775,  p.  iv. 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 221 
 
 attended  James  Guthrie,  the  friend  of  his  father,  to  the 
 scaflPold,  and  witnessed  the  stedfastness  and  heroism 
 with  which  the  martyr  laid  down  his  life  in  the  cause, 
 for  which  he  himself  was  to  be  called  to  suffer  less,  but 
 which  he  faithfully  and  consistently  maintained  to  the 
 close  of  a  long  life.    His  father's  banishment  had  re- 
 duced the  family  to  circumstances  of  much  privation, 
 but  they  bore  their  trials  Avith  becoming  fortitude  ;  and 
 the  numerous  conventicles  which,  as  we  learn  from  the 
 Register  of  the  Acts  of  the  Privy  Council,  were  held  in 
 the  house  of  his  mother,  and  by  which  she  exposed  her- 
 self to  punishment,  may  be  regarded  as  an  attestation 
 both  to  the  strength  of  her  religious  principle,  and  to 
 her  Christian  courage.     In  1666  he  and  the  whole 
 family  were  obliged  to  leave  their  home  and  conceal 
 themselves.   In  the  preceding  year,  the  "  Apologetical 
 Relation,''  written  by  Mr  John  Brown,  formerly  minis- 
 ter of  Wamphray,  but  who  had  been  banished  to  Hol- 
 land on  account  of  his  Presbyterian  principles,  was 
 printed  in  that  country ;  a  work  in  which,  among  other 
 things,  James  Guthrie  and  the  Marquis  of  Argyle,  the 
 first  victims  immolated  on  the  altar  of  Prelacy,  are 
 vindicated,  and  the  proceedings  of  government,  in  re- 
 ference to  them,  set  in  their  true  light.    A  number  of 
 copies  of  this  able  production,  so  well  calculated  to  bring 
 odium  on  the  government,  being  soon  brought  over  to 
 Scotland,  the  Privy  Council,  irritated  at  the  freedom 
 with  which  it  unfolded  the  mystery  of  their  iniquity, 
 pronounced  it  "  to  be  full  of  seditious,  treasonable,  and 
 rebellious  principles,"  condemned  it  to  be  burnt  by  the 
 hands  of  the  hangman, — finding  it  easier  to  burn  it  than 
 to  disprove  its  statements  of  fact,  or  to  confute  its  argu- 
 ments,— and  ordered  all  who  had  copies  of  it  to  deliver 
 them  up  to  government,  under  the  penalty  of  two  thou- 
 
222 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 sand  merks  Scots.  A  copy  of  this  book  had  found  its 
 way  into  TrailFs  mother's  house,  and  the  family  hav- 
 ing a  different  opinion  of  its  merits  from  what  was  held 
 by  the  Privy  Council,  were  not  in  a  hurry  to  deliver  it 
 up.  But  their  house  being  searched — for  the  conven- 
 ticles kept  in  it,  and  the  well-known  anti-prelatic  ten- 
 dencies of  the  family,  made  them  the  objects  of  strong 
 suspicion, — the  obnoxious  volume  was  discovered,  and 
 Traill,  with  his  mother  and  brother,  to  escape  the  ven- 
 geance of  the  Council,  were  under  the  necessity  of  hid- 
 ing themselves. 
 
 Whether  Traill  was  with  the  Covenanters  in  the  en- 
 gagement at  Pentland  Hills,  we  have  not  been  able  to 
 ascertain,  but  he  was  accused  by  the  government  of 
 being  one  of  the  insurgents,  and  eagerly  sought  after. 
 So  obnoxious  had  he  become  to  the  ruling  powers,  that 
 in  the  indemnity  which  the  king  proclaimed  in  favour 
 of  "  the  Pentland  rebels,''  dated  AVhitehall,  1st  October 
 1667,  he  is  one  of  those  who  are  expressly  excluded 
 from  the  benefit  of  its  provisions.  In  the  document  he 
 is  said  to  have  been  for  "  some  time  chaplain  to  Scots- 
 tarvet."^'  Thus  branded  as  a  traitor,  and  placed  be- 
 yond the  pale  of  the  king  s  mercy,  to  escape  the  fury 
 of  the  government  he  retired  to  Holland,  that  asylum 
 where  many  of  our  suffering  ancestors  were  sheltered 
 during  the  persecution  of  the  Stuarts.  There  he  met 
 with  his  father,  and  other  expatriated  fellow-country- 
 men, by  whom  he  would  be  cordially  welcomed.  In 
 this  retreat  he  continued  to  prosecute  his  theological 
 studies.  He  also  employed  a  considerable  part  of  his 
 time  in  assisting  Dr  Matthias  Nethenus,  Professor  of 
 Theology  in  the  University  of  Utrecht,  in  the  publica- 
 tion of  Mr  Samuel  Rutherford's  learned  work,  entitled 
 
 *  Wodrow'a  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  92. 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 223 
 
 Examen  Arminianismi/'  which  was  published  at 
 Utrecht  in  1668.  From  a  letter  of  Mr  Robert  M'Ward, 
 a  banished  minister,  and  then  pastor  of  the  Scottish 
 Church  in  Rotterdam,  to  Nethenus,  and  from  a  preface 
 of  Nethenus  to  the  Reader,  prefixed  to  the  work,  we 
 learn  the  share  which  Traill  had  in  preparing  it  for 
 the  press,  as  well  as  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 
 by  these  eminent  men.  M'Ward,  to  whom  the  MS.  of 
 the  volume  had  been  communicated  by  Rutherford's 
 widow  and  friends  for  examination,  in  his  letter  to  Ne- 
 thenus, says,  "  I  have  transmitted  with  this  excellent 
 young  man,  Mr  Traill,  a  student  of  theology,  and  a  par- 
 taker of  the  cross  of  Christ  with  his  father,  that  manu- 
 script of  your  distinguished  brother,  Rutherford,  which 
 in  the  judgment  of  learned  men,  but  especially  of  your- 
 self, is  considered  worthy  of  being  brought  to  light." 
 And  after  desiring  that  Nethenus,  as  had  been  agreed 
 upon  between  them,  should  without  hesitation  use  the 
 freedom  of  deleting  or  changing  any  word  or  phrase 
 which  rendered  the  sense  obscure  to  the  reader,  before 
 giving  it  to  the  printer,  he  adds,  "  And  lest  the  read- 
 ing of  the  manuscript  should  occasion  you  some  diffi- 
 culty, or  encroach  too  much  on  your  precious  time,  I 
 have  given  orders  to  Mr  Traill  to  ease  you  of  this  bur- 
 den, by  reading  it  for  you,  while  you  mark  those  things 
 which  are  to  be  corrected,  omitted,  or  changed/' 
 Nethenus  also,  in  his  preface  to  the  work,  speaks  in 
 terms  of  high  commendation  of  Traill  ;  and  on  this  ac- 
 count, as  well  as  to  shew  by  the  way  the  great  pains 
 taken  to  secure  the  accuracy  of  that  posthumous  pub- 
 lication, we  shall  extract  a  few  sentences  from  his  pre- 
 face :— "  Your  letter"  [Mr  M'Ward's]  says  he,  "  with 
 Rutherford's  MS.,  was  brought  to  me  by  that  learned, 
 pious,  prudent,  and  industrious  youn«r  man,  Mr  Robert 
 
224 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Traill,  student  of  theology,  the  son  of  Mr  Robert  Traill, 
 who  is  an  exile  for  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  confession 
 of  the  truth  ;  a  son  worthy  of  such  a  father.  Having 
 been  appointed  to  assist  me  in  preparing  this  volume 
 for  publication,  he  has  throughout  performed  his  part 
 diligently,  faithfully,  and  constantly,  so  that  he  de- 
 serves the  approbation  and  love  of  all  the  friends  and 
 students  both  of  divine  truth  and  of  the  works  of  the 
 
 illustrious  Rutherford  Mr  Traill,  for  my 
 
 assistance,  and  that  of  the  printers,  has  transcribed  in 
 parts  the  whole  text  of  the  author  from  collated  copies, 
 in  a  superior  and  more  elegant  hand,  in  such  order  and 
 manner  as  I  pointed  out  to  him  ;  adding,  likewise,  on 
 the  margin,  asterisks,  where  he  thought  any  thing  re- 
 quired to  be  examined  or  corrected ;  and  he  brought  to 
 me  every  part  to  be  read  and  reviewed  before  it  was  put 
 
 into  the  printer's  hands  In  addition  to  this, 
 
 that  the  work  might  be  presented  to  the  public  with 
 the  greatest  possible  accuracy,  when  it  was  put  in  type 
 every  page  was  again  read  and  corrected  by  Mr  Traill, 
 and  then  being  put  into  my  hands,  I  read  it  over  again, 
 corrected,  and  amended  it." 
 
 Traill  did  not  remain  long  in  Holland  after  the  pub- 
 lication of  Rutherford's  work.  He  probably  returned 
 to  England  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1669  ;  for  we 
 learn  from  one  of  his  Note-books,  that  he  preached  at 
 London  for  the  first  time  on  the  22d  of  April  1669,  on 
 the  Thursday  before  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
 ment of  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  one  of  the  Presbyte- 
 rian congregations.  It  would  appear  from  the  memo- 
 randum in  another  of  his  Note-books,  "  Trial,  April 
 5,  1669,"  that  he  had  been  shortly  before  licensed  by 
 the  Presbyterian  ministers  in  that  city.*    "  From  the 
 
 *  M'Crie's  Memoirs  of  Veitch  and  Brysson,  p.  205.    In  an  act  of  Privy 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 225 
 
 notices  in  his  manuscript-sermons,  it  also  appears  that 
 after  preaching  some  time  in  London  without  any  set- 
 tled charge,  he  was  permanently  stationed  at  Cran- 
 brook,  a  small  town  in  Kent/'* 
 
 In  the  end  of  May  1677,  Traill  came  to  Edinburgh, 
 probably  on  a  visit  to  his  relatives  and  friends  ;  and 
 ready  to  embrace  every  opportunity  of  proclaiming  the 
 unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  he  had  preached  in  pri- 
 vate houses,  notwithstanding  the  severe  laws  enacted 
 against  the  minister  who  officiated  at  such  meetings, 
 the  people  who  attended  them,  as  well  as  the  person  in 
 whose  house  they  were  held,  and  the  zeal  with  which 
 these  laws  were  executed.  It  was  soon  discovered  by 
 the  government  that  he  preached  at  such  meetings  ; 
 and  being  apprended  by  Major  Johnston,  who  received 
 for  this  piece  of  service  from  the  Council,  a  reward  of 
 a  thousand  pounds  Scots,  he  was  brought  before  the 
 Council,  and  charged  with  holding  house  and  field  con- 
 venticles. He  acknowledged,  without  hesitation,  that 
 he  had  preached  in  private  houses,  but  as  to  preach  in 
 the  fields  was,  according  to  the  then  existing  law,  a 
 capital  crime,  he  declined  to  answer  whether  or  not  he 
 had  done  this,  leaving  his  accusers  to  establish  that 
 point  by  proof  if  they  could.  This  they  deemed  it  un- 
 necessary to  attempt,  having  a  shorter  and  more  sum- 
 mary mode  of  procedure ;  for  in  those  days,  when  even 
 the  forms  of  justice  were  disregarded,  it  was  customary 
 for  the  Council,  as  has  been  before  observed,  in  the 
 absence  of  evidence,  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  oath  of 
 the  person  before  them,  and  if  he  refused  to  clear  him- 
 self by  oath,  he  was  considered  as  having  confessed  him- 
 
 Council,  July  19.  1677,  it  is  stated  that  Traill  "  deolarod  that  in  the  year 
 1670  ho  was  ordained  minister  by  sonic  Pres^bytcrian  ministers  of  liondon." 
 
 *  Notice  of  Traill  prefixed  to  his  Select  Writings,  issued  h\  Cheap  Pub- 
 lication Scheme  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  p.  viii. 
 
226 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 self  guilty,  and  punished  accordingly.*  Acting  upon  this 
 rule  of  judicial  procedure,  the  Council  ordered  Traill 
 to  purge  himself  by  oath  of  having  either  preached  or 
 heard  at  field  conventicles  ;  and  on  his  peremptorily  re- 
 fusing to  do  this,  as  what  he  could  not  justly  be  bound 
 to  do  in  his  own  cause,  they  sentenced  him  to  be  im- 
 prisoned in  the  Bass,  by  the  following  act : — 
 
 "  Edinburgh,  im  July  1677. 
 "  Forasmuch  as  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council, 
 finding  by  the  Report  of  the  Committee  anent  Public  Affairs, 
 that  ]Mi'  Robert  Traill,  son  of  the  deceased  Mr  Robert  Traill, 
 against  whom  letters  of  inter  communing  are  direct,  and  who 
 is  excepted  forth  of  his  Majesty's  gracious  act  of  indemnity 
 for  his  being  in  the  rebellion  in  the  year  1666,  being  appre- 
 hended within  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  and  brought  before  the 
 said  Committee,  and  examined  if  since  his  last  coming  to  this 
 kingdom  he  had  kept  any  house  or  field  conventicles,  did  ac- 
 knowledge he  had  kept  house  conventicles,  but  said  he  left  it 
 to  proof  as  to  field  conventicles ;  and  the  verity  thereof  being 
 referred  to  his  own  oath  he  refused  to  depone ;  and  confessed 
 he  had  conversed  with  Mr  John  Welsh  on  the  borders,  and 
 had  assisted  him  at  preaching  in  the  fields,  but  especially  upon 
 the  borders  of  the  English  side,  where  he  said  he  had  stayed 
 for  the  most  part  since  he  came  last  to  Scotland ;  and  that  he 
 had  been  in  and  about  Edinburgh  since  the  end  of  May  last ; 
 and  that  being  interrogated  by  what  authority  he  took  upon  him 
 to  preach,  he  declared  that,  in  the  year  1670,  he  was  ordained 
 minister  by  some  Presbyterian  ministers  at  London ;  and  ac- 
 knowledged that  he  had  seen  the  printed  act  of  indemnity  out 
 of  which  his  name  is  excepted  :  The  said  Lords  do  ordain  the 
 said  Mr  Robert  Traill  to  be  sent  prisoner  to  the  Bass,  until 
 the  Council  consider  what  further  shall  be  done  with  him." 
 On  the  same  day,  "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council 
 do  grant  warrant  and  order  to  the  Lord  ^larquis  of  Athole,  to 
 command  such  a  party  of  horse  as  he  shall  think  fit  to  trans- 
 
 *  See  p.  122. 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 227 
 
 port  the  person  of  Mr  Robert  Traill  from  the  Tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh  unto  the  Isle  of  the  Bass,  to  remain  prisoner 
 there." 
 
 After  lying  upwards  of  two  months  in  the  dungeon 
 of  the  Bass,  Traill  presented  a  petition  to  the  Coun- 
 cil, supplicating  to  be  set  at  liberty.  On  considering 
 this  petition,  the  Council,  by  an  act  of  the  5th  of  Oc- 
 tober, "  give  order  to  the  Governor  of  the  Isle  of  the 
 Bass  immediately  to  set  the  said  Mr  Robert  Traill  at 
 liberty,  in  regard  that  sufficient  caution  is  found  for 
 him  acted  in  the  Books  of  Privy  Council,  that  he  shall 
 re-enter  his  person  in  prison  when  he  shall  be  called, 
 under  the  pain  of  two  thousand  merks  Scots  money,  and 
 that  during  the  time  of  his  enlargement  he  shall  live 
 orderly  in  obedience  to  law,  under  the  pain  foresaid." 
 "  To  live  orderly  in  obedience  to  law,''  was,  in  the  lan- 
 guage of  the  Privy  Council,  to  abstain  from  keeping 
 house  or  field  conventicles.  If  Traill  came  under  such 
 an  engagement,  as  the  act  of  Council  declares  that  he 
 did,  he  engaged  to  do  what  some  others  of  the  prisoners 
 of  the  Bass,  as  Mr  Thomas  Hog  and  Mr  John  Black- 
 adder,  absolutely  refused,  upon  any  consideration,  to 
 do.  But  it  is  possible  that  his  friends,  to  obtain  his 
 liberty,  came  under  such  an  engagement  for  him  with- 
 out his  knowledge  ;  as  in  some  instances  we  find  friends 
 presenting  petitions  in  behalf  of  the  prisoners,  and  com- 
 ing under  obligations  for  them,  with  which  they  were 
 altogether  unacquainted.  Or  if  Traill  actually  came 
 under  such  a  }>romise,  he  might  do  so  with  the  purpose 
 that,  as  he  was  a  minister  of  a  charge  in  England,  he 
 would  at  once  leave  Scotland  and  return  to  it. 
 
 Whatever  may  be  as  to  this,  we  know  that  on  being 
 liberated  lie  returned  to  his  charge  at  Cranbrook.  He 
 afterwards  accepted  an  invitation  to  become  pastor  of 
 
228 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 a  Presbyterian  congregation  in  London  ;  and  in  that 
 situation  he  continued,  during  the  remaining  part  of 
 his  life,  to  discharge,  with  much  acceptance,  fidelity, 
 and  diligence,  his  ministerial  duties. 
 
 Near  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Traill  was 
 engaged  for  some  time  in  a  warm  contest  on  some  points 
 of  Christian  doctrine.  In  1692,  a  controversy  arose 
 among  the  dissenting  ministers  in  London  somewhat 
 similar  to  that  about  the  Marrow  of  Modern  Divinity, 
 which  agitated  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  the  beginning 
 of  the  18th  century,  and  in  that  controversy  he  was 
 honoured  to  defend,  along  with  some  other  distinguished 
 ministers,  the  same  important  truths  for  which  Boston 
 and  the  other  Marrowmen  so  zealously  contended. 
 Richard  Baxter,  holding  that  the  views  propounded  by 
 our  Reformers  concerning  the  doctrines  of  grace  Avere 
 Antinomian,  had  long  been  attempting  to  introduce  into 
 the  Church  a  scheme  of  doctrine  intermediate  between 
 Calvinism  and  Arminianism,  and  which  contained 
 many  erroneous  notions  about  justification  and  other 
 collateral  points.  From  the  reputation  in  which  that 
 eminent  man  was  held  for  piety  and  penetration,  many 
 of  the  English  Presbyterians  had  embraced  or  were  tinc- 
 tured with  his  new  opinions.  This  was  no  doubt  the 
 real  cause  of  the  controversy  to  which  we  refer,  al- 
 though the  immediate  occasion  of  it  was  the  printing 
 of  some  sermons  of  Dr  Tobias  Crisp,  by  his  son  Mr 
 Samuel  Crisp.  Several  of  that  divine's  sermons,  under 
 the  title  of  "  Christ  alone  Exalted,''  had  been  printed 
 in  three  volumes  in  1643,  1644,  &c.  ;  and  his  son,  in 
 ]  683,  had  published  tAvo  additional  sermons  from  his 
 father's  manuscripts.  About  the  year  1690,  there  were 
 published  by  the  same  gentleman,  others  of  his  writings, 
 to  which  the  names  of  several  ministers  were  prefixed, 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 229 
 
 testifying  that  these  writings  were  genuine.  The  volume 
 was  found  fault  with  by  some  as  approaching  too  near 
 Antinomianism  ;  and  those  who  had  allowed  their 
 names  to  be  prefixed  to  it  in  attestation  of  the  genuine- 
 ness of  its  contents,  were  understood  as  expressing  their 
 approbation  of  the  doctrine  which  it  contained,  or  at 
 least  as  in  so  far  giving  countenance  to  it.  Dr  Daniel 
 Williams,  and  several  other  ministers  of  high  reputation, 
 both  for  piety  and  talents,  keenly  opposed  what  they 
 conceived  to  be  the  Antinomian  opinions  of  Dr  Crisp  ; 
 but  in  opposing  these  they  condemned  some  important 
 truths  of  the  gospel  as  Antinomian,  and  advocated  a 
 scheme  of  doctrine  midway  between  Baxterianism  and 
 Calvinism,  or  rather  refined  upon  Baxter's  opinions. 
 This  led  Traill,  Dr  Isaac  Chauncey,  Mr  Elisha  Cole,  Mr 
 Thomas  Goodwin  junior,  and  others,  also  men  distin- 
 guished for  piety  and  talents,  to  come  forward  in  defence 
 of  the  doctrines  of  grace  in  opposition  to  the  new  opi- 
 nions of  the  Baxterian  school,  as  put  forth  by  Dr  Wil- 
 liams and  his  adherents.  Thus  two  parties  were  formed ; 
 and  the  controversy  was  carried  on  with  considerable 
 heat  for  several  years.  Many  pamphlets  were  published 
 on  both  sides,  but  of  these  only  a  few  can  be  here 
 named.  Dr  Williams  published,  in  1692,  a  small  tract 
 in  8vo,  entitled  "  Gospel  Truth  Stated  and  Vindicated ;" 
 in  which  he  attempted  to  refute  twenty  positions  hiid 
 down  by  Dr  Crisp  ;  and  to  this  were  prefixed  the  names 
 of  several  ministers,  expressing  their  approbation  of  it. 
 This  tract  was  taken  u])  and  refuted  with  great  warmth 
 by  Dr  Chauncey,  in  his  "  Nconomianism  Unmasked  ;" 
 and  Mr  Nathaniel  Mather  published  a  sermon  about 
 justification  on  the  same  side.  Dr  Williams  answered 
 in  two  works,  the  one  entitled  "  A  Defence  of  Gospel 
 Truth,"  and  the  other,    Man  made  Righteous."  Mr 
 
230 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Greorge  GrifFjth,  and  other  Congregational  ministers, 
 drew  up  and  subscribed  a  paper  of  exceptions  against 
 several  passages  in  "  Gospel  Truth  Stated/'  &c.,  and  Dr 
 Williams  replied  in  a  Postscript  to  his  third  edition.* 
 Traill  did  not  delight  in  contention,  but  into  this 
 controversy  he  entered  with  the  zeal  of  one  who  felt 
 that  he  was  set  for  the  defence  of  the  Gospel.  His 
 letter  to  a  minister  in  the  country,  entitled  "  A  Vindi- 
 cation of  the  Protestant  Doctrine  concerning  Justifica- 
 tion, and  of  its  Preachers  and  Professors,  from  the  un- 
 just charge  of  Antinomianism,"t  throws  much  light 
 upon  the  most  essential  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  shews 
 how  fully  he  understood  the  points  controverted,  as 
 well  as  perceived  their  importance  in  the  ministrations 
 of  the  pulpit.  His  opponents  repudiated  the  name  of 
 Arminians,  and  professed  their  assent  to  the  Westmin- 
 ster Assembly's  Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms, 
 as  well  as  to  the  Doctrinal  Articles  of  the  Church  of 
 England.  "  But,''  says  he,  after  quoting  the  answer  to 
 the  question  in  the  Larger  Catechism,  How  doth  faith 
 justify  a  sinner  in  the  sight  of  God  ?  "  can  any  con- 
 sidering man  think  that  the  new  scheme,  of  a  real 
 change,  repentance,  and  sincere  obedience,  as  necessary 
 to  be  found  in  a  person  that  may  lawfully  come  to 
 
 *  Brown's  History  of  the  British  Churches,  vol.  i.  p.  344.  Brown's  Gos- 
 pel Truth,  p.  437.  Dr  Calamy's  Life  written  by  himself,  vol.  i.  pp.  321 — 
 324.  From  Calamy's  account  of  this  controversy  the  reader  can  have  no 
 correct  idea  of  the  real  matter  in  dispute.  He  belonged  to  the  party 
 represented  by  Dr  Williams,  and  Avould  have  it  believed  that  they  were 
 contending  all  the  while  solely  against  Antinomianism,  which  Traill  and 
 those  on  his  side  were  defending. 
 
 t  This  is  published  in  Traill's  Select  Writings,  Free  Church  Publica- 
 tions. Calamy  calls  this  "  an  angry  letter."  Life,  vol.  i.  p.  324.  It  is  on 
 the  contrary  written  with  much  calmness,  but  at  the  same  time  with  an 
 earnestness  and  firmness  which  indicate  the  author's  conviction  that  what 
 he  defends  is  vitally  important  truths,  and  that  what  he  opposes  is  dange- 
 rous error. 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 231 
 
 Christ  for  justification  ;  of  faith's  justifying,  as  it  is  the 
 spring  of  sincere  obedience  ;  of  a  man's  being  justified 
 by  and  upon  his  coming  up  to  the  terms  of  the  new 
 law  of  grace  (a  new  word  but  of  an  old  and  ill  mean- 
 ing) ;  can  any  man  think  that  this  scheme  and  the 
 sound  words  of  the  Reverend  Assembly  do  agree  V 
 His  opponents  accused  him  and  his  friends  of  holding 
 the  sentiments  of  Dr  Crisp,  to  which  they  were  far 
 from  giving  an  unqualified  assent.  "  Let  not  Dr  Crisp's 
 book/'  says  he,  "  be  looked  upon  as  the  standard  of  our 
 doctrine,  there  are  many  good  things  in  it,  and  also 
 many  expressions  in  it  which  we  generally  dislike." 
 And  in  reference  to  the  charge  of  Antinomianism  he 
 observes,  "  Is  it  not  a  little  provoking  that  some  are 
 so  captious  that  no  minister  can  preach  in  the  hearing 
 of  some  of  the  freedom  of  God's  grace  ;  of  the  imputa- 
 tion of  Christ's  righteousness  ;  of  sole  and  single  be- 
 lieving on  him  for  righteousness  and  eternal  life  ;  of 
 the  impossibility  of  a  natural  man's  doing  any  good 
 work,  before  he  be  in  Christ ;  of  the  impossibility  of 
 the  mixing  of  man's  righteousness  and  works  with 
 Christ's  righteousness  in  the  business  of  justification, 
 and  several  other  points,  but  he  is  immediately  called 
 or  suspected  to  be  an  Antinomian  ?  If  we  say  that 
 faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  neitlier  work  nor  condition, 
 nor  qualification  in  justification,  but  is  a  mere  instru- 
 ment, receiving  (as  an  empty  hand  receiveth  the  freely 
 given  alms)  the  righteousness  of  Christ  ;  and  that  in 
 its  very  act  it  is  a  renouncing  of  all  things  but  tlic  gift 
 of  grace  ;  the  fire  is  kindled."  But  not  only  did  his 
 oj)ponents  charge  liim  and  his  brethren  who  did  not 
 receive  the  new  divinity  with  holding  Antinomian 
 tenets,  they  were  also  very  liberal  in  stigmatizing  them 
 as  ignorant,  weak,  and  unstudied  divines  ;  claiming, 
 
232 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 it  would  seem,  all  the  talent  and  learning  to  their  own 
 side.  This  Traill  was  disposed  to  overlook.  "  But/' 
 says  he,  when  we  see  the  pure  gospel  of  Christ  cor- 
 rupted, and  an  Arminian  gospel  new  vampt,  and  ob- 
 truded on  people,  to  the  certain  peril  of  the  souls  of 
 such  as  believe  it,  and  our  ministry  reflected  upon, 
 which  should  be  dearer  to  us  than  our  lives,  can  we 
 be  silent  ?  As  we  have  a  charge  from  the  Lord,  to 
 declare  to  our  people  what  we  have  received  from  him, 
 so  as  he  calls  and  enables,  we  are  not  to  give  place 
 by  subjection,  no,  not  for  an  hour,  to  such  as  creep  in 
 not  only  to  spy  out  but  to  destroy,  not  so  much  the 
 gospel  liberty  as  the  gospel  salvation  we  have  in  Christ 
 Jesus,  and  to  bring  us  back  under  the  yoke  of  legal 
 bondage.'' 
 
 Various  attempts  were  made  to  compose  the  diffe- 
 rences between  these  ministers  ;  and  at  last,  after  hot 
 debates  for  several  years,  they  agreed  to  refer  their 
 differences  to  a  man  whom  they  both  held  in  high 
 estimation  for  the  extent  of  his  learning,  the  solidity 
 of  his  judgment,  the  soundness  of  his  theological  opi- 
 nions, as  well  as  the  lustre  of  his  piety,  the  celebrated 
 Herman  Witsius,  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Utrecht.  This 
 eminent  divine,  at  their  desire,  undertook  the  delicate 
 office  of  an  arbitrator  between  them  ;  and  after  care- 
 fully perusing  the  books  which  they  sent  to  him  on 
 both  sides  of  the  question,  and  weighing  the  arguments 
 in  favour  of  their  respective  views,  he  composed  his 
 Animadversiones  Irenicce,  or  Conciliatory  Animadver- 
 sions, first  published  at  Utrecht  in  the  year  1696  ;  a 
 work  which,  from  its  ability  and  success  in  unravelling 
 the  intricacies  and  perplexity  in  which  the  question 
 had  been  involved,  as  well  as  from  its  candour  and 
 impartiality,  was  eminently  fitted  to  extinguish  the 
 
ROBERT  TRAILL. 
 
 233 
 
 flame  of  controversy,  and  to  restore  harmony  of  senti- 
 ment between  the  contending  theologians. 
 
 Of  Traill's  future  history  little  is  known  ;  but  he 
 lived  after  this  many  years  in  the  discharge  of  his  mi- 
 nisterial duties.  He  died  in  May  1 716,  at  the  advanced 
 age  of  seventy-four. 
 
 Traill  is  the  author  of  various  religious  works,  of 
 which  the  following  is  a  list : — 1.  A  Sermon  on  "  By 
 what  means  may  ministers  best  win  souls  V  2.  Vindi- 
 cation of  the  Protestant  Doctrine  concerning  Justifi- 
 cation, and  of  its  Preachers  and  Professors,  from  the 
 unjust  charge  of  Antinomianism.  3.  Thirteen  Dis- 
 courses on  the  Throne  of  Grace,  from  Heb.  iv.  16.  4. 
 Sixteen  Sermons  on  the  Prayer  of  our  Saviour  in  John 
 xvii.  24.  All  these  were  published  during  his  lifetime. 
 5.  Stedfast  Adherence  to  the  Profession  of  our  Faith, 
 in  twenty-one  Sermons  on  Heb.  x.  23.  6.  Eleven  Ser- 
 mons on  1  Peter  i.  1-4.  7.  Six  Sermons  on  Galatians 
 ii.  21.  The  last  three  volumes  were  published  from 
 his  manuscripts  after  his  death.  Ten  additional  ser- 
 mons of  his  have  lately  been  published,  for  the  first 
 time,  in  the  Cheap  Publications  of  the  Free  Church 
 of  Scotland,  from  his  MSS.  in  the  possession  of  some 
 of  his  descendants.  All  his  writings  exhibit  an  accu- 
 rate and  deep  acquaintance  with  the  gospel  scheme, 
 and  they  have  been  long  deservedly  esteemed  by  ju- 
 dicious Christians  of  all  denominations.  In  the  be- 
 ginning of  the  18th  century  when  the  Baxterian  opi- 
 nions, or  a  refined  Arminianism,  was  preached  by  many 
 of  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  even 
 by  several  devoted  and  good  men,  Traill's  works,  find- 
 ing their  way  into  this  country,  were  eniineiitly  use- 
 ful in  giving  both  ministers  and  private  Christians 
 clearer  views  of  the  doctrines  of  grace  ;  and  at  tlie 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 time  when  the  Marrow  controversy  was  at  its  height, 
 his  works  were  printed  by  the  friends  of  the  Marrow 
 doctrine.*  As  an  instance  of  the  high  estimation  in 
 which  his  writings  were  held,  and  of  the  comfort  and 
 establishment  of  heart  which  they  were  the  means  of 
 imparting,  we  may  quote  the  following  passage  from 
 the  Diary  of  Ebenezer  Erskine,  the  father  of  the  Seces- 
 sion : — 1721.  Saturday,  about  twelve  of  the  day,  I 
 have  been  directed  this  forenoon  to  read  in  Mr  Traill, 
 on  the  Throne  of  Grace,  Heb.  iv.  last  verse  ;  a  text 
 that  has  sometimes  been  sweet  and  pleasant  to  me,  but 
 I  think  never  more  sweet  than  this  day.  I  bless  the 
 Lord  who  directed  that  honest  man  to  preach  and  write 
 on  this  blessed  subject ;  and  I  bless  the  Lord  that 
 brought  his  book  to  my  hand,  and  that  directed  me 
 to  read  it  this  day.    I  read  some  of  it  with  tears  of 
 
 joy."t 
 
 *  Brown's  G-ospel  Truth,  pp.  5,  36. 
 
 t  Eraser's  Life  of  Ebenezer  Erskine,  p.  140. 
 
JOHN  3rGILLIGEN. 
 
 John  M'Gilligen  was,  prior  to  the  Restoration,  minis- 
 ter of  Foddertie,  a  parish  lying  partly  in  Ross-shire 
 and  partly  in  the  shire  of  Cromarty,  chiefly  in  the 
 beautiful  and  arable  vale  of  Strathpeffer,  west  from 
 Dingwall.  Having  been  admitted  since  the  year  1649 
 he  fell  under  the  operation  of  the  act  of  Parliament 
 passed  in  1662,  which  ordained  that  all  ministers  who 
 had  been  admitted  since  1649,  as  they  had  not  en- 
 tered by  presentations  from  patrons,  should  receive 
 presentations  from  their  respective  patrons,  and  also 
 collation  from  the  Bishops  of  their  respective  dioceses, 
 under  the  penalty  of  deprivation.  With  the  terms  of 
 this  act  he  refused  to  comply,  and  was  in  consequence 
 forced  to  leave  his  charge.  The  patron  offered  to  pre- 
 sent him  to  the  parish,  but  he  declined  the  gift,  per- 
 suaded that  the  acceptance  of  it,  though  it  might  relieve 
 him  from  much  outward  trouble,  was  inconsistent  with 
 his  duty  to  God,  and  his  own  solemn  engagements.  "  1 
 reckon  the  acceptance  of  that,"  said  he,  "  as  destroying 
 the  foundation  which  God  has  laid  in  this  Church, 
 to  the  maintenance  of  wliich  I  am  bound  ))y  solemn 
 oath."  Like  the  rest  of  the  ejected  ministers,  he  liud 
 ]»eaceably  left  his  charge,  not  because  he  acknowledged 
 
236 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  justice  of  that  cruel  act,  by  which  so  many  honest 
 and  conscientious  ministers  were  extruded ;  but  because 
 he  deemed  it  needless  to  contend  with  the  secular  arm 
 which  could  easily  effect  his  expulsion.  The  malice  of 
 the  prelates  against  him  was  not,  however,  satisfied 
 with  seeing  him  separated  from  his  flock.  The  Bishop 
 of  Ross*  summoned  him  before  his  Diocesan  Synod  in 
 1663 ;  and  on  his  not  appearing,  passed  a  sentence  of 
 deposition  against  him  because  he  did  not  appear,  be- 
 cause he  had  never  attended  that  court,  and  because 
 he  preached,  prayed,  and  reasoned  against  prelatical 
 government.  The  sentence  was  intimated  by  the  bish- 
 op's orders,  in  the  kirk  of  Foddertie  on  the  last  day 
 of  May  1663. 
 
 Leaving  Foddertie,  he  came  and  dwelt  at  a  house  of 
 his  own  at  Alness  ;  and  not  feeling  the  bishop's  sen- 
 tence of  deposition  binding  on  his  conscience,  he  con- 
 tinued to  preach  wherever  an  opportunity  offered  in  that 
 part  of  the  country,  where  the  pure  and  faithful  preach- 
 ing of  the  gospel  was  much  needed,  it  being  less  gene- 
 rally diffused  there  than  in  the  south  and  west  of  Scot- 
 land. Nor  were  his  labours  without  evident  tokens  of 
 the  divine  blessing,  many  having  been  brought  by  his 
 ministry  to  the  saving  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  while 
 others  were  established  in  the  faith.  After  this  he 
 was  subjected  by  the  restless  violence  of  the  bishop  of 
 the  bounds  and  his  creatures  to  almost  incessant  harass- 
 ings  for  many  years,  which  he  endured  with  undaunted 
 fortitude.  The  manifest  success  which  attended  his 
 ministry  where  it  was  exercised,  the  consciousness  of 
 
 *  Tho  Bishop  of  Ross  at  this  time  was  Mr  John  Paterson.  He  was  minis- 
 ter first  at  Foveran,  next  at  Aberdeen,  and  was  advanced  to  the  See  of  Ross 
 on  the  18th  of  .January  1662,  where  he  sat  till  his  death  in  the  year  1679. 
 ]Ie  was  the  father  of  John  Paterson,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow.  Keith's 
 Historical  Catalogue  of  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  203. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEN. 
 
 237 
 
 suffering  in  a  good  cause,  a  sense  of  the  divine  appro- 
 bation and  presence,  encouraged  and  sustained  him 
 amidst  all  that  was  outwardly  painful  and  trying. 
 Many  attempts  were  made  to  seize  him  ;  but  for  a  long 
 time  he  was  preserved  from  falling  into  the  hands  of 
 his  persecutors,  and  often  met  with  hairbreadth  escapes, 
 so  remarkable  as  could  hardly  be  accounted  for  in  any 
 other  way  than  by  the  special  interposition  of  a  gracious 
 Providence,  which  ever  watches  over  the  good.  The 
 bishop,  mortified  to  find  that,  in  spite  of  his  ejection  from 
 his  parish,  and  in  defiance  of  the  sentence  of  deposition, 
 the  refractory  presbyter  still  continued  to  preach,  and 
 with  much  success,  threatened  to  excommunicate  him. 
 M'Gilligen  cared  little  about  the  boasted  anathemas  of 
 an  arrogant  and  enraged  prelate,  whose  sentence,  al- 
 though it  might  be  sanctioned  by  his  Diocesan  Synod, 
 would  yet  want  the  stamp  of  the  broad  seal  of  Heaven, 
 and  when  informed  by  a  friend  of  this  intention,  calmly 
 observed,  "  I  have  already  heard  that  Balaam  has  de- 
 igned to  curse  me,  but  I  do  not  question  that  it  will 
 end  like  Shimei's  cursing  David."  The  bishop  and  his 
 parasites  finding  that  the  censure  by  being  despised 
 would  but  display  the  feebleness  of  their  wrath  and 
 render  them  contemptible,  considered  it  wisest  to  allow 
 the  thunder  to  sleep. 
 
 Other  severe  measures  against  him  were  however 
 adopted  ;  and  he  continued  till  near  the  Revolution  the 
 victim  of  almost  unremitting  persecution.  In  160*8  the 
 Bishop  of  Murray*  sent  information  to  the  Council 
 
 ♦  The  Bishop  of  Murray  at  this  timo  was  Mr  Murdoch  M'Kmzie,  who  was 
 first  ministor  of  Contane  in  the  shire  of  Ross,  from  which  he  was  transhited 
 to  Inverness  in  the  year  1640,  and  from  thenco  to  Elj;in  on  the  17th  of 
 April  104/5,  where  he  continued  until  the  restoration  of  Kpiscopacy  in 
 1662,  when  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Murray.  From  this  he  was  translated 
 to  the  See  of  Orkney  in  the  year  1677,  where  ho  continued  until  his  death, 
 
238  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 against  hiirij  Mr  Thomas  Hog  of  Kiltearn,  and  Mr  Tho- 
 mas Urquhart,  another  minister  in  the  north, for  preach- 
 ing in  their  own  houses  and  keeping  conventicles.  Upon 
 which  the  Council  grant  commission,  on  the  80th  of  J uly, 
 to  the  Earl  of  Murray  and  Lord  Duffus,  to  apprehend 
 and  imprison  them  in  Forres ;  and  there  they  continued 
 for  some  time,  but  were  at  length  liberated  through  the 
 influence  of  the  Earl  of  Tweeddale,  who  procured  an 
 order  to  that  effect,  upon  their  giving  bail  to  appear 
 when  called.*  f  In  1674,  he  and  some  other  ministers 
 in  the  north,  as  well  as  a  considerable  number  in  other 
 parts  of  the  country,  were  charged,  at  the  market-cross 
 of  the  principal  towns,  to  appear  before  the  Council, 
 and  answer  to  the  complaint  against  them  for  keeping 
 conventicles  ;  and  on  their  not  appearing,  the  Council, 
 on  the  16th  of  July  that  year,  ordain  them  to  be  de- 
 nounced his  Majesty's  rebels,  and  to  be  put  to  the  horn.t 
 In  August  next  year,  the  Council,  as  we  have  seen  be- 
 fore, J  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Murray,  requiring 
 him  to  execute  the  laws  against  the  keepers  of  conven- 
 ticles in  the  shire  of  Elgin,  as  well  as  the  neighbour- 
 
 which  happened  in  February  1688.  He  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  old, 
 and  yet  enjoyed  the  perfect  use  of  all  his  faculties  to  the  very  last.  Keith's 
 Historical  Catalogue  of  the  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  228.  M'Kenzie  is  said  to 
 have  sworn  the  Covenant  ten  times,  and,  according  to  others,  not  less  than 
 fourteen  times.  But  ambition  and  the  love  of  filthy  lucre  prevailing  against 
 the  sanctities  of  the  most  solemn  oaths,  he  accepted  the  bishoprick  of  Mur- 
 ray. Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxx.  4to,  no.  1.  Renegades  have  generally  proved 
 the  most  violent  persecutors  ;  and  to  this  rule  M'Kenzie  was  no  exception. 
 His  former  friends,  M'Gilligen,  Hog,  and  Urquhart,  who  had  also  sworn 
 the  Covenant,  though  not  half  so  often  as  he  had  done,  were  simply  acting 
 in  conformity  with  the  tenor  of  their  oath,  which,  as  they  had  in  them  the 
 fear  of  God,  they  could  not  disregard,  and  for  this  they  became  the  objects 
 of  his  relentless  hostility. 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  112. 
 
 t  Wodrow  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  244.  *  See  page  99. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEN. 
 
 239 
 
 ing  places ;  and  in  the  same  month  M'Gilligen  was  inter- 
 communed. 
 
 But  these  proceedings  did  not  discourage  him,  or  have 
 the  effect  of  slackening  his  energies  in  the  discharge  of 
 his  ministry.  He  still  continued  to  preach,  and  on  one 
 occasion  he  dispensed  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
 per. This  solemnity,  of  which  an  interesting  account 
 has  been  preserved,  was  celebrated  in  September  1675  at 
 Obsdale,  in  the  house  of  the  Lady  Dowager  of  Fowlis, 
 to  a  goodly  number  of  serious  persons,  who  were  very 
 desirous  to  partake  of  that  ordinance,  after  he  had  been 
 at  much  pains,  both  by  public  preaching,  and  in  visit- 
 ing from  house  to  house,  to  prepare  them  for  its  due  ob- 
 servance. His  assistants  on  this  occasion  were  Mr  Hugh 
 Anderson,  minister  of  Cromarty,  and  Mr  Alexander 
 Fraser,  minister  of  Teviot,  afterwards  of  Abbotshall, 
 men  like  himself  of  eminent  piety,  and  sufferers  in  the 
 same  cause  ;  and  this  proved  a  season  of  much  spiritual 
 comfort  and  refreshment,  both  to  ministers  and  people. 
 Mr  Anderson  preached  the  preparation  sermon  from 
 2  Chron.  xxx.  18,  19,  "  The  good  Lord  pardon  every 
 one  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  God,  the  Lord 
 God  of  his  fathers,  though  he  be  not  cleansed  accord- 
 ing to  the  purification  of  the  sanctuary."  M'Gilligen 
 preached  the  action  sermon  from  Song  v.  1,  "  Eat,  0 
 friends;  drink, yea,  drink  abundantly,  0  beloved."  When 
 the  solemn  work  of  communicating  was  over,  Mr  Fraser 
 addressed  the  people  in  the  afternoon  from  these  words, 
 Eph.  V.  16,  "  Redeeming  the  time,  because  the  days  are 
 evil and  M'Gilligen  concluded  the  services  by  a  ser- 
 mon from  1  Chron.  xxix.  18,  "  0  Lord  God  of  Abraham, 
 Isaac,  and  of  Israel,  our  fathers,  keep  this  for  ever  in 
 the  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  the  heart  of  thy 
 people,  and  prcj)are  their  heart  unto  thee."    "  At  this? 
 
240 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 last  sermon/'  says  Wodrow,  "  there  was  a  plentiful  effu- 
 sion of  the  Spirit  upon  a  great  many  present ;  and  the 
 oldest  Christians  there  declared  they  had  not  been  wit- 
 nesses to  the  like.  In  short/'  continues  the  same  his- 
 torian, "  there  were  so  sensible  and  glorious  discoveries 
 made  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  such  evident  presence  of 
 the  Master  of  assemblies,  this  day  and  the  preceding, 
 that  the  people  seemed  to  be  in  a  transport,  and  their 
 souls  filled  with  heaven,  and  breathing  thither  while 
 their  bodies  were  upon  the  earth  ;  and  some  were  al- 
 most at  that,  '  Whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body, 
 I  cannot  tell !'  Even  some  drops  fell  on  strangers : 
 there  was  one  poor  man,  who  had  formerly  no  profes- 
 sion of  religion,  but  came  to  Obsdale  perfectly  out  of 
 curiosity,  who  was  sensibly  wrought  upon.  At  his  re- 
 turn, one  of  his  neighbours  having  got  notice  where  he 
 had  been,  said  to  him,  '  He  was  a  great  fool  to  lose  his 
 cow  and  his  horse,'  which  were  all  he  had  to  sustain 
 him  ;  and  assured  him  they  would  be  taken  from  him. 
 The  other  answered,  '  You  are  more  to  be  pitied,  who 
 was  not  so  happy  as  to  be  there  ;  for  my  part,  if  the 
 Lord  would  maintain  in  me  what  I  hope  I  have  won  to, 
 I  would  not  only  part  with  these,  but  my  head  like- 
 wise, if  called  to  it.'''* 
 
 The  celebration  of  the  communion  ordinance  by  the 
 Presbyterians  exasperated  the  government  and  bishops 
 even  more  than  the  meetings  held  by  them  simply  for 
 preaching  the  gospel ;  the  greater  solemnity  of  the 
 ordinance  awakening,  it  Avould  appear,  a  deeper  ma- 
 lignity and  a  more  unrelenting  rancour.  Whenever 
 intelligence  concerning  such  solemn  observances  was 
 received,  soldiers  and  others  were  sent  forth  to  dissolve 
 the  meeting,  and  to  apprehend  the  ministers  and  such 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  284,  285. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEN. 
 
 241 
 
 of  the  people  as  could  be  got.  In  the  present  instance, 
 the  B'shop  of  ^jfurr^  hearing  of  the  intended  celebra- 
 tion of  the  Lord's  Supper,  instigated  Sir  Roderick  Mac- 
 kenzie of  Finden,  sheriff-depute  of  the  county,  a  man 
 of  moderation  when  left  to  himself,  to  send  a  party  of 
 soldiers  to  apprehend  M'Gilligen.  But  the  services 
 met  with  only  a  slight  and  temporary  interruption. 
 Assuming  that  the  solemnity  would  take  place  in  his 
 own  house  at  Alness,  the  soldiers  came  thither  on  the 
 Sabbath ;  and  not  finding  the  object  of  their  pursuit, 
 began  to  plunder  his  orchard,  an  occupation  in  which 
 they  spent  considerable  time,  and  then  went  to  Obs- 
 dale,  to  disperse  the  conventicle  and  seize  upon  M'Gil- 
 ligen.  But  before  their  arrival  the  forenoon's  work 
 was  over  ;  and  the  meeting  being  informed  of  the  ap- 
 proach of  the  soldiers,  broke  up.  The  people  quickly 
 withdrew,  and  the  ministers  concealed  themselves.  The 
 party,  however,  having  orders  to  apprehend  only  M'Gil- 
 ligen,  on  failing  to  find  him,  soon  left  the  place  ;  and 
 the  ministers  again  meeting  Avith  the  people  in  the 
 afternoon,  the  solemn  services  of  the  day  were  brought 
 to  a  comfortable  conclusion  without  farther  disturb- 
 ance.* 
 
 After  the  celebration  of  this  communion,  M'Gilliffen, 
 to  escape  tlie  rage  of  the  prelates,  was  under  the  ne- 
 cessity of  keeping  himself  for  some  time  concealed.  In 
 the  following  year  he  was  invited  by  his  beloved  bro- 
 ther, Mr  Hugh  Anderson,  who  had  assisted  him  on  that 
 interesting  occasion,  to  baptize  his  child.  With  this 
 invitation  he  cheerfully  complied,  and  after  dispensing 
 the  ordinance,  was  induced  to  stay  all  night  with  his 
 friend.  This  proved  the  occasion  of  his  falling  into  the 
 hands  of  his  enemies.    Next  morning  he  was  arrested 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  28/5. 
 
242 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 by  three  servants  of  the  Earl  of  Seaforth,  who  had  been 
 sent  by  that  nobleman  to  Mr  Anderson's  house  far  that 
 purpose.    It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that,  on  retir- 
 ing to  rest  the  previous  night,  he  dreamed  three  times 
 successively  that  there  were  three  men  come  to  the 
 house  to  apprehend  him.    When  he  first  awoke,  as  he 
 paid  little  attention  to  dreams,  his  dream  made  no  par- 
 ticular impression  on  his  mind,  and  he  would  doubtless 
 ascribe  it  to  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed  ; 
 for,  being  an  intercommuned  person,  and  often  eagerly 
 searched  for  by  the  agents  of  the  prelates,  such  an  idea 
 would  very  naturally  occur  to  his  thoughts  in  the  slum- 
 bers of  the  night.  He  again  fell  asleep,  and  dreamed  the 
 same  thing  a  second  time.  On  awaking  he  endeavoured 
 to  banish  the  idea  from  his  mind ;  but  again  falling 
 asleep,  the  same  dream  was  renewed  fhe  third  time.  To 
 lay  stress  on  dreams  in  general  is  superstitious,  and  an 
 indication  of  mental  weakness  ;  but  it  is  possible  for  a 
 dream  to  be  of  such  a  description  that  it  can  hardly  be 
 altogether  disregarded  by  a  man  of  the  strongest  intel- 
 lect, and  the  farthest  removed  from  superstition.  When 
 M'Gilligen  awoke  the  third  time,  he  began  to  think 
 with  some  concern,  that  this  might  be  a  premonition 
 that  bonds  and  imprisonments  were  awaiting  him.  Mus- 
 ing on  these  things,  he  arose  from  his  bed  to  unburden 
 his  mind  at  the  throne  of  grace,  and  to  commit  him- 
 self to  the  care  and  protection  of  God,  whatever  might 
 befal  him.    His  fears  were  soon  realized.    Before  he 
 had  dressed  himself,  three  servants  of  the  Earl  of  Sea- 
 forth, who  had  got  information  where  he  was,  came  to 
 the  house  to  make  him  their  prisoner.    At  this  he 
 was  not  a  little  surprised,  not  expecting  such  treatment 
 from  that  nobleman,  and  especially  as  it  was  illegal, 
 the  Earl,  who  was  only  Sheriff  of  Ross-shire,  having  no 
 
Jiff    ^rlo»«rLIGEN.>.^,^ /^43^/^ 
 
 power  Tdihin  the  sliire  of  Cromarty,  where  M'Gilligen 
 now  was  ;  but  he  afterwards  learned  that  the  Earl  acted 
 by  the  instigation  of  Paterson,  bishop  of  Ross. 
 
 M'Gilligen  was  immediately  carried  to  Fortrose,  and 
 there  committed  to  prison.  The  speech  by  which  he 
 defended  himself  before  the  Provost  of  that  burgh,  to 
 whom  orders  were  sent  to  receive  him  into  custody,  is 
 characterised  by  that  dignity,  independence,  and  deci- 
 sion, which  became  a  man  against  whom  his  greatest 
 adversaries  could  not  find  any  occasion,  "  except  con- 
 cerning the  law  of  his  God/'    It  is  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  My  Lord, — I  look  upon  it  as  a  special  piece  of  the  provi- 
 dence of  Him  whose  eyes  look  to  and  fro  through  the  earth, 
 proving  himself  mighty  in  behalf  of  them  who  fear  him,  that 
 he  hath  ordered  my  lot  to  fall  in  your  hands,  endued  with  so 
 much  discerning,  and*who  is  no  stranger  in  our  Israel,  but,  on 
 the  contrary,  well  acquainted  with  the  controversies  of  the 
 times,  and  the  cause  for  which  I  am  apprehended. 
 
 "  I  bless  the  Most  High,  whose  I  am,  and  whom  I  desire  to 
 serve  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  so  far  as  I  can  search  into  my- 
 self, I  find  no  evil  in  my  heart,  nor  iniquity  in  m^  hand,  against 
 his  Majesty's  person  or  authority,  who^  I  a^and  to  whom  I 
 submit  in  the  Lord.  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  given,  (in 
 so  far  as  could  consist  with  my  duty  to  the  Lord,  and  the  hght 
 and  peace  of  my  own  conscience,)  a  submission  unto  and  ob- 
 servation of  his  laws ;  but  for  abjured  prelacy,  and  perjured 
 prelates,  that  stem  and  those  twigs  which  the  Father's  right 
 hand  hath  never  planted  nor  watered,  being  a  seed  which  the 
 evil  one  hath  sown  while  the  servants  were  asleep,  and  hath 
 produced  so  much  of  sin  and  suft'cring  in  this  land,  I  look  on 
 myself  as  obhged  before  the  Lord  to  refuse,  oppose,  and  bear 
 testimony  against  it,  not  only  by  a  subjective  obligation,  from 
 the  day  I  lifted  up  my  hand  and  sware  to  the  Most  High  God 
 to  endeavour  in  my  station  and  place  the  extirpation  and  era- 
 dication of  that  cursed  root  of  bitterness  ;  but  also  by  a  moral 
 objective  obligation  from  the  word  of  God,  which  knows  none 
 
'l^^i  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  these  creatures,  but  hath  sufficiently  reproved  them,  and 
 rebuked  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  when  it  made  its  first  appear- 
 ance in  the  world,  sounding  out  of  the  mouths  of  the  disciples, 
 '  Which  shall  be  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  God?'  The  Apostles, 
 being  convinced  of  and  humbled  for  their  sinful  ambition,  op- 
 posed the  same  spirit  making  its  next  illustrious  appearances 
 in  the  world ;  Diotrephes  is  condemned  for  affecting  the  pre- 
 eminence. For  this  testimony  I  am  willing  to  go  to  prison, 
 and  be  judged  at  Caesar's  tribunal."* 
 
 Such  Avere  the  principles  of  M'Gilligen.  His  prince's 
 authority  he  owned,  and  all  his  lawful  commands  he 
 Avas  ready  to  obey ;  but  to  Prelacy,  though  enjoined 
 by  royal  mandate,  he  could  not  submit,  as  he  believed 
 it  to  be  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  whose  authority 
 being  superior  to  man's,  can  never  be  mutilated  or  set 
 aside  by  the  decrees  of  any  earthly  monarch.  These 
 principles,  which  he  now  boldly  asserted,  he  continued 
 till  the  day  of  his  death  uncompromisingly  to  maintain, 
 amidst  all  the  sufferings  and  temptations  of  a  perse- 
 cuted life. 
 
 After  lying  for  some  time  in  the  tolbooth  of  Fortrose, 
 he  was,  by  an  act  of  the  Privy  Council,  11th  October 
 1676,  ordered  to  be  transported  from  county  to  county 
 till  he  reached  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  to  be  impri- 
 soned.   The  act  is  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  ordain  Mr 
 John  M'GiUigen,  an  intercommuned  person,  now  prisoner  in 
 the  tolbooth  of  [Fortrose]  t  in  Murray,  to  be  transported  to 
 the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  to  that  effect  grant  order  and 
 warrant  to  the  Sheriff  of  Murray,  or  his  deputies,  to  take  the 
 person  of  the  said  Mr  John  M'GiUigen  into  his  custody,  and 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  334. 
 
 t  There  is  a  blank  here  in  the  Register,  but  we  learn  the  name  of  the 
 place  from  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  133-i.  Fortrose,  however,  is  not 
 in  the  shiro  of  Murray  but  in  Iloss-shii  i-. 
 
JOHN  m'gilligen.  245 
 
 to  carry  him  prisoner  to  the  Sheriff  of  the  next  adjacent  shire, 
 and  so  forth  from  Sheriff  to  Sheriff,  until  he  be  brought  to 
 Leith ;  and  ordain  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  receive 
 him  there,  and  to  commit  him  prisoner  in  their  tolbooth  until 
 further  orders." 
 
 The  order  contained  in  this  act  was  delivered  by 
 the  Earl  of  Seaforth  to  Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Caddel, 
 sheriff  of  Nairn,  as  being  the  next  sheriff  on  the  road 
 to  Edinburgh.  This  gentleman,  who  was  very  friendly 
 to  the  Presbyterians,  "  instead  of  conveying  M'Grilligen 
 to  the  next  sheriff,''  to  use  the  words  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
 cil, "  kept  and  entertained  him  as  his  chaplain,  and 
 permitted  him  to  keep  conventicles,  and,''  to  spread  a 
 colour  over  their  injustice  they  add,  "  commit  several 
 other  disorders,  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace  of  that 
 country ;"  although  the  probability  is,  that  if  he  did 
 any  thing  else  with  which  they  could  find  fault  but 
 preach,  it  was  simply  to  baptize  a  child  or  to  unite  a 
 couple  in  marriage.  On  receiving  information  of  this, 
 tlie  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  issued  "  a  citation 
 against  the  Sheriff  of  Nairn,  to  compear  before  the 
 Council  the  first  of  March  next,  to  answer  for  that 
 crime,  and  to  bring  with  him,  exhibit,  and  produce 
 before  the  Council  the  person  of  the  said  Mr  Jolni 
 M'Gilligen."  This  report  was  given  in  to  the  Council 
 on  the  1st  of  February  1677,  and  approved.* 
 
 This  case  came  again  before  the  Committee  of  Coun- 
 cil for  Public  Affairs,  who,  on  the  1st  of  March  1677, 
 gave  in  to  the  Council  the  following  report  : — "  We 
 liaving  considered  the  affair  anent  the  stopping  of  Mr 
 John  M'Gilligcn,  an  intercommuned  person,  upon  the 
 road  from  Ross  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinl)urgh,  notwith- 
 standing, of  the  Council's  order,  and  the  not  return- 
 
 *  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  1st  Feltruury  1(>77. 
 
246 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ing  of  the  letters  issued  forth  against  the  Laird  of  Cad- 
 dell  at  the  day  appointed,  we  have  thought  fit  to  order 
 letters  to  be  directed  to  messengers-at-arms  to  charge 
 the  Laird  of  Caddell  to  enter  the  person  of  the  said  Mr 
 John  iVrGilligen  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  and  to 
 bring  him  there  upon  his  own  expenses  against  the  first 
 of  April  next,  under  the  pain  of  rebellion,  and  have 
 continued  any  further  procedure  in  that  affair  anent 
 the  stopping  of  the  prisoner,  and  keeping  back  the  let- 
 ters, till  the  same  be  further  considered,  and  have  ap- 
 pointed a  missive  to  be  directed  to  the  Earl  of  Seaforth, 
 herewith  produced/'  This  letter  to  Seaforth  was  in- 
 tended severely  to  reprimand  him  for  his  lenity  in  al- 
 lowing the  Sheriff  of  Nairn  to  extend  to  M'Gilligen  so 
 much  liberty.* 
 
 Having  been  at  length  brought  to  Edinburgh,  M'Gil- 
 ligen was  thrown  into  prison.t    After  lying  there  for 
 several  months,  he  had  some  prospect  of  being  released, 
 as  appears  from  a  report  of  the  Committee  of  Council 
 for  Public  Affairs,  given  in  to  the  Council  on  the  9  th 
 of  October  1677,  in  which  they  express  it  as  their  opi- 
 nion, "  that  Mr  John  M'Gilligen,  prisoner  in  the  tol- 
 ^^j^j^y^        booth  of  Edinburgh,  be  liberated,  he  finding  caution  to 
 IIm^  confine  himself  to  the  Isle  of  Isla,  and  for  going  to  and 
 lJIa^      keeping  the  said  confinement  ut  supra  for  Mr  Thomas 
 '  Hog.^X    I^^t  this  proposal  of  the  Committee  was  not 
 
 carried  into  effect,  for  we  find  him  after  this  a  prisoner 
 
 *  Warrants  of  Privy  Council ;  and  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  355. 
 
 t  Mr  John  Carstairs,  in  a  letter  to  Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  dated  March  28. 
 1677,  says,  "  One  Mr  John  M'Gilligen  is  brought  hither  prisoner  from  the 
 north,  where  Mr  Thomas  Hog  is  also  taken,  and  to  be  brought  hither,  two 
 worthy  and  useful  men.  Mr  Thomas  Ross  is  prisoner  at  Tain  there,  and 
 they  are  hopeful,  I  hear,  to  catch  Mr  Urquhart  also,  and  so  the  whole 
 country  of  Murray  is  like  to  be  laid  desolate."  Wodrow  MSS.,  vol.  lix., 
 folio,  no.  58.  +  See  p.  191. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEy.  247 
 
 in  the  Bass.    In  this  place  of  confinement  he  was  at 
 first  permitted  to  enjoy,  in  a  great  degree,  the  liberty 
 of  the  rock,  but,  within  a  short  period,  he  was  so  closely 
 confined,  and  subjected  to  so  severe  restrictions,  as  not 
 to  be  allowed  a  servant  to  make  his  bed  or  to  prepare 
 his  food,  so  that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  perform- 
 ing these  menial  ofl&ces  for  himself.  Hard  as  this  was, 
 having  peace  of  conscience  and  peace  with  God,  he  en- 
 joyed great  serenity  of  mind.  He  records  in  his  Diary, 
 that  when  the  nether  springs  were  embittered,  the  up- 
 per springs  flowed  sweetly  and  copiously,  and  that  he 
 could  say,  from  experience,  that  "  the  sweetness  of 
 heavenly  joy  is  so  great,  that  if  only  one  small  drop 
 were  to  flow  down  into  hell,  it  Avould  swallow  up  all 
 the  bitterness  of  that  region  of  misery.''  "  Since  I  was 
 a  prisoner,''  he  farther  says,  "  I  dwelt  at  ease,  and  lived 
 securely."    He  at  length  was  permitted  sometimes  to 
 Avalk  upon  the  rock,  through  the  influence  of  Sir  George 
 Mackenzie  of  Tarbet.*    Sir  George  (though  he  was  a 
 violent  cavalier,  and  the  chief  instigator  of  the  Act 
 
 ♦  Sir  George  Mackenzie  of  Tarbet  was  nominated  one  of  the  Lords  of 
 Session  on  the  14th  of  ^^ebruary  1661.  Being  the  inventor  and  manager 
 of  the  celebrated  act  of  billeting,  attached  to  the  king's  indemnity  for 
 Scotland,  issued  in  1662,  by  which  it  was  hoped  for  ever  to  exclude  Lau- 
 derdale and  his  friends  from  office,  but  which  only  served  to  accelerate  the 
 downfal  of  Middleton,  Mackenzie's  patron,  (see  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i. 
 p.  270,)  he  was  on  that  account  deprived  of  his  seat  on  the  bench  on  the 
 16th  of  February  1664.  lie  remained  in  disgrace  during  the  principal  part 
 of  the  administration  of  Lauderdale,  but  at  length  having  succeeded  in 
 mollifying  that  statesman,  he  was  appointed  Justice-General  on  the  16th 
 of  October  1678,  and  on  the  11th  of  November  following  was  made  a  Privy 
 Councillor.  lie  was  admitted  one  of  the  Lords  Ordinary  on  the  1st  of 
 November  1681,  having  been  appointed  Clerk  Register  in  place  of  Sir 
 Archibald  Primrose  of  Carrington,  by  patent,  dated  16th  October  that 
 year.  On  the  accession  of  Jumes  VI I.,  he  was  created  Viscount  of  Tarbet, 
 Lord  Macleod,  and  Castlehaven,  and  on  the  accession  of  Queen  Anne  was 
 dignified  with  the  title  of  Earl  of  Cromarty.  Brunton  and  Ilaig's  Senators 
 of  the  College  of  Justice,  p.  356. 
 
parliaments  in  favour  of  Presbytery,  since  1633,  were 
 at  once  annulled,)  had  a  great  respect  for  M'Gilligen, 
 and,  on  returning  from  his  travels,  having  visited  the 
 Bass,  prevailed  with  the  governor  to  mitigate  the  re- 
 strictions imposed  upon  him.  This  mitigation,  though 
 small,  was  felt  by  M'Grilligen  to  be  a  great  favour,  and 
 he  records  it  in  his  Diary  with  marked  gratitude  to  that 
 gentleman. 
 
 In  1679,  on  the  granting  of  the  king's  indemnity 
 after  the  insurrection  at  Bothwell  Bridge,  M'Gilligen 
 was  liberated  from  the  Bass,  simply  upon  finding  secu- 
 rity to  appear  before  the  Council  when  called,  under 
 the  penalty  of  ten  thousand  merks  Scots  money.  Sir 
 Hugh  Campbell  of  Caddell  became  his  surety.* 
 
 M'Gilligen  having  been  released  without  coming  un- 
 der any  engagement  to  refrain  from  keeping  conven- 
 ticles, immediately  resumed  the  work  of  preaching. 
 Nor  does  he  appear  to  have  been  again  molested  till 
 1682,  when  the  Privy  Council,  being  informed  that  he 
 had  "  relapsed  into  his  former  guilt  in  keeping  of  con- 
 venticles, disorderly  baptisms  and  marriages,  to  the  en- 
 dangering of  the  peace  of  the  country  where  he  lives," 
 institute  new  proceedings  against  him.  On  the  30th 
 of  November  that  year,  they  pass  an  act,  "  requiring 
 the  Earl  of  Seaforth,  sheriff  of  the  shire  of  Ross,  to  cause 
 intimation  be  made  to  the  said  Mr  John  M'Gilligen,  by 
 way  of  instrument,  to  sist  himself  before  the  Council 
 at  the  council-bar,  upon  the  [18th]  day  of  January  next, 
 to  answer  to  any  thing  can  be  laid  to  his  charge,  under 
 the  penalty  contained  in  his  said  bond  in  case  of  failure: 
 As  also  do  require  the  Lord  Down,  sheriff  of  Nairn,  to 
 
 *  See  Notice  of  William  Bell,  pp.  116-118 ;  and  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy 
 Council,  November  30. 1682. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEN. 
 
 249 
 
 cause  likewise  intimate  to  the  said  Laird  of  Caddell, 
 cautioner  for  the  said  Mr  John  M'Gilligen  in  manner 
 foresaid,  that  he  sist  the  said  Mr  John  at  the  council- 
 bar  the  said  day,  under  the  foresaid  penalty  contained 
 in  the  said  bond  ;  and  appoint  the  said  sheriffs  of  Ross 
 and  Nairn  to  return  an  account  of  their  obedience 
 hereto,  and  the  said  instruments  of  intimation,  with  all 
 speed  and  diligence/'* 
 
 M'Gilligen,  in  obedience  to  the  citation,  appeared  be- 
 fore the  Council  on  the  18th  of  January  1683,  when  a 
 long  libel  was  read  by  the  clerk  against  him,  in  which 
 he  is  charged  with  having,  ever  since  his  liberation, 
 kept  house  and  field  conventicles,  with  having  with- 
 drawn from  the  public  ordinances  in  his  own  parish 
 church,  and  with  having  been  guilty  of  marrying  dif- 
 ferent individuals,  and  of  administering  the  ordinance 
 of  baptism,  all  which  are  declared  to  be  contrary  to 
 diverse  laws  and  acts  of  Parliament.  Being  requested 
 to  answer  these  grounds  of  complaint,  he  began  to  ad« 
 dress  the  Council  in  self-defence,  but  had  not  proceeded 
 far  when  he  was  interrupted.  The  reason  of  this  in- 
 terruption, as  he  afterwards  learned,  was,  that  Mr  James 
 Fraser  of  Brea  had,  some  time  before,  delivered  a  Speech 
 in  the  presence  of  the  Duke  of  York  and  Council,  in 
 which  he  vindicated  with  such  success  the  principles 
 on  account  of  which  hp  and  the  Presbyterians  suffered, 
 as  to  produce  no  small  impression  in  favour  both  of 
 himself  and  the  cause,  so  that  the  prelates  and  their 
 party  were  afraid,  if  men  of  such  talents  as  M'Gilligen 
 
 *  In  reference  to  tliis,  Fountainhall  says,  "At  rrivy  Council,  Campliell 
 of  Caddell  is  called  as  cautioner  for  producin};  one  M'(iilli|^en,  a  noncon- 
 formist minister;  and  they  thotij^lit  to  have  j^otten  liis  bond  forfeited,  but 
 ho  had  the  man  ready  to  sist.  They  remembered  Caddoll's  opposing  the 
 Duke's  interest  in  the  Tarliament  1681."  (Fountainhall's  Decisions,  vol.  i. 
 p.  20G| 
 
250 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 should  be  allowed  to  defend  themselves,  and  explain 
 the  reasons  of  their  nonconformity,  that  those  who  lis- 
 tened, and  even  the  members  of  Council  themselves, 
 might  be  convinced  that  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
 suffered  unjustly,  and  that  the  aspersions  so  liberally 
 cast  upon  them  by  their  enemies,  as  men  of  mean  parts 
 as  well  as  of  disloyal  principles  and  obstinate  tempers, 
 were  groundless,  and  had  been  invented  to  render  them 
 odious,  reminding  one  of  the  cruel  device  of  the  Pagan 
 persecutors,  who  sewed  up  the  primitive  Christians  in 
 the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  that  they  might  be  torn  in 
 pieces  by  the  fury  of  dogs.  Prevented  from  proceed- 
 ing in  his  speech,  he  was  required  by  the  Council  either 
 simply  to  admit  the  truth  of  the  charges  in  the  libel, 
 or  to  deny  them.  Though  some  of  these  were  true, 
 such  as  his  baptizing  and  preaching,  yet  as  others  of 
 them  were  false,  such  as  his  keeping  field  conventicles, 
 which  he  never  did,  meetings  of  this  kind  being  unne- 
 cessary in  the  shire  of  Ross,  where  the  number  of  non- 
 conformists was  few,  compared  with  those  in  the  south 
 and  west  of  Scotland,  and  his  baptizing  children  to  se- 
 veral individuals  who  never  had  any;  and  as  he  was 
 required  simply  to  admit  or  to  deny  the  charges,  he  de- 
 nied them.  The  Council,  unsatisfied  with  this,  adopt- 
 ing the  inquisitorial  and  summary  mode  of  finding  a 
 pannel  guilty  then  in  use,  referred  the  truth  of  the 
 whole  matter  to  his  oath.  Refusing  to  depone  upon 
 oath  as  to  the  articles  in  the  libel,  regarding  it  as  ille- 
 gal to  oblige  him  to  become  his  own  accuser  in  matters 
 which  the  law  had  made  criminal,  his  refusal  was  con- 
 sidered as  amounting  to  a  confession  of  guilt,  and  he 
 was  fined  in  the  sum  of  5000  merks  Scots,  and  ordained 
 to  be  imprisoned  till  he  should  pay  it,  and  find  security, 
 under  the  penalty  of  an  additional  5000  merks,  that 
 
JOHN  M^GILLIGEN. 
 
 251 
 
 he  should  not  preach  at  conventicles,  baptize,  or  marry, 
 or  else  that  he  should  bind  himself  to  remove  out  of 
 the  kingdom,  and  not  to  return  without  the  king's 
 licence. 
 
 This  sentence  being  deemed  too  lenient  by  some  of 
 the  more  violent  members  of  the  Council  who  were 
 absent  from  that  meeting,  and  who  were  very  anxious 
 to  find  him  if  possible  guilty  of  treason,  Sir  William 
 Paterson  was  sent  to  the  prison  to  examine  such  pri- 
 soners as  had  at  any  time  heard  M'Gilligen  preach  or 
 who  were  acquainted  with  him,  to  see  if  he  could  draw 
 out  of  them  information  as  to  any  thing  he  had  uttered, 
 either  in  private  or  public,  which  might  be  construed  or 
 stretched  into  a  charge  of  treason.  But,  after  the  most 
 thorough  investigation.  Sir  William  had  the  candour 
 to  acknowledge,  that  the  loyalty  of  M'Gilligen's  princi- 
 ples was  unimpeachable,  and  that  so  far  from  denying 
 the  king's  authority,  he  was  accustomed  to  pray  for 
 him  most  fervently  on  all  public  occasions.* 
 
 M'Gilligen  continued  prisoner  in  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh  for  above  half  a  year,  and  during  that  time 
 was  eminently  useful  in  comforting  many  who  were 
 his  fellow-prisoners  for  the  same  cause,  and  by  the 
 mildness  and  gentleness  of  his  deportment  gained  so 
 much  ui)on  the  affections  of  even  the  jailors,  that  they 
 were  sorry  on  his  being  removed  from  them  to  the  Bass. 
 The  act  of  Council  for  his  removal,  dated  28th  July  1683, 
 is  as  follows: — "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Coun- 
 cil ordain  the  persons  of  Mr  John  M'Gilligen,  Mr  John 
 Philip,  and  Mr  John  Spreul,  at  present  j)risoners  in  the 
 tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  to  be  transported  from  thence 
 to  the  Isle  of  the  Bass,  and  recommend  to  General 
 
 ♦  Wodrow'8  History,  vol.  iii.  jip.  435,  436. 
 
252 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Dalziel  to  order  a  party  immediately  to  receive  and 
 transport  them  to  the  said  place/' 
 
 On  the  same  day  the  Council  agreed  upon  a  series  of 
 instructions  by  which  the  governor  of  the  Bass  and  the 
 deputy-governor*  were  to  be  regulated,  from  which  the 
 reader  will  perceive  the  harshness  with  which  the  pri- 
 soners were  treated.  These  instructions  are  as  follows : — 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  CouncQ  ordain  the 
 governor  of  the  Bass  and  the  deputy-governor  to  observe  the 
 instructions  following  as  to  any  prisoners  already  there,  or 
 who  shall  be  sent  to  that  place. 
 
 "1.  That  they  aUow  no  men-servants  to  the  prisoners,  but 
 only  such  women-servants  as  the  governor-depute  shall  appoint 
 and  allow. 
 
 "  2.  That  the  prisoners  receive  no  papers  nor  letters,  nor 
 send  any  to  any  person  whatsoever,  but  such  as  shall  be  seen 
 and  perused  by  the  said  governor. 
 
 "  3.  That  the  governor  may  allow  two  of  the  prisoners  at 
 one  time  to  have  the  liberty  of  the  island  above  the  walls  be- 
 twixt sunrising  and  sunsetting,  and  these  two  are  to  be  shut 
 up  in  their  chambers  before  other  two  come  out,  provided  this 
 liberty  be  not  given  to  any  that  are  or  shall  be  ordered  to  be- 
 close  prisoners. 
 
 "  4.  That  there  be  two  persons  only  permitted  at  one  time 
 to  come  from  the  shore  to  see  the  prisoners,  and  that  there  be 
 always  some  officer  or  soldier  in  the  garrison  present  to  hear 
 what  discourse  shall  pass  betwixt  the  prisoner  and  them ;  and 
 if  they  be  suspected  to  have  papers  or  letters  for  the  prisoners, 
 that  they  be  searched  and  the  said  letters  and  papers  seized 
 on.  And  the  said  governor  is  to  observe  the  instructions  fore- 
 said till  further  order,  as  he  will  be  answerable." 
 
 M'Gilligen  was  at  this  time  confined  in  the  Bass 
 
 •  The  governor  of  the  Bass  at  this  time  was  James  Earl  of  Perth,  who 
 was  appointed  to  that  situation  by  his  Majesty  on  the  24th  of  October 
 1682,  upon  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale.  The  deputy-governor 
 was  Charles  Maitland. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEN. 
 
 253 
 
 during  the  greater  part  of  three  years,  and  subjected 
 not  only  to  these  severe  restrictions,  but  to  others 
 which  the  deputy-governor  from  caprice,  and  without 
 the  authority  of  the  Council,  thought  proper  to  impose. 
 But  he  endured  all  in  a  manner  becoming  a  Christian. 
 This  we  learn  from  his  Diary,  in  which  he  records  his 
 religious  exercise  and  experience.  His  serenity  of 
 mind  arising  from  faith  in  the  truths  and  promises  of 
 God's  word,  his  meekness  towards  his  persecutors,  the 
 tenderness  of  his  domestic  attachments,  and  the  deep 
 interest  he  felt  in  the  public  interests  of  religion,  are 
 all  prominently  brought  out  in  that  document.  A  few 
 extracts  from  it  during  this  period  will  not  be  unac- 
 ceptable to  the  pious  reader. 
 
 "  Bass,  October  15.  1683.— This  hath  been  a  day  of  glad- 
 ness of  heart  to  me.  The  Lord  was  pleased  to  let  out  abun- 
 dantly of  his  holy  Spirit,  convincing  of  sin,  confirming  me  in 
 the  assurance  of  pardon,  comforting  me  in  the  hopes  of  mercy, 
 and  deUverance  to  myself  and  family,  and  to  his  oppressed 
 people  and  interest. 
 
 "  Bass,  October  19.  1683.— The  felt  joy  and  sense  of  the  for- 
 mer day  hath  continued  since  with  me  ;  my  soul  dwelt  at  ease 
 without  any  burden  or  weight.  This  day  was  a  brother  and 
 friend  to  the  former,  wherein  the  Lord  did  communicate  himself 
 by  enlarging  niy  heart,  niching  my  spirit  and  breaking  upon 
 me  with  a  full  gale.  My  graces  were  in  exercise  ;  faith,  hope, 
 and  mecknes'^  of  spirit  acted  their  part.  My  heart  with  cheer- 
 fulness said  unto  the  Lord,  '  Thou  art  my  holy  one,  my  only 
 one,  my  fair  and  pleasant  one ;  thy  overcoming  love  hath 
 mastered  me.'  My  hope  and  expectation  of  deliverance  for 
 myself  and  others  was  confinued.  '  Li  the  mount  of  the  Lord 
 it  shall  be  seen.'  This  top  of  the  rock  was  to  me  a  Peniel, 
 where  the  Lord's  face  in  some  measure  was  seen. 
 
 "  BasSf  November^  1683. — This  was  a  day  of  sweet  out- 
 pouring of  the  Spirit ;  I  hope  good  will  follow.    Many  sweet 
 
254 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  apposite  places  of  Scripture,  both  in  reading  and  prayer 
 was  I  trysted  with  concerning  myself,  children,  the  people  and 
 work  of  God,  and  enemies.  *  The  daughter  of  Babylon  will 
 come  down  and  sit  in  the  dust ;  there  will  be  no  throne  for  her ; 
 her  nakedness  will  be  uncovered ;  vengeance  will  overtake 
 her  ;  He  will  not  meet  her  as  a  man.  She  trusts  in  her  wicked- 
 ness ;  desolation  will  suddenly  come  upon  her ;  but  the  Lord 
 will  place  salvation  in  Zion  for  Israel  his  glory.' 
 
 "  Basf,  September  23.  1684. — This  day  I  got  my  heart 
 poured  out  before  the  Lord,  for  the  distress,  destruction,  and 
 desolation  of  the  land,  and  for  the  ruin  and  overthrow  of  his 
 interest.  The  Lord  will  have  mercy  and  heal,  recover  his 
 own  glory,  reform  his  church,  restore  his  ordinances,  purge  his 
 servants,  and  cause  sacrifice  to  be  offered  in  righteousness  to 
 himself.  The  Lord  will  s  end  the  rod  of  his  strength  out  of 
 Zion,  he  will  rule  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies.  He  hath  drank 
 of  the  brook  in  the  way,  and  therefore  hath  he  lifted  up  his 
 head,  and  is  exalted  far  above  all  principalities  and  powers. 
 He  will  strike  with  his  right  hand  and  with  it  bring  back  the 
 ark  and  the  glory,  and  cause  the  days  of  joy  and  gladness  to 
 be  according  to  the  days  of  sorrow  and  sadness  we  have  seen."* 
 
 We  have  seen  before  that  M'Gilligen  was  fined  in  the 
 sum  of  5000  merks  Scots.  This  fine  he  had  never 
 paid,  and  accordingly  summons  of  adjudication  was 
 raised  against  twenty-four  bolls  of  victual  he  drew  from 
 some  property  in  the  shire  of  Ross.  This  laid  his  wife, 
 whose  maiden  name  was  Catherine  Monro,  under  the 
 necessity  of  coming  south,  and  petitioning  the  Privy 
 Council  that  a  stop  might  be  put  to  these  proceed- 
 ings. In  her  petition,  which  came  before  the  Council 
 on  the  29th  of  November  1683,  she  humbly  shews,  that 
 she  has  "  no  means  of  livelihood  whereby  to  maintain 
 herself  and  a  numerous  family  of  eight  children,  and 
 to  relieve  her  husband  during  his  imprisonment,  but 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  436. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEX. 
 
 255 
 
 only  twenty-four  bolls  victual  land  in  the  shire  of  Ross, 
 and  which,  with  the  petitioner's  industry,  is  less  than 
 can  maintain  her  poor  husband  and  children,  so  that 
 many  time  they  are  reduced  to  great  hardships  and 
 straits  for  want  of  bread  to  live  on,  notwithstanding  of 
 which,  and  of  the  great  misery  the  petitioner  is  re- 
 duced to  with  her  children,  yet  the  Lord  High  Trea- 
 surer of  Scotland  and  Mr  "Wallace,  his  Majesty's  cash- 
 keeper,  have  raised  an  adjudication  of  that  twenty-four 
 bolls  victual  for  payment  of  the  foresaid  fine,  so  that 
 if  he  shall  proceed  therein,  the  petitioner's  husband  and 
 children  will  infallibly  perish  and  starve  for  want  of 
 bread  to  maintain  them."  She  farther  states,  that  her 
 "  husband  never  sought  any  aliment  during  his  impri- 
 sonment ;  and  that  if  the  said  small  quantity  of  twenty- 
 four  bolls  yearly  be  taken  from  the  petitioner,  she,  her 
 husband,  and  her  eight  children,  will  be  driven  to  ex- 
 treme penury,  and  the  whole  of  it  will  not  compense 
 what  will  be  necessary  to  maintain  her  husband  in 
 prison,  even  according  to  his  Majesty's  allowance  to 
 others  in  his  case,  whereby  as  it  will  ruin  the  peti- 
 tioner and  her  family,  so  it  will  be  rather  loss  than 
 advantage  to  his  Majesty."*  Through  the  influence  of 
 Sir  George  Mackenzie  of  Tarbet,  M'Gilligen  was  re- 
 lieved from  his  heavy  fine. 
 
 M'Gilligen  at  length  being  attacked  by  a  dangerous 
 H(  kness,  petitioned  the  Council  for  liberty  to  come  to 
 a  (■haml)er  in  Edinburgh,  that  he  might  use  means  for 
 his  recovery  ;  and  by  the  friendly  influence  of  the  indi- 
 vidual just  named  this  was  granted,  but  he  was  to  be 
 confined  to  his  chamber.  Aj)plication  was  afterwards 
 made  for  his  being  set  entirely  at  liberty,  wliich  was 
 
 •  Decreets  of  Privy  Council,  November  29.  1683 ;  Wodrow's  Ilistorr, 
 vol.  iii.  p.  437. 
 
256 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 granted  ;  but  from  the  hurry  of  the  Council  on  the  day 
 on  which  the  act  was  passed,  the  president  omitted  to 
 subscribe  it,  and  it  did  not  therefore  take  effect.  Ac- 
 cordingly M'Gilligen,  who  still  continued  under  great 
 sickness,  presented  a  second  petition.  But  through  the 
 hostility  of  Bishop  Paterson*  then  president  of  the 
 Committee  of  Council,  the  liberty  granted  him  at  their 
 meeting  of  the  27th  of  July  1686  was  limited  to  a  cer- 
 tain period.  He  was  to  be  set  at  liberty  upon  his  find- 
 ing caution  acted  in  the  books  of  Privy  Council,  to  com- 
 pear before  the  Council  the  first  council-day  in  Novem- 
 ber next,  or  to  re-enter  his  confinement  in  his  chamber 
 within  the  town  of  Edinburgh  as  formerly,  under  the 
 penalty  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots  in  case  of  failure.t 
 Upon  this  he  removed  to  his  own  residence  at  Alness, 
 for  the  benefit  of  his  native  air.  Such  in  that  place, 
 and  in  the  surrounding  districts,  as  had  enjoyed  the 
 blessing  of  his  ministry,  delighted  to  hear  of  his  return, 
 flocked  to  his  house  to  inquire  concerning  his  health 
 after  years  of  separation.  Still  continuing  under  illness, 
 
 *  John  Paterson,  Bishop  of  Edinburgh,  was  the  son  of  John  Paterson, 
 sometime  Bishop  of  Ross.  He  was  first  minister  at  Ellon  in  the  shire  of 
 Aberdeen,  and  afterwards  minister  of  the  Tron  Church  and  dean  of  the 
 city  of  Edinburgh.  B7  the  interest  of  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  he  was  pre- 
 ferred to  the  See  of  Galloway  on  the  23d  of  October  1674,  and  on  the  29th 
 of  March  1679  was  translated  to  the  bishoprick  of  Edinburgh.  In  1687 
 he  became  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  but  was  deprived  of  the  archi episcopal 
 See  by  the  Revolution.  He  died  at  Edinburgh  on  the  8th  of  December 
 1708.  Keith's  Historical  Catalogue  of  Scottish  Bishops,  p.  282.  If  the 
 "  Answer  to  Presbyterian  Eloquence"  may  be  credited,  his  life  was  far 
 from  being  irreproachable.  Various  lampoons  were  published  at  his  ex- 
 pense. "  He  is  said  to  have  kissed  his  band-strings  in  the  pulpit  in  the 
 midst  of  an  eloquent  discourse,  which  was  the  signal  agreed  upon  between 
 him  and  a  lady  to  whom  he  was  a  suitor,  to  shew  he  could  think  upon  her 
 charms  even  whilst  engaged  in  the  most  solemn  duties  of  his  profession. 
 Hence  he  was  called  Bishop  Bandstrings."  Fountainhall's  Notes,  note  by 
 Editor,  p.  5. 
 
 t  Warrants  of  Privy  Council. 
 
JOHN  M'GILLIGEN. 
 
 257 
 
 and  in  fact,  having  fallen  under  a  complication  of  ma- 
 ladies, "  such  as  the  gravel,  gout,  scurvy,  sciatick,  and 
 many  others,  incident  to  old  age,"  for  he  had  now  be- 
 come grey-headed  in  suffering,  as  the  time  approached 
 when  he  had  to  appear  before  the  Council,  or  re-enter  his 
 confinement  in  his  chamber  at  Edinburgh,  he  presented 
 a  petition  to  the  Council,  shewing  the  state  of  his  health, 
 and  praying  that,  as  it  was  impossible  for  him  without 
 imminent  danger  of  his  life  to  appear  at  the  said  diet, 
 his  liberty  might  be  continued  for  some  time  longer. 
 In  compliance  with  this  petition,  the  Council,  on  the 
 12th  of  October  1686,  "  continued  the  liberty  formerly 
 granted  him  until  the  first  Thursday  of  March  next,  on 
 the  terms  and  under  the  penalty  contained  in  his  for- 
 mer bond  for  appearance/'* 
 
 But  before  this  term  expired,  King  James's  first  in- 
 dulgence, dated  12th  February  1687,  was  published,  by 
 which,  in  the  exercise  of  "  his  sovereign  authority,  pre- 
 rogative royal,  and  absolute  power  which  all  his  subjects 
 are  to  obey  without  reserve,"  he  "  allowed  and  tolerated 
 the  moderate  Presbyterians  to  meet  in  their  private 
 houses, — but  not  in  meeting-houses  or  barns,  or  in  the 
 fields, —  and  there  to  hear  all  such  ministers  as  either 
 have  or  are  willing  to  accept  of  our  indulgence  alleii- 
 arly,  and  none  other  ;"t  and,  which  was  his  principal 
 object,  abrogated  and  annulled  all  the  laws  and  acts  ol' 
 Parliament  against  Papists,  allowed  them  freely  to  ex- 
 ercise their  worship,  and  declared  them  eli.2:ible  to  all 
 places  of  public  trust.  It  also  exacted  an  oath,  the  sub- 
 stance of  whicli  was  an  engagement  to  maintain  the 
 absolute  power  of  the  Crown.  This  indulgence  aiforded 
 relief  to  M'Gilligen,  although  he  did  not  accept  of  it. 
 
 •  Warrants  of  Privy  Council. 
 
 t  Wotlrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  4l8. 
 
258 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  indeed  it  was  accepted  by  none  of  the  Presbyterian 
 ministers.  By  a  letter  from  the  King  to  the  Council, 
 March  31,  or  the  second  toleration,  the  oath  was  to  be 
 dispensed  with  ;  and  in  July  a  third  and  more  ample 
 toleration  was  issued,  in  which  his  Majesty  "  by  his 
 sovereign  authority,  prerogative  royal,  and  absolute 
 power,  suspends  all  penal  and  sanguinary  laws  made 
 against  any  for  nonconformity  to  the  religion  esta- 
 blished by  law,"  and  grants  liberty  to  all  his  subjects 
 "  to  meet  and  serve  God  after  their  own  way  and  man- 
 ner, be  it  in  private  houses,  chapels,  or  places  purposely 
 hired  or  built  for  that  use  but  strictly  prohibits 
 field  meetings,  and  leaves  all  the  laws  and  acts  of  Par- 
 liament against  them  in  full  force.  The  benefit  of  this 
 indulgence  was  accepted  by  the  most  of  the  Presbyte- 
 rian ministers  ;t  and  after  it  was  granted,  a  meeting- 
 house was  built  on  M'Grilligen's  own  ground  at  Alness, 
 where  he  preached  without  farther  hindrance  to  his  old 
 hearers,  who  flocked  to  him  from  all  the  surrounding 
 districts,  to  hear  the  message  of  the  gospel  from  the 
 mouth  of  their  venerated  pastor.  As  he  was  much  re- 
 duced in  his  worldly  circumstances  by  long  imprison- 
 ment, fines,  and  the  confiscation  of  his  property,  his 
 hearers  did  all  in  their  power  to  render  his  worldly 
 circumstances  easy  by  affording  him  a  competent  main- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  426. 
 
 ■f  Those  who  declined  it  were  chiefly  Mr  James  Renwick  and  his  followers, 
 who,  having  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  tyrant,  refused  to  take  ad- 
 vantage of  what  flowed  from  his  Erastian  power,  regarding  it,  what  no 
 doubt  it  was,  as  a  piece  of  policy  for  enabling  him  more  effectually  to  in- 
 troduce slavery  and  Popery  ;  and  they  continued,  in  defiance  of  the  threat- 
 ened vengeance  of  the  goverjiment  against  field  conventicles  embodied  in 
 it,  to  meet  in  the  fields  for  the  worship  of  God  as  before.  It  is  allowed 
 even  by  Dr  Cook,  in  his  History  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  that  in  this 
 matter  the  Cameronians  acted  the  most  consistent  part.  See  on  this  sub- 
 ject, M'Crie's  Sketches  of  Scottish  Church  History,  2d  ed.  pp.  553,  654. 
 
JOHN  M^GILLIGEN. 
 
 259 
 
 tenance.  Shortly  after  he  was  invited  to  become  mi- 
 nister of  Elgin  ;  an  invitation  which  he  declined  to 
 accept.  At  the  Revolution,  he  received  a  call  to  In- 
 verness, Avith  which  he  complied,  being  induced  in  a 
 good  measure  from  the  desire  of  having  the  benefit  of 
 the  advice  of  the  medical  men  in  that  place.  He,  how- 
 ever, officiated  there  only  during  a  short  period,  for  the 
 gravel,  Avith  Avhich  he  had  been  long  afflicted,  increased 
 to  such  a  degree  as  to  confine  him  to  his  bed,  and  at 
 last  it  proved  the  cause  of  his  death.  During  his  last 
 illness  he  spoke  little,  but  possessed  a  calm  and  un- 
 clouded hope  of  future  blessedness.  He  died  on  the 
 8th  of  June  1689,  and  was  buried  at  Inverness,  the 
 war  which  then  existed  in  the  country  rendering  it  im- 
 possible for  his  mortal  remains  to  be  carried  to  Alness. 
 
 "  Thus,''  says  Wodrow,  "  he  got  cleanly  off  the  stage. 
 He  was  the  only  minister  in  the  province  of  Ross,  who 
 at  the  first  assault  opposed  himself  to  Prelacy.  Mr 
 Hog  of  Kiltearn  was  of  the  same  sentiments  with 
 him,  but  had  been  laid  aside  some  time  before  ;  Mr 
 Thomas  Ross,  minister  at  Kincardine,  having  continued 
 at  his  charge  some  time  after  the  establishment  of 
 Prelacy,  owed  his  leaving  it  to  a  meeting  with  Mr 
 M'Gilligcn  ;  and  Mr  Hugh  Anderson  kept  his  kirk  at 
 Cromarty  for  some  years  before  he  broke  off.  In  short, 
 it  was  in  Mr  M'Gilligen's  house,  at  his  last  releasement, 
 that  that  worthy  man  Mr  Angus  M'Bean,  formerly 
 Episcopal  minister  at  Inverness,  did  preach  his  recan- 
 tation sermon  to  a  numerous  and  splendid  auditory, 
 from  Job  xxxiv.  31,32,  '  Surely  it  is  meet  to  be  said  unto 
 God,  I  have  borne  chastisement,  I  will  not  offend  any 
 more.  That  which  I  see  not,  teach  thou  me  ;  if  I  liavc 
 done  iniquity  I  will  do  so  no  more.'  "* 
 
 •  Wodrow's  Ilibtory,  vol.  iii.  ji.  437. 
 
260 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 PATEICK  a:N^DEESON. 
 
 Patrick  ANDERS0^^  was  ordained  minister  of  Walston, 
 a  parish  in  Lanarkshire,  subsequently  to  the  year  1649. 
 He  thus  came  within  the  reach  of  the  act  of  Parlia- 
 ment passed  in  1662,  which  made  it  imperative  on  all 
 ministers  admitted  since  the  year  1649,  in  order  to  their 
 continuing  in  their  charges,  to  receive  presentations 
 from  their  respective  patrons,  and  also  collation  from 
 the  bishops  of  their  respective  dioceses.  Refusing, 
 like  many  others,  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of 
 this  act,  he  was  compelled  to  quit  the  scene  of  his  la- 
 bours in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness.  On  leaving  Wal- 
 ston, he  came  to  reside  in  Edinburgh,  where  he  lived 
 for  many  years.  Here  the  same  sense  of  duty  which 
 made  him  submit  to  ejection  rather  than  conform  to 
 Prelacy,  led  him  to  preach  in  the  city  and  other  places, 
 in  private  houses  and  in  the  fields,  severe  though  the 
 laws  were  against  such  meetings  ;*  nor  could  he  be  de- 
 terred for  corresponding  with  intercommuned  ministers 
 whom  he  esteemed  and  loved,  though  at  the  risk  of  be- 
 
 *  Reid,  in  his  Memoirs  (p.  26),  names  Mr  Patrick  Anderson  as  one  of 
 those  ministers,  who,  after  the  battle  of  Pentland  Hills,  preached  in  the 
 fields  by  night  and  by  day,  and  who  continued  to  do  so  even  when  this 
 was  declared  by  the  government  to  be  a  capital  crime. 
 
PATKICK  ANDERSON. 
 
 261 
 
 ing  reputed  equally  guilty  with  them  and  punished 
 accordingly. 
 
 Anderson  was  one  of  those  ministers  to  whom  the 
 benefit  of  the  second  indulgence,  dated  8d  September 
 1672,  was  extended.  The  character  of  this  indulgence 
 has  been  previously  described.*  It  originated  in  a  sug- 
 gestion of  Bishop  Burnet  to  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale, 
 to  the  effect,  that  all  the  outed  ministers  should  be  put 
 by  couples  into  parishes,  so  that  instead  of  wandering 
 about  the  country  to  hold  conventicles  in  all  places, 
 they  might  be  fixed  to  a  certain  locality,  and  that  each 
 might  have  the  half  of  a  benefice  ; — a  plan  cordially 
 approved  of  by  Archbishop  Leighton,  who  compared  it 
 to  the  gathering  the  coals  that  were  scattered  over  the 
 house,  setting  all  on  fire,  into  the  chimney,  where  they 
 might  burn  away  with  safety. t  By  this  indulgence 
 Anderson  and  Mr  William  TullidaffJ  were  permitted 
 to  preach  and  exercise  the  other  parts  of  their  minis- 
 terial function  in  Kilbirny,  a  parish  in  the  district  of 
 Cunningham,  Ayrshire,  and  ordered  to  repair  to  and 
 remain  confined  within  that  parish. § 
 
 Most  of  the  ministers  who  accepted  this  indulgence, 
 had  no  small  scruples  of  conscience  in  doing  so.  Others 
 to  whom  it  was  extended,  judged  it  liable  to  such  in- 
 superable objections  from  the  Erastianism  of  its  origin, 
 and  its  whole  provisions,  as  Avell  as  from  the  slavery 
 to  which  it  reduced  them,  that  they  felt  it  to  be  their 
 
 •  See  Notice  of  John  Greig,  pp.  81-84. 
 t  Burnet's  Own  Times,  vol.  i.  p.  381. 
 
 *  Mr  William  Tullidaff  was  minister  of  Dunboij^  pluvious  to  the  Ki-sto- 
 ration.  He  was  ejected  for  nonconformity  by  the  act  of  C<mncil  at  Glah- 
 gow  1062.  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  329.  He  survived  the  persecution, 
 and,  after  the  Revolution,  became  Principal  of  St  Leonard's  College,  St 
 Andrews.    Murray's  Life  ol  .Samuel  Rutherford,  pp.  WJ,  171. 
 
 §  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  1J03,  204. 
 
262 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 duty  to  decline  having  any  concern  with  it.  But  the 
 Council,  aware  that  its  rejection  would  defeat  the  main 
 object  proposed  by  granting  it,  were  determined  to 
 force  a  compliance.  The  Duke  of  Hamilton,  who  had 
 been  in  the  Avest  country,  coming  to  Edinburgh  in  the 
 winter  following,  and  taking  his  seat  at  the  council- 
 board,  told  the  members,  who  were  anxious  to  learn 
 the  success  of  the  indulgence  in  putting  a  stop  to  con- 
 venticles, that  he  was  convinced  that  such  would  have 
 been  its  effect  had  it  been  accepted  by  the  whole  body 
 of  the  Presbyterians,  but  that  as  a  considerable  num- 
 ber refused  to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  it,  and  per- 
 suaded their  brethren  to  follow  their  example,  he  be- 
 lieved that  "  the  schism,''  as  he  called  it,  would  still 
 continue  in  the  Church ;  in  other  words,  that  multi- 
 tudes would  still  rally  round  the  banner  of  Presbytery, 
 and  lift  up  a  bold  protest  against  Prelacy.  Upon  this 
 the  Council  resolved,  without  delay,  to  compel  those 
 Presbyterian  ministers  who  had  not  taken  the  benefit 
 of  the  indulgence  granted  them,  at  least  to  enter  their 
 parishes  and  remain  confined  within  them.  With  this 
 view,  those  ministers  were  summoned  to  appear  before 
 them  on  the  12th  of  March  1 673.  Anderson  was  among 
 the  number,  and  he,  with  the  greater  number  of  them, 
 appeared,  and  Avere  examined  as  to  their  reasons 
 for  not  repairing  to  their  several  parishes.  Each  as- 
 signed his  own  particular  reasons ;  upon  hearing  which, 
 the  Council,  owing  to  the  badness  of  the  weather  and 
 the  state  of  the  roads,  gave  them  between  that  and 
 the  1st  of  June  to  repair  to  their  respective  parishes, 
 and  if  they  did  not  choose  to  exercise  their  ministry 
 in  them,  to  remain  confined  there  for  life  ;  and  warned 
 them,  if  they  did  not  do  so  by  that  time,  that  they 
 would  be  liable  to  be  apprehended  as  despisers  of  his 
 
PATRICK  ANDERSON. 
 
 263 
 
 Majesty's  authority.  At  the  same  diet  it  was  agreed 
 that  orders  should  be  given  to  the  king's  forces,  sheriffs, 
 and  all  magistrates,  to  seize  them  wherever  they  could 
 be  found  if  they  did  not  obey  this  appointment.*  An- 
 derson, when  commanded  to  repair  to  his  parish  be- 
 twixt that  and  the  1st  of  June  under  the  above  penalty, 
 thanked  the  Council  for  their  favour  in  granting  him 
 so  long  time  to  deliberate,  and  promised  to  take  the 
 matter  into  solemn  and  serious  consideration  ;  upon 
 which  he  was  dismissed.  The  rest  who  appeared  were 
 similarly  threatened,  and  several  of  them  gave  the  same 
 answer,  t 
 
 Anderson's  place  of  confinement,  it  would  appear, 
 was  afterwards  changed  to  Longdreghorn.  Whether 
 or  not  he  ultimately  accepted  the  indulgence  is  some- 
 what uncertain.  If  he  did  so,  he  broke  through  his 
 confinement  and  extended  his  ministrations  to  other 
 places  ;  by  which  he  stirred  up  the  opposition  of  the 
 curates,  who  having  little  reputation  among  the  people, 
 and  envying  the  popular  favour  Avhich  the  outed  Pres- 
 byterian ministers  so  highly  enjoyed,  did  all  in  their 
 power  to  harass  them  and  interdict  their  ministry. 
 In  "  the  Grievances  given  in  by  the  several  Presbyteries 
 of  the  Diocese  of  Glasgow  to  the  Synod,  October  22. 
 1674,"  and  which  tliey  intended  should  be  laid  before 
 the  government,  it  is  com})lained  "  that  in  the  Presby- 
 tery of  Lanark  conventicles  are  kept  by  Mr  Patrick 
 Anderson  at  Boghall,  though  confined  to  Longdreg- 
 horn.''t 
 
 On  Sabbath  the  5th  of  November  1676,  Anderson 
 kept  a  private  conventicle  within  the  town  of  Edin- 
 
 •  Wodrow's  llihtory,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 
 
 t  Kirkton's  llihtory  of  tho  Church  of  Scotlan<l,  ]>.  337. 
 
 J  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  264. 
 
264 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 burgh,  in  the  house  of  Mrs  Guthrie,  widow  of  Mr  John 
 Gruthrie,  minister  at  Tarbolton.*  On  receiving  infor- 
 mation of  this  meeting,  the  magistrates  dispersed  it,  and 
 apprehended  some  present  at  it,  whom  they  committed 
 to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh.  Anderson  escaped,  but 
 some  of  his  papers  fell  into  their  hands.  From  these 
 papers,  however,  which  were  probably  only  the  notes 
 of  his  sermons,  it  appears  that  nothing  could  be  ex- 
 tracted that  could  be  converted  into  a  charge  against 
 him  For  this  conventicle,  the  magistrates  of  Edin- 
 burgh were  liable  to  be  fined,  it  being  one  of  the  tyran- 
 nical measures  for  putting  down  these  meetings  then 
 adopted,  according  to  the  fifth  act  of  the  second  session 
 of  his  Majesty's  second  parliament  1670,  to  make  the 
 magistrates  of  royal  burghs  "liable  for  every  conventicle 
 to  be  kept  within  their  burghs,  to  such  fines  as  his  Ma- 
 jesty's Council  shall  think  fit  to  impose."t  But  the  ma- 
 gistrates of  the  city  having  presented  a  petition  to  the 
 
 *  Numerous  house  conventicles  were  held  in  Edinburgh.  "  There  had 
 been  preachings  by  several  ministers  in  Edinburgh  ever  since  the  death 
 of  Mr  [James]  Guthrie,  especially  in  his  widow's  house,  who  from  that 
 time  kept  the  most  public  meetings."  Blackadder's  Memoirs,  MS.  copy. 
 And  when  Blackadder  took  up  his  residence  in  Edinburgh,  which  was  in 
 1666,  he  informs  us,  that  in  the  summer  of  that  year,  having  taken  larger 
 lodgings,  he  kept  in  them  great  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  days,  and  that  or- 
 dinarily every  night  at  family  worship,  many  were  present.  "  But,"  adds  he, 
 "  preaching  was  neither  so  frequent  nor  so  public  in  Edinburgh,  till  after 
 the  six  ministers  [Mr  John  Wilkie,  Mr  Samuel  Arnot,  and  four  others], 
 banished  out  of  Galloway  and  Nithsdale  came  there.  It  was  expected 
 that  after  the  disaster  at  Pentland,  these  meetings,  called  conventicles, 
 should  have  been  suppressed,  but  in  the  providence  of  God  it  came  to  pass, 
 that,  beyond  all  expectation,  they  were  never  so  numerous  and  public  as 
 they  were  after  that,  particularly  and  first  at  Edinburgh,  wherein  in  many 
 houses  at  once  there  would  have  been  several  rooms  full  at  a  time,  the  pre- 
 lates still  causing  watch  over  them,  and  sometimes  apprehend,  imprison, 
 and  fine  those  they  found  to  have  been  at  them  ;  yet  they  continued  still, 
 increased,  and  propagated  also  through  the  country  from  that  year  evpn 
 to  the  year  1679,  that  they  were  so  universally  crushed  and  suppressed." 
 Ibid.  t  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  j>.  169. 
 
PATRICK  ANDERSON. 
 
 265 
 
 Council,  praying  that  the  city  might  be  exempted  from 
 any  fine  on  account  of  the  above  conventicle,  in  respect 
 of  their  diligence  in  dissipating  it,  and  that  whatever 
 fines  should  in  future  be  imposed  upon  the  city  for 
 conventicles,  might,  in  those  cases  in  which  they  should 
 discover  them,  be  given  them  to  be  applied  for  the  use 
 of  the  poor  of  the  burgh,  the  Council  found  that  the 
 magistrates  had  done  their  duty  in  dissipating  the 
 foresaid  conventicle,  and  declared  the  city  free  of  any 
 fine  for  it  in  regard  of  their  diligence  and  discovery ; 
 and  as  to  the  other  part  of  the  prayer,  declared  that 
 when  any  conventicles  should  hereafter  occur  in  the 
 city,  the  desire  of  the  magistrates,  upon  their  making 
 application,  would  be  taken  into  consideration. 
 
 On  the  16th  of  November,  five  ladies  were  libelled 
 before  the  Council,  at  the  instance  of  his  Majesty's  Ad- 
 vocate, for  being  present  at  the  above  conventicle, 
 namely,  Margaret  Haldane,  relict  of  the  deceased  Mr 
 John  Guthrie,  indweller  in  Edinburgh,  Elizabeth  Muir, 
 relict  of  Mr  Alexander  Dunlop,  Mary  Hepburn,  Lady 
 Saltcoats,  and  Mary  Livingtoun*  her  daughter  ;  "  and 
 the  said  defenders  being  called  and  interrogated  upon 
 the  libel,  and  the  said  Mary  Livingtoun  having  acknow- 
 ledged that  she  was  at  the  conventicle  libelled,  and  the 
 rest  being  required  to  give  their  oaths  thereupon,  they 
 refused  to  give  oath  ;  in  respect  whereof,  the  Lords  of 
 Privy  Council  hold  them  as  confessed,  and  fine  the 
 said  Mary  Hepburn  in  the  sum  of  ^^200,  the  said  Mary 
 
 •  In  the  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council,  the  name  is  erroneously 
 spelled  "  Liddingtoun."  In  the  titles  of  the  estate  of  the  family,  it  is  as 
 given  in  the  text.  The  family  of  Livingtoun  of  Saltcoats,  which  is  of  con- 
 siderable antiquity,  zealously  adhered  to  the  Presbyterians  during  the 
 persecution.  It  became  extinct  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  In 
 the  New  Statistical  Account  of  Sc()tlun<l,  the  name  is  also  by  mistake 
 spelled  "  Livingstone."    No.  viii.  Haddingtonshire,  p.  44. 
 
266 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Livingtoun  in  one  hundred  merks,  to  be  paid  to  his 
 Majesty's  cash-keeper,  and  ordain  letters  to  be  direct- 
 ed against  them  for  that  effect ;  and  ordain  Margaret 
 Haldane  and  Elizabeth  Muir  to  continue  in  prison 
 until  they  find  caution,  each  of  them  under  the  pain 
 of  1000  merks,  to  remove  themselves  out  of  the  town 
 of  Edinburgh  betwixt  and  the-  1st  of  January  next,  and 
 that  they  shall  not  come  within  six  miles  of  the  said 
 burgh  under  the  pain  foresaid,  Avithout  licence  from 
 the  Council/'  Such  is  the  treatment  which  a  few 
 pious  and  inoffensive  females  met  with  for  presuming 
 to  worship  God  in  the  way  they  most  approved  of  Nor 
 is  this  a  solitary  case  in  the  history  of  the  prelatic  per- 
 secution. Numerous  instances  of  a  similar,  and  even 
 a  more  cruel  kind,  occur.  So  lost  to  every  honourable 
 feeling  had  that  ignoble  and  dastardly  government  be- 
 come, that  in  their  mad  project  of  putting  down  Pres- 
 bytery and  establishing  Prelacy,  they  scrupled  not  to 
 attempt  to  coerce  the  consciences  of  many  devout  and 
 excellent  females,  among  whom  were  ladies  of  rank  ; 
 so  that  women  found  virtue,  innocence,  accomplishment, 
 and  station,  no  safeguard  against  persecution,  provided 
 they  declined  in  matters  of  religion  to  square  their 
 conduct  according  to  the  dictates  of  a  monarch  who 
 was  distinguished  for  little  else  than  want  of  principle 
 and  profligacy  of  manners.  Simply  for  nonconformity, 
 some  of  them  were  immersed  in  heavy  fines,  some  im- 
 mured in  prisons,  some  banished  out  of  the  country, 
 and  some  even  put  to  barbarous  deaths. 
 
 As  Anderson  after  this  persevered  in  the  same  course 
 of  life,  he  continued  to  excite  the  jealousy  and  displea- 
 sure of  the  government.  In  April  1678,  lie  was  sum- 
 moned to  appear  before  the  Council  to  answer  for 
 "  several  irregularities  tending  to  the  breach  of  liis 
 
PATRICK  ANDERSON. 
 
 267 
 
 Majesty's  peace/'  as  being  present  and  preaching  at 
 house  and  field  conventicles,  harbouring,  resetting,  and 
 corresponding  with  intercommuned  persons.  On  mak- 
 ing his  appearance  in  obedience  to  the  summons,  his 
 libel  was  read.  After  referring  to  the  fifth  act  of  the 
 second  session  of  his  Majesty's  second  Parliament,  pro- 
 hibiting and  discharging  the  keeping  of  or  being  pre- 
 sent at  house  or  field  conventicles,  and  to  "  diverse  acts 
 of  Parliament  against  the  withdrawing  from  public  ordi- 
 nances authorised  according  to  law  in  parish  churches 
 and  to  "  acts  of  Parliament  against  the  harbouring,  re- 
 setting, supplying,  entertaining,  corresponding,  or  inter- 
 communing  with  persons  who  are  declared  rebels  and 
 traitors,  or  others  against  whom  letters  of  intercom- 
 muning  are  directed     it  proceeds  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  Nevertheless  it  is  of  verity  that  Mr  Patrick  Anderson, 
 
 now  indweller  in  Edinburgh,  sometime  minister  at  * 
 
 having  refused  to  join  in  the  exercise  of  the  ministry  with  the  re- 
 gular and  orthodox  clergy  according  to  the  government  of  the 
 Church  as  it  is  now  estabhshed  by  law,  did  repair  to  Edin- 
 burgh there  to  sheher  himself,  where  he  hath  lived  for  diverse 
 years,  and  practised  several  uregularities  tending  to  the  breach 
 of  his  Majesty's  peace  ;  and  particularly  upon  the  first,  second, 
 third,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of  March,  April,  May, 
 and  remanent  months  of  the  year  1674  ;  upon  the  first,  second, 
 third,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of  January,  February, 
 March,  and  remanent  months  of  the  year  1G75  ;  upon  the  first, 
 second,  third,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of  January, 
 February,  March,  and  remanent  months  of  the  year  1676; 
 upon  the  first,  .second,  third,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months 
 of  January,  February,  March,  and  remanent  months  of  the 
 year  1677  ;  and  upon  the  first,  second,  third,  and  remanent 
 daj's  of  the  months  of  J;inuary,  February,  and  March  last 
 bypast,  the  said  Mr  Patrick  Anderson  hath  kept,  and  been 
 
 •  Blank  in  MS. 
 
 1 
 
268 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 present  at  diverse  house  conventicles  kept  in  liis  own  house 
 at  the  Potterrow  Port  in  the  cordiners'  land  there,  and  in 
 
 the  house  of  ,*  and  in  diverse  other  houses  in  and 
 
 about  Edinburgh  and  other  places,  where  he  hath  preached 
 himself,  expounded  scripture,  prayed,  and  exercised  the  other 
 functions  of  the  ministry,  and  hath  also  been  present  at  di- 
 verse field  conventicles  kept  at  Tinto  Muir,  and  ,t 
 
 or  diverse  other  places  about  or  near  thereto,  where  he  himself 
 bath  prayed,  preached,  and  exercised  the  other  functions  of 
 the  ministry ;  at  least  hath  heard  diverse  others,  declared  trai- 
 tors and  rebels,  intercommuned  ministers,  outed  or  vagrant 
 preachers,  preach,  expound  scripture,  pray,  and  exercise  the 
 other  functions  of  the  ministry  at  the  said  places,  or  one  or 
 other  of  them,  and  particularly  Mr  John  Welsh,  Mr  Samuel 
 Arnot,  Mr  Gabriel  Semple,  Mr  David  Williamson,  or  one  or 
 other  of  them ;  at  least  hath  convocated  people  to  the  said  meet- 
 ings, or  at  least  hath  been  present  at  the  said  house  conventicles 
 when  there  were  more  persons  thereat  than  the  house  con- 
 tained :  Likeas  the  said  Mr  Patrick  Anderson  hath,  during 
 the  whole  time  foresaid,  been  a  constant  withdrawer  from  his 
 own  parish  church,  and  hath  harboured,  reset,  and  supplied, 
 entertained,  corresponded,  or  intercommuned  with  the  said  Mr 
 John  Welsh,  Mr  Samuel  Arnot,  Mr  Gabriel  Semple,  Mr  David 
 Williamson,  Mr  George  Johnston,  and  diverse  others,  declared 
 rebels  and  traitors,  and  against  whom  letters  of  intercommun- 
 ingare  directed,  and  did  so  far  encourage  them  as  that  his  house 
 hath  been  a  common  receptacle  of  such  persons ;  at  the  leastj 
 he  has  been  active  in  procuring  the  said  persons  to  be  shel- 
 tered and  harboui'ed  by  others,  and  hath  by  himself,  or  others 
 at  his  command,  compliance,  or  direction,  caused  them  to  be 
 furnished  with  horses  and  other  necessaries,  and  provisions, 
 in  order  to  their  going  to  keep  house  or  field  conventicles  at 
 
 *  Blank  in  MS.  '  t  Ibid. 
 
 I  The  reader  will  perceive  that  in  this  document  several  suppositions 
 as  to  the  contravention  of  the  laws  against  nonconformity  are  introduced, 
 each  of  them  with  the  words  at  least.  This  is  one  specimen  of  the  vexa- 
 tious proceedings  of  these  times. 
 
PATRICK  ANDERSON. 
 
 269 
 
 the  places  foresaid,  and  hath  been  a  constant  encourager  of 
 such  persons  as  went  to  these  irregular  and  disorderly  meet- 
 ings, whereby  the  said  Mr  Patrick  Anderson  hath  directly 
 contravened  the  tenor  of  the  foresaid  acts  of  Parliament,  and 
 is  guilty  of  the  illegal  and  disorderly  practices  foresaid,  for 
 which  he  ought  to  be  exemplarly  punished  in  his  person  and 
 goods,  to  the  terror  of  others  to  commit  and  do  the  like  in  time 
 coming." 
 
 Being  examined  upon  this  libel,  Anderson  acknow- 
 ledged that  lie  had  kept  conventicles,  and  had  corres- 
 ponded with  intercommuned  ministers.  On  hearing 
 this  confession,  the  Council  ordain  him  "  to  be  carried 
 prisoner  to  the  Isle  of  the  Bass,  upon  Wednesday  the 
 10th  of  this  instant,  by  two  rates  of  musketeers  of  the 
 garrison  in  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  to  remain  prisoner 
 there,  unless  betwixt  and  the  said  day  he  find  caution, 
 under  the  pain  of  two  thousand  merks,  that  he  shall 
 remove  himself  out  of  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  re- 
 side at  some  place  at  least  four  or  five  miles  distant 
 therefrom ;  and  that  he  shall  not  converse  or  corres- 
 pond with  any  persons  except  those  of  his  own  family  ; 
 and  if  the  defender  fail  to  find  the  said  caution,  grant 
 warrant  to  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  deliver  his 
 person,  upon  the  10th  of  this  instant,  to  such  mus- 
 keteers as  shall  be  ordered  by  the  laird  of  Lundie,  lieu- 
 tenant of  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  to  receive  him  to 
 the  effect  foresaid."* 
 
 Failing,  it  would  appear,  to  give  caution  that  lie 
 would  remove  himself  out  of  Edinburgh,  and  reside  in 
 some  place  at  least  four  or  five  miles  distant  from  it, 
 and  that  he  would  not  converse  or  correspond  with  any 
 persons  except  those  of  his  own  family,  probably  pre- 
 ferring imprisonment  to  coming  under  such  an  engage- 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Coum  il. 
 
270 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ment,  Anderson  was  conveyed  to  the  Bass.  There  he 
 remained  a  prisoner  till  the  middle  of  July,  when  he 
 was  released  through  a  letter  from  his  Majesty  to  the 
 Council,  requiring  that  such  as  were  confined  simply 
 for  nonconformity,  and  who  had  not  been  concerned  in 
 the  insurrection  at  Bothwell  Bridge,  should  be  set  at 
 liberty,  upon  their  finding  security  under  a  certain 
 sum  to  appear  before  the  Council  when  called.* 
 
 Of  Anderson's  future  history  little  is  known.  He 
 survived  the  Revolution,  and  upon  the  ejection  of  the 
 Episcopal  incumbent,  Mr  John  Kinked,  again  became 
 minister  of  his  old  parish,  Walston,  to  whose  spiritual 
 interests  he  consecrated  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He 
 was  the  father  of  the  celebrated  antiquary  Mr  James 
 Anderson,  general  postmaster  for  Scotland,  author  of 
 "  Collections  relating  to  the  History  of  Mary  Queen  of 
 Scotland,''  in  four  volumes  4to,  and  other  works.t 
 
 *  See  Notice  of  William  Bell,  pp.  116-118. 
 
 t  Chalmers's  Biographical  Dictionary ;  Wodrow's  Correspondence,  vol . 
 ii.  p.  287. 
 
271 
 
 JOHN  CAMPBELL. 
 
 There  were  several  nonconforming  ministers  of  this 
 name  during  the  persecution.  One  of  them  so  named 
 was,  previous  to  the  restoration  of  Charles  IL,  minister 
 of  Sorn,  a  parish  in  the  upper  part  of  Ayrshire,  dis- 
 trict of  Kyle.  He  was  ejected  from  his  charge  for  non- 
 conformity in  1662.*  He  afterwards  became  indulged 
 minister  of  Sorn  ;  but  scrupling  to  observe  the  restric- 
 tions imposed  upon  him  by  the  indulgence,  and  ttt 
 yield  implicit  obedience  to  all  the  requirements  of  the 
 court,  he  was  put  to  some  trouble.  Having  declined 
 to  keep  the  day  of  thanksgiving  appointed  by  the  go- 
 vernment to  be  observed  on  the  9th  of  September  1683, 
 for  the  discovery  of  the  Rye-house  plot,  and  to  read 
 from  the  pulpit  on  that  day,  and  on  the  Sabbath  pre- 
 ceding, his  Majesty's  proclamation  enjoining  its  obser- 
 vance,! and  having  since  his  Majesty's  act  of  indein- 
 nitypreached  on  l)einginvited  in  diverse  houses  in  other 
 parishesthan  that  within  which  he  was  confined,  he  was 
 served  with  a  libel  charging  him  with  these  offences, 
 and  summoning  him  to  appear  before  the  Council  on 
 the  3d  of  January  1684.  lie  appeared  in  obedience  to 
 the  summons,  and  his  Majesty's  Advocate  having,  in- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  327.  t  ^^^'O  pp.  !H1-!)*J. 
 
272 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 stead  of  all  further  probation,  referred  the  verity  of  the 
 libel  to  his  oath,  he  confessed  upon  his  solemn  oath  the 
 truth  of  the  charges.  Upon  this,  the  Council  "  declare 
 the  indulgence  granted  him  to  preach  in  the  above 
 parish  to  be  void  and  at  an  end,  and  ordain  him  either 
 to  find  caution  to  remove  off  the  kingdom  betwixt  and 
 the  first  of  March  next,  and  not  to  return  thereto  with- 
 out licence  under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand  merks, 
 otherwise  to  find  caution  hereafter  not  to  preach  or  ex- 
 ercise any  part  of  the  ministerial  function  within  this 
 kingdom,  and  to  frequent  the  ordinances  in  the  parish 
 kirk  where  he  shall  happen  to  reside,  and  compear  per- 
 sonally before  the  Council  to  answer  to  any  thing  may 
 be  laid  to  his  charge  under  the  said  penalty,  and  ap- 
 point him  to  go  to  prison  except  he  find  the  said  cau- 
 tion.'' But  Campbell,  less  stedfast  to  his  principles 
 than  many  of  his  brethren,  in  order  to  regain  his 
 liberty,  engaged  to  a  Committee  of  Council,  "  that 
 hereafter  he  should  not  keep  house  or  field  conven- 
 ticles, baptize  nor  marry,  and  that  he  should  frequent 
 the  ordinances  in  the  place  where  he  should  happen  to 
 reside,  and  compear  before  the  Council  when  called  for 
 to  answer  to  any  thing  can  be  laid  to  his  charge,  and 
 that  under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots 
 money  in  case  of  failure.''  On  these  conditions,  the 
 Council,  on  the  24th  of  January,  give  order  and  warrant 
 to  the  Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  set  him  at  liberty.* 
 
 *  There  is  a  Mr  John  Campbell  whom  Carstairs  mentions  in  a  letter  to 
 Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  dated  July  23.  1675 :  "  There  was  a  communion,"  says 
 he,  "  at  Kilbarchan,  [a  parish  in  Renfrewshire],  last  Lord's  day,  when  se- 
 veral outed  ministers  preached,  and  Mr  Hugh  Peebles  amongst  the  rest, 
 who  was  taken  in  the  minister's  house  Sabbath  night,  having  preached  in 
 the  church-yard,  and  is  now  prisoner  in  the  tolbooth  of  Glasgow ;  and  twc» 
 others,  one  Mr  John  Campbell  and  Mr  John  Blair,  were  taken  at  a  com- 
 munion somewhere  in  the  Presbytery  of  Ayr."  There  is  also  a  minister 
 of  this  name  whom  Wodrow  mentions  as  having,  in  May  1678,  kept  a  con- 
 
JOHN  CAMPBELL. 
 
 273 
 
 There  is  another  John  Campbell,  who  was  settled  in 
 Torthorwald,  a  parish  near  the  foot  of  Nithsdale,  Dum- 
 fries-shire, and  who  was  ejected  from  his  charge  by  the 
 act  of  Council  at  Glasgow,  1662.*  After  his  ejection 
 he  kept  meetings  for  public  worship  in  his  own  house 
 in  Nithsdale.t 
 
 John  Campbell,  the  subject  of  our  notice,  was  pro- 
 bably a  different  person  from  either  of  these,  as  he  is 
 called  by  Mr  John  Carstairs,  "  a  minister  in  Ireland.'' 
 On  the  12th  and  19th  of  May  1678,  he  kept  "  house 
 conventicles  within  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  in  the  houses 
 of  James  Campbell,  vintner,  and  Thomas  Waddell,  dur- 
 ing the  hours  of  divine  service.'^  The  last  of  these 
 meetings  was  fallen  upon,  and  Campbell,  with  some  of 
 those  present  at  it,  were  apprehended  and  imprisoned 
 in  the  tolbooth.J  They  were  summoned  to  appear 
 before  the  Council  on  the  last  day  of  May,  and  on 
 appearing  they  confessed  the  truth  of  the  libel.  Upon 
 this,  his  Grace  the  Lord  Commissioner,  and  the  Lords 
 of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council,  "  ordain  Mr  John  Camp- 
 bell to  be  transported  prisoner  from  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh  to  the  Isle  of  the  Bass,  by  such  a  party  of 
 
 venticle  which  made  considerable  noise.  "  Upon  the  14th  of  May,"  says 
 he,  "  the  Council  being  informed  of  a  conventicle  kept  in  the  parish  of 
 Cathcart,  in  the  shire  of  Renfrew,  at  the  house  of  William  Wood,  they 
 order  the  prisoners  to  bo  brought  in  to  Edinl)urgh.  Mr  John  Campbell, 
 Mr  Mathew  Crawford,  and  some  others,  preached  there  ;  the  ministers 
 escaped,  but  the  meeting  was  dispersed,  and  the  dragoons  pursued  the 
 common  people,  took  a  great  number  of  plaids,  bibles,  and  other  things 
 from  the  women  whom  they  overtook,  and  upwards  of  sixty  men  prison- 
 ers." Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  475.  Whether  these  refer  to  the  same 
 person,  and  if  they  do,  whether  John  Campbell  of  Sorn  is  the  person  spoken 
 (»f  is  uncertain.    Wodrow  M8S.,  vol.  lix.,  folio,  no.  35. 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  22G. 
 
 t  Crichton's  Memoirs  of  Mr  John  Blackadder,  p.  97. 
 
 *  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council  ;  and  letter  of  Mr  John  Curstairs 
 to  Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  lix.  f..li<..  n...  82. 
 
274 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 his  Majesty's  forces  as  the  Major- General  shall  think  fit, 
 and  to  continue  prisoner  there  until  farther  order  :  And 
 in  regard  the  said  Patrick  Tullas  was  not  only  present 
 at  the  said  conventicle,  but  did  invite  the  said  Mr  John 
 Campbell  to  preach  at  the  same,  they  fine  him  in  the 
 sum  of  four  hundred  merks  Scots,  and  fine  Patrick 
 Telfer,  tailor,  in  the  sum  of  25  lbs.  Scots,  William  Knox, 
 tailor,  in  the  sum  of  25  lbs.,  and  George  Nicoll,  journey- 
 man, in  12  lbs.  Scots,  conform  to  the  act  of  Parliament, 
 for  their  being  present  at  the  said  conventicle.  And 
 in  regard  Mr  Robert  Meikle,  [called  in  the  decreet, 
 chaplain  to  Sir  James  Stewart  and  his  lady,]  Steven 
 Porteous,  Patrick  Sommervail,  and  William  Hackston, 
 who  were  at  the  said  conventicle,  being  required,  did 
 refuse  to  depone  as  to  other  persons  present  at  the  same  ; 
 therefore  the  said  Lords,  conform  to  the  act  of  Parlia- 
 ment, do  banish  them  to  the  plantations,  and  ordain 
 them  to  be  kept  prisoners  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh 
 until  an  opportunityofferfor  their  transportation  :  And 
 find  that  the  said  Thomas  Waddell,  and  John  Fulton  his 
 cautioner,  have  contravened  the  foresaid  bond  of  cau- 
 tionry,  and  incurred  the  penalty  of  one  thousand  merks 
 therein  contained  ;*  and  ordain  letters  of  horning  to  be 
 directed  for  payment  thereof ;  and  ordain  the  said 
 
 *  lu  tlie  indictment  which  precedes  this  act,  it  is  said  that  "  Thomas 
 Waddell  in  Edinburgh,  and  Margaret  Lamb  his  spouse,  were  by  sentence 
 of  Council  in  1674  banished  forth  of  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  Leith,  and  Can- 
 ongate,  for  their  accession  to  the  breaking  up  of  Magdalene  Chapel  in  Edin- 
 burgh, and  being  present  at  conventicles  there  and  in  several  other  places; 
 and  thereafter,  for  contravening  the  said  sentence,  were  imprisoned  within 
 the  tolbooth  of  the  said  burgh  ;"  and  farther,  that  upon  "  his  humble  sub- 
 mission and  acknowledgment  of  his  offence,  and  craving  pardon,"  he  was 
 liberated  upon  his  giving  bond,  and  finding  John  Fulton,  mason,  burgess, 
 Edinburgh,  cautioner  for  him,  that  he  and  his  wife  "  should  keep,  ob- 
 serve, and  obey  the  several  laws  and  acts  of  Parliament  made  anent  State 
 and  Church  government,  and  do  nothing  contrary  thereto,  under  the  pain  of 
 1000  merks  Scots."    The  bond,  was  dated  14th  September  1675. 
 
JOHN  CAMPBELL.  275 
 
 Patrick  Tullas,  Patrick  Telfer,  William  Knox,  and 
 George  Nicoll,  to  continue  in  prison  until  they  pay 
 their  fines  to  his  Majesty's  cash-keeper,  and  upon  pay- 
 ment thereof  ordain  them  to  be  set  at  liberty." 
 
 Besides  these  persons  who  were  thus  punished  for 
 attending  the  above  conventicles,  a  decreet  was  raised 
 against  the  lady  of  Sir  James  Stewart  of  Kirkfield  and 
 Coltness,  "  for  being  present  at  one  or  other  of  them."' 
 As  she  did  not  compear,  the  Council,  at  their  meeting 
 of  the  6th  of  June  1678,  "  grant  certification  against 
 M  the  said  Dame  Margery  M'Culloch,*  defender,  for  de- 
 nouncing her  rebel,  &c.  in  respect  of  her  non-appearance, 
 superseding  extract  thereof  until  this  day  eight  days/' 
 How  long  Campbell  was  confined  in  the  Bass,  and  what 
 was  his  future  history,  is  unknown. 
 
 *  This  was  the  maiden  name  of  Lady  Stewart.    In  the  "  Coltness  Col- 
 I  lections"  she  is  called  "  Marion  M'Culloch,"  p.  27.   She  was  the  daughter 
 of  Mr  David  M'Culloch,  writer  to  the  signet,  and  was  a  woman  of  eminent 
 virtue  and  piety.    She  died  about  1690.    Ibid.  p.  28. 
 
276 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 JOHX  LAW. 
 
 John  Law  was  born  about  the  close  of  the  year  1632. 
 He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  and 
 after  passing  through  the  regular  literary  and  philo- 
 sophical classes,  took  his  degree  of  master  of  arts. 
 His  public  appearances,  on  his  being  licensed  to  preach 
 the  gospel,  were  highly  creditable  ;  and  so  favourable 
 an  opinion  did  the  well-known  Mr  James  Durham, 
 minister  of  the  inner  High  Churgh  of  Glasgow,  form 
 of  his  piety  and  talents,  that  when  Mr  Andrew  Gray, 
 minister  of  the  outer  High  Church  of  that  city,  died  in 
 February  1656,  he  was  very  desirous  that  Law,  who 
 had  not  then  been  settled  in  any  fixed  charge,  should 
 become  his  successor ;  but  Mr  Patrick  Gillespie  suc- 
 ceeded in  carrying  the  appointment  of  Mr  Robert 
 M'Ward.*  After  this,  in  that  same  year,  Law  was  or- 
 dained minister  at  Campsie,  in  the  room  of  Mr  Archi- 
 bald Denniston,  who  was  deposed  by  the  Protesters. 
 At  that  time  the  controversy  between  the  Resolutioners 
 and  Protesters  was  carried  on  with  great  violence.  The 
 Protesters,  having  on  various  grounds  disowned  the 
 lawfulness  of  the  General  Assembly  held  at  St  Andrews 
 and  Dundee  in  1651,  as  well  as  the  subsequent  As- 
 
 *  BaiUie's  Letters  and  Journals,  vol.  iii.  p.  314. 
 
JOHN  LAW. 
 
 277 
 
 semblies,  claimed  for  themselves  the  power  of  the  Com- 
 mission of  1650,  and  as  such,  formed  themselves  into  a 
 Committee  for  purging  the  Church  of  unqualified  and 
 scandalous  ministers,  and  planting  vacant  charges  with 
 i  young  men  of  their  own  views,  whom  they  considered 
 |:  duly  qualified,  while,  at  the  same  time,  those  Synods 
 ji  and  Presbyteries,  in  which  the  Protesters  had  the  ma- 
 jority, proceeded  in  the  same  work  wdth  great  zeal.* 
 Among  others,  Mr  Archibald  Denniston,  minister  of 
 I  Campsie,  which  belonged  to  the  Synod  of  Glasgow, 
 where  the  Protesters  had  the  great  majority,  was  de- 
 posed ;  and  Law,  who  had  adopted  the  sentiments  of 
 that  party,  was  settled  by  them  in  his  room.t 
 j      Being  conscientiously  and  decidedly  attached  to 
 Presbytery,  Law  refused  to  conform  to  Prelacy  on  the 
 establishment  of  that  form  of  church  government  after 
 the  restoration  of  Charles  IL  ;  and  on  this  account  was 
 driven  from  his  charge  by  the  act  of  Council  at  Glasgow 
 1662.  J  Whether  on  this  he  desisted  for  some  time  from 
 j  the  public  exercise  of  his  ministry,  as  was  the  case  with 
 respect  to  some  of  the  ejected  nonconforming  minis- 
 ters, is  uncertain.§    But  if  he  did  so,  he  at  length  felt 
 
 •  In  doing  this,  they  were  no  doubt  encouraged  from  knowing  that  they 
 >.     were  more  in  favour  with  Cromwell's  government  than  the  Resolutioners. 
 Baillie  complains  that  they  had  "  the  ear  of  the  English,"  and  of  their 
 greatness  with  the  civil  power."    Letters  and  Journals,  vol.  iii.  p.  315. 
 t  Baillie  gives  the  following  account  of  this  settlement.    "  In  Campsie 
 ]j     likewise,  in  [place  of]  Mr  Archibald  Denniston,  deposed  by  them  with- 
 out  any  considerable  cause,  much  to  my  grief  and  against  the  heart  of  his 
 parish  who  loved  him,  they  have  planted  Mr  John  Law,  within  these  three 
 years  brought  from  a  pottinger  to  be  lauroat."    Letters  an<l  Juumals, 
 
 il     vol.  iii.  p.  314.    Baillie  was  a  keen  Resolutioner;  and  this  will  account  for 
 the  rather  disrespe<-tlul  manner  in  which  ho  here  speaks  of  Law.  So  strong, 
 indeed,  were  his  prejudice  s  against  the  Protesters,  that  ho  can  scarcely 
 speak  in  decent  terms  of  any  of  them  when  they  come  in  liis  way. 
 J  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.p.  328. 
 
 §  Not  a  few  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  after  theirejertion  attended  on 
 I      Sabbath  the  charches  of  those  nonconforming  ministers,  who,  having  been 
 
278 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 SO  strongly  that  his  ejectment  from  his  parish  could 
 not  warrant  him  to  lay  down  the  commission  he  had 
 received  from  the  Head  of  the  Church  to  preach  the 
 gospel,  that  he  exercised  his  ministry  wherever  he  found 
 opportunity.  In  the  year  1670  and  subsequently,  he 
 and  several  other  Presbyterian  ministers  were  much 
 employed  in  preaching  about  Kippen,  Gargunnock,  and 
 Monteith,  although  thereby  they  were  exposed  to  con- 
 stant troubles  and  sufferings.* 
 
 When  a  second  indulgence  was  granted  on  the  3d  of 
 September  1672,  Law  and  Mr  George  Hutchisont  were 
 allowed  to  exercise  their  ministry  within  the  parish  of 
 Irvine.  J  Law  did  not  for  some  time  at  least  repair  to 
 Irvine  in  obedience  to  the  act  of  indulgence.  For  this 
 offence  he  and  the  rest  of  the  indulged  ministers,  who 
 had  not  gone  to  their  respective  parishes,  were  sum- 
 moned to  appear  before  the  Council  on  the  12th  of 
 March  1673.  He  and  several  others  not  obeying  the 
 summons,  were  appointed  to  appear  at  some  future 
 meeting  of  Council.  §  He,  however,  seems  at  length  to 
 have  repaired  to  Irvine,  and  entered  upon  the  discharge 
 
 settled  previous  to  1649,  did  not  come  under  the  operation  of  the  Glasgow 
 act,  and  even  some  of  them  went  to  hear  the  curates,  not  preaching  pub- 
 licly for  some  time,  although  they  admitted  many  of  their  neighbours  into 
 their  houses  during  the  time  of  family  worship. 
 
 *  M'Crie's  Memoirs  of  Veitch  and  Brysson,  p.  437. 
 
 t  Mr  George  Hutchison  was  first  minister  at  Colmonel  in  Ayrshire,  and 
 was  afterwards  translated  to  Edinburgh,  but  was  ejected  from  his  charge 
 after  the  Restoration  for  nonconformity.  By  the  first  indulgence  granted 
 in  1669,  he  became  indulged  minister  at  Irvine,  and  by  this  second  had 
 Law  associated  with  him  in  that  place.  He  died  of  apoplexy  at  Irvine 
 in  1674,  aged  about  fifty-nine.  Hutchison  was  a  man  of  distinguished  ta- 
 lents, and  particularly  excelled  as  an  expositor  of  scripture.  His  commen- 
 taries on  the  minor  prophets,  the  Book  of  Job,  and  the  Gospel  of  John, 
 "exhibit  a  richness  of  thought  and  judiciousness  of  illustration  seldom 
 surpassed."    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  278. 
 
 +  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  204.    See  pp.  81-83. 
 
 §  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  212. 
 
JOHN  LAW. 
 
 279 
 
 of  his  ministerial  duties  in  that  parish.*  But  like 
 many  of  his  indulged  brethren,  he  broke  through  his 
 confinement,  and  exercised  his  ministry  in  other  places. 
 For  this  violation  of  the  rules  annexed  to  the  indul- 
 gence, the  Council  passed  an  act,  warranting  the  Lord 
 Chancellor  to  send  out  parties  of  his  Majesty's  guards 
 to  apprehend  him  and  several  other  ministers,  who  had 
 pre-eminently  distinguished  themselves  as  keepers  of 
 conventicles.    The  act  is  as  folloAvs  : — 
 
 "  Edinburgh,  4th  June  1674. 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  hereby  au- 
 thorise and  empower  the  Lord  Chancellor  to  give  orders  to 
 parties  of  that  troop  of  horse  of  his  Majesty's  guard  under  his 
 command,  to  pass  upon  Sunday  next  to  such  places  as  he  shall 
 think  fit  to  direct  them,  or  to  any  other  places  near  the  same, 
 whereby  they  shall  hear  that  field  conventicles  are  to  be  kept 
 that  day,  and  to  apprehend  and  secure  the  persons  who  shall 
 preach  or  pray  at  these  field  conventicles,  as  also  to  apprehend 
 the  persons  of  Mr  John  Welsh,  Mr  Gabriel  Semple,  Mr 
 Kobert  Ross,  Mr  Samuel  Arnot,  Mr  Gabriel  Cunningham,  Mr 
 Archibald  lliddell,  Mr  John  Mossman,  Mr  John  Blackadder, 
 Mr  "WiUiam  Wishart,  Mr  David  Home,  Mr  John  Dickson,  Mr 
 John  Rae,  Mr  Henry  Forsyth,  Mr  Thomas  Hog,  Mr  Robert 
 Law,  Mr  George  Johnston,  Mr  Thomas  Forrester,  Mr  James 
 Fraser  of  Brea,  Mr  John  Law,  Mr  Robert  Gillespie,  hereby 
 giving  assurance  to  any  of  the  guards,  or  any  other  person 
 whatsomever,  who  shall  apprehend  the  said  MreTohnWeli^h  and 
 Mr  Gabriel  Semple,  that  they  shall  have  for  each  of  them  one 
 hundred  pounds  sterling,  and  for  each  one  of  the  rest  of  the 
 said  persons  one  thousand  merks  ;  and  it  is  hereby  dechired, 
 that  those  who  shall  secure  the  said  persons  and  their  assist- 
 
 •  This  seoms  implied  in  the  account  given  of  his  jipprolu-nsidn  and  im- 
 prisonment at  a  subsequent  period,  by  Law  in  his  Mmiorial  (p.  14<)). 
 "  March  1()76,  Mr  .Jolin  Law,  niinif^ter  at  Campsie,  was  taken  for  preach- 
 ing in  the  fields,  though  a  nutiowtl  preacher,  antl  couunitted  prisoner  at 
 Glasgow,  and  then  carried  to  Edinburgh,  and  from  that  to  tlu'  Uass." 
 
280 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ants,  are  hereby  indemnified  of  any  slaughter  that  shall  happen 
 to  be  committed  in  the  apprehending  and  securing  of  them, 
 conform  to  the  fifth  act  of  the  second  session  of  his  Majesty's 
 second  parliament,  entitled.  Act  against  Conventicles  ;  and  re- 
 quire the  parties  to  bring  in  the  said  persons  who  shall  be 
 seized  by  them,  and  to  deliver  them  to  the  Magistrates  of  Edin- 
 burgh, who  are  hereby  required  to  receive  and  detain  them 
 prisoners  until  further  order.  The  like  order  granted  to  the 
 Earl  of  Athole  and  Earl  of  Lmlithgow."* 
 
 Law  soon  after  this  was  apprehended  and  imprisoned 
 in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  but  was  not  long  con- 
 fined. Being  brought  before  the  Council  on  the  28th 
 of  July  1674,  he  was  discharged  to  keep  conventicles, 
 under  certification  that  if  he  did  so,  he  would  be  re- 
 puted, punished,  and  pursued  as  a  seditious  person  ;  and 
 was  set  at  liberty  on  giving  bond  and  security  for  his 
 appearing  when  called,  under  the  penalty  of  five  thou- 
 sand merks.t  No  sooner  was  he  liberated  than  he 
 began  to  preach  as  he  had  hitherto  done.  He  was 
 thus  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  curates,  and  they 
 were  not  slow  in  their  endeavours  to  put  an  efi'ectual 
 interdict  upon  his  ministry,  which  proved  to  them  so 
 offensive  and  troublesome.  In  the  "  Grievances  given 
 in  by  several  Presbyteries  of  the  Diocese  of  Glasgow 
 to  the  Synod,  October  22. 1674,"  it  is  complained  that 
 "  in  the  Presbytery  of  Dumbarton,  conventicles  are 
 kept  by  Mr  John  Law,''  and  that  he  baptized  children 
 and  married  persons  from  the  Presbytery  of  Dumbar- 
 ton. J  The  continued  zeal  with  which  he  preached  at 
 house  and  field  conventicles,  baptized  and  married, 
 preached  in  divers  parish  pulpits  at  the  desire  of  heri- 
 tors and  parishioners,  as  well  as  licensed  and  ordained 
 
 *  Register  of  Acts  of  Privy  Council.  See  also  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii. 
 p.  234. 
 
 t  Wodrow  History,  vol.  ii.  j..  270.  +  Il)id.  p.  2G4. 
 
JOHN  LAYf. 
 
 281 
 
 young  men  to  the  ministry,  if  the  account  given  by 
 the  Privy  Council  be  correct,  led  that  body  to  adopt 
 new  measures  against  him.  He  was  charged,  by  letters 
 raised  at  the  instance  of  his  Majesty's  Advocate,  to  ap- 
 pear before  the  Council  on  the  7th  of  December  1676, 
 I  to  answer  for  these  violations  of  the  law.  His  libel 
 bears  that,  "  contrary  to  the  several  laws  and  acts  of 
 Parliament  of  this  kingdom,  upon  the  first,  second, 
 third,  and  remanent  days  of  May,  June,  and  remanent 
 months  of  the  year  1674  ;  upon  the  first,  second,  third, 
 and  remanent  days  of  January,  February,  March,  and 
 remanent  days  of  the  year  1675  ;  upon  the  first,  second, 
 third,  and  remanent  days  of  the  months  of  January,  Feb- 
 ruary, March,  April,  May,  June,  July,  August,  Septem- 
 ber, and  October  last,  or  upon  one  or  other  of  the  days  of 
 the  months  of  the  said  years,  he  hath  taken  upon  him  to 
 preach,  expound  scripture,  pray,  and  exercise  the  other 
 functions  of  the  ministry,  at  diverse  houses  and  field 
 conventicles,  and  has  convocated  diverse  numbers  of 
 people  thereto ;  and  particularly  at  Campsie,  Balder- 
 nock,  Kilpatrick,  Kippen,  and  diverse  other  places,  or 
 near  to  the  same,  where  he  hath  baptized  and  married 
 j  diverse  persons  in  a  disorderly  manner,  and  particularly 
 
 I  ,  and  hath  invaded  diverse  churches  and  pul- 
 
 f  pits,  into  which  he  hath  intruded  himself,  and  particu- 
 larly, &LC.  Likeas,  the  said  Mr  John  Law  hath  pre- 
 sumed to  appoint  and  ordain  several  persons  to  the 
 office  and  work  of  the  ministry,  and  given  them  mission 
 
 to  that  effect,  and  particularly,  <S:c  albeit  he 
 
 hath  not  authority  approven  by  the  laws  of  the  king- 
 dom for  that  effect/'  Law  being  often  called,  and  not 
 compearing,  the  Council  "  ordain  letters  to  be  directed 
 to  messengers-at-arms,  to  denounce  him  his  Majesty's 
 rebel,  and  to  put  him  to  the  horn,  and  to  escheat  and 
 
282 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 inbring  all  his  moveable  goods  and  gear  to  his  Majesty's 
 use,  for  his  contempt/' 
 
 Such  was  the  attachment  of  Law's  old  parishioners  in 
 Campsie  to  him,  and  their  desire  to  enjoy  his  ministry, 
 that  they  built  a  dwelling-house  and  a  place  of  public 
 worship  for  him  in  the  parish.  But  the  meeting-house 
 was  not  allowed  long  to  stand.  The  committee  of  their 
 number  Avhich  the  Council,  in  January  1678,  appointed 
 to  go  to  the  west  were  anxious  to  have  it  demolished ; 
 and,  in  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale,  to  be  com- 
 municated to  the  Council,  they  ask  instructions  as  to 
 how  they  were  to  act  in  reference  to  it.  "  And  where- 
 as," say  they,  "  it  is  known  that  in  the  parish  of  Camp- 
 sie, in  Stirlingshire,  there  has  been  a  dwelling  and  meet- 
 ing house  built  for  one  Law,  who  has  kept  conventicles 
 these  several  years  past,  and  that  in  the  parishes  of 
 Strathblane,  Killearn,  Balfron,  Fintry,  Kippen,  and  Gar- 
 gunnock  in  that  shire,  there  have  been  many  disorders 
 committed,  we  humbly  offer  to  the  Council's  considera- 
 tion, whether  or  not  it  will  be  fit  for  his  Majesty's  ser- 
 vice that  an  order  be  given  us  to  proceed  against  the 
 heritors  and  others  in  these  parishes,  conform  to  our 
 instructions  for  the  shires  of  Renfrew  and  Lanark,* 
 and  according  to  the  Council's  orders  we  shall  be  ready 
 to  proceed."  Their  wishes  expressed  in  this  communi- 
 cation were  immediately  gratified.  The  Council,  in  a 
 letter,  dated  Edinburgh,  26th  March  1678,  authorised 
 them  to  do  as  they  suggested ;  and  "  expect  that  they 
 will  cause  demolish  the  meeting  house  in  that  shire 
 erected  for  Mr  Law,  as  they  did  with  those  in  the  shire 
 of  Ayr."t 
 
 *  See  these  Instructions  in  NN'odrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  pp.  38-i,  385,  405. 
 t  On  their  coming  to  the  shire  of  Ayr,  the  Committee  of  Council  were, 
 by  their  instructions,  recjuired  vi^rorously  to  prosecute  all  such,  whether 
 
JOHN  LAW. 
 
 283 
 
 In  February  1679,  his  Majesty's  standing  forces,  both  | 
 
 horse  and  foot,  were  distributed  over  the  west  and  south,  < 
 
 for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  laws  against  house  1 
 and  field  conventicles.   Strict  search  was  thus  made  for 
 
 intercommuned  ministers,  field  preachers,  and  others,  ; 
 
 whose  nonconformity  rendered  them  obnoxious  to  the  i 
 
 I -government,  and  many  disorders  and  cruelties  were  com-  ' 
 mitted  by  the  military,  in  their  attempts  to  discover  ! 
 the  objects  of  their  pursuit.    In  one  of  these  searches, 
 Law  was  found  in  the  house  of  the  laird  of  Kincaid, 
 whither  he  had  come  on  his  way  to  see  his  wife,  who 
 was  lying  so  dangerously  ill  that  her  medical  attend-  1 
 ants  had  pronounced  her  recovery  hopeless.    He  was  j 
 immediately  arrested  ;  and  such  was  the  barbarity  of  ; 
 his  persecutors,  that  outraging  the  sanctity  of  the  do- 
 mestic affections,  they  would  not  allow  him  to  visit  her  i 
 upon  any  consideration.*   He  offered  all  the  bonds  and  < 
 security  they  could  desire  ;  he  engaged  to  deliver  him-  1 
 self  up  as  their  prisoner  whenever  they  should  appoint,  i 
 
 heritors  or  others,  as  had  been  present  at  field  ron\  enticles,  and  had  cor-  | 
 
 vocatod  the  people  to  them  ;  and  all  such  as  had  preached  at  them,  or  had  ' 
 
 invaded  pulpits  ;  and  all  who  had  been  accessory  to  the  buildinfj;  of  preach-  - 
 ing  houses,  and  all  heritors,  liferenters,  and  landlords,  wlio  had  connived 
 
 at  the  building  of  them  ;  and  to  cause  burn  these  meeting-houses  and  raze  j 
 them  to  the  ground.    Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  385. 
 
 *  Our  authority  here  is  Wodrow  ;  see  his  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  17.  Mr  , 
 .Itjhn  Carstairs,  in  a  letter  to  Mr  Robert  iM'Wanl,  dated  March  20,  1(>7J>, 
 gives  a  somewhat  different  account.  "  Sweet,  serious,  and  successful  Mr 
 John  Law,"  says  he,  "  was  last  week  ap|)rehended  at  his  own  h»)use  in 
 Campsie,  and  I  was  hearing  yesterday  (whereof  I  am  not  absolutely  cer- 
 tain) that  his  worthy  wife  died  within  three  or  four  hours  after  he  wa.s 
 
 taken  from  her,  having  been  long  sick  beforcj  but  a  little  better  then.    He  \ 
 
 is  as  yet  prisoner  at  Cflasgow,  where  two  other  ininisterH  are  prisoners  i 
 
 also,  who  were  taken  in  a  search  there,  Wednesday  last."   Wodrow  MSS.  I 
 
 vol.  lix.  folio,  no.  111.     Law's  wife,  it  would  appear,  recovere«i  from  her  I 
 
 R<'vere  illness,  and  lived  till  near  the  close  of  the  year  1703.    .See  inscrip-  ' 
 
 tion  on  the  monument  erected  over  Law's  grave,  p.  2b7.    It  is.  however,  ' 
 
 ])os8ible  that  Isabel  Cuninghanie,  to  whose  memorv   il   >  tl  i    monument  | 
 
 was  raised,  may  have  been  his  second  wife.  j 
 
 ( 
 
 I 
 
284 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  if  that  did  not  satisfy  them,  he  earnestfy  requested 
 a  guard  might  be  sent  with  him  to  the  house  where 
 she  lay ;  but  all  in  vain.  He  was  sent  direct  to  Edin- 
 burgh by  a  guard  of  soldiers,  without  having  seen  his 
 wife  to  all  appearance  on  her  deathbed ;  and  on  the 
 road  so  little  were  his  feelings  regarded,  that  at  the 
 stages  where  they  rested,  he  was  not  allowed  the  privi- 
 lege of  privacy  in  which  to  commend  himself  and  his 
 dying  wife  to  God,  soldiers  being  constantly  in  the  room 
 where  he  was  put.  On  his  being  brought  to  Edinburgh, 
 which  was  in  the  beginning  of  April,  the  Council  sen- 
 tenced him  and  two  preachers,  Mr  Robert  Ross  and 
 Mr  James  Macaulay,  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Bass.* 
 In  May,  the  Committee  of  Council  for  Public  Affairs 
 recommend,  "  that,  upon  the  testimony  of  the  Arch- 
 bishop of  Glasgow,  Mr  John  Law  should  be  dismissed 
 upon  caution  to  appear  when  called,  upon  bond  for  a 
 thousand  merks.^'t  Whether  the  Archbishop  refused 
 to  give  a  testimonial  in  his  favour,  which  is  not  impro- 
 bable, we  are  not  informed ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he 
 continued  a  prisoner  in  the  Bass  till  July  1679,  when, 
 through  a  letter  from  the  King  to  the  Council,  he  and 
 the  other  prisoners  there  were  set  at  liberty,  upon  their 
 giving  security  to  appear  before  the  Council  when  called, 
 under  a  certain  penalty  for  each. J 
 
 After  the  third  indulgence  of  King  James  VII.  was 
 published  in  July  1687,§  there  was  a  meeting  held  at 
 Edinburgh  on  the  21st  of  that  month,  consisting  of 
 ministers  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  who  had 
 agreed  to  accept  the  benefit  of  the  indulgence,  at  which 
 
 *  "Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  17.  |  Ibid.  p.  58. 
 
 I  For  the  circumstances  connected  with  his  liberation,  see  Notice  of 
 William  Bell,  pp.  116-118. 
 
 §  For  some  account  of  King  James's  indulgences,  see  pp.  257,  258. 
 
JOHN  LAW. 
 
 285 
 
 very  judicious  and  useful  rules  were  drawn  up,  one  of 
 which  was,  "  that  special  care  be  taken,  that  Edin- 
 burgh, which  is  the  chief  city  of  the  nation,  where 
 courts  and  judicatures  and  persons  of  greatest  quality 
 reside,  and  which  hath  been  most  useful  to  suffering 
 persons  in  these  sad  times,  be  specially  regarded  and 
 provided  with  able,  experienced,  and  godly  men  and 
 on  the  day  after,  Law  and  three  other  ministers!  were 
 called  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Presbyterians 
 of  Edinburgh.  After  the  Revolution,  when  the  Pres- 
 byterian Church  emerged  from  persecution,  he  and  the 
 three  other  ministers  were  appointed  by  the  Town 
 Council  ministers  of  the  city.  The  act  is  dated  July 
 24.  1689.t 
 
 Prelacy  had  been  abolished,  by  act  of  Parliament, 
 just  two  days  before  the  date  of  this  appointment,  an 
 event  which  afforded  Law  much  satisfaction.  But  in 
 addition  to  this,  he  was  anxiously  desirous  to  see  the 
 legal  establishment  of  that  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity 
 for  which,  during  the  troubles  of  the  two  preceding 
 reigns,  he  had  sacrificed  much.§  The  following  letter 
 which  he  addressed  to  Mr  AndrcAv  Kennedy  of  Close- 
 burn,  exhibits  the  deep  interest  which  he  felt  on  that 
 subject : — 
 
 "  \Zth  August  1G89. 
 "  Sir, — I  would  have  written  to  you,  but  that  I  had  nothing 
 wherewith  to  trouble  you,  and  now  I  cannot  but  return  you 
 thanks  for  your  concern  in  the  affairs  of  this  Church.  The 
 General  Meeting  has  formed  an  address  to  be  sent  to  his  Ma- 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iv,  p.  432. 
 
 t  The  otlier  throe  ministers  were  Mr  Hugh  Kennedy,  Mr  James  Kirk- 
 ton,  and  Mr  "William  Erskino.    8ee  Appendix,  \o.  II. 
 
 *  See  this  act  in  Appendix,  No.  11. 
 
 §  Presbytery  was  not  ostablisli-  .l  till  .Turn-  7.  1690. 
 
286 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 jesty  by  some  of  their  number,  with  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of 
 State,  which  answers  what  you  desire  in  your  letter.  We  have 
 discouraging  accounts  here,  as  if  Prelacy  might  yet  come  to  be 
 established,  but  they  are  so  vain  that  they  are  not  laid  much 
 weight  on,  and  are  looked  upon  as  artifices  of  those  that  wish 
 us  no  good  for  creating  of  jealousies.  And  now,  Sir,  having  so 
 much  experience  of  your  prudence  and  honesty,  I  earnestly 
 desire  that  you  would  lay  out  yourself  (so  far  as  your  other  oc- 
 casions will  allow)  for  informing  of  all  those  that  you  may  have 
 access  to,  of  what  is  necessary  for  the  good  of  this  Church 
 and  peace  of  the  land.  I  know  there  is  one  thing  which  makes 
 a  clamour  here,  and  it's  like  it  make  one  there  also,  and  causes 
 that  we  were  so  long  in  giving  our  address  for  establishing  the 
 government,  and  I  can  hardly,  at  such  a  distance,  give  the  full 
 account  of  this:  only  consider,  that  if  the  government  had 
 been  established,  all  the  conformed  clergy  might  have  consti- 
 tuted themselves  in  Presbyteries  and  Synods,  and  so  would 
 have  had  the  government  in  their  hand,  the  danger  of  which 
 is  palpable  enough.*  But  I  shall  not  be  more  particular  in 
 this,  only  persuade  yourself  we  depend  on  none,  but  as  they 
 own  the  public  interest.  I  shall  allow  you  no  further  trouble, 
 being  in  haste ;  only  present  my  service  to  Leuchre.  I  am 
 your  sincerely  affectionate  and  humble  ser^^ant, 
 
 "  Jo.  LAW."t 
 
 Law  had  not  as  yet  been  settled  in  any  particular 
 congregation  in  Edinburgh,  but  on  the  20th  of  April 
 1692,  the  Town  Council,  "  upon  several  good  consider- 
 
 *  The  danger  to  the  Presb>-terian  interest  which  Law  here  so  justly 
 fears,  had  the  conforming  clergy  got  into  their  hands  the  government  of 
 the  Church,  was  obviated  by  the  policy  of  the  Revolution  government. 
 Prior  to  the  establishment  of  Presbytery,  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed, 
 April  25.  1690,  restoring  to  their  former  charges  the  Presbyterian  minis- 
 ters who  had  been  ejected  for  nonconformity  to  Prelacy  ;  and  in  the  act  of 
 Parliament,  June  7.  1690,  settling  Presbyterian  Church  government,  and 
 appointing  a  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  to  be  held  on  the  16th  ot 
 October  that  year,  the  government  of  the  church  is  established  in  the 
 hands  of  the  outed  ministers  restored  by  the  former  act,  with  such  mi- 
 nisters and  elders  ag  they  had  received  or  should  hereafter  receive. 
 
 t  The  Leven  and  Melville  Papers,  }>.  152. 
 
JOHN  LAAV. 
 
 287 
 
 ations  moving  them,  place,  fix,  and  settle  him  to  be 
 minister  of  the  Xew  Church,  being  the  North  Church." 
 In  this  church,  which  was  attended  by  "  the  nobility. 
 Lords  of  Session,  and  others  of  the  best  quality,"  he 
 succeeded  Dr  Alexander  Monro,  who  was  tried  by  the 
 Privy  Council  for  not  praying  for  King  William  and 
 Queen  Mary,  in  obedience  to  the  Act  of  Estates,  ISth 
 April  1689,  and  who,  though  not  ejected  by  them,  re- 
 signed his  charge.  Here  he  continued  to  labour  till 
 1707,  when  being  unable,  through  age  and  infirmity  of 
 body,  to  discharge  his  ministerial  duties,  he  demitted 
 his  charge  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery.  The  Town 
 Council,  "  sensible  with  how  much  vigilance,  prudence, 
 piety,  and  zeal,  he  performed  all  the  duties  of  a  minis- 
 ter while  free  from  sickness  and  infirmity,  desiring  to 
 put  a  mark  of  their  respect  upon  him,"  agreed  to  give 
 him  a  thousand  merks  per  annum  as  a  retiring  salary.* 
 Law  died  on  the  26th  of  December  1712,  aged  eighty, 
 and  was  buried  in  the  old  church-yard  of  Greyfriars 
 Over  his  grave,  his  son  William  raised  a  monument 
 which  bears  the  following  Latin  inscription  : 
 "Memori^  optimokum  parentum,  D.  Joannis  Law, 
 
 ECCLESI^  APUD  EdINENSIS  PASTORIS  PRUDENTISSIMI,  VIGI- 
 LANTISSIMI,  PURIORIS  RELIGIONIS  STUDIO  »S:  PIETATE  NON 
 FUCATA  INSIGNIS  ;  ET  ISABELLyE  CUNINGHAME,  CONJI'GIS 
 AMANTISSIMiE,  VERA  SANCTITATE  k  PLACIDI  AC  SEDATI 
 ANIMI  ORNAMENTO  CONSPICUiE  :  QUI  MORTALITATEM  EXUE- 
 RUNT,  AD  IMMORTALIS  VIT^.  GAUDIA  NITENTEfJ,  ILLE  26.  DIE 
 DECEMBRIS,  ANNO  DOM.  1712.  JiTATIS  SV M  Si).  UMV 
 8.  DIE  NOVEMBRIS,  ANNO  DOM.  170*3.  ;1-:TATIS  Sl'JE  70. 
 HOC  MONUMENTUM  SACRUM  ESSE  VOLUIT  GuLIELMUS  LaW, 
 FILIUS." 
 
 •  Records  i»f  Town  Cminril.  Edinliurgh.  Deroinbcr  '>.  17(>7.  J^aw's  su.  - 
 cesser  was  Mr  William  Carstairs.  Principal  of  the  ..f  K»iinl.urvrh. 
 
 and  one  of  tht-  ministerb  of  the  Greyfriurs'  Church. 
 
288 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ROBERT  ROSS. 
 
 Of  Robert  Ross  little  is  known.  He  is  called  by 
 Wodrow  "  a  preacher/'  and  was  probably  licensed  by 
 some  of  tbe  ejected  nonconforming  ministers.  He  is 
 mentioned  by  a  contemporary*  as  one  of  those  who, 
 after  the  battle  of  Pentland  Hills,  preached  in  the 
 fields,  and  who,  when  preaching  in  that  public  manner 
 was  made  a  capital  offence,  still  persevered  in  address- 
 ing, both  by  night  and  by  day,  the  multitudes  who  as- 
 sembled to  hear  the  gospel.  His  name  first  occurs  in 
 the  Records  of  the  Privy  Council  in  1674,  when,  on  the 
 4th  of  June,  the  Council  authorise  the  Lord  Chancellor 
 to  give  orders  to  parties  of  that  troop  of  horse  of  his 
 Majesty's  guards,  under  his  command,  to  apprehend  a 
 considerable  number  of  ministers,  among  whom  Ross 
 is  included,  and  offer  a  reward  of  a  thousand  merks  to 
 such  as  should  apprehend  him.t  Early  in  the  year 
 1679,  he  and  Mr  James  Macaulay,  also  a  preacher,  and 
 another  person  who  was  under  hiding  for  nonconfor- 
 mity, were  apprehended  in  Leith.  The  Committee  of 
 Council  for  Public  Affairs  agreed  that  he  and  Macaulay 
 should  be  sent  to  the  Bass,  and  this  report  was  approved 
 
 •      ♦   *  Alexander  Reid  in  his  Memoirs,  p.  26. 
 1  See  Notice  of  John  Law,  p.  279. 
 
ROBERT  ROSS. 
 
 289 
 
 of  by  the  Council  at  their  meeting  on  the  4th  of  April.* 
 He  however  continued  a  prisoner  there  only  between 
 three  and  four  months,  being  liberated  in  J uly,  simply 
 upon  condition  of  his  finding  security,  under  a  certain 
 sum,  to  appear  before  the  Council  when  called.  The 
 circumstances  connected  with  his  liberation  have  been 
 already  stated. t  We  have  not  succeeded  in  tracing  his 
 future  history. 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  17. 
 
 t  See  Notice  of  William  Bell,  p.  116-118. 
 
 B  b 
 
290 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 JAMES  MACAULAY. 
 
 James  Macaulay  is  as  little  known  as  the  preceding. 
 He  is  also  described  by  Wodrow  as  "  a  preacher/'  and 
 had  probably  been  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by 
 some  of  the  outed  Presbyterian  ministers.  As  we  have 
 seen,  he  was  apprehended  and  imprisoned  in  the  Bass 
 at  the  same  time  with  Robert  Ross.  He  was  also  libe- 
 rated in  July  1679,  upon  his  finding  security  to  appear 
 before  the  Council  when  called,  under  the  penalty  of  a 
 certain  sum  in  case  of  failure. 
 
GILBEKT  RULE. 
 
 291 
 
 GILBERT  EULE. 
 
 Gilbert  Rule  was  first  a  Regent  in  the  University  of 
 Glasgow,  where  he  taught  with  considerable  reputation, 
 and  in  1651,  was  Sub-principal  of  King's  College,  Aber- 
 deen. He  afterwards  became  minister  at  Alnwick  in 
 Northumberland,  where  he  continued  for  some  time  to 
 discharge  the  duties  of  the  ministerial  office  with  dili- 
 gence and  success,  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  ge- 
 nerality of  people. 
 
 But,  upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  XL,  his  non- 
 conformity exposed  him  to  the  troubles  which  were 
 the  common  lot  of  those  who  could  not  conscientiously 
 submit  to  the  form  of  religion  sanctioned  by  the  Court. 
 No  sooner  was  that  prince  placed  upon  the  throne  of 
 liis  fathers,  than  the  old  Liturgy  was  restored  in  his 
 chapel,  and  the  court,  pretending  that  the  acts  of  the 
 Long  Parliament,  from  their  not  having  received  the 
 royal  assent,  were  null,  held  Prelacy  and  the  Service 
 Uook  to  be  still  established  by  law.  Acting  on  this 
 view,  and  bent  on  enforcing  conformity,  they  imme- 
 diately began  to  molest  the  nonconformists  in  Eng- 
 land, and  before  the  close  of  1()()0,  not  a  few  parish 
 ministers  in  that  country  were  prosecuted  for  not  using 
 the  Service  Book.  At  this  time  Rule's  public  troubles 
 commenced.    One  Major  Orde,  church-warden  of  Aln- 
 
292 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 wick, — a  man  who  had  previously  been  very  friendly 
 to  him, — either  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  Court, 
 or  from  his  strong  leaning  to  Prelacy,  determined  to 
 force  Rule  to  use  the  Service  Book ;  and  one  Lord's 
 day  in  the  end  of  July  or  beginning  of  August  1660, 
 when  the  congregation  was  assembled  for  worship,  and 
 Rule  had  mounted  the  pulpit,  and  was  about  to  com- 
 mence the  public  work  of  the  Sabbath,  he  came  and 
 presented  the  Service  Book  to  him,  desiring  him  to 
 read  it.  Rule,  who  had  various  objections  against  using 
 it,  took  it,  and  told  him  he  would  either  read  it  or  give 
 reasons  to  the  contrary.  After  concluding  the  first 
 morning  prayer,  instead  of  expounding  a  portion  of 
 scripture  as  was  his  custom  before  sermon,  he  spoke  to 
 the  congregation  for  about  half-an-hour  against  the  Ser- 
 vice Book,  and  after  again  praying,  preached  as  usual. 
 Returning  to  the  church  in  the  afternoon,  he  found  the 
 doors  secured  against  his  entrance,  and  the  congrega- 
 tion assembled  around  them.  He  preached  to  the  nu- 
 merous auditory  in  the  churchyard.  A  few  weeks  after, 
 he  was  summoned  before  the  assize  at  Newcastle  at 
 the  instance  of  Major  Orde,  charged  with  depreciating 
 the  Service  Book,  the  charge  being  supported  by  notes 
 of  what  he  had  said  from  the  pulpit  against  it,  taken 
 at  the  time  by  one  of  Orde's  associates.  Rule  not  hav- 
 ing appeared  before  the  assize,  Orde,  determined  not 
 to  allow  the  matter  to  drop,  procured  from  the  judge  a 
 special  warrant  to  apprehend  him.  Rule  getting  infor- 
 mation of  this,  immediately  proceeded  to  Newcastle, 
 where,  meeting  with  the  judge,  he  gave  bond  to  appear 
 at  the  next  assize,  and  obtained  a  supersedeas  to  the 
 warrant  that  had  been  issued  against  him.  So  deep 
 was  the  offence  which  the  Major  had  taken  at  Rule,  and 
 such  was  his  zeal  to  injure  him,  that  before  going  to 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 Newcastle,  he  went  from  house  to  house  in  the  parish 
 of  AlnTvick,  attempting  by  threatening  to  prevent  the 
 people  from  subscribing  a  testimonial  in  favour  of 
 Rule's  peaceable  behaviour  among  them,  which  some 
 were  promoting,  and  which  several  hundreds  had  sub- 
 scribed. He  also  openly  insulted  Rule  in  the  streets 
 of  Newcastle.  But  he  was  not  permitted  long  to  per- 
 secute the  victim  of  his  wrath,  being  suddenly  arrested 
 by  the  hand  of  death.  About  three  weeks  after,  re- 
 turning homewards,  and  going  a  little  out  of  the  way 
 to  visit  a  friend,  when  about  to  cross  on  horseback  the 
 river  Tyne  at  the  end  of  the  town  of  Ovingham,  he  fell 
 from  his  horse  to  the  ground  before  entering  the  water. 
 Some  who  observed  him  fall,  ran  to  his  assistance,  but 
 on  reaching  him  they  found  that  life  Avas  extinguished, 
 and  the  jury  who  held  an  inquest  on  his  body,  returned 
 the  verdict  that  he  Avas  dead  before  he  fell  from  his 
 horse. 
 
 Caution  ought  to  be  observed  in  tracing  the  strokes 
 which  are  inflicted  by  the  hand  of  Providence  upon 
 our  fellow-men,  to  some  injury  which  they  may  have 
 done  to  ourselves  or  others,  not  only  lest  we  should 
 flatter  human  vanity,  but  lest  we  should  put  a  false 
 interpretation  upon  the  doings  of  God,  who,  in  sending 
 his  appalling  visitations,  as  well  as  in  distributing  tem- 
 j)oral  good  things,  makes  little  apparent  distinction 
 l)etween  the  righteous  and  the  wicked.  It  must,  how- 
 ever, be  admitted,  that  sometimes  instances  do  occur 
 in  which  an  arrest  is  put  by  the  hand  of  death  upon 
 the  wrong-doer  in  his  infuriated  career,  in  a  manner  so 
 striking  as  to  impress  the  least  reflecting,  and  comj)fl 
 them  to  confess  that  verily  there  is  a  God  that  judgetli 
 in  the  earth.  In  the  present  case  we  presume  not  to 
 determine  whether  the  death  of  Orde  was  the  effect  of 
 
1 
 
 294  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 i 
 
 retributive  justice  for  his  persecuting  a  good  man,  be-  1 
 lieving  this  to  be  a  matter  which  lies  beyond  the  reach  i 
 of  human  penetration  ;  but  that  sudden  and  awful  i 
 visitation  struck  so  great  a  terror  in  those  who  had  \ 
 joined  with  him  against  Rule,  that  they  desisted  from  j 
 the  prosecution,  and  when,  according  to  his  bond,  Rule  j 
 appeared  at  the  next  assize,  he  was  acquitted,*  j 
 
 In  1662,  Rule  was  ejected  from  his  parish  by  the 
 Act  of  Uniformity,  commonly  called  the  Bartholomew 
 Act,  by  which  above  two  thousand  of  the  most  pious,  i 
 learned,  and  laborious  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Eng-  j 
 land  were  driven  from  their  charges.    After  his  ejec- 
 tion, he  returned  to  Scotland,  but  he  soon  found  from  , 
 experience  that  matters  were  in  no  better  state  there. 
 We  find  him  in  November  that  year  preaching  about  J 
 Kirkcaldy,  and  for  this  the  Privy  Council,  upon  "  in-  I 
 formation  being  given  them  of  the  turbulent  and  sedi-  ] 
 tious  practices  of  Mr  Gilbert  Rule,"  pass  an  act  on  the  j 
 18th  of  November,  ordering  the  Magistrates  of  that  j 
 burgh  to  secure  his  person,  and  bring  and  present  him  j 
 before  the  Council  on  Friday  next,  when  they  were 
 themselves  required  to  appear.    The  Magistrates  hav- 
 ing appeared,  reported  that  Rule  had  gone  out  of  their 
 bounds  before  they  received  the  CounciFs  orders,  and  j 
 could  not  be  found,  and  that  they  had  no  share  in  • 
 inviting  him  to  preach  ;  which  excuse  was  sustained.!  I 
 
 Finding  that  he  was  not  to  be  allowed  to  exercise 
 his  ministry  in  his  own  country,  Rule  went  to  France 
 and  Holland,  where  he  studied  medicine,  and  took  the 
 degree  of  doctor  of  medicine  at  Leyden.   On  his  return  j 
 
 *  Calamy's  Account  of  Ministers  Ejected  or  Sentenced  after  the  Resto- 
 ration, &c.,  vol,  ii.  pp.  514-518.  "  This  account,"  says  Cahimy,  "  is  from 
 Dr  Rule's  own  letter,  dated  at  Edinburgh,  September  2.  1696,  which  WM 
 found  among  Dr  Simson's  papers." 
 
 I  Wodruw's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  308.  • 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 295 
 
 to  Scotland,  he  resided  for  some  time  in  Berwick,  where 
 he  frequently  preached  to  the  Presbyterians,  both  dur- 
 ing the  day  and  in  the  night ;  and  also  practised  as  a 
 physician,  in  which  capacity  he  proved  very  useful,  be- 
 ing much  employed  and  highly  valued.    He  was  not, 
 however,  permitted  to  persevere  in  this  good  Avork  with- 
 out molestation.  Being,  on  one  occasion,  called  to  visit 
 ,    the  Laird  of  Houndwood,  on  the  Scottish  side,  and  be- 
 '    ing  under  the  necessity  of  staying  at  that  gentleman's 
 house  all  night,  he  expounded  a  chapter  and  prayed  in 
 the  family,  none  but  the  members  being  present.  For 
 this,  although  even  according  to  the  existing  laws  it 
 j    was  not  illegal,  the  Laird  of  Houndwood  was  fined 
 j    100  merks  Scots,  and  had  Rule  been  found  on  the 
 Scottish  side,  he  would  in  like  manner  have  been 
 punished ;  but  apprehensive  of  the  manner  in  which 
 they  would  deal  with  him  from  the  treatment  to  which 
 Houndwood  was  subjected,  he  kept  himself  within 
 the  English  borders.     Some  time  after,  the  Earl  of 
 Hume,  a  violent  enemy  of  the  Presbyterians,  and  who 
 often  grievously  harassed  them  with  his  troop  of  horse, 
 resolved  to  seize  Rule,  and  fell  upon  a  very  dishonour- 
 able stratagem  to  entrap  him.  He  wrote  to  him  a  coun- 
 terfeit letter,  purporting  to  have  come  from  Mr  Ker  of 
 Nyne-wells,  earnestly  requesting  the  doctor  to  visit  him, 
 and  to  bring  with  him  the  proper  medicines,  as  he  was 
 in  the  utmost  extremity  of  the  cholic,  and  to  come  with 
 all  haste  else  it  might  be  too  late  to  save  his  life.  This 
 letter  the  Earl  of  Hume  sent  to  Rule  by  one  of  his  own 
 servants,  disguised  as  a  countryman.    Rule,  on  receiv- 
 ing the  letter,  immediately  prepared  for  visiting  his 
 supposed  patient,  but  as  he  was  just  going  to  mount 
 the  horse,  the  messenger,  touched  with  remorse  that  he 
 should  have  a  hand  in  such  base  treachery,  disclosed 
 
296 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  whole  affair,  frankly  telling  him  that  the  letter, 
 which  was  a  deception,  was  written  with  a  design  to 
 get  him  apprehended,  and  that  if  he  went  it  might  cost 
 him  his  life,  for  the  Earl  of  Hume,  whose  servant  he  was, 
 lay  with  his  troop  of  horse  at  the  Bound  Road  ready  to 
 seize  him  the  moment  he  entered  upon  Scottish  ground. 
 "  And  thus,''  says  Dr  Calamy,  "  this  good  man  provi- 
 dentially escaped  the  snares  laid  for  him,  by  one  whose 
 noble  blood  ought  to  have  made  him  ashamed  of  being 
 concerned  in  a  thing  so  unworthy  of  a  man  of  honour 
 But  fiery  zeal  will  admit  of  no  bounds  or  limits.'' 
 
 Shortly  after  Charles  II.  granted  his  third  indulgence, 
 in  1679,  Rule  became  indulged  minister  at  Preston- 
 haugh,*  but  he  was  not  suffered  to  remain  long  in  that 
 situation.  Not  many  months  after  his  settlement  there, 
 he  paid  a  visit  to  his  niece,  the  wife  of  Mr  John  Ken- 
 nedy, apothecary  in  Edinburgh.  As  she  happened  at 
 that  time  to  be  confined,  the  family  were  desirous  that 
 he  should  baptize  the  child  ;  and  having  spoken  to  Mr 
 Turner,  the  Episcopal  incumbent  of  St  Giles's  Church, 
 on  the  subject,  they  prevailed  with  him  to  invite  their 
 friend  to  preach  a  sermon  on  a  week-day  in  that  church. 
 Accordingly,  Rule  preached  a  sermon  to  a  number  of 
 people  who  assembled,  and  at  the  close  baptized  Mr 
 Kennedy's  child,  and  another  child  belonging  to  Mr 
 James  Livingstone,  merchant  in  Edinburgh,t  not  ap- 
 prehending that  what  appeared  so  inoffensive,  would 
 displease  the  government,  or  be  followed  by  any  incon- 
 
 *  Dr  Calamy's  account  of  this  is,  that  several  persons  of  quality  and 
 •worth  in  Scotland,  viz.,  the  Earl  of  Haddington,  Sir  Robert  Sinclair,  and 
 others,  invited  Dr  Rule  to  preach  in  a  meeting-house  which  they  fitted 
 up  for  him  at  Lintonbridge,  not  far  from  Haddington. 
 
 t  Wodrow  supposes  that  Mr  James  Livingstone  was  the  son  of  the 
 famous  Mr  John  Livingstone,  minister  of  Ancrum.  Wodrow's  History, 
 vol.  iii.  p.  194. 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 297 
 
 venience  ;  but  in  doing  this,  he  violated  one  of  the 
 restrictions  attached  to  the  third  indulgence,  which, 
 while  it  "  suspended  the  execution  of  all  laws  and  acts 
 against  such  as  frequented  house  conventicles,  in  the 
 low  countries,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  Tay 
 only,''  excepted  "  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  two  miles 
 round  about  the  same,"  his  Majesty  declaring  himself 
 "  fully  resolved  not  to  suffer  the  seat  of  government 
 nor  the  universities  to  be  pestered  with  any  irregulari- 
 ties whatsoever/'  *   Rule  thus  fell  under  the  operation 
 of  the  laws  and  acts  of  Parliament  made  against  keep- 
 ing conventicles,  and  particularly  the  fifth  act  of  the 
 second  session  of  his  Majesty's  second  Parliament,  by 
 which  the  preacher  at  house  conventicles  is  liable  to 
 be  seized  upon,  and  imprisoned  until  he  find  caution, 
 under  the  penalty  of  5000  merks  not  to  do  the  like 
 thereafter,  or  else  to  engage  to  remove  himself  out  of 
 the  kingdom,  and  never  return  without  his  Majesty's 
 licence.t    He  had  also,  it  was  maintained,  contravened 
 the  sixth  act  of  the  same  session  of  Parliament,  by 
 which  "  the  disorderly  baptizing  of  children  is  ex- 
 pressly prohibited  and  discharged."  J     As  the  act 
 "  against  disorderly  baptisms"  only  prohibited  his  Ma- 
 jesty's subjects  from  offering  their  children  to  be  bap- 
 tized by  any  but  "  their  own  parish  ministers,  or  else 
 by  such  ministers  as  are  authorised  by  the  established 
 government  of  the  Church,  or  licensed  by  his  Majesty's 
 Council,  upon  a  certificate  from  the  minister  of  the 
 parish,"  Rule,  as  he  was  a  licensed  and  indulged  minis- 
 ter, and  as  he  had  the  permission  of  the  minister  ot 
 the  parish  where  he  officiated  and  baptized  the  children, 
 thought  that  what  he  did  was  (juite  consistent  with 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  p.  149.  t  ^^id-  vol.  ii.  p.  1G9. 
 
 *  Ibid.  v(d.  ii.  p.  173. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BA5?. 
 
 the  law ;  but  the  orovernment  were  of  a  different  opi- 
 nion :  and  the  day  after  he  was  arrested  in  the  streets 
 of  Edinburgh  by  an  officer.* 
 
 For  his  offence  he  was  summoned  to  appear  before 
 the  Council  on  the  8th  of  April  16S0.  John  Kennedy 
 and  James  Livingstone,  who  had  their  children  bap- 
 tized by  him,  were  summoned  at  the  same  time  ;  as 
 also  Mr  Archibald  Cameron,  precentor  in  the  High 
 Church  of  Edinburcrh,  and  John  Xeilson,  merchant 
 and  kirk-treasurer  of  Edinburgh.''  who  are  charged 
 with  having  so  far  concurred  in  the  said  illegal  and 
 unwarrantable  meeting  and  disorderly  baptism,  as  that 
 they  were  present  at  the  same  ;  at  the  least  the  said 
 Mr  Archibald  Cameron  did  take  up  the  said  children's 
 names  from  their  parents,  to  be  baptized  by  the  said 
 Mr  Gilbert  Rule  ;  and  the  said  John  Xeilson  did  give 
 order  and  direction  for  having  the  said  kirk  in  readi- 
 ness, and  opening  the  kirk  and  desk  doors,  albeit  he 
 knew  that  the  said  Mr  Gilben  Rule  was  to  keep  the  said 
 conventicle  and  disorderly  meeting.  '  Rule,  on  appear- 
 ing before  the  Council,  frankly  confessed  that  he  had 
 preached  in  the  church  of  St  Giles,  and  baptized  two 
 children,  and  stated  that  he  thought  he  was  sufficiently 
 warranted  in  administering  baptism  to  these  children, 
 from  his  having  the  permission  of  the  minister  of  the 
 parish  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  declared  that  such 
 was  his  deference  to  authority  and  to  order,  that  pro- 
 vided he  had  thought  that  such  an  act  would  have 
 been  offensive,  he  would  have  declined  doing  it.t  But 
 notwithstanding  this  moderation,  which  one  might  sup- 
 
 *  Dr  Calamy's  Account  of  Ministers  Ejected  after  the  Restoration,  Ac, 
 vol.  ii.  pp.  514-518. 
 
 t  These  facts  Rule  states  in  his  petition  to  the  Privy  Council,  6tli 
 April  1681. 
 
GILBEKT  KULE. 
 
 299 
 
 pose  would  have  convinced  the  Council  of  the  peaceable 
 temper  of  Rule,  and  have  induced  them  to  overlook 
 [    his  alleged  violation  of  the  law  in  this  instance,  he 
 I    was  deprived  of  his  indulgence,  and  sentenced  to  be 
 imprisoned  in  the  Bass  ;  while  the  two  persons  whose 
 children  he  had  baptized  were  fined  according  to  the 
 act  of  1670,  "  against  disorderly  baptisms  f  but  the 
 other  two  individuals  who  had  been  summoned,  having 
 given  satisfactory  answers  to  the  Council,  got  off  with- 
 |[    out  punishment.    The  act  of  Council,  dated  April  8. 
 1680,  is  as  follows  : — "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's 
 Privy  Council  having  heard  and  considered  the  fore- 
 said Hbel  and  answers  made  by  the  defenders  thereto, 
 do  find  the  said  Mr  Gilbert  Rule,  defender,  by  his  own 
 confession,  guilty  of  keeping  a  conventicle  and  disor- 
 derly baptizing  of  two  children  in  St  Giles's  Kirk,  in 
 Edinburgh ;  and  therefore  suspend  him  from  the  be- 
 nefit of  his  Majesty's  indulgence  for  preaching  in  the 
 parish  of  Prestonhaugh,  and  appoint  him  to  be  sent 
 to,  and  kept  prisoner  in,  the  Isle  of  Bass,  till  the  King's 
 Majesty's  pleasure  be  known  anent  him  ;  and  give 
 order  and  warrant  to  General  Dalziel  to  send  him 
 prisoner  to  the  said  Isle  by  such  a  guard  as  he  shall 
 think  fit  ;  and,  until  he  be  sent  away,  that  he  be  kept 
 prisoner  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  ;  and  ordain 
 the  Sheriff-depute  of  East  Lothian  to  cause  one  of  the 
 sheriff-officers  pass  to  the  parish  kirk,  and  publicly 
 intimate  the  foresaid  order:  And  find  John  Kennedy 
 guilty  of  being  at  a  conventicle,  and  having  his  child 
 baptized  by  a  person  not  authorised  or  licensed  in  that 
 place,  and  therefore  fine  him  in  one  hundred  pounds 
 Scots  ;  and  find  the  said  James  Livingstone  likewise 
 guilty  of  being  at  the  said  conventicle,  and  having  his 
 child  disorderly  baptized,  and  fine  him  in  two  hundred 
 
300 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 pounds  Scots  ;*  and  in  regard  of  the  answers  made  by 
 the  said  John  Neilson  and  Mr  Archibald  Cameron,  the 
 said  Lords  have  assoilzied,  and  assoilzies  them  from 
 the  foresaid  complaint/' 
 
 Being  considerably  advanced  in  years,  and  the  sea 
 having  been  always  injurious  to  his  constitution,  Rule 
 was  not  long  in  this  unwholesome  prison  when  he  be- 
 came "  dangerously  sick  of  a  violent  ague/'  Upon  this, 
 he  presented  a  petition  to  the  Council  stating  his  case, 
 and  humbly  supplicating  that  the  Council  would  be 
 pleased  to  take  off  his  sentence,  and  appoint  him  to  be 
 set  at  liberty  upon. caution  to  appear  before  them  when 
 called.  The  Council,  at  their  meeting  of  6th  of  May, 
 "  having  heard  and  considered  this  petition,  with  the 
 certificates  of  the  physicians  produced,  grant  order  and 
 warrant  to  the  commander  of  the  garrison  in  the  Bass 
 to  set  him  at  liberty,  he  finding  caution,  under  the 
 pain  of  ten  thousand  merks  Scots,  to  re-enter  himself 
 prisoner  in  the  said  Isle  of  Bass  the  6th  day  of  June 
 next ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  that  he  shall  confine  him- 
 self to  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  half  a  mile  about 
 the  same,  and  shall  not  preach  nor  administer  the  sa- 
 craments under  the  foresaid  penalty.'' 
 
 This  act,  however,  did  not  take  effect,  the  conditions 
 upon  which  it  granted  him  his  liberty  being  such  as  he 
 could  not  conscientiously  accept.t  Accordingly,  about 
 two  months  after,  he  presented  another  petition  to  the 
 
 *  The  act  of  1670  "  against  disorderly  baptisms,"  does  not  warrant  the 
 fining  of  "  a  considerable  merchant"  above  one  hundred  pounds;  but 
 Livingstone  may  have  been  an  heritor,  liferenter,  or  proper  woodsetter, 
 who  were  liable  to  be  fined  in  a  fourth  part  of  their  valued  yearly  rent. 
 
 t  "The  Council  were  willing  in  May,"  says  Fountainhall,  "  to  change  his 
 [Rule's]  confinement  to  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  upon  his  finding  caution 
 not  to  preach  in  private  there  ;  but  this  he  refused  to  do."  Fountainhall's 
 Decisions,  vol.  i.  p.  99 ;  Bower's  History  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh, 
 vol.  i.  p.  320. 
 
GILBERT  RULE.  301 
 
 »•        .  .  . 
 
 Council  in  which  he  states  that  he  "is  of  considerable 
 age  and  valetudinary,  having  had  a  violent  and  long 
 fit  of  the  ague  since  his  imprisonment,  and  humbly 
 supplicates  that  the  Council  would  take  his  sick  condi- 
 tion and  infirmity  into  consideration,  and  give  order  for 
 his  liberation/'  The  Council,  in  answer  to  this  peti- 
 tion, on  the  13th  of  July,  "  ordain  him  to  be  set  at 
 liberty,  upon  his  finding  sufl&cient  caution,  under  the 
 pain  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots,  to  depart  out  of  this 
 kingdom  within  eight  days,  and  not  to  return  without 
 the  Council's  licence/'* 
 
 After  being  liberated  upon  giving  this  bond.  Rule 
 returned  to  Berwick,  where  he  practised  for  some  time 
 as  a  physician.  But  as,  in  consequence  of  his  sentence 
 of  banishment,  he  could  not  cross  the  border  into  Scot- 
 land, however  many  of  his  friends  and  acquaintances 
 there  might  desire  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  his  medical 
 skill,  this  at  once  lessened  his  usefulness  and  injured 
 his  pecuniary  interests,  which  he  could  ill  afford,  being 
 poor  and  having  a  numerous  family.  Anxious  to  be 
 relieved  from  this  restraint,  he  presented  a  petition  to 
 the  Council,  shewing  that  he  "  was  graduated  a  physi- 
 cian at  Leyden  some  sixteen  or  eighteen  years  ago,  and 
 has  been  in  the  practice  of  physic  chiefly  in  the  south 
 parts  of  Scotland,  and  having  a  numerous  family,  and 
 his  friends  and  relations  being  deprived  of  that  benefit 
 they  suppose  they  had  by  his  skill  and  practice  of 
 medicine,  and  that  he  cannot  and  will  not  come  into 
 Scottish  bounds,  though  often  invited  by  his  patients. 
 
 •  Dr  Calamy,  in  his  account  of  Rule,  says  that  lio  was  conlincd  in  tlu* 
 Bass  above  twelve  months,  which  is  a  mistake.  Tlie  acts  of  Council  shew 
 that  he  was  not  imprisoned  there  much  above  three  months — "  an  exorbi- 
 tant  punishment,"  says  Wodrow,  "for  ba]>tizing  a  cliihl  of  his  own  ni«H-e 
 at  the  desire  fifth.-  minister  of  her  parish."'    History,  vol.  iii.  p.  195. 
 
302  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 without  your  Lordships'  allowance  and  permission 
 and  praying  that  their  Lordships  would  be  pleased 
 "  to  take  the  said  restraint  off  the  supplicant,  that  | 
 he  may  freely,  and  without  molestation,  exercise  the  | 
 calling  of  a  doctor  of  medicine  as  formerly  he  was  in  | 
 use  to  do  within  this  kingdom  of  Scotland/'  The 
 Council,  on  the  6th  of  April  1681,  "having  heard  and  j 
 considered  the  petition,  do,  notwithstanding  their  for- 
 mer act  prohibiting  the  petitioner  to  come  to  or  reside 
 within  this  kingdom,  dispense  with  the  said  act  tiU 
 further  orders,  and  allow  the  petitioner  to  come  to  and 
 remain  in  this  kingdom,  that  he  may  exercise  his  call- 
 ing as  doctor  of  medicine,  with  this  certification,  that  J 
 if  it  shall  be  found  he  shall  keep  any  conventicles,  he  ' 
 shall  lose  the  benefit  of  this  act/'   The  act  is  signed  by  i 
 Rothes,  chancellor,  as  president  of  Council.*  \ 
 After  this,  he  embraced  a  call  from  a  congregation  ; 
 in  Dublin,  where  he  continued  for  some  time  to  dis-  \ 
 charge  the  duties  of  the  sacred  ministry  with  much  I 
 acceptance.    About  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  on  the  ; 
 7th  of  December  1688,  he  was  called  to  be  one  of  the  | 
 ministers  of  the  Presbyterians  in  the  city  of  Edinburgh,  j 
 and  on  the  24th  of  J uly  1 689,  this  call  was  sanctioned  i 
 by  the  Magistrates  of  the  City,t  although  he  had  no  j 
 fixed  charge  till  some  time  after,  when  he  became 
 minister  of  the  collegiate  charge  of  the  Greyfriars 
 Church,^  having  succeeded  Mr  John  Robison,  Epis-  | 
 copal  incumbent  of  that  Church,  who  died  in  1690.§  | 
 On  the  26th  of  September  1 690,  he  was  appointed  by  \ 
 
 *  Warrants  of  Privy  Council.  t  See  Appendix,  No.  II.  ' 
 
 *  Mr  John  Hamilton,  minister  of  Cramond,  was  appointed  by  the  Town 
 Council,  on  the  21st  of  June  1693,  Rule's  colleague  in  that  charge. 
 
 §  An  Account  of  Ministers  and  Parishes  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  at 
 the  Revolution.    Kirk  MSS.  A,  No,  I.  in  Adv.  Lib. 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 SOS 
 
 the  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh,  Principal  of  the  Col- 
 lege, in  the  room  of  Dr  Alexander  Monro,  who  was 
 I  deprived  of  his  office  on  the  25th  of  that  month  by 
 !  the  visitors  appointed  by  act  of  Parliament  in  July 
 
 I  that  year,  for  the  visitation  of  universities,  colleges, 
 and  schools,  and  invested  with  very  ample  powers.* 
 On  the  14th  of  October,  having  appeared  before  the 
 Town  Council,  he  accepted  the  office  and  gave  his  oath 
 de  fideli  administratione ;  upon  which,  the  Council  ap- 
 pointed some  of  their  number  "  to  go  over  and  actually 
 install  him  in  the  foresaid  charge/' 
 
 Rule  was  one  of  the  leading  Presbyterian  ministers 
 at  the  Revolution,  and  the  Government  being  very 
 desirous  that  the  first  General  Assembly,  appointed 
 to  meet  in  October  1690,  should  avoid  such  measures 
 as  might  tend  to  exasperate  the  Prelatists,  whose  re- 
 sentment by  the  expulsion  of  their  favourite  monarch 
 from  the  throne,  and  by  the  overthrow  of  Prelacy  and 
 the  establishment  of  Presbytery,  was  sufficiently  ex- 
 
 II  cited,  were  anxious  to  secure  his  influence  for  that 
 purpose ;  nor  was  this  difficult  to  obtain,  for  though  a 
 decided  Presbyterian,  he  was  far  from  being  disposed 
 
 i|  to  carry  things  with  a  high  hand  against  the  Prelatic 
 party.    Accordingly,  the  Earl  of  Melville,  previous  to 
 jj  that  meeting,  addressed  the  following  letter  to  him, 
 
 I  •  Dr  Monro  was  deprived  of  tlio  Principalship  chiefly  on  the  ground  of 
 1  his  disaffection  to  the  Revolution  settlement,  and  his  attachment  to  the 
 exiled  family  ;  although,  besides  this,  he  had  been  accused  of  Socinianism 
 and  Arminianism,  as  well  as  other  things,  which,  had  they  been  sul)stan- 
 tiatcd.  involved  his  moral  character.  Bower's  History  of  the  University 
 of  Edinburgh,  vol.  i.  i>p.  310,  313,  314.  Monro  had  been  appointed  Prin- 
 cipal on  the  9th  of  December  ItJS.').  IIo  was  also  minister  of  the  High 
 Church  of  Edinburgh,  but  had  resigned  his  charge  upon  his  t  xpulsiou 
 from  the  College.  lie  became  minister  of  an  Ej)iscopal  congregation  in 
 Edinburgh,  and  died  in  the  year  1716.  He  was  allowed  to  be  u  good 
 scholar  and  a  man  of  talents. 
 
304 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 urging  the  necessity  of  prudent  management  and  a  - 
 speedy  adjournment,  in  present  circumstances : — 
 
 "  10th  October  1690. 
 "  Sir, — Did  I  either  consult  my  interest  or  quiet,  I  should 
 abstract  from  all  public  affairs ;  but  the  desire  I  have  to  see 
 the  prosperity  of  my  religion,  king,  and  country,  makes  me 
 willing  to  sacrifice  my  ease  to  the  advancement  thereof  I 
 cannot  but  observe  the  critical  juncture  in  which  your  As- 
 sembly meets,  and  I  should  neither  be  a  friend  to  you  nor  the 
 public  interest,  if  I  did  not  freely  tell  you  that  it  would  be  to 
 your  advantage  to  make  as  sudden  an  adjournment  of  the 
 Assembly  as  can  be.    Remember  that  you  have  a  Parliament  j 
 here  to  observe  your  motions,  and  a  King  that  hath  done  i 
 more  to  satisfy  you  than  either  you  suspected  or  enemies  were  j 
 willing  you  should  believe  would  be  done.     Consider  how  | 
 much  is  at  stake,  and  Grod  himself  direct  you. — I  am.  Sir,  I 
 your  true  friend  and  servant,  * 
 
 "Melville."*  j 
 
 The  wishes  of  the  government  expressed  in  this  let-  j 
 ter  were  punctually  complied  with,  as  appears  from  a  \ 
 letter  which  the  Assembly,  after  its  meeting  was  closed,  j 
 addressed  to  the  king,  dated  12th  November  1690,  and  • 
 subscribed  by  Hugh  Kennedy,  the  Moderator: — "As 
 in  our  answer  to  your  gracious  letter,  directed  to  us  in 
 the  entrance  of  this  Assembly,  we  engaged  to  your  ' 
 Majesty,  that  in  all  things  that  should  come  before  us  I 
 we  would  carry  with  that  calmness  and  moderation 
 which  becometh  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  peace, 
 and  which  your  Majesty  did  so  effectually  recommend  ' 
 to  us,  so  now,  in  the  close  of  this  our  Assembly,  we  pre- 
 sume to  acquaint  your  Ma-jesty  that,  through  the  good  i 
 
 i 
 
 *  The  Leven  and  Melville  Papers,  p.  543.  Similar  letters  were  written 
 to  several  others  of  the  most  eminent  Presbyterian  ministers,  as  Mr 
 .Tames  Fraser  of  Brea,  &o.  ; 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 305 
 
 hand  of  God  upon  us,  we  have  in  a  great  measure  per- 
 formed accordingly/'*  Prudence  and  expediency  doubt- 
 less ought  not  to  be  disregarded  in  ecclesiastical  pro- 
 ceedings, but  both  then  and  afterwards  the  Assembly 
 i  seem  to  have  regulated  their  procedure  too  much  ac- 
 cording to  the  will  of  the  monarch,  and  less  from  a  due 
 regard  to  what  the  exigencies  of  the  Church  demanded, 
 than  became  an  ecclesiastical  body  responsible  in  spi- 
 ritual matters  solely  to  Christ,  the  alone  King  and  Head 
 of  the  Church. 
 
 Rule  and  Mr  David  Blair  were  appointed  by  the  As- 
 sembly as  commissioners  to  proceed  to  London  to  wait 
 upon  the  king,  and  give  him  a  more  full  and  satisfying 
 account  of  all  that  had  passed,  and  obviate  objections 
 or  misrepresentations  which  might  be  made  against  the 
 Assembly  ;  and  they  were  quickly  to  be  followed  by  Mr 
 William  Carstairs.f  When  these  commissioners  were  at 
 court,  it  is  said  that  King  William  took  particular  notice 
 of  Rule,  and  shewed  him  much  respect.  Rule  and  Blair, 
 upon  their  return,  gave  to  the  Commission,  at  a  pri- 
 vate meeting,  an  account  of  their  interview  with  the 
 king, — that  he  had  graciously  accepted  their  address, 
 — that,  anticipating  their  fears  lest  he  might  withdraw 
 his  favour  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  to  the  Pre- 
 latic  party,  he  told  them,  that  being  now  at  the  mature 
 age  of  forty,  he  was  too  old  to  change  his  sentiments, 
 and  that  he  would  protect  them,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
 hinted  that  they  must  expect  to  be  dependent  and  su- 
 bordinate. J 
 
 We  have  said  that,  though  a  decided  Presbyterian, 
 Rule  was  not  disposed  to  carry  things  with  a  liigh  hand 
 
 •  The  Levon  and  Melville  Papers,  p.  367. 
 
 t  Ibid.  p.  ')70 ;  Shield's  Diary  in  Wudrow's  Analeota,  vol.  i.  p.  2<il. 
 *,  Shield'b  Diary  in  Wydrow's  Analocta,  vol.  i.  p.  202. 
 
I 
 
 306  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS.  j 
 
 against  tlie  Prelatic  party.  As  an  instance  of  this,  | 
 we  may  mention  his  disapprobation  of  the  conduct  of  ; 
 the  Cameronians  in  1689,  in  ejecting  the  curates,  and  j 
 destroying  their  canonical  dress.  Patrick  Walker,  the  j; 
 author  of  Biographia  Presbyteriana,  was  far  from  be-  | 
 ing  satisfied  with  him  for  the  little  sympathy  he  felt  in  i 
 that  singular  and  summary  mode  of  ejection.  That  j 
 eccentric  character,  who  distinguished  himself  by  ex-  j 
 ploits  of  this  nature,  and  who  tells  us,  that  "  there  was  j 
 never  any  public  work  that  he  put  his  hand  to  wherein  j 
 he  took  so  much  delight,"  having,  at  the  request  of  some  j 
 ministers,  drawn  up  a  statement  of  all  the  cases  of  this  i 
 kind  in  which  he  was  concerned,  communicated  it  to  | 
 Rule  with  a  view  to  its  being  made  public.  But  Rule,  , 
 probably  judging  that  the  narrative  was  more  likely  to  i 
 do  harm  than  good  in  the  then  excited  state  of  the  i 
 public  mind,  having  thought  proper  to  suppress  it,  its  j 
 author  was  offended  that  the  zeal  of  Rule  in  this  mat-  j 
 ter  had  not  reached  the  same  high  temperature  with  | 
 his  own.  "  The  curates,  these  poor  objects  of  pity/' 
 says  he,  "  afterwards  published  an  account  of  their  suf- 
 ferings, stuffed  with  gross  lies.  Some  ministers  wrote  i 
 to  me  to  give  a  distinct  account  of  every  thing  in  the  j 
 manner  of  their  being  put  away,  which  I  did  of  all  the  j 
 fifteen  that  I  was  at.  It  was  given  into  the  hands  of  j 
 Dr  Rule,  who,  instead  of  confuting  their  gross  lies,  j 
 (wherein  he  had  a  large  field,)  vindicated  the  mode-  j 
 rate  Presbyterians  of  all  such  things,  although  the 
 Convention  of  Estates  justified  us."* 
 
 Rule's  zeal  in  promoting  the  scheme  of  the  govern- 
 ment for  the  admission  of  the  Prelatic  curates,  not  j 
 found  insufiicient,  scandalous,  or  erroneous,  to  the  , 
 exercise  of  the  ministerial  office  and  judicial  power  j 
 
 *  Biograph.  Prosb.  vol.  i.  p.  282.  # 
 
 I 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 307 
 
 within  the  Presbyterian  Church,  simply  upon  their 
 taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  the  civil  government, 
 and  promising  to  submit  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of 
 church  government,  and  never  to  endeavour  its  sub- 
 version, was  an  instance  of  moderation  which  is  to  be 
 viewed  in  a  different  light  from  the  preceding.  It  was 
 wrong  in  principle,  and  being  adopted  by  the  Church, 
 proved  deeply  injurious  to  her  best  interests,  while  its 
 baneful  effects  have  extended  down  to  our  own  day. 
 
 [|  The  Estates  of  Parliament  had  by  an  act  recommended 
 to  the  Church  to  receive,  upon  the  terms  just  now  spe- 
 cified, such  of  the  Prelatic  clergy  as  should  regularly 
 
 f  apply  for  admission.  His  Majesty  had  also  addressed 
 to  them  a  similar  recommendation ;  and  at  last  gave 
 them  to  understand,  that  if  they  refused  to  comply 
 with  his  will  in  receiving  qualified  curates,  upon  regu- 
 larly applying,  it  might  be  detrimental  to  themselves, 
 as  he  was  determined  to  grant  these  curates  his  royal 
 
 I  protection.*  With  the  will  of  the  Court  in  this  matter, 
 the  Church,  on  no  consideration,  ought  to  have  com- 
 
 •    plied.    All  these  curates  had  conformed  to  Prelacy  ; 
 
 J    they  had  all  solemnly  sworn  that  the  external  govern- 
 
 t  ment  of  the  Church  is  an  inherent  right  of  the  crown  ; 
 they  were  all  to  be  regarded  as  part  and  parcel  of  the 
 
 I  late  oppressive  and  persecuting  government;  not  a  few 
 of  them  had  been  intruded  upon  their  parishes  by 
 military  violence,  while  troops  of  dragoons,  fines,  im- 
 prisonment, and  torture,  were  all  employed  to  compel 
 the  relractory  i)eople  to  attend  their  cliurchcs  ;  and 
 many  of  them  had  been  the  chief  instigators  and  pro- 
 moters of  the  persecution,  had  acted  the  part  of  spies 
 and  informers,  and  hunted  out  the  military  to  harass 
 and  seize  upon  the  Presbyterians.    To  admit  them, 
 
 •  Memoirs  of  James  lln^,  j.p.  lll>,  113. 
 
308 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 then,  into  the  Presbyterian  Church  simply  upon  the 
 condition  required  by  the  government,  without  any 
 professions  or  evidence  of  repentance  for  the  past,  was 
 a  piece  of  the  most  reckless  impolicy  that  can  well  be 
 conceived,  "  for  no  wise  man  will  rashly  trust  open 
 and  sometimes  violent  and  persecuting  enemies,  with- 
 out good  securities  that  they  were  become  real  friends, 
 which  in  this  case  was  neither  olFered  nor  sought."* 
 The  majority  of  the  curates,  indeed,  entertaining  high 
 hopes  of  the  restoration  of  James  YII.,  declined  to 
 avail  themselves  of  the  benefit  of  this  scheme  of  com- 
 prehension with  the  Revolution  Church ;  but  still 
 hundreds  of  them  entered  by  the  door  thus  opened 
 for  them,  and  combining  with  others  previously  in 
 the  fellowship  of  the  Church,  who  were  too  much  dis- 
 posed to  adopt  a  temporising  policy,  they  formed  what 
 has  been  called  the  Moderate  party,  which  long  held  an 
 entire  ascendancy  in  the  judicatories  of  the  Established 
 Church. 
 
 Rule  went  entirely  into  the  measures  of  the  Court 
 in  this  matter.  When  it  was  debated,  at  a  meeting  of 
 the  General  Assembly,  in  reference  to  the  instructions 
 given  to  presbyteries,  whether  the  curates  should  be 
 received  without  purging  themselves  of  the  scandal  of 
 their  having  conformed  to  Prelacy,  Mr  Kirkton  and 
 others  urged  the  necessity  of  their  acknowledging  that 
 scandal ;  Rule  and  others  opposed  it ;  while  the  gene- 
 rality were  for  delaying  receiving  any  of  them  till  the 
 next  General  Assembly.!  The  great  argument  which 
 Rule  employed  was,  that  were  the  scheme  of  the  go- 
 vernment rejected,  many  parishes,  from  the  scarcity  of 
 ministers,  would  be  thrown  vacant,  and  be  deprived  of 
 
 *  Memoirs  of  Mr  James  Hog  of  Carnock,  p.  112. 
 
 t  Shield's  Diary,  in  Wodrow's  Analecta,  vol.  i.  p.  201. 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 809 
 
 the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  It  was  unfortunate  for 
 the  cogency  of  this  argument,  that  many  of  the  curates 
 were  erroneous  in  doctrine,  while  others  were  destitute 
 of  gifts  suitable  for  the  edification  of  the  people.  It 
 is,  therefore,  no  wonder  that  some  regarded  this  as  a 
 mere  pretext.  "  It  is  like,''  says  Mr  James  Hog  of 
 Carnock,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "  that  you  have  heard 
 of  that  paper  that  Mr  Rule,  now  minister  of  Edin- 
 burgh, published  in  favour  of  the  curates,  with  consent 
 (as  he  says)  of  most  part  of  his  brethren.  I  shall  not 
 mention  the  pretext — the  great  one  is  obvious  to  all — 
 as,  forsooth,  many  places  will  want  the  ordinances,  and 
 therefore  it  is  fit  they  should  give  them  poison,  rather 
 than  that  they  should  have  nothing  to  eat."*  It  is  no 
 doubt  true  that  the  Church  had  the  power  to  refuse  to 
 admit  such  of  the  curates  as  were  erroneous  or  insufl[i- 
 cient ;  but  from  the  overwhelming  influence  employed 
 by  the  government  to  secure  their  admission,  and  from 
 the  too  accommodating  policy  of  the  leaders  of  the 
 Church,  the  faithful  exercise  of  this  power  could  hardly 
 looked  for. 
 
 At  length  Rule  was  visited  with  his  last  illness, 
 which  continued  for  some  time,  and  which  he  bore  with 
 exemplary  patience  and  much  serenity  of  mind.  The 
 ruling  passion  is  strong  even  in  death.  This  was  ex- 
 emplified in  the  last  moments  of  this  good  man.  A 
 short  time  previous  to  his  death  his  mind  wandered  a 
 little,  and  he  told  his  friends  that  he  had  a  sermon  to 
 preach  to  Edinburgh  before  he  died.  They  endeavoured 
 to  divert  his  mind  from  this  idea,  but  without  effect. 
 He  was  determined  to  be  out  of  his  bed  and  to  go  to 
 the  pulpit  to  preach  his  last  sermon.  When  no  en- 
 treaty could  ])revail,  one  present  proposed  to  him,  that 
 
 •  Wodrow's  MSS.,  vol.  ix.  8vo,  no.  19. 
 
310 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 he  should  preach  it  to  his  friends  in  the  house.  With 
 this  proposal  he  agreed,  and  desiring  them  to  put 
 his  gown  upon  him,  and  to  bring  his  bible,  he  went 
 through  all  the  parts  of  public  worship,  first  read  the 
 psalm  and  gave  out  the  line,  then  prayed,  then  read 
 out  his  text,  which  he  opened  up  and  applied  very 
 closely  ;  and  after  sermon  he  prayed,  sung  another 
 psalm,  and  pronounced  the  apostolic  blessing,  "  The 
 grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and 
 the  communion  of  the  Holy  Grhost,  be  with  you  all. 
 Amen.''  These  were  his  last  words,  for  immediately 
 after  pronouncing  them  he  expired.  "  This,''  as  Wod- 
 row  remarks,  "  was  indeed  a  very  pleasant  end  of  this 
 great  man,  just  as  it  were  at  his  work."*  Rule  died  in 
 1701. 
 
 Rule  filled  the  ofiice  of  Principal  with  great  repu- 
 tation. The  chair  of  Theology  was  at  that  time  also 
 occupied  by  an  eminent  man,  Dr  George  CampbelLt 
 These  two  men  were  indeed,  in  their  day,  the  brightest 
 ornaments  of  the  University.  The  following  anecdote 
 is  told  of  their  indefatigable  application,  and  of  the 
 intimate  friendship  which  subsisted  between  them. 
 Their  houses  were  so  situated,  that  the  windows  of 
 the  apartments  where  they  studied  were  directly  op- 
 posite to  each  other.   Rule  used  to  sit  late  at  his  studies, 
 
 *  Wodrow's  Analecta,  vol.  .  p.  215.  Wodrow  states  that  he  received 
 this  account  from  the  Laird  of  Pardovan,  who  had  it  from  Rule's  son, 
 Alexander,  who  was  present. 
 
 t  Dr  George  Campbell  was  first  settled  minister  at  Dumfries.  On  be- 
 ing appointed  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  and  one 
 of  the  city  ministers,  he  was  averse  to  leave  his  charge  in  Dumfries ;  but 
 the  General  Assembly  having  agreed  to  his  transportation,  he  was  induced 
 to  comply,  and  removed  to  the  capital  during  the  course  of  the  year  1(590. 
 He  was  the  founder  of  the  theological  library  attached  to  tho  Divinity 
 Hall.  It  Avas  founded  on  the  18th  of  May  1698.  Bower's  History  of  the 
 University  of  lidinburgh,  vol.  i,  p.  337  ;  and  vol.  ii.  p.  92. 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 311 
 
 and  Campbell  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  early  in  the 
 morning,  so  that  his  candle  was  often  lighted  before 
 the  Principal  had  retired  to  rest.  From  this  circum- 
 stance, the  one  was  commonly  called  the  "Evening 
 Star/'  and  the  other  the  Morning  Star/'  The  Prin- 
 cipal died  first,  and  when  the  news  of  the  event  was 
 brought  to  the  Professor,  he  was  deeply  affected,  and 
 said  with  much  emotion,  "  The  Evening  Star  is  now 
 gone  down,  and  the  Morning  Star  will  soon  disappear." 
 Nor  was  he  mistaken ;  for  he  did  not  long  survive  his 
 friend,  having  died  in  the  autumn  of  1701. 
 
 Rule  had  a  numerous  family.  His  son  Gilbert  prac- 
 tised as  a  physician,  and  Andrew  was  an  advocate. 
 xVlexander  became  a  licentiate  of  the  Church,  and  was 
 appointed  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  College  of  Edin- 
 burgh in  February  1694  ;  but  he  had  not  been  many 
 years  in  that  situation,  when  the  Council,  owing  to  cer- 
 tain irregularities  in  his  conduct,  were  under  the  ne- 
 cessity of  requesting  him  to  give  his  demission  into 
 their  hands,  promising  some  allowance  during  their 
 pleasure  in  regard  of  his  circumstances.  This  allow- 
 ance was  not  intrusted  to  him,  but  given  to  a  friend 
 tor  his  use. 
 
 From  the  zeal  with  which  he  espoused  the  cause  of 
 the  covenant,  and  from  the  ability  with  which  he  de- 
 fended Presbytery,  and  met  the  chami)ions  of  Prelacy, 
 Rule  became  exceedingly  obnoxious  to  the  prelatic 
 party,  and  many  things  were  said  by  them  in  disparage- 
 ment of  his  talents  and  learning.  For  example,  Dr 
 Pitcairn,  a  celebrated  physician  in  Edinburgh,  and  a 
 violent  Jacobite,  in  his  Comedy  of  the  vScotch  Assem- 
 l)ly,  ridicules  his  ignorance  of  the  Latin  tongue.  In 
 that  performance,  Dr  Rule  is  introduced  under  the 
 name  of  Mr  Salathiel  Little-sense,  speaking  thus: — 
 
312 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 "  Bihlia,  the  Bible  ;  potest  apprehendi,  can  be  appre- 
 hended ;  cum  mediis  extraordinarihus  et  supernaturali- 
 buSj  with  supernatural  and  extraordinary  means.  It 
 was  ay  good  Latin  that  runs  smooth  and  sounds  well.''* 
 But  little  stress  is  to  be  laid  on  what  is  said  in  preju- 
 dice of  a  presbyterian  and  a  whig  by  this  author,  whose 
 antipathies  were  strong,  and  who,  as  he  was  the  great- 
 est- wit  of  his  time,  was  accustomed  to  indulge  without 
 restraint  in  the  severest  sarcasm  against  such  as,  from 
 difference  of  political  sentiment  or  otherwise,  provoked 
 his  censure.  Bower,  who  will  be  acquitted  of  being 
 prejudiced  in  favour  of  Rule,  formed  a  more  candid 
 and  just  estimate  of  his  abilities  and  learning.  "  The 
 favourers  of  Episcopacy,''  says  this  writer,  "  were  ac- 
 customed in  these  days  to  undervalue  his  talents,  and 
 to  make  odious  comparisons  between  him  and  some  of 
 his  predecessors.  But  the  truth  is,  that  their  theolo- 
 gical systems  were  so  different  that  it  was  impossible 
 for  either  party  to  judge  impartially.  Dr  Rule's  moral 
 and  religious  character  was  excellent ;  and  if  we  are 
 to  judge  from  his  works,  his  talents  were  respectable, 
 and  will  bear  to  be  compared  with  the  greater  number 
 of  those  with  whom  he  entered  the  lists  in  controversy. 
 His  treatise  in  answer  to  Dr  Stillingfleet's  '  Unreason- 
 ableness of  Separation,'  is  written  with  great  temper, 
 and  is  at  least  as  formidable  as  the  work  to  which  it  is 
 intended  as  a  reply.  In  his  extreme  old  age  he  wrote 
 an  answer  to  a  work  of  Dr  Monro's  against  the  new 
 opinions  of  the  Presbyterians  of  Scotland,  in  which  he 
 styles  himself  Miles  Emeritus.  He  discovers  a  thorough 
 acquaintance  with  the  subject."! 
 
 *  Biographical  Notice  of  James  Kirkton,  prefixed  to  his  History, 
 p.  xvii. 
 
 t  Bower's  History  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  i.  p.  321. 
 
GILBERT  RULE. 
 
 313 
 
 The  works  which  Rule  published  are  the  follow- 
 ing :— 
 
 1 .  Modest  Answer  to  Dr  Stillingfleet's  Irenicum ;  by  a 
 
 learned  pen.  Lond.  1680,  8vo.  This  was  an  an- 
 swer to  Stillingfleet's  book  in  so  far  as  the  Presbyte- 
 rians are  concerned  with  it.  Stillingfleet  pleads  in 
 it,  that  no  particular  form  of  church  government  is 
 exhibited  in  the  New  Testament. 
 
 2.  A  Kational  Defence  of  Nonconformity  against  Dr 
 
 StiUingfleet.    Lond.  1689,  4to. 
 
 3.  A  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  being  an 
 
 Answer  to  a  paper  entitled,  Some  Questions  concern- 
 ing Episcopal  and  Presbyterial  Government  in  Scot- 
 land, &c.    Edin.  1691,  4to. 
 
 4.  A  Defence  of  the  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
 
 land, in  Answer  to  the  Apology  of  the  Clergy  of  Scot- 
 land. Edin.  1694,  4to. 
 6.  The  Cyprianick  Bishop  examined  and  found  not  to  be 
 a  Diocesan,  nor  to  have  superior  power  to  a  parish 
 minister  or  Presbyterian  moderator ;  being  an  answer 
 to  John  Sage's*  Principles  of  the  Cyprianick  Age  ; 
 together  with  an  Appendix,  in  answer  to  a  railing 
 preface  to  a  book  entitled.  The  Fundamental  Charter 
 of  Presbytery.    Edin.  1696,  4to. 
 
 6.  The  Good  Old  Way  Defended,  in  support  of  Presby- 
 
 tery against  the  attempts  of  A.  M.,D.  D.  [Alexander 
 Munro,  D.  D.,  Principal  of  Edinburgh  College.] 
 Edin.  1697,  4to. 
 
 7.  Discourse  of  Suppressing  Immorahty  and  Promoting 
 
 Godliness.    Edin.  1701,  4to.t 
 
 •  Mr  .John  Sage  was  minister  at  Glasp;<»w,  an«l  was  ontod  at  the  Revolu- 
 tion, lie  was])orn  in  Fifeshire  1652,and  died  at  l'Minl>urj;li  in  1711.  llf 
 ■was  a  man  of  learning,  and  distinguislied  himself  in  his  day  by  his  writ- 
 ings in  defence  of  Episcopacy,  and  against  the  I'resby terian  Church  »>l" 
 Scotland. 
 
 t  Dr  Watts'  Bibliotheca  Britannica,  vol.  ii.  article  Rule  ;  Dr  Chartorib' 
 Catalogue  of  Scottish  Writers. 
 
 1)  d 
 
314 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 John  Dickson  is  said  to  have  been  related  to  the  well- 
 known  Mr  David  Dickson,  minister  of  Irvine,*  but  we 
 have  not  discovered  any  particulars  respecting  his  pa- 
 rentage and  early  life.  Having  devoted  himself  to  the 
 ministry,  he  went  through  the  ordinary  course  of  pre- 
 paration, and,  after  receiving  licence,  was  ordained  mi- 
 nister of  Rutherglen  in  the  year  1656.  At  that  time 
 the  disputes  between  the  Resolutioners  and  Protesters 
 had  reached  a  great  height,  and  the  latter  party,  from 
 his  having  adopted  their  views,  had  an  active  hand  in 
 his  settlement  in  that  parish.  Baillie,  in  recording  his 
 settlement,  betrays  strong  prejudice  against  him,  as  he 
 usually  does  against  all  who  belonged  to  the  Protesters. 
 "  In  Rugland,  [Rutherglen,]''  says  he,  "  against  the 
 people's  heart,  they  [the  Protesters]  have  planted  a 
 little  maniken  of  small  parts,  whom  I  never  saw,  and 
 forced  old  Mr  Robert  Young,  albeit  as  able  yet  as  ever, 
 to  give  over  his  ministry."t  From  this  account  we 
 learn  that  Dickson  was  small  of  stature,  but  that  his 
 gifts  are  underrated,  is  evident  from  a  number  of  his 
 letters  still  in  existence,  which  shew  him  to  have  been 
 a  man  of  respectable  talents. 
 
 *  Scots  Worthies,  edition,  Leith,  1816,  p.  494. 
 t  Baillie's  Letters  and  Journals,  vol.  iii.  p.  314, 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 315 
 
 Soon  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  IL,  Dickson  was 
 summoned  to  appear  before  the  Committee  of  Estates, 
 
 'I  in  consequence  of  information  communicated  to  the 
 government  by  Sir  James  Hamilton  of  Elistoun,  and 
 some  disaffected  parishioners  in  Rutherglen,  of  his 
 having  given  utterance  in  the  pulpit  to  certain  disre- 
 
 1 1  spectful  and  reproachful  expressions  against  the  govern- 
 ment and  Committee  of  Estates.*  On  appearing,  in  obe- 
 dience to  the  summons,  on  the  13th  of  October  1660, 
 he  was  immediately  imprisoned  in  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh,  where  he  was  kept  till  the  Parliament  sat ; 
 and  his  church  was  declared  vacant.t    But  about  the 
 
 I  time  of  the  execution  of  Mr  James  Guthrie,  which 
 took  place  on  June  1.  1661,  he  gave  in  to  the  Parlia- 
 ment an  acknowledgment  of  a  fault  in  what  he  had 
 spoken,  J  and  was  thereafter  permitted  to  return  to  his 
 parish,  of  which  he  was  still  continued  the  minister. § 
 
 I  The  Magistrates  of  Rutherglen,  after  this,  denied  the 
 i    validity  of  his  right  as  a  minister  of  the  parish,  and, 
 
 on  this  ground,  forcibly  kept  his  servants  from  cutting 
 down  and  gathering  in  the  crop  upon  the  glebe,  which 
 he  had  laboured  and  sown  at  his  own  expense.  But 
 
 ! their  endeavours  against  him  were  unsuccessful.  On 
 I    his  complaining  against  the  Magistrates  in  a  petition 
 to  the  Privy  Council,  the  Council,  on  the  18th  of  Sep- 
 
 •  Baillie  says  that  Dickson  "  was  confined  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh, 
 
 I for  many  odious  speeches  in  pulpit  against  the  statesmen."  Letters  and 
 Journals,  vol.  iii.  p.  447. 
 
 it  "Wodrow's  History,  vol.  i.  p.  79. 
 \  Baillie,  in  a  letter  to  Mr  William  Spang,  after  recording  Mr  JameR 
 Guthrie's  sentence  of  death,  and  observing  that  Mr  Patrick  Oille^pio  "had 
 gone  the  same  gate,  had  not  his  friends  persuaded  him  to  re«-ant  his  romon- 
 Btrance,  protestation,  compliance  with  the  English,  and  to  petition  the 
 King  and  Parliament  for  mercy,"  adds,  "  Mr  John  Dickson  of  Rutherglen 
 did  follow  his  way."    Letters  and  Journals,  vol.  iii.  p.  4G7. 
 
 II  §  Row's  Continuation  of  the  Life  of  Robert  Blair. 
 
316 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 lember  1661,  "  grant  warrant  and  order  to  the  said 
 Mr  John  Dickson  to  shear,  lead,  and  dispose  upon  the 
 corns  and  crop  growing  upon  the  glebe  this  present 
 year  1661,  and  discharge  any  other  whatsoever  to 
 trouble  him,  or  any  having  warrant  from  him  in  the 
 ingathering  thereof,  and,  if  need  be,  ordain  letters  to 
 pass  hereupon  as  offers/'* 
 
 Dickson  did  not,  however,  remain  long  after  this  mi- 
 nister of  Rutherglen.  Having  been  ordained  to  that 
 parish  since  1649,  he  fell  under  the  operation  of  the 
 act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  May  1662,  which  required 
 all  ministers  ordained  since  1649  to  receive  presenta- 
 tions from  their  respective  patrons,  and  collation  from 
 the  bishops  of  their  respective  bounds,  under  the 
 penalty  of  deprivation  ;t  and  as  he  could  not  conscien- 
 tiously comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  act,  he 
 was,  like  hundreds  more  of  his  brethren  in  the  minis- 
 try, forced  to  abandon  his  flock.  Although,  however, 
 ejected  from  this  corner  of  the  vineyard,  he  continued 
 to  exercise  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office  as  he  found 
 opportunity,  thus  bearing  testimony  to  the  freedom  of 
 Christ's  ambassadors  to  dispense  the  ordinances  of  the 
 gospel  not  only  without  licences  from  the  civil  magis- 
 trate, but  when  they  were  peremptorily  discharged,  un- 
 der severe  penalties,  to  preach,  baptize,  and  exercise  the 
 other  functions  of  the  ministry. 
 
 Dickson,  though  not  among  the  very  first  of  the 
 ejected  ministers  Avho  betook  themselves  to  the  fields 
 to  preach, J  yet,  at  an  early  period,  joined  with  them 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council.  t  See  p.  4. 
 
 I  Mr  John  Welsh,  and  Mr  Gabriel  Semple,  who  both  belonged  to  the 
 Presbytery  of  Dumfries,  were  the  first  who  preached  in  the  fields  after 
 their  ejection.  They  "used  to  travel  up  and  down  the  stewartry  of 
 Galloway,"  says  Blackadder,  "  and  some  places  of  Nithsdale,  keeping 
 public  meetings  in  the  fields,  in  mosses  and  moors.    They  began  the  first 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 317 
 
 in  that  perilous  work,  and  persevered  in  it  with  much 
 activity  and  zeal ;  travelling  from  place  to  place,  "  en- 
 
 '  during  afflictions,  doing  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  mak- 
 ing full  proof  of  his  ministry/'  Alexander  Reid,  in  his 
 Memoirs,  makes  honourable  mention  of  the  early  zeal  of 
 Dickson,  and  some  others  in  this  work.  "  The  Lord  after 
 this  [the  spring  of  the  year  after  Pentland],''  says  he, 
 "  mercifully  provided  the  gospel  mostly  in  the  night-time, 
 
 I  and  stirred  up  his  servants  to  preach  the  gospel  in  that 
 
 I  time,  because  of  hazard  in  the  day-time,  except  in  the 
 remote  places  of  the  moorlands,  where  they  preached 
 by  day  in  mosses  and  mountains.    The  field  ministers 
 
 I  that  came  out  were  Mr  John  Welsh,  Mr  Gabriel  Semple, 
 Mr  Samuel  Arnot,  Mr  John  Blackadder,  Mr  John  Dick- 
 son, Mr  Robert  Archibald,  Mr  Thomas  Hog,  whom  the 
 nonconformists  heard  sometimes  by  night,  sometimes 
 by  day  ;  and  I  did  hear  them  sometimes,  amongst 
 others,  which  was  a  mean  to  strengthen  me  and  others 
 to  continue  in  the  faith,  and  to  hold  by  our  profession."* 
 
 I  And  in  An  account  of  the  sufferings  of  the  people  in 
 Kinross-shire  for  nonconformity  to  prelacy,  several  par- 
 ticulars in  reference  to  his  preaching  in  the  fields  as 
 
 j  well  as  in  private  houses,  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
 are  preserved.   It  is  said  that,  "in  the  year  1669,  in 
 
 i  the  month  of  October,  the  gospel  was  first  preached  by 
 
 ji  Mr  John  Blackadder  in  the  open  fields,  in  the  corn- 
 yard  of  Balcanquhal.    The  second  time,  Mr  John  Dick- 
 
 I  son  preached  upon  the  22d  day  of  that  same  month  in 
 
 |i  Glenvail.  And  the  third  time,  ^Ir  David  Hume 
 preached  in  the  month  of  November  ;  but  many  times 
 in  houses  before  this,  as  in  the  house  of  Robert 
 
 '!    Sabbath  after  they  wore  put  out,  for  they  kept  a  public  mooting  in  Cor- 
 il    sackwood,  they  being  both  lodged  at  Corsack's  house,  where  they  stayed 
 I    about  the  space  of  a  year."    Crichton's  Bhickadder,  ]».  i)7. 
 •  Pp.  23-25. 
 
318 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Stark,  merchant  in  Milnathort,  and  in  the  house  of 
 David  Coventrie,  portioner  of  Aiclarie,  and  in  other 
 houses  in  the  parish  of  Orwell/'  It  is  again  said,  that 
 "in  the  year  1670,  Mr  John  Dickson  preached  in  the 
 Newbigging  of  Lethangie,  in  the  parish  of  Kinross, 
 upon  the  13th  day  of  February,  in  the  evening.  And 
 one  Robert  Steedman,  commonly  called  Rob  at  the 
 Cross,  took  away  the  said  Mr  Dickson's  horse,  and  put 
 him  into  the  tolbooth ;  which  horse  was  gotten  again 
 for  one  boll  of  malt.  Mr  Dickson  continued  preaching 
 several  nights  through  the  shire.  And  upon  the  15th 
 or  16th  of  the  month  of  June  thereafter,  Mr  Black- 
 adder  and  Mr  Dickson  came  to  the  hill  of  Beath  on 
 the  Sabbath-day,  where  there  was  a  great  meeting  of 
 persons  who  came  from  the  east  end  of  Fife,  and  as  far 
 west  as  Stirling,  to  hear  sermon.''* 
 
 The  field  meeting  which  Dickson  and  Blackadder 
 kept  at  Beath-hill,  above  Dunfermline,  here  referred  to, 
 deserves  to  be  particularly  noticed,  as  it  was  amongst  the 
 first  armed  field  conventicles,  as  it  greatly  irritated  the 
 government,  and  as  it  was  attended  and  followed,  in  an 
 eminent  degree,  with  the  divine  blessing.  Blackadder 
 went,  at  the  earnest  desire  of  several  gentlemen  in  that 
 part  of  the  country,  and  particularly  of  the  laird  of  Ford, 
 "  whose  representations  of  the  ignorance  and  profanity 
 of  that  district,  made  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind." 
 Aware  of  the  danger  which  would  attend  such  a  meet- 
 ing, both  to  the  ministers  and  hearers,  from  the  disaffec- 
 tion of  the  nobility  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  from 
 the  rudeness  of  the  inhabitants,  who  had  not  been  ac- 
 customed to  any  thing  of  this  kind,  he  did  not  commu- 
 nicate his  purpose  till  the  Sabbath  preceding,  when  he 
 
 *  "VVodrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxiii.,  folio,  no.  143.  This  meeting  was  held  on 
 the  18th  of  June,  and  not  on  the  IfHh  or  16th. 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 319 
 
 spoke  to  Dickson  on  the  subject,  requesting  his  assist- 
 ance on  the  occasion,  and  charging  him  to  keep  their 
 intention  secret.  Dickson  readily  consented ;  but  on 
 the  Thursday  preceding,  on  his  way  to  Kirkcaldy,  he 
 dropt  some  hints  of  it,  which  speedily  spread  along  the 
 coast  of  St  Andrews,  and  up  both  sides  of  the  Forth  to 
 Stirling.  The  place  of  meeting,  though  not  exactly 
 known,  was  understood  to  be  near  Dunfermline.  On 
 Saturday  afternoon,  people  began  to  assemble.  Many 
 lay  on  the  hill  all  night ;  some  stayed  about  a  con- 
 stable's house  near  the  middle  of  the  hill,  and  several 
 others  were  lodged  in  the  neighbourhood,  among  whom 
 was  John  M'Lellan,  laird  of  Barscob,  with  nine  or  ten 
 men  from  Galloway.  Early  on  the  Sabbath  morning, 
 a  great  number  of  people  were  collected  together,  and 
 more  were  still  assembling.  When  a  suitable  place  for 
 the  meeting  was  selected,  a  tent  was  erected,  and 
 Dickson  commenced  the  work  of  the  day  about  eight 
 o'clock  in  the  morning,  while  Blackadder  lay  at  the 
 outskirts,  within  hearing,  with  the  view  of  ordering 
 matters,  and  observing  how  the  watch  was  kept.  After 
 lecturing  for  a  considerable  time,  Dickson  preached  a 
 sermon  from  1  Cor.  xv.  25,  "  For  he  must  reign  until  he 
 hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet,''in  which  he  insisted 
 on  Christ's  kingly  office  and  the  necessity  of  his  reign- 
 ing, asserting  the  sovereignty  of  the  Mediator  over  his 
 own  house,  ordinances,  and  ambassadors,  and  testify- 
 ing against  the  invasions  made  upon  them.*  During' 
 
 •  Christ's  kingly  power  over  the  Church,  was,  indeed,  the  preut  truth 
 for  which  the  Presbyterians  contended  during  the  persecution,  in  <ipiM>si- 
 tion  to  the  claims  of  the  monarch,  who  arrogated,  as  an  inherent  right  of 
 his  Crown,  the  royal  power  and  supremacy  which  belong  to  Christ  alune, 
 as  King  in  Zion.  Speaking  on  this  siibject,  after  the  Revolution,  Dickson 
 says,  "  Although  the  sufferings  of  our  late  brethren  seemed  to  be  heavy  to 
 bear,  yet  two  prime  truths  were  sealed  with  their  blood  (and  tliat  of  th« 
 
320 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  time  of  the  sermon,  several  disaffected  country- 
 people  joined  the  audience  ;  which,  being  observed  by 
 Blackadder,  and  those  appointed  to  watch,  he  resolved 
 to  suffer  all  to  come  and  hear,  but  to  prevent,  with  as 
 little  noise  as  possible,  any  from  going  away.  During 
 the  sermon,  the  lieutenant  of  the  militia  in  that  dis- 
 trict was  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  gathering  his  men,  but 
 no  attempt  was  made  on  the  meeting,  and  the  fore- 
 noon's service  was  concluded,  without  disturbance, 
 about  eleven  o'clock. 
 
 In  the  afternoon  Blackadder  preached  a  sermon  on 
 these  words,  1  Cor.  ix.  1 6, For  though  I  preach  the  gos- 
 pel, I  have  nothing  to  glory  of;  for  necessity  is  laid  upon 
 me,  yea,  woe  is  unto  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel in 
 which  he  insisted  on  the  necessity  lying  on  ministers  to 
 publish  the  gospel,  and  Christ's  kingly  office  in  main- 
 taining and  carrying  on  the  dispensation  of  it.  After 
 he  had  begun,  the  lieutenant  of  the  militia  came  to  the 
 meeting  with  a  few  of  his  men.  Alighting,  he  gave  his 
 horse  to  hold,  and  coming  in  among  the  people  on  the 
 minister's  left  hand,  stood  for  some  time  hearing  peace- 
 ably. He  then  attempted  to  get  to  his  horse,  which 
 when  some  of  the  watch  perceived,  fearing  that  he  was 
 going  to  bring  a  party  to  trouble  them,  they  desired 
 him  to  stay  till  the  close  of  the  sermon,  as  his  abrupt 
 departure  would  alarm  the  people.   He  refused  to  stay, 
 
 Lest,  as  of  our  honourable  nobles,  faithful  ministers,  gentry,  burgesses,  and 
 commons  of  all  sorts),  -which  were  never  before  sealed,  either  by  the  blood 
 of  our  primitive  martyrs,  or  our  late  martyrs  in  the  dawning  of  our  Re- 
 formation ;  and  the  two  truths  wore  Christ's  Headship  in  the  Church,  in 
 
 despite  of  supremacy  and  l)old  Erastianism,  and  our  covenants  
 
 The  primitive  martyrs  sealed  the  prophetic  oflBce  of  Christ  with  their 
 heart's  blood;  the  reforming  martyrs  sealed  his  priestly  office  with  their 
 blood  ;  but  last  of  all,  our  martyrs  have  sealed  his  kingly  office  with  their 
 best  blood."  Scots  Worthies,  edition,  Leith,  1816,  p.  498.  The  reader 
 will  perceive  that  Blackadder's  discourse  was  on  the  same  theme. 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 321 
 
 and  began  to  threaten,  drawing  his  staff ;  which  when 
 the  laird  of  Barscob  and  another  young  man  on  the 
 opposite  side  observed,  thinking  it  to  be  a  sword,  they 
 instantly  ran  each  with  a  bended  pistol,  crying  out, 
 Rogue,  are  you  drawing  ?"    Blackadder  seeing  this, 
 (     and  afraid  lest  they  should  have  killed  the  lieutenant, 
 !     broke  off  his  discourse,  and  desiring  the  audience  to  re- 
 I     main  composed  for  a  little,  stepped  aside  and  said,  "  I 
 I     charge  and  obtest  you  not  to  meddle  with  him,  or  do 
 I     him  any  hurt,''  which  had  the  desired  effect  upon  them. 
 The  lieutenant  hearing  the  minister  discharging  the 
 people  to  hurt  him,  thrust  forward  to  be  at  him,  and 
 complained  to*him  that  he  could  not  get  leave  to  stand 
 on  his  own  ground  for  those  men.    "  Let  me  see,  sir,'' 
 said  Blackadder,  "  who  will  offer  to  wrong  you  ;  they 
 t    shall  as  soon  wrong  myself ;  for  we  came  here  to  offer 
 violence  to  no  man,  but  to  preach  the  gospel  of  peace ; 
 and,  sir,  if  you  be  pleased  to  stay  in  peace,  you  shall  be  as 
 welcome  as  any  here  ;  but  if  you  will  not,  you  may  go  ; 
 we  shall  compel  no  man."   "  But,''  said  he,  "  they  have 
 I    taken  my  horse  from  me."    Then  Blackadder  called 
 i    upon  them  to  restore  him  his  horse,  as  he  was  unwill- 
 
 Iing  to  stay  longer  ;  upon  which  they  dismissed  him 
 without  harm.  When  the  lieutenant  was  gone,  and  the 
 tumult  composed,  Blackadder  returned  to  the  tent  and 
 continued  preaching  an  additional  three  quarters  of  an 
 hour.  All  the  time,  several  horsemen  were  riding  hither 
 and  thither  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  in  view  of  the  peo- 
 ple, but  they  were  so  alarmed  that  none  offered  to  come 
 near  them.  A  little  before  the  close  of  the  sermon, 
 Dickson  took  horse  with  another  gentleman,  and  left 
 the  meeting.* 
 
 Many  false  reports  were  circulated  concerning  this 
 
 •  Crichton's  Memoirs  of  BhickucM.  r.  pp.  143-141). 
 
S22 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 meeting.    It  was,  for  example,  alleged  that  there  had  ' 
 been  a  preconcerted  design  to  hold  it  on  that  hill,  out  of  j 
 contempt  of  the  Government,  whereas  the  spot  was  only  \ 
 selected  by  the  Covenanters  that  morning,  and  the  hill  ; 
 preferred  for  greater  security,  as  they  could  there  see  i 
 about  them,  and  be  better  able,  if  assaulted  upon  one  side,  ^ 
 to  make  their  escape  upon  the  other,  which  was  the  prin-  j 
 cipal  reason  for  keeping  these  meetings  on  hill  sides.* 
 It  was  also  reported  that  the  number  at  the  meeting 
 amounted  to  some  thousands,  that  many  of  them  were  ] 
 in  arms,  and  that  they  met  with  a  design  to  create  an 
 insurrection  ;  whereas  the  meeting,  according  to  the 
 best  conjecture  of  such  as  were  present,  did  not  exceed  \ 
 a  thousand,  if  there  were  so  many  ;  the  number  armed  1 
 were  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty,  and  rising  in  ! 
 arms,  as  in  their  circumstances  it  would  have  been  the  - 
 greatest  infatuation,  was  not  at  all  thought  of    But  i 
 these  allegations,  unfounded  though  they  were,  had  no  | 
 small  influence  in  exciting  the  resentment  of  the  go-  ; 
 vernment ;  and  they  were  eagerly  laid  hold  of  and  im- 
 proved by  the  enemies  of  the  Presbyterians,  and  espe- 
 cially by  Archbishop  Sharp,  to  inflame  the  Council  against  i 
 them.  Every  effort  was  made  to  discover  the  ministers  | 
 and  such  as  had  been  present  at  the  meeting.   Those  1 
 who  were  delated  were  summoned  to  appear  before  the  | 
 Council,  and  such  as  appeared  were  subjected  to  no  small  j 
 suffering.   Yea,  so  infuriated  was  the  government,  that 
 upon  the  sitting  down  of  the  Parliament  a  short  time  ' 
 after,  a  cruel  act  was  made  declaring  field  conventicles 
 to  be  death  to  the  minister  and  the  convener.t  Troops 
 were  also  sent  to  Kinross  and  Falkland,  where  they  | 
 
 •  "  I  never  knew,"  says  Blackadder,  "  of  any  meeting  of  that  sort  in  j 
 
 fields  or  hills,  kept  out  of  contempt,  but  out  of  necessity,  and  for  the  better  i 
 
 convenience  of  the  people."  j 
 
 t  Blackadder's  Memoirs,  MS.  copy.  § 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 323 
 
 lay  grievously  oppressing  the  country,  and  searching 
 for  those  who  answered  not  the  Council,  so  that  all 
 such  were  forced  to  flee  their  dwellings  ;  and  for  about 
 the  space  of  two  years  there  was  no  preaching  by  the 
 Presbyterian  ministers  in  that  part  of  the  country,  ex- 
 cept in  the  night-time.  But  when  the  troopers  went 
 out  of  the  shire,  field  preaching  was  renewed.* 
 
 While  earthly  powers  were  thus  roused  to  fury  by 
 this  conventicle,  it  is  delightful  to  know  that  it  was  at- 
 tended and  followed  by  signal  marks  of  the  approbation 
 of  Him  to  whom  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  is  given. 
 In  proof  of  this,  we  may  quote  the  account  given  of  it  by 
 Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  which  is  the  substance  of  a  com- 
 munication in  reference  to  it  which  he  received  from 
 Dickson  himself.  "  As  he  [Mr  Dickson]  modestly  con- 
 fessed the  unusual  assistance  he  had  at  that  appear- 
 ance, so  it  was  more  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  all 
 who  that  day  heard  him,  who  testified  that  he  spoke 
 so  unlike  himself  Avith  such  power  and  ministerial 
 authority,  with  such  a  manifest  presence  and  mighty 
 assistance  of  that  King,  against  the  usurpation  of  whose 
 crown  and  throne  he  bore  witness,  that  if  his  face  had 
 not  been  seen  none  would  have  taken  him  to  have  been 
 Mr  Dickson.  The  success  of  that  day  will  make  it  a 
 day  to  be  remembered,  for  from  that  day  remarkably 
 the  gospel  spread  through  Fife,  and  that  King  there 
 pleaded  for  went  forth  amongst  them  conquering  and 
 to  conquer.  You  and  I  both  know  very  well  how  little 
 ground  of  hope  there  was  that  the  gospel  should  have 
 had  any  remarkable  success  amongst  that  people.  For 
 myself,  I  was  hopeless  of  them  above  most  peo])le  in 
 Scotland,  in  regard  they  had  been  belaboured  by  so 
 
 •  An  Account  of  the  SiifTcrings  of  the  People  in  Kinross-shir©  for  Non- 
 conformity to  I'rclacy,  Wtidrow  MSS.  vol.  xxxiii.  folio,  no.  14.'3. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 324                    THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS.  || 
 
 many  able,  serious,  faithful,  gospel  ministers  with  very  j 
 
 small  success  ;  and  yet,  which  makes  the  matter  more  i 
 
 strange,  since  that  time  more  good  hath  been  done  i 
 
 amongst  them  than  ever  was  done  during  all  the  time  of  W 
 
 our  reformation  by  the  ministry  of  these  great  men  of  1 
 
 God.   And  here  I  cannot  forbear  to  tell  you,  what  one  i 
 
 of  the  most  sober,  pious,  and  in  your  own  esteem,  one  of  | 
 
 the  most  faithful  ministers  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  | 
 
 Fife,  [said]  to  myself,  which  was,  that  he  judged  it  to  be  | 
 
 the  sweetest  foot  of  ground  upon  the  earth,  and  as  to  j 
 
 himself,  his  enlargements  and  liberty  amongst  them  were  J 
 
 beyond  whatit  was  any  where  else.''*  These  statements  j 
 
 are  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  Blackadder,  who,  in  \ 
 
 enumerating  several  effects  which  followed  this  meet-  i 
 
 ing,  observes,  "  1.  Many  who  were  formerly  enemies  or  j 
 
 neutrals  became  friends  and  followers  of  such  meet-  1 
 
 ings  afterwards,  especially  in  that  barbarous  part  of  the  I 
 
 country  :  for  that  day  the  Lord  took  possession  anew  i 
 in  these  bounds  in  the  face  of  great  opposition.    2.  It 
 
 was  observed  that  several  in  diverse  parts  did  date  the  ' 
 
 time  of  their  spiritual  birth  and  conversion  from  that  | 
 
 day."  He  again  says,  after  speaking  of  the  meeting  \ 
 being  disapproved  of,  and  the  ministers  who  preached 
 
 at  it  condemned  as  rash  and  inconsiderate  by  the  in-  i 
 dulged  ministers  and  others,  t  "  Yet  many  who  took 
 latitude  to  speak  evil  against  it  were  made  to  retract 
 and  change  their  tune,  when  they  saw  the  good  effects 
 the  Lord  brought  out  of  it ;  in  particular,  a  greater 
 
 *  Letter  of  M'Ward  to  Mr  John  Carstairs,  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  Ivii., 
 
 foL,  no.  15.  I 
 
 t  The  indulged  ministers  had  heard  and  gave  out  that  there  was  a  de-  i 
 
 sign  to  rise  in  arms,  and  they  were  afraid  that  it  might  prevent  them  from  ! 
 obtaining  a  new  indulgence,  which  was  expected  at  Lauderdale's  coming 
 down  to  that  second  session  of  Parliament.    One  of  the  most  eminent  of 
 them  used  that  expression  about  it,  "  The  hill  of  Bcath  hath  done  us  much 
 
 skaith."    Blackadder's  Memoirs,  MS.  copy.  j 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 325 
 
 enlargement  and  propagation  of  the  free  preaching  of 
 I   the  gospel,  not  only  in  that  shire,  but  also  in  many 
 I   other  shires  in  Scotland  ;  for  several  more  ministers 
 who  were  not  only  condemners  of  this  particular  prac- 
 tice, but  had  been  averse  from  that  way  of  preaching 
 at  these  meetings  called  conventicles,  especially  in  the 
 I   fields,  I  say  many  more  were  made  willing  and  forward 
 to  the  work,  and  waxed  more  bold  to  preach  w^hen  it 
 was  made  more  hazardous  by  new  laws/'    Its  effects 
 I   extended  even  beyond  Scotland,  for  when  the  Presby- 
 I   terians  at  London,  who  had  been  much  discouraged  by 
 '   their  meetings  being  discharged  and  assaulted,  heard  of 
 it,  they  immediately  set  about  their  meetings  again, 
 and  kept  them  more  frequently  than  ever  ;  and  when 
 the  news  of  it  reached  Rotterdam,  one  of  the  ministers 
 of  the  Scottish  congregation  there,  Mr  Robert  M'Ward, 
 ;    gave  public  thanks  to  God  for  such  a  testimony  against 
 the  usurped  supremacy  of  the  Crown  over  the  Church. 
 Whether  the  Council  had  discovered  who  were  the 
 I    preachers  at  the  meeting  at  Beath-hill,  does  not  appear, 
 but  Dickson  and  Blackadder  were  summoned  to  appear 
 before  the  Council  on  the  11th  of  August  1670,  for 
 holding  conventicles  in  houses  and  in  fields  ;  and  fail- 
 ing to  appear,  they  were  in  their  absence  denounced 
 and  put  to  the  horn.*    In  these  circumstances,  i)ru- 
 dence  suggested  the  necessity  of  a  temporary  retreat, 
 and  Dickson  retired  to  London,  while  Blackadder  con- 
 cealed himself  here  and  there  in  Edinburgh,  but  being 
 searched  for  by  the  guards,  he  was  forced  to  fiee  and 
 lurk  in  the  Merse. 
 
 Dickson  did  not  remain  long  in  London.  Returning  to 
 Scotland,  he  continued  to  preach  in  j)rivate  houses  or  in 
 the  fields,  as  he  found  most  convenient.    In  the  winter 
 
 *  Wodnnv's  Jlistury,  vol.  ii.  p.  l.W. 
 
326 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 preceding  the  time  called  the  blink,  on  the  invitation 
 of  some  friends,  he  held  a  meeting  in  Crail,  the  parish 
 in  which  Archbishop  Sharp  had  been  minister,  and 
 where  much  ignorance,  profanity,  and  enmity  to  the 
 work  of  God  abounded.  This  meeting,  which  was 
 held  in  a  private  house,  at  night,  and  attended  by 
 several  of  the  most  civil  people  in  the  place,  as  well  as 
 by  some  respectable  gentlemen,  experienced  one  of  those 
 interruptions  which  such  assemblages  often  met  with 
 in  those  days.  The  disaffected  having  got  information 
 respecting  it,  resolved  to  disperse  it,  and  the  militia  of 
 the  town,  headed  by  one  Lieutenant  Hamilton,  pro- 
 ceeded to  the  house  in  a  hostile  manner,  and  broke  in 
 with  drawn  swords,  as  if  it  had  been  their  purpose  to 
 murder  all  the  people  within,  who  were  met  in  a  harm- 
 less way,  and  in  no  capacity  to  defend  themselves. 
 They  seized  the  minister,  the  laird  of  Kinkel  and  his 
 brother,  with  some  others ;  and  sent  information  to  a 
 party  of  horse  who  lay  at  Pittenweem.  Meanwhile, 
 however,  those  who  were  apprehended  compounded 
 with  the  lieutenant  and  were  liberated.  But  before 
 they  escaped,  the  troopers  came  to  the  town  to  the 
 street  before  the  house,  and  would  have  made  them 
 prisoners  had  they  not  made  their  exit  by  a  back  door 
 through  a  yard  whither  they  had  given  orders  for  their 
 horses  to  be  brought.  When  the  troopers  came  in,  and 
 on  searching  found  none  of  the  whigs,  their  rage  was 
 deeply  excited  against  the  lieutenant,  whom  they  abused 
 for  disturbing  them  at  that  time  of  night,  on  account 
 of  men  whom  he  had  allowed  to  escape.  This  was 
 the  first  meeting  of  that  kind  which  had  ever  been 
 kept  in  that  place.* 
 
 •  Blackadder's  Memoirs,  MS.  copy ;  and  Crichton's  printed  edition, 
 pp.  158-160. 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 327 
 
 When,  on  the  4th  of  June  1674,  orders  were  issued 
 by  the  Council  for  sending  out  parties  of  horse  to 
 apprehend  some  of  the  most  notorious  preachers  at 
 conventicles,  Dickson  is  particularly  specified  as  one 
 of  them  ;  a  thousand  merks  are  offered  to  such  as  shall 
 apprehend  him,  and  indemnity  is  secured  for  any 
 slaughter  which  may  be  committed  in  the  attempt. 
 But  he,  notwithstanding,  escaped  falling  into  their 
 hands  for  several  years. 
 
 In  July  1676,  he  assisted  at  a  very  solemn  com- 
 munion, which  was  observed  in  the  Castle  of  Balvaird. 
 On  this  occasion,  Mr  Alexander  Moncrieff  preached 
 the  action  sermon,  and  Mr  John  Blackadder,  Mr  David 
 Hume,  and  Mr  John  Wellwood,  were  the  other  assist- 
 ants. 
 
 After  this,  he  came  and  preached  in  the  parish  of 
 Kinross,  at  Cassigour.  AVTien  he  was  in  the  midst  of 
 his  sermon,  the  Sheriff-clerk  of  Kinross  came  and 
 charged  him  to  desist,  but  was  prevented  from  doing 
 him  any  harm.  About  the  same  time  he  preached  in 
 a  park  near  the  church  of  TuUibole.  On  being  informed 
 of  the  intended  conventicle,  the  curate  of  Fossaway 
 and  Tullibole,  whose  name  was  Ireland,  to  whom, 
 as  well  as  to  the  rest  of  the  curates,  field  meetings 
 were  a  great  eye-sore,  came  to  the  church  of  Tullibole 
 that  day  to  hinder  his  parishioners  from  going  to  hear 
 Dickson,  and  so  filled  was  he  with  spite  and  envy  that, 
 on  hearing  the  meeting  sing  psalms,  he  sat  down  and 
 wept.  Yea,  so  inveterate  was  his  malice,  that  he  caused 
 one  of  his  parishioners  stand  before  the  congregation 
 in  white  sheets,  for  having  been  present ;  and  the 
 next  week  he  went  to  Stirling  and  brought  east  a 
 party  of  the  King's  Guards,  to  prevent  similar  scenes 
 
828 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 from  occurring  in  future.*  This  curate  was  evidently 
 of  a  very  different  spirit  from  that  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
 who  had  so  deeply  at  heart  the  promulgation  of  the 
 gospel,  that  he  rejoiced  to  see  this  accomplished,  by 
 whatever  instrumentality. 
 
 In  1677,  the  Lord's  Supper  began  to  be  celebrated 
 in  the  open  field.  Dickson  assisted  at  two  of  these 
 interesting  and  solemn  occasions,  the  one  of  which  was 
 observed  at  East  Nisbet  in  the  Merse,  and  the  other 
 at  Irongray.  Both  these  were  "  armed  conventicles 
 for  the  people  judged  it  necessary,  especially  at  com- 
 munions in  the  fields,  where  they  were  to  stay  together 
 from  Saturday  till  Monday,  that  some  of  them  should 
 be  armed,  that  thus  they  might  compose  the  multitude 
 from  needless  alarms,  and  prevent,  as  far  as  possible, 
 in  a  harmless  defensive  way,  any  affront  to  so  solemn 
 and  sacred  a  work,  in  which  they  could  not  engage 
 without  the  risk  of  being  assaulted  by  parties  of  mili- 
 tia and  mercenary  troops,  who,  led  by  unprincipled 
 officers,  and  sent  forth  by  a  despotic  government,  were 
 employed  like  so  many  bloodhounds  from  the  rising  of 
 the  sun  to  the  going  down  thereof,  in  active  search  for 
 the  victims  of  prelatic  persecution,  t  Of  both  these  meet- 
 ings we  shall  give  a  brief  narrative,  deriving  our  in- 
 formation from  Blackadder's  Memoirs,  in  which  a 
 minute  and  an  authentic  account  of  them  is  preserved. 
 
 We  begin  with  the  communion  celebrated  at  East 
 Nisbet,  in  the  Merse.  The  ministers  employed  at  this 
 solemnity,  besides  Dickson,  were  Mr  John  Blackadder, 
 
 *  Account  of  the  sufferings  of  the  people  in  Kinross,  Wodrow  MSS., 
 vol.  xxxiii.  folio,  no.  143. 
 
 t  Blackaddcr's  Memoirs,  MS.  copy.  In  speaking  of  the  people  coming 
 armed  to  these  sacramental  occasions,  and  to  field  meetings  in  general. 
 Blackadder  states  that  thoy  did  this  of  themselves,  "without  the  up- 
 stirring  of  the  ministers." 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 329 
 
 Mr  John  "Welsh,  Mr  Archibald  Riddell,  and  Mr  John 
 Rae.  It  was  numerously  attended,  the  multitude  who 
 assembled  together,  from  all  quarters,  amounting  to 
 several  thousands.  Before  the  commencement  of  the 
 services,  the  people  had  some  apprehensions  that  an 
 attempt  might  be  made  to  disperse  them,  having  heard 
 that  the  Earl  of  Hume,  with  his  troop  of  horse  and  a 
 party  of  soldiers,  intended  to  assault  them,  and  had 
 profanely  threatened  to  make  their  horses  drink  the 
 communion  wine.  They  were  also  aware  that  several 
 of  the  gentry,  and  the  generality  of  the  common  people 
 in  that  district,  were  disaffected  to  them  and  their 
 cause.  But,  through  the  kindness  of  Providence,  no 
 molestation  was  experienced.  To  protect  from  inva- 
 sion the  assembly  and  solemn  work,  some  of  the  gen- 
 tlemen present  drew  together  about  seven  or  eight 
 score  of  horse  on  the  Saturday,  equipped  with  such 
 furniture  as  they  had.  Of  these,  parties  of  about 
 twelve  or  sixteen  men  were  appointed  to  ride  forth 
 towards  the  most  suspected  parts,  and  single  horse- 
 men were  also  despatched  to  greater  distances  to  vieAv 
 the  country,  and  give  warning  in  case  of  danger.  The 
 remainder  of  the  horse  were  drawn  round  the  people 
 as  a  kind  of  rampart,  at  such  distances  as  they  might 
 hear  sermon,  and  be  in  readiness  in  case  of  the  ap- 
 proach of  the  enemy. 
 
 Having  thus  used  every  means  in  their  power  for 
 the  protection  of  the  meeting,  they  entered  on  the  ser- 
 vices of  the  solemn  occasion,  committing  it  and  them- 
 selves to  the  invisible  protection  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts, 
 in  whose  name  they  were  gathered  together,  and  in 
 whose  work  they  were  em])loycd.  The  i)lace  wliere 
 they  were  assembled  was  peculiarly  well  adapted  for 
 such  a  work,  as  if  it  had  been  formed  on  purj)Ose.  It 
 
 E  e 
 
330 
 
 THE  MArtTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 was  a  verdant  and  pleasant  haugh,  hard  by  the  side  of 
 the  "Whitader,  with  a  spacious  brae  in  front  and  on 
 either  hand  in  form  of  a  semicircle,  covered  with  de- 
 lightful pasture,  and  rising  with  a  gentle  slope  to  a 
 goodly  height.  The  communion  tables  were  set  in  the 
 midst  of  the  haugh,  around  which  a  large  number  of 
 the  people  were  congregated ;  but  the  great  body  of 
 them  sat  on  the  face  of  the  brae,  which  was  crowded 
 from  top  to  bottom,  presenting,  perhaps,  the  finest  and 
 most  lovely  sight  of  the  kind  which  many  present  ever 
 beheld. 
 
 The  ministers  and  the  most  of  the  people  lodged 
 during  the  nights  of  the  solemnity  in  three  adjacent 
 country  towns,  where  they  punctually  paid  for  their 
 accommodation,  and  the  provisions  they  got  for  them- 
 selves and  their  horses  ;  but  several  yeomen,  in  good 
 outward  circumstances,  refused  to  take  money  for  any 
 thing  they  provided,  cheerfully  and  liberally  entertain- 
 ing both  ministers  and  gentlemen  at  their  own  ex- 
 pense. Each  day,  at  the  dismissing  of  the  assembly, 
 the  horsemen  drew  up  in  a  body  till  the  congregation 
 left  the  place,  and  then  marched  up  in  order  at  a  little 
 distance  behind  the  ministers  and  people  who  went 
 to  these  toAvns  ;  and  on  coming  near  the  towns,  they 
 divided  into  three  squadrons,  one  for  each  town.  Each 
 squadron  had  its  own  commander,  and  in  its  respec- 
 tive town  watched  and  kept  guard  in  empty  barns. 
 Small  parties  were  also,  during  the  night,  sent  out  to 
 look  about  and  get  intelligence.  In  the  morning, 
 when  the  people  returned  to  the  meeting,  the  horse- 
 men accompanied  them,  and  all  the  three  parties  met 
 together  a  mile  from  the  place  of  worship,  and  join- 
 ing, marched  to  it  in  a  full  body.  The  congregation 
 having  all  taken  their  places,  the  horsemen  drew 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 33] 
 
 around  tliem  as  formerly.  In  all  this,  it  is  at  once 
 apparent  that  the  people  were  actuated  hj  the  most 
 peaceful  intentions.  They  were  not  an  infuriated  mob 
 bent  on  raising  civil  commotion  under  some  real  or 
 imaginary  wrong,  or  for  the  attainment  of  some  real  or 
 imaginary  good,  but  a  devout  people  who  sought,  what 
 something  implanted  in  their  breasts  by  the  divine 
 hand  told  them  they  had  a  right  to,  the  liberty  of  wor- 
 shipping God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  word. 
 To  secure  this  was  the  sole  reason  why  some  of  them 
 were  armed.  There  was  no  hostile  purpose  against  the 
 government ;  no  design  to  harm  any  one,  provided 
 their  worship  was  not  interfered  with ;  the  object 
 simply  was,  to  protect  the  meeting  from  hostile  inva- 
 sion. Accordingly,  their  feelings,  so  far  from  being 
 roused  to  irritation,  or  being  apparently  even  disturbed, 
 were  serious  and  solemnised  by  the  sacred  work  in 
 which  they  were  engaged.  "  I  confess,"  says  Black- 
 adder,  "  this  new  providential  party  of  volunteers,  were 
 more  formidable  from  the  spiritual  majesty  shining  in 
 the  work,  and  their  devout,  grave,  composed  counte- 
 nances, than  from  any  outward  ability,  warlike  provi- 
 sions, or  fierce  looks." 
 
 That  all  things  might  be  done  decently  and  in  order, 
 tokens  of  admission  to  the  tables  were  distributed  on 
 Saturday,  and  they  were  given  only  to  such  as  were 
 known  to  ministers  or  persons  of  trust  present,  to  be 
 free  of  known  public  scandals.  The  Sabbath  morn- 
 ing rose  calm  and  peaceful,  and,  throughout  the  day, 
 I  lie  sky  over  their  heads  was  serene  and  unclouded, 
 in  delightful  harmony  with  that  trantiuillising,  joyful, 
 and  holy  service  in  which  they  were  to  engage  ;  and 
 exercising  a  cheering  influence  over  the  animal  spirits 
 and  the  Christian  emotions.    Mr  Welsh  preached  the 
 
332 
 
 THE  MARTTRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 action  sermon,  a  duty  ordinarily  assigned  him  on  such 
 occasions.  His  text  was  Cant.  ii.  10,  "My  beloved 
 spake  and  said  unto  me,  Rise  up,  my  love,  my  fair 
 one,  and  come  away,  for  lo  the  winter  is  past ;  the  rain 
 is  over  and  gone ;  the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth ; 
 the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice 
 of  the  turtle  is  heard  in  our  land/'  In  his  discourse 
 from  this  beautiful  passage,  he  made  a  free  and  full 
 offer  of  Christ  to  sinners,  and  addressed  many  sweet 
 and  endearing  words  to  secure  believers,  to  awaken 
 and  encourage  them  to  follow  Christ.  He  also  served 
 the  two  first  tables.  The  other  four  ministers,  Mr 
 Blackadder,  Mr  Riddell,  Mr  Dickson,  and  Mr  Rae,  ex- 
 horted in  their  turn  the  communicants  at  the  other 
 tables.  The  tables  were  served  by  some  gentlemen  and 
 other  individuals  eminent  for  their  piety.  The  minis- 
 ters were  remarkably  assisted,  and  the  whole  scene 
 was  peculiarly  interesting  and  solemnising.  It  was, 
 indeed,  a  day  of  rejoicing,  for  the  presence  of  the  Lord 
 Jesus,  whose  death  was  commemorated,  was  sensibly 
 experienced,  conveying  the  pardoning,  peace-speaking, 
 purifying,  and  comforting  influence  of  his  blood  to  his 
 people,  and  the  glow  of  gladness  which  warmed  the 
 hearts  of  ministers  and  people  was  evident  from  the 
 joy  which  lighted  up  their  countenances.  All  seemed 
 to  feel  like  Jacob,  who,  on  awakening  out  of  his  sleep, 
 in  which  he  had  seen  the  visions  of  Grod  as  he  lay  on 
 the  cold  earth  with  the  stone  for  his  pillow,  and  the 
 canopy  of  heaven  for  his  covering,  said,  "  Surely  the 
 Lord  is  in  this  place ;  this  is  none  other  than  the 
 house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven  or  like 
 the  disciples,  who,  when  on  the  Mount  of  Transfigu- 
 ration with  Christ,  exclaimed,  "  It  is  good  for  us  to  be 
 here."    When  the  solemn  work  of  communicating  was 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 333 
 
 over,  Welsh  offered  up  a  fervent  prayer  and  thanks- 
 giving, and  then  the  vast  congregation  united  in  a  song 
 of  praise,  "glorifying  and  praising  God  for  all  the 
 things  they  had  heard  and  seen."  Blackadder  particu- 
 larly mentions  the  solemnity  and  joy  with  which  the 
 people  joined  in  this  concluding  exercise  ;  and  those 
 who  have  been  present  on  the  serene  evening  of  a  com- 
 '  munion  Sabbath  at  tent  sermons,  which  once  prevailed 
 in  Scotland,  and  are  still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  many, 
 though  now  out  of  use,  and  who  have  heard  the  deep 
 and  thrilling  harmony  with  which  the  assembled  mul- 
 titude sung  the  last  psalm,  may  form  some  idea  of  the 
 heart-thrilling  melody  of  these  earnest  worshippers  of 
 persecuting  times,  poured  forth  from  the  depth  of 
 gladdened  and  grateful  hearts,  to  Him  who  had  spread 
 a  table  before  them  in  the  presence  of  their  enemies, 
 and  made  that  day  to  their  souls  one  of  the  days  of 
 heaven. 
 
 There  were  two  long  tables,  and  a  shorter  one  across 
 the  head,  with  seats  on  each  side.  At  every  table  there 
 were  supposed  to  sit  about  a  hundred  persons.  There 
 were  sixteen  tables  in  all,  so  that  about  three  thousand 
 two  hundred  communicated  that  day. 
 
 After  a  short  interval,  Dickson  preached  in  the 
 afternoon  from  Gen.  xxii.  14,  "And  Abraham  called 
 the  name  of  that  place  Jehovah  Jireh,  as  it  is  said  to 
 this  day.  In  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall  be  seen." 
 In  this  sermon  he  spoke  with  more  than  ordinary 
 liberty,  dwelling  on  the  perplexing  circumstances  into 
 which  believers  may  be  brought  on  their  way  to  heaven, 
 when  they  often  may  not  know  what  shall  be  the  issue, 
 but  with  respect  to  which  it  becomes  them  to  believe, 
 as  Abraham  did,  that  in  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  shall 
 be  seen,  till  they  come  to  the  land  of  vision.  He 
 
334 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 called  upon  them,  in  particular,  to  consider  that  they 
 had  now  found  in  their  experience  a  signal  proof  of 
 the  truth  of  the  text,  for  they  had  come  there  in  much 
 uncertainty  and  with  many  perplexing  thoughts,  as  to 
 what  would  be  the  event,  but  still  in  some  degree  look- 
 ing to  the  Lord,  and  encouraging  themselves  in  the 
 hope  that  on  the  mount  of  the  Lord  it  should  be  seen  ; 
 and  their  expectations  had  not  been  disappointed.  On 
 the  Monday,  Dickson  preached  first,  then  Mr  Riddell, 
 and  lastly,  Mr  Blackadder  closed  the  work  of  these 
 three  days  with  a  sermon  on  Isa.  liii.  10,  especially  the 
 latter  part  of  the  verse,  "And  the  pleasure  of  the 
 Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand/' 
 
 Instead  of  making  any  reflections  of  our  own  on  this 
 deeply  interesting  and  impressive  scene,  we  shall  quote 
 those  made  upon  it  by  Blackadder,  who  was  engaged 
 in  its  solemn  services : — "  Though  the  people  at  first 
 meeting,''  says  he,  "  were  something  apprehensive  of 
 hazard,  yet  from  the  time  the  work  was  entered  upon 
 till  the  close  of  it,  they  were  neither  alarmed  nor 
 affrighted,  but  sat  as  composed,  and  the  work  was  as 
 orderly  gone  about,  as  if  it  had  been  in  the  days  of 
 the  greatest  peace  and  quiet ;  for  there  indeed  was  to 
 be  seen  the  goings  of  God,  even  the  goings  of  their  God 
 and  King  in  that  sanctuary,  which  was  encouraging  to 
 them,  and  terrible  to  his  and  their  enemies  out  of  his 
 holy  place.  This  ordinance  of  preaching  and  adminis- 
 tration of  his  last  Supper, — that  love-token  left  for  a 
 memorial  of  him  till  his  coming  again,  was  so  signally 
 countenanced,  backed  with  power  and  refreshing  influ- 
 ences from  heaven,  that  it  might  be  said, '  Thou,  0  God, 
 didst  send  out  a  plentiful  rain,  whereby  thou  didst  con- 
 firm thine  inheritance  when  it  was  weary.'  The  table 
 of  the  Lord  was  covered  accordingly  in  the  open  fields 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 335 
 
 in  presence  of  the  raging  enemies.  Many  great  days 
 of  the  Son  of  Man  have  been  seen  in  thee,  0  now  how 
 desolate  Kirk  of  Scotland !  ever  since  the  last  invasion 
 of  that  monstrous  Prelatic  party,  smiting  shepherds, 
 and  scattering  the  flocks  at  first ;  but  feAV  the  like  of 
 this,  either  before  or  after,  at  least  this  manner,  as  it 
 
 was  at  East  Nisbet  on  these  days/'  "It  was 
 
 a  time  of  much  countenance  and  influence  from  the 
 Lord  on  all  his  ordinances  and  instruments,  from  the 
 beginning  to  the  close  of  that  remarkable  work,  with 
 blessed  effects  on  not  a  few,  both  far  and  near,  which 
 it  is  hoped  remain  to  this  day.  James  Learmont,  be- 
 fore many  thousands,  in  his  last  words  on  the  scaff'old, 
 did  confidently  testify  to  the  commendation  of  the  glo- 
 rious presence  and  powerful  grace  of  Christ  which  he 
 observed,  and  which  he  found  on  these  days  at  East 
 Nisbet.  He  was  hanged  (as  many  other  martyrs)  for 
 being  present  at  one  of  these  meetings  at  Whitekirk 
 in  East  Lothian,  and  for  adhering  to  the  preaching  of 
 the  gospel,  dispensed  in  purity  and  power,  at  these  meet- 
 ings called  conventicles."* 
 
 The  other  communion  at  which  Dickson  assisted,  was 
 one  celebrated  in  the  summer  of  1678  at  Irongray  in 
 Dumfries-shire.  The  other  ministers  who  officiated  on 
 that  occasion  were  Mr  John  Welsh,  Mr  John  Black- 
 adder,  Mr  John  Rae,  and  Mr  Samuel  Arnot,  the  ejected 
 minister  of  Tongland.  Mr  Welsh  had  undertaken  to  keep 
 this  solemnity  at  the  desire  of  several  gentlemen  and 
 other  well-affected  persons  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
 
 •  BIackiidder"s  Memoirs,  MS.  copy.  In  the  printed  c«iiti(»n,  (pp.  182- 
 189,)  Crichton  has  given  an  account  of  this  sacramental  observance.  From 
 the  inverted  commas  he  usee,  one  would  suppose  that  ho  copies  verbatim 
 from  Blackadder.  But  it  is  not  eo.  lie  has  wrought  Blackadder'u  narra- 
 tive, which  is  very  simple,  into  a  fine  descrij)tiou. 
 
336 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 "  who  were  resolute  to  countenance  that  solemn  work  I 
 as  publicly  and  avowedly  as  they  could  on  their  peril/'  i 
 On  the  three  days  of  the  solemnity  they  met  at  three  ' 
 different  places,  the  more  effectually  to  elude  their  per-  | 
 secutors,  and  a  greater  number  assembled  than  at  the  | 
 communion  at  East  Nisbet,  there  being  present  more  \ 
 gentlemen  and  strangers,  both  from  the  neighbourhood 
 and  from  a  distance.    The  meeting  on  Saturday  was  ; 
 held  at  the  cross  of  Meiklewood,  a  high  place  in  Niths- 
 dale,  about  seven  miles  above  Dumfries.    Here  they 
 had  a  commanding  view  of  the  surrounding  country, 
 and  could  not  be  taken  by  surprise.  Mr  Rae  lectured, 
 and  then  Mr  Blackadder  preached  on  these  words,  "  This  i 
 do  in  remembrance  of  me,''  Luke  xxii.  19  ;  1  Cor.  xi. 
 24.    Mr  Welsh  preached  the  second  sermon,  and  inti-  " 
 mated  that  the  communion  was  to  be  observed  on  the  i 
 morrow  upon  a  hill-side  on  the  moors  of  Irongray,  about  | 
 four  or  five  miles  distant  from  the  spot  where  they  were  i 
 then  assembled,  but  did  not  name  the  particular  place, 
 lest  the  enemy  might  get  information  of  it  beforehand  ; 
 but  none  were  at  any  loss  in  finding  it.  The  spot  fixed  i 
 upon  was  Skeoch-hill,  the  highest  land  on  the  moors  \ 
 of  Irongray,  about  four  or  five  miles  above  Dum-  i 
 fries.    The  hill  commands  a  very  picturesque  and  ex-  \ 
 tensive  view,  and  the  part  of  it  selected  for  the  com- 
 memoration of  the  Saviour's  death,  was  as  well  adapted  J 
 for  the  occasion  as  any  that  could  well  be  conceived.  j 
 It  "  lies  in  a  small  valley  on  the  bosom  of  the  hill,  se-  I 
 cured  on  all  hands  from  observation  or  intrusion,  while  I 
 the  sentinels  could  be  so  posted,  almost  within  hearmg  | 
 of  the  sermon,  as  to  command  the  surrounding  country 
 on  every  side  for  many  miles."    Here,  on  the  Sabbath 
 morning,  the  vast  multitude  assembled.    Mr  Welsh 
 j)reached  the  action  sermon.    The  other  ministers  ad- 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 837 
 
 dressed  the  communicants  at  the  several  tables.  There 
 were  two  long  tables,*  longer  than  those  at  East  Nis- 
 bet,  and  the  communicants  were  more  numerous  than 
 on  that  occassion.  After  the  solemn  work  of  commu- 
 nicating was  over,  Dickson  preached  in  the  afternoon, 
 and  the  services  of  the  Sabbath  were  brought  to  a  close 
 without  disturbance.  The  day  was  gloomy,  and  the 
 clouds,  lowering  and  charged  with  moisture,  often 
 threatened  to  rain,  but  it  continued  fair  till  the  con- 
 clusion. Before,  however,  the  people  had  reached  their 
 homes,  there  fell  a  heavy  rain  Avhich  swelled  the  waters, 
 occasioning  a  degree  of  inconvenience  and  discomfort 
 to  them,  for  the  greater  number  had  to  cross  the  Cairn 
 and  the  Cluden. 
 
 The  Earl  of  Nithsdale,  a  Papist,  and  Sir  John  Dal- 
 ziel,  a  great  enemy  to  these  meetings,  had  some  of  their 
 domestics  there,  who  were  suspected  to  have  come  from 
 no  good  design,  and  who  waited  on  and  heard  till  about 
 the  time  of  the  afternoon's  sermon,  when  they  slipped 
 away.  At  the  dismissing  of  the  people  there  arose  an 
 alarm,  from  an  apprehension,  produced  from  some  cause 
 or  other,  that  a  party  of  soldiers  was  approaching. 
 
 *  The  sacramental  tables,  constructed  for  this  solemnity,  still  remain 
 on  the  moor  of  Irongray,  having  suffered  no  dilapidation  or  derange- 
 ment in  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  and  are  called  by  the  people,  who 
 speak  of  them  with  no  small  reverence,  "  the  communion  stones."  "  They 
 consist  of  four  rows  of  flat  irregular  blocks  of  stone,  disposed  in  straight 
 lines,  and  forming  two  equal  parallelograms,  resembling  long  tables, 
 with  a  space  between  for  the  accommodation  of  the  elders.  Each  row 
 contains  about  thirty  seats,  so  that  a  hundred  and  twenty  people  might 
 communicate  at  the  same  time.  At  one  end  there  is  a  circular  pile  of 
 stones,  about  four  feet  in  height,  whereon  the  sac  red  elements  were  laid 
 and  where  the  nnnister  must  have  stood  in  dispensing  the  or<linanco  and 
 exhorting  the  people.  In  front  of  this,  and  close  behind  the  opposite  end 
 of  the  table,  rises  a  smooth  green  brae,  answering  wull  the  purposes  of  u 
 gallery,  as  it  is  quite  within  the  compass  of  a  moderate  voice."  Crichton's 
 Memoirs  of  Mr  John  Blackadder,  p.  198. 
 
 F  f 
 
338 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Upon  this,  those  gentlemen  and  horse  who  came  from 
 Clydesdale  drew  instantly  together.  The  gentlemen 
 and  people  of  Galloway  and  Nithsdale,  seeing  the  Clydes- 
 dale men  so  quickly  putting  themselves  in  a  posture  of 
 defence,  followed  their  example.  Gordon  of  Earlston, 
 brought  together  a  large  troop  of  Galloway  horse  ;  and 
 another  gentleman  drew  out  a  troop  of  Nithsdale  horse. 
 Several  companies  of  foot  were  also  drawn  out  of  the 
 meeting  with  their  officers.  All  this  was  done  in  a  very 
 short  time ;  for  those  who  had  arms  were  prompt  to  con- 
 front danger,  and  protect  the  helpless  multitude  assem- 
 bled for  so  good  a  work.  Parties  and  single  horsemen 
 were  sent  out  in  several  directions  to  look  about  them, 
 while  others  of  the  people  were  putting  themselves  in  a 
 defensive  attitude.  Those  who  went  forth,  on  returning 
 reported  that  they  only  heard  a  rumour  of  some  party 
 being  come  into  the  country,  but  could  get  no  infor- 
 mation of  any  being  at  hand,  or  of  any  stir  among  such 
 as  were  hostile  to  them  in  the  neighbourhood,  so  that 
 after  staying  about  two  hours  on  the  place,  the  people 
 separated ;  the  different  companies  of  horse  and  foot 
 dividing  themselves,  and  taking  up  their  quarters  re- 
 spectively as  near  to  one  another  as  they  conveniently 
 could,  in  the  bounds  where  the  mass  of  the  people  were 
 quartered,  which  was  within  little  more  than  a  mile 
 and  a  half  or  thereby.  Within  these  small  bounds  all 
 were  well  accommodated  with  lodgings  in  houses,  barns, 
 or  otherwise,  and  with  food  for  themselves  and  their 
 horses.  What  made  this  the  more  remarkable  was, 
 that  it  was  on  the  moors  of  Irongray,  where  there  were 
 few  houses  ;  but  the  people  had  cheerfully  and  largely 
 provided  for  the  meeting  beforehand.  The  night  was 
 very  rainy,  yet  parties  were  sent  forth  in  several  direc- 
 tions, and  watches  kept. 
 
JOHX  DICKSON. 
 
 389 
 
 As  a  point  of  prudence,  no  intimation  had  been  made 
 on  Sabbath  evening  where  the  meeting  was  to  be  held 
 on  Monday,  and  the  place  was  known  only  to  the  mi- 
 nisters and  a  few  others.  But  this  occasioned  no  in- 
 convenience. On  the  morning,  the  tent  was  set  up  on 
 a  hill-side  in  the  head  of  Irougray  parish,  about  three 
 or  four  miles  distant  from  the  spot  of  the  Sabbath  meet- 
 ing, and  information  of  the  place  being  rapidly  circulated 
 among  the  people,  they  all  resorted  thither  from  their 
 respective  quarters,  forming  a  very  large  assembly, — far 
 greater  than  could  have  been  anticipated  after  the 
 alarm  of  the  preceding  evening.  The  armed  horse  and 
 foot,  who  the  night  before  had  put  themselves  in  a  pos- 
 ture of  defence,  drew  up  as  a  guard  around  the  audience, 
 the  foot  being  nearest  it,  and  the  horse  on  the  outside. 
 Dickson  preached  first,  and  Mr  John  Blackadder  fol- 
 lowed Avith  a  discourse  on  Heb.  xiii.  1,  "  Let  brotherly 
 love  continue.''  This  meeting  also  met  w^ith  no  dis- 
 turbance. "  The  whole  work,''  says  Blackadder,  "  from 
 the  beginning  on  Saturday  till  the  close  on  Monday, 
 about  one  in  the  afternoon,  was  much  countenanced, 
 and  the  people  much  refreshed  in  their  spirits,  notwith- 
 standing of  all  the  occasion  their  poor  bodies  had  to  be 
 wearied,  through  sore  travail,  watchings,  alarms,  other 
 straitenings  and  disaccommodations,  which  could  not  be 
 shunned  among  such  a  multitude  keeping  so  closely  to- 
 gether among  moors  and  mountains  ;  yet  it  was  thought 
 by  several  that  this  occasion  was  short  of  that  remark- 
 able and  singular  shining  influence  that  apjteared  at 
 East  Nisbet."* 
 
 It  is  highly  encouraging  to  the  Christian  minister 
 when  multitudes  are  drawn  to  wait  on  his  ministrv, 
 
 ♦  Blackadder's  Memoirs  MS.  c(»py:  un  1  Criihton's  printed  edition, 
 pj..  19.S-1J02. 
 
340                     THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS.  \ 
 
 i 
 
 and  still  more  so  when  it  is  blessed  by  the  Holv  Spirit  • 
 for  bringing  many  to  the  saving  knowledge  of  the  ■ 
 truth.   This  encouragement  Dickson  had,  when,  shak-  | 
 ing  himself  loose  from  the  shackles  imposed  by  royal  [ 
 indulgences,  he  went  forth  free  and  unfettered  to  pro-  j 
 claim  to  his  countrymen  the  unsearchable  riches  of  ^ 
 Christ.    He  and  his  fellow-labourers  were  eagerly  fol- 
 lowed and  listened  to  by  thousands,  and  what  was  more 
 important  still,  the  happiest  effects  resulted  from  their 
 efforts  in  the  reformation  of  the  people,  and  in  the  , 
 genuine  conversion  of  many,  some  of  whom  had  been  ; 
 violent  enemies  to  the  Presbyterians,  and  actively  en- 
 gaged in  persecuting  them.    They  had  thus  reason  to  i 
 make  the  same  grateful  acknowledgment  with  Paul,  j 
 Now  thanks  be  unto  God  who  always  causeth  us  to  ' 
 triumph  in  Christ,  and  maketh  manifest  the  savour  of  ; 
 his  knowledge  by  us  in  every  place/'    In  a  letter  to 
 Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  dated  October  4.  1678,  Dickson  \ 
 communicates  some  important  information  respecting  ■ 
 the  success  which  attended  the  ministry  of  himself  and 
 his  brethren  in  the  fields,  and  the  powerful  induce- 
 ments which  they  thus  had  to  persevere  in  preaching  ; 
 in  that  public  manner.    The  part  of  the  letter  which  I 
 refers  to  this  subject,  we  intended  to  have  inserted  ] 
 in  the  Appendix,  but  are  prevented  from  want  of  I 
 room.*  I 
 About  this  time  much  dissension  unhappily  pre-  | 
 vailed  among  the  Presbyterians  on  account  of  the  in-  \ 
 dulgence.    Into  this  controversy,  Dickson,  taking  the  I 
 side  in  opposition  to  that  ensnaring  favour,  entered  i 
 with  great  zeal,  and  condemned  both  the  thing  itself,  j 
 which  he  calls  "  the  west  country  destroying  sin," 
 and  the  ministers  who  accepted  it,  in  no  feeble  or  mea- 
 
 *  See  Wodrow  MSS.  vol.  lix.  folio,  no.  89.  (3 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 341 
 
 sured  terms ;  for  he  was  accustomed  to  express  himself 
 strongly  when  treating  on  any  of  the  controversies  of 
 his  day.  He  did  not,  indeed,  as  some  others  afterwards 
 came  to  do,  persuade  the  people  to  withdraw  from  the 
 ministry  of  the  indulged  ministers,  nor  did  he  even 
 make  the  indulgence  a  subject  of  discussion  in  his  ser- 
 mons, believing  that  "  to  interline  his  preaching"  with 
 matter  of  that  description  "tended  to  small  edification 
 and  he  affirms  that  "  it  was  but  at  very  rare  times,  in 
 some  places,  upon  some  occurring  emergents,  and  among 
 some  people,  that  his  freedom  ran  in  the  channel"  of 
 condemning  it,  because  he  judged  that  "  discretion  and 
 prudence,  at  that  time  of  abounding  offences,  should 
 guard  our  zeal  towards  moderation  and  tenderness,  yet 
 so  as  that  our  zeal  towards  the  preservation  of  the  de- 
 caying interests  of  Christ,  be  not  altogether  extin- 
 guished.'' But  in  his  intercourse  with  some  of  the  people 
 at  least,  and  in  his  epistolary  correspondence  with  them, 
 besides  condemning  the  indulgence  in  severe  terms,  he 
 spoke  in  a  style  of  acrimony  and  invective  against  the  in- 
 dulged ministers,  very  much  calculated  to  prejudice  the 
 people  against  them,  and  indirectly  to  produce  se})ara- 
 tion  from  their  ministry.  In  his  correspondence  with 
 Mr  Robert  M'Ward  and  Mr  John  Brown,  two  eminent 
 Scottish  ministers,  who  had  been  banished  for  their 
 Presbyterian  principles,  he  writes  in  a  similar  strain, 
 and  his  letters  to  them  had  no  small  influence  in  in- 
 creasing the  divisions  which  the  indulgence  occasioned. 
 These  letters,  several  of  which  are  still  preserved  anion^^ 
 the  Wodrow  MSS.,  were  not  the  best  calculated  to  con- 
 vey to  these  ministers  a  correct  idea  of  the  state  of  mat- 
 ters between  the  indulged  and  the  non-indulged.  Dick- 
 son's integrity  of  purpose  there  is  no  reason  to  question  : 
 but  under  the  influence  of  the  prejudice  engendered  by 
 
342 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 theological  controversy,  which  often  leads  men,  espe- 
 cially when  their  minds  have  been  chafed  by  the 
 misrepresentation  and  reproach  of  their  opponents,  as 
 was  the  case  with  him,  unconsciously  to  set  things  in 
 such  a  light  as  will  favour  their  own  party  and  tell 
 against  the  other  party,  he  gives  a  too  flattering  ac- 
 count of  the  temper  and  spirit  of  the  people  opposed 
 to  the  indulgence  ;  while  he  lays  hold  on  every  thing 
 which  tended  to  lower  the  indulged  in  the  estimation 
 of  his  correspondents.  For  example,  he  frequently 
 communicates  to  them,  as  a  specimen  of  the  whole 
 body,  the  floating  reports  which  he  had  heard  of  what 
 some  of  the  indulged  ministers  had  said  from  the  pul- 
 pit, and  which,  in  passing  from  mouth  to  mouth,  were, 
 it  is  probable,  not  a  little  exaggerated.  "  Here,''  says 
 he,  after  telling  his  story,  "  is  a  small  gist  of  the  spirit 
 reigning  among  the  company  f  as  if,  granting  the  re- 
 ports to  have  been  true,  the  whole  body  were  to  be 
 judged  by  the  imprudent  statements  of  a  few  among 
 them.  Adopting  the  views,  and  proceeding  in  a  great 
 measure  upon  the  information  of  Dickson,  these  two 
 ministers,  who  had  great  influence  on  many  of  the 
 Presbyterians  in  Scotland,  were  led,  in  their  letters  to 
 them,  to  speak  of  the  indulgence  and  the  indulged  mi- 
 nisters, in  a  style  which  tended  to  create  disrespect  to- 
 wards the  latter,  and  to  lead  to  separation  from  them. 
 M'Ward  did  not,  indeed,  advise  the  people  to  withdraw 
 from  their  ministry.  Such,  however,  was  the  tendency 
 of  the  strong  condemnatory  statements  he  employed 
 for  some  time,  but  which  he  ultimately  moderated  on 
 perceiving  the  extremes  to  which  the  party  opposed 
 to  the  indulgence  went.  Brown,  however,  proceeded 
 the  whole  length.  Writing  to  Dickson,  October  7. 
 1678,  he  commences  thus,  "  Right  Reverend  and  dear 
 
JOHN  DICKSOX 
 
 343 
 
 brother,  If  Providence  had  so  ordered  that  our  corres- 
 pondence had  begun  before  now,  I  had  not  been  such 
 a  stranger  unto  the  true  state  of  matters  with  you 
 in  that  land  now  met  out  and  trodden  under  foot 
 and  then  he  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  "  iniquity  which 
 lies  wrapt  up  in  hearing  and  countenancing  these  in- 
 dulged persons/'  He  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr  Richard 
 Cameron  of  the  same  date,  containing  similar  senti- 
 ments.* At  these  two  letters,  no  small  offence  Avas 
 taken  in  Scotland,  not  only  by  the  indulged,  but  by 
 the  more  moderate  of  the  non-indulged,  who  held  that 
 a  wide  difference  should  be  made  betwixt  dissatisfac- 
 tion with  the  indulgence,  and  separating  from  the  mi- 
 nistry of  such  as  had  embraced  it. 
 
 After  the  defeat  of  the  Covenanters  at  Bothwell 
 Bridge,  Dickson,  it  appears,  desisted  from  preaching 
 in  the  fields.  The  government  being  much  exasperated 
 by  that  insurrection,  subsequently  carried  on  the  per- 
 secution with  more  unrelenting  fury.  Not  only  were 
 new  laws  made  of  a  more  barbarous  kind  than  those 
 formerly  enacted,  and  not  only  were  those  laws  very 
 extensively  executed,  but  the  bloodthirsty  executioners 
 not  being,  in  many  instances,  at  the  trouble  to  keep 
 by  their  own  laws,  capriciously  harassed  and  murdered 
 the  people  on  the  public  roads,  in  tlie  open  fiekls,  and 
 almost  every  where  upon  the  south  of  Tay.  The  danger 
 of  meeting  in  the  fields  being  thus  so  great,  Dickson,  and 
 all  who  had  formerly  j)reached  in  that  public  manner, 
 with  the  exception  of  ^Ir  John  Blackadder,  confined 
 their  ministry  to  private  houses.  Mr  Richard  Cameron, 
 in  a  letter  to  Mr  Robert  M'Ward,  dated  Edinburgh, 
 30th  October  1679,  after  his  return  to  Scotland,  says,  in 
 reference  to  this,  "  When  I  came  the  length  of  Tinto,  in 
 
 •  Wodruw  MSS.,  vol.  lix.,  folio,  no.  00. 
 
344 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Clydesdale,  there  I  was  called  to  preach  in  the  fields, 
 but  being  told  that  Mr  Dickson  had  been  there  about 
 twenty  days  before  that,  and  had  refused  to  go  to  the 
 fields,  I  first  sent  to  Edinburgh  to  know  if  he  was  in 
 it,  and  to  consult  with  him  and  others  anent  my  com- 
 ing into  the  town,  or  their  appointing  some  other  place 
 for  my  waiting  on  them.  The  answer  was,  that  I  should 
 come  into  the  town.  When  I  came,  I  consulted  Mr 
 Hog  and  Mr  Dickson  about  going  to  the  fields.  I  find 
 them  both  against  it ;  their  reasons  are  taken  from 
 hazard,  especially  from  the  Duke  of  York's  coming 
 here  and  giving  him  an  opportunity,  forthwith,  to  fall 
 on.  This  is  the  greatest  strait  and  sharpest  trial  I  ever 
 yet  met  with,  for  their  arguments  do  not  satisfy  my 
 conscience."* 
 
 In  1680  Dickson  was  apprehended  and  brought  in 
 prisoner  to  Edinburgh.  On  appearing  before  the  Coun- 
 cil, he  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Bass  ;  and 
 there  he  continued  a  prisoner  for  the  space  of  about 
 six  years.    The  act  of  Council  is  as  follows : — 
 
 "  1st  September  1680. 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  hereby  re- 
 commend to  General  Dakiel,  Keutenant-general  and  com- 
 mander-in-chief of  his  Majesty's  forces,  to  cause  immediately 
 transport,  by  such  a  party  of  horse  or  foot  as  he  shall  think  fit, 
 the  person  of  Mr  John  Dickson,  prisoner,  from  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh  to  the  Isle  of  Bass,  and  ordain  the  Magistrates  of 
 Edinburgh  to  deliver  the  said  prisoner  to  the  said  party,  and 
 the  governor  of  the  said  isle  to  receive  and  detain  him  prisoner 
 therein  till  further  order."t 
 
 During  the  time  of  his  confinement  in  the  Bass,  Dick- 
 son wrote  two  letters  to  some  of  his  friends,  which  ex- 
 
 *  Wodrow  MSS.,  vol.  lix.,  folio,  no,  124. 
 t  Decreets  of  Privy  Council. 
 
JOHN  DICKSOK. 
 
 345 
 
 hibit  both  the  peculiar  character  of  his  mind,  and  his 
 style  of  writing.    In  them  he  laments  the  hardships  of 
 i   the  times,  and  the  defection  "  of  many  grave,  godly,  and 
 learned  persons"  in  the  ministry,  who  had  accepted  the 
 indulgence,  gives  many  important  and  appropriate 
 practical  counsels,  and  expresses  his  own  feelings,  com- 
 forts, and  exercise,  under  his  sufferings.  One  of  them  he 
 begins  thus  : — "  My  Dear  Friends, — I  received  a  letter 
 from  you,  with  your  token  of  kindness  in  it,  about 
 the  middle  of  winter,  which  to  me  in  that  solitude  was 
 refreshing,  in  consideration  of  your  and  other  friends' 
 sympathy  at  so  great  a  distance  under  so  great  distress, 
 few  friends  pitying  when  one  is  singled  out  among 
 many  to  endure  hardships  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus 
 Christ,  only  for  the  word  of  God  and  testimony  of  Jesus. 
 Here  I  am  among  strangers,  and  yet  the  Lord  wonder- 
 fully makes  them  my  friends,  when  I  am  so  far  separated 
 from  sympathising  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  espe- 
 cially from  my  dear  family,  whose  access  to  me  is  with 
 invincible  difficulties, — who,  in  outward  things  upon 
 earth,  are  to  me  the  greatest  consolation,  for  in  their  en- 
 couragement my  joy  and  pleasure  outwardly  in  this 
 world  lies,  and  whoever  are  kindest  to  them  are  to  me  my 
 greatest  friends, — suppose  I  should  evanish  in  earthly 
 misery, — seeing  Providence  has  ordered  it,  that  they  are 
 embarked  in  the  same  bottom  of  tribulation  and  afflic- 
 tion with  me.''    But  in  his  imprisonment  lie  was  not 
 without  religious  comfort.  "  Oh,  dear  friends,''  says  he, 
 *'  if  ye  knew  what  of  the  Hoods  of  tenderness  1  have  met 
 with, — what  of  the  removing  of  the  black  clouds  that 
 separated  betwixt  my  j)recious  Lord  and  nic, — wliat 
 liberty  in  confession, — what  of  a  shining  liglit  breaking 
 in  upon  my  heart  brighter  than  the  sun  at  the  noontide 
 of  the  day, —  what  of  the  smiles  of  his  countciumce,  not 
 
.346 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 veiled  witH  frowns  and  vengeance,  but  intimating  and 
 sealing  peace  unto  the  conscience, — what  of  the  over- 
 flowing streams  of  joy, — what  of  the  swelling  of  hopes  !" 
 Nor  did  he  dispair  of  the  Church  in  Scotland,  dark 
 and  trying  as  were  her  circumstances  at  that  time. 
 "  There  is  a  seed  sown  through  the  mountains  and  the 
 moors  of  Scotland,  which  shall  have  a  plentiful  crop, 
 for  the  Master  of  the  vineyard  was  undoubtedly  at  the 
 sowing  of  it,  and  he  must  see  to  the  gathering  in  of 
 his  fruits.  Let  the  great  dragon  spew  out  a  Lammas 
 flood  of  waters,  which  is  like  to  drown  all ;  yet  the 
 harvest  will  come,  and  the  man-child  must  rule  and 
 overcome.''  Yea,  he  even  saw  connected  with  the  suf- 
 ferings of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  in  behalf  of  Christ's 
 crown  or  his  supremacy  over  the  Church,  the  blessed 
 period  when  that  crown  should  shine  resplendent  in  all 
 the  earth.  "  0  Britain  !  blessed  of  all  places  of  God's 
 earth  in  fruits,  which  shall  spring  from  the  seed  after 
 the  gospel  seed  has  been  sown.  The  corn-fields  of  the 
 Church  of  Christ  in  Britain  have  gotten  seed  upon  seed, 
 double  seed.  What  must  the  increase  be?  0  happy  har- 
 vest !  0  blessed  reapers  !  in  that  day  when  the  crown 
 shall  flourish  on  his  head,  which,  budding  through 
 martyrs'  blood,  shall  blossom  and  fill  the  earth  with 
 
 joy-'' 
 
 On  the  8th  of  October  1686,  orders  were  issued  by 
 the  Council  for  bringing  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh 
 the  ministers  who  were  imprisoned  in  the  Bass,  and 
 in  Blackness,*  and  they  were  offered  their  liberty,  pro- 
 
 *  The  act  is  as  follows :— "  Edinburgh,  8th  October  1686.— The  Lords 
 of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  do  hereby  grant  order  and  warrant  to 
 Colonel  Graham  of  Claverhouse,  commander-in-chief  now  upon  the  place, 
 to  cause  bring  in  prisoners  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  by  a  sufficient 
 guard,  the  ministers  that  are  present  prisoners  either  in  the  garrisons  of 
 the  Isle  of  Bass  or  Castle  of  Blackness,  the  deputy-governors  whereof  are 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 347 
 
 vided  they  agreed  to  live  orderly,  in  other  words,  to 
 abstain  from  preaching,  and  to  attend  their  parish 
 churches.  Dickson,  when  brought  before  the  Council 
 at  this  time,  readily  acknowledged  King  James  VII. 
 as  his  lawful  sovereign,  for  he  did  not  go  the  length 
 of  the  Cameronians,  who  renounced  the  authority  of 
 Charles  II.  and  James  VII. ;  but  he  refused  without 
 hesitation  to  come  under  an  engagement  not  to  keep 
 conventicles,  as  well  as  waived  declaring  the  unlawful- 
 ness of  rising  in  arms  against  the  king  and  his  autho- 
 rity in  any  circumstances.  For  not  satisfying  them  on 
 these  points,  he  was  sent  back  to  the  Bass  by  the  Com- 
 mittee of  Council  for  Public  Affairs,  by  the  following 
 act,  dated  12th  October  1686:-^ 
 
 "  Mr  John  Dickson,  brought  prisoner  from  the  Bass,  de- 
 clares, that  about  six  years  ago  he  was  taken  for  being  pre- 
 sent at  conventicles ;  confesses  he  has  kept  conventicles  several 
 times ;  acknowledges  the  King's  authority,  but  wiU  not  engage 
 to  Hve  regularly  and  orderly,  and  not  to  keep  conventicles ; 
 and  shuns  to  give  answer  as  to  declaring  the  unlawfulness  to 
 rise  in  arms  against  the  King  or  his  authority  :  Ordered  that 
 the  said  Mr  John  Dickson  and  Mr  Alexander  Shields,  brought 
 prisoners  from  the  Bass,  be  returned  back  prisoners  thither 
 until  further  order."* 
 
 After  the  passing  of  this  sentence,  Dickson,  being 
 now  in  a  very  infirm  state  of  health  in  consequence  of 
 his  long  imprisonment  and  his  advanced  years,  ])re- 
 sented  a  petition  to  the  Council,  humbly  shewing  that 
 being  six  years  ago  committed  prisoner  to  the  Bass, 
 by  order  of  the  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  (Vnincil, 
 he  did  submit  to  that  sentence  with  all  humility,  and 
 
 hereby  ordered  to  deliver  them  to  the  party  to  sent  f<>r  them,  and  the 
 magistrates  of  Edinburgli  are  to  receive  and  detain  tlieni  prisoners  till 
 further  order." — Warrants  of  Privy  Council. 
 
 •  Sederunts  and  Journals  of  Committee  of  Council  for  I'uldic  Affairs  in 
 Warrants  of  Privy  Council. 
 
348 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 hath  ever  since  remained  'patiently  there,  and  that  he 
 is  an  old  man,  and  by  his  long  imprisonment  hath  con- 
 tracted several  diseases  in  his  body,  and  therefore  pray- 
 ing, that  as  that  was  the  time  and  season  of  the  year 
 for  using  the  ordinary  means  of  medicine  for  his  reco- 
 very, their  Lordships  would  be  pleased  to  grant  him 
 such  competent  time  as  they  should  think  fit,  to  take 
 medicine  at  his  own  house  in  Edinburgh,  upon  his  find- 
 ing sufficient  caution  to  present  himself  when  called 
 for.  In  answer  to  this  petition,  the  Lords  of  the  Com- 
 mittee for  Public  Affairs,  on  the  13th  of  October,  "al- 
 low the  petitioner  to  stay  in  Edinburgh  till  the  first 
 council-day  of  November  next,  in  regard  of  his  valetu- 
 dinary condition,  he  finding  caution  to  appear  before 
 the  Council  that  day,  or  to  re-enter  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh  the  said  day,  under  the  penalty  of  5000 
 merks.''* 
 
 "We  meet  vrith  no  farther  account  of  Dickson  in  the 
 Records  of  the  Privy  Council.  The  probability  is,  that 
 he  did  not  again  return  to  the  Bass,  but  was  allowed 
 to  remain  at  liberty  upon  giving  bond  to  appear  before 
 the  Council  when  called. 
 
 After  the  Revolution,  he  again  became  minister  of 
 his  old  parish,  Rutherglen,  where  he  continued  to  his 
 death  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  sacred  function. 
 But  although  he  joined  the  Revolution  Church,  he  was 
 far  from  being  satisfied  either  with  its  constitution  or 
 with  many  of  its  proceedings.  He  hailed  the  Revolu- 
 tion as  "  a  wonderful  deliverance  from  the  slavery  of  a 
 heaven-daring  enemy,''  but  lamented  that,  in  the  legal 
 settlement  of  the  Church,  her  constitution  was  not  mo- 
 delled according  to  the  pattern  of  the  second  reforma- 
 tion, which  he  believed  to  be  in  a  high  degree  conform- 
 
 *  Warrants  of  Privy  Council. 
 
JOHN  DICKSON. 
 
 849 
 
 able  to  the  word  of  God  ;  and  he  was  convinced  that 
 by  abandoning  that  position  much  ground  had  been  lost 
 by  the  Church,  and  that  a  foundation  was  laid  for  the 
 introduction  of  the  most  serious  evils.  "  It  is  many 
 years/'  he  says  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  shortly  before  his 
 death,  "  since  the  sun  fell  low  upon  Scotland ;  many 
 a  dismal  day  hath  it  seen  since  1649.  At  that  time  our 
 reformation  mounted  towards  its  highest  horizon  ;  and 
 since  we  left  building  on  that  excellent  foundation,  laid 
 by  our  honoured  forefathers,  we  have  still  moved  from 
 ill  to  worse,  and  are  like  to  do  so  still  more,  (unless  our 
 gracious  God  prevent  it,)  until  we  slide  ourselves  out  of 
 sight  and  sense  of  a  reformation."*  It  is  hardly  neces- 
 sary to  say  how  woefully  these  apprehensions  were  veri- 
 fied by  the  long  reign  of  moderatism,  which  proved  so 
 deadly  a  curse  to  the  religion  of  our  land  during  the 
 18th  century  ;  a  reign  to  which  the  defects  of  the  revo- 
 lution settlement  of  the  Church,  and  the  impolicy  of 
 her  proceedings  at  that  period,  contributed  perhaps 
 more  than  even  the  restoration  of  lay  patronage  in  the 
 reign  of  Queen  Anne,  to  which  it  has  been  chiefly 
 if  not  solely  attributed.  At  the  sitting  down  of  the 
 Synod  of  Glasgow  and  Ayr  on  the  4th  of  October 
 1698,  Dickson  preached  as  Moderator  an  opening  ser- 
 mon, which  was  afterwards  printed,  from  Isaiah  Ixii. 
 6,  "  1  have  set  watchmen  upon  thy  walls,  0  Jerusalem," 
 kc,  in  which  he  discourses  with  much  freedom  and 
 faithfulness  on  the  duties  and  qualifications  of  a  faith- 
 ful watchman.  lie  died  in  the  year  1700,  at  an  ad- 
 vanced age,  having  been  engaged  in  the  work  of  the 
 Christian  ministry  forty-three  or  forty-four  years,  and 
 having  seen  many  changes  both  in  the  civil  and  eccle- 
 siastical state  of  his  country. 
 
 •  Scots  Worthies,  oditii  n,  Leitli,  IblG,  i».  4i)C. 
 
350 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 JOHN  BLACKADDEE. 
 
 John  Blackadder  Avas  the  lineal  descendant  and  repre- 
 sentative of  the  ancient  and  honourable  family  of  Tul- 
 liallan,  and  late  in  life  inherited  the  title  of  knight 
 baronet,  which,  however,  he  never  assumed.  His  grand- 
 father Adam  Blackadder  of  Blairhall  having  married 
 Helen,  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Robert  Pont,  minis- 
 ter of  St  Cuthbert's,  Edinburgh,  and  one  of  the  Lords 
 of  Session,  left  behind  him,  as  the  only  surviving  fruit 
 of  that  marriage,  John,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
 sketch,  who  married  in  1615  Barbara  daughter  of  Mr 
 William  Strang,  minister  first  at  Kirkliston,  then  at 
 Irvine,  and  afterwards  Principal  of  the  University  of 
 Glasgow.  Of  this  marriage  John  was  the  eldest,  and 
 was  born  in  December  that  same  year.  The  place  of 
 his  birth  is  uncertain,  and  of  his  early  history  little  is 
 known.  He  studied  at  Glasgow,  under  his  uncle  Prin- 
 cipal Strang,  and  it  is  probable  that  his  theological  as 
 well  as  his  literary  studies  were  conducted  under  the 
 superintendence  of  that  divine,  who  filled  the  chair  of 
 Professor  of  Divinity  until  1 640,  when  it  was  discon- 
 nected from  the  principalship  by  the  General  Assembly, 
 and  erected  into  a  separate  professorship. 
 
 Blackadder,  having  passed  his  trials  with  the  appro- 
 
JOHN  BLACKADDER. 
 
 351 
 
 bation  of  the  Church,  and  been  licensed  as  a  proba- 
 tioner for  the  Christian  ministry,  received  a  unanimous 
 call  from  the  parish  of  Traquair,  in  the  Presbytery  of 
 Dumfries,  in  the  year  1 652.    Previous  to  this,  in  1646, 
 he  married  the  daughter  of  Mr  Homer  Haning,  a  rich 
 merchant  in  Dumfries.    On  June  7.  1653,  he  Avas  so- 
 lemnly ordained  to  the  ministerial  office  in  that  parish 
 by  the  Presbytery,  and  received  from  the  parishioners 
 a  cordial  welcome.    Here  he  continued  to  discharge 
 without  interruption,  and  with  considerable  success, 
 his  useful  labours,  until  November  1662,  when,  by  the 
 act  of  Council  at  Glasgow,  he  was  compelled  to  aban- 
 don his  post  for  his  conscientious  adherence  to  Presby- 
 terian principles.    On  the  last  Sabbath  of  October  he 
 ])reached  his  farewell  sermon,  in  which,  among  other 
 things,  he  took  up  the  question.  Whether  Presbyterians 
 ought  to  hear  the  curates  who  should  be  intruded  into 
 the  charges  of  the  ejected  ministers  ?  and  without  at- 
 tempting to  determine  the  absolute  unlawfulness  of 
 hearing  these  intruders,  argued  that  it  was  inexpedient 
 in  the  present  circumstances  of  the  Church  to  do  so,  and 
 advised  the  people  to  forbear.    "  That  day  few  of  the 
 people  of  the  parish  convened,  by  which  he  perceived 
 that  they  were  not  willing  to  cleave  to  his  ministry 
 upon  hazard.    He  therefore  preached  that  day  at  his 
 own  house,  where  many  from  the  neighbouring  parishes 
 resorted  to  hear  him  after  he  had  begun  ;  so  that  he 
 stood  on  the  stair  head,  two  chambers  on  cither  hand 
 with  the  lower  room  being  full."* 
 
 On  leaving  Traquair,  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
 the  parish  of  Glcncairn,  about  ten  miles  distant,  and 
 there  he  resided  for  some  time.  During  the  lirst  three 
 months  of  the  year  in  which  he  came  to  that  parish,  he 
 
 •  Bluckuddcr's  Mcintilrs,  MS.  copy. 
 
S52 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 did  not  preach  publicly,  though  he  did  so  privately  in 
 his  own  house,  to  many  of  the  neighbours  who  assembled. 
 But  after  that  he  preached  publicly  at  his  own  house, 
 sometimes  twice,  sometimes  thrice  on  the  Sabbath,  to 
 great  multitudes  who  flocked  to  hear  him,  not  only  from 
 that  parish,  which  was  the  largest  in  that  part  of  the 
 country,  but  out  of  eight  or  nine  surrounding  parishes 
 in  Nithsdale  and  Gralloway.  He  remarks  that  his  la- 
 bours were  more  abundantly  blessed  in  that  quarter 
 than  they  had  been  at  Traquair,  both  in  promoting  the 
 outward  reformation  of  the  people,  and  in  bringing 
 them  under  the  power  of  personal  religion. 
 
 On  the  25th  of  January  1666,  letters  of  Council  were 
 directed  against  Blackadder,  and  a  considerable  num- 
 ber of  ministers  in  the  south,  for  presuming  to  preach, 
 pray,  baptize,  and  perform  other  acts  of  the  ministerial 
 function,  strictly  commanding  the  authorities  to  charge 
 the  persons  complained  upon  at  the  market-cross  of 
 Kirkcudbright,  Dumfries,  and  Edinburgh,  and  at  the 
 pier  of  Leith,  to  compear  personally  before  the  Lords 
 of  the  Privy  Council  at  Edinburgh,  under  the  pain  of 
 rebellion.  The  charge  brought  against  Blackadder  in 
 these  letters  is,  that  he  "  had  ofttimes  convened  great 
 numbers  of  the  parish  of  Glencairn,  and  the  neighbour- 
 ing parishes,  sometimes  to  the  number  of  a  thousand 
 and  upwards,  and  continues  so  to  do  every  Lord's  day  ; 
 at  which  meetings  he  frequently  baptizes  the  children 
 of  disaffected  persons.''*  This  citation  Blackadder 
 deemed  it  prudent  not  to  obey,  for  the  least  he  could 
 expect  from  a  government,  which  had  already  crowded 
 the  jails  with  his  fellow  Presbyterians,  and  doomed 
 many  of  them  to  perpetual  banishment,  was  imprison- 
 ment, if  not  worse  treatment. 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  ]»p.  5,  6. 
 
JOHN  BLACKADDER. 
 
 353 
 
 Immediately  after  this,  he  made  preparations  for 
 removing  his  family  from  that  part  of  the  country  to 
 a  place  of  greater  security  ;  and  Edinburgh  seemed  to 
 promise  the  privacy  and  concealment  he  desired,  al- 
 though even  there  oppression  might  discover  and  lay 
 its  hand  upon  him.  He  accordingly  removed  to  the 
 capital,  where  he  afterwards  continued  chiefly  to  re- 
 side. He  was,  however,  much  employed  in  travelling 
 from  place  to  place,  preaching  in  the  fields  both  on  the 
 Sabbath  and  week-days,  during  the  night  as  well  as 
 during  the  day ;  and  vast  multitudes,  many  of  them 
 from  great  distances,  assembled  to  hear  him  In  this 
 work  he  subjected  himself  to  incredible  fatigue ;  and 
 perhaps,  next  to  Mr  John  TVelsh,  was  the  most  intrepid 
 and  persevering  of  all  the  ejected  ministers,  in  spread- 
 ing the  gospel  among  his  countrymen,  "  not  counting 
 his  life  dear  unto  himself,  so  that  he  might  finish  his 
 course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  he  had  re- 
 ceived of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
 -race  of  God."  In  his  itinerancies,  he  exhibited  the 
 most  disinterested  spirit,  uniformly  declining  to  accept 
 of  money  from  the  people,  lest  it  might  give  occasion 
 to  the  enemies  of  the  cause  in  which  he  was  embarked 
 to  reproach  him  as  being  impelled  to  preach  from  mer- 
 cenary motives.  In  these  journeys  he  also,  on  some 
 occasions,  assisted  in  the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's 
 Supper.  Two  of  these  interesting  solemnities,  at  which 
 he  assisted,  have  been  already  particularly  described.* 
 
 Blackadder,  and  several  other  ministers,  were  sum- 
 moned at  the  instance  of  the  King  s  advocate  to  appear 
 before  the  Privy  Council,  on  the  11th  of  August  1670. 
 They  were  charged  with  holding  conventicles  in  houses 
 
 ♦  See  Notice  of  J.. lin  Dickson,  j.]*.  n^S  :m. 
 
.354 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 I 
 
 and  in  tlie  fields  ;  and  not  appearing,  all  of  tliem  were  | 
 
 denounced  and  put  to  the  horn.*  i 
 
 About  the  end  of  May  1680,  Blackadder  embarked 
 
 for  Holland,  with  his  eldest  son  William,  whom  he  ; 
 intended  to  graduate  as  a  physician  at  Leyden.  They 
 had  contrary  winds  on  their  passage  for  eleven  days, 
 and  the  ship  struck  not  less  than  eighteen  times. 
 When  they  came  up  the  Maes  to  Rotterdam,  it  was 
 
 about  sunrise.  After  placing  his  son  at  Leyden,  and  : 
 visiting  the  Hague,  Amsterdam,  and  some  other  cities, 
 
 he  returned  to  Rotterdam,  where  he  remained  for  : 
 
 fifteen  weeks  preaching  every  Sabbath.    Towards  the  ; 
 
 end  of  September,  he  returned  in  a  vessel  belonging  to  1 
 Prestonpans,  and  arrived  in  Edinburgh  on  the  same 
 day  that  Mr  John  Dickson  was  sent  to  the  Bass. 
 
 During  his  stay  at  Rotterdam,  Blackadder  appears  \ 
 
 to  have  been  very  useful  in  allaying  the  animosities  | 
 
 which  prevailed  among  his  banished  countrymen  resi-  ' 
 
 dent  in  that  city,  among  whom  he  found  that  the  same  ' 
 
 divisions  had  taken  place  in  consequence  of  the  indul-  ; 
 
 gence,  as  existed  in  Scotland.   He  is  said,  in  particular,  ; 
 
 to  have  been  instrumental  in  bringing  about  a  better  i 
 
 understanding  between  Mr  Robert  M'Ward  and  Mr  I 
 
 Robert  Fleming,  who  had  differed  on  that  subject,  the  ■ 
 
 latter,  though  not  actually  indulged  when  in  Scotland,  I 
 
 not  being  able  to  see  the  indulgence  in  the  same  ob-  j 
 
 jectionable  light  as  the  former,  who  regarded  it  as  "at  j 
 
 best  an  interpretative,  if  not  a  direct  subjection  to  the  \ 
 
 supremacy''  of  the  crown  in  ecclesiastical  matters  ;  and  j 
 that  such  as  accepted  it  "  deserted  that  present  neces- 
 sary duty  of  practically  asserting  the  freedom  of  the 
 
 gospel  ministry,  and  the  independence  thereof  on  the  ; 
 
 *  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  153.  ^ 
 
JOHN  BLACKADDER. 
 
 355 
 
 magistrate's  power  and  pleasure/'*  Blackadder  highly 
 disapproved  of  the  indulgence,  and  no  sufferings  or 
 threatenings  would  have  made  him  accept  of  it,  being 
 persuaded  that  "  the  embracing  it  from  such  hands,  and 
 as  matters  then  stood,  was  prejudicial  to  their  Master  s 
 royal  right  of  supremacy  over  his  own  house,  ordinances, 
 and  ambassadors/'  But,  uniting  discretion  with  his  zeal, 
 and  calmness  of  temper  with  his  firmness  of  purpose, 
 he  was  disposed  to  exercise  much  forbearance  towards 
 those  ministers  who  accepted  it,  and  felt  the  greatest 
 aversion  to  say  or  do  any  thing  which  tended  to  bring 
 them  into  disrespect  with  the  people.  He  entirely  dis- 
 approved of  making  this  a  theme  of  discussion  in  sermons 
 before  the  promiscuous  multitude,  being  rather  anxious 
 to  reason  and  deal  in  the  spirit  of  meekness  with  the 
 indulged  ministers  themselves  on  the  evil  of  the  indul- 
 gence ;  and  though  some  of  the  people  took  offence  at 
 him  that  he  did  not  insist  on  that  painful  subject  in 
 his  public  discourses,  this  had  no  effect  in  tempting 
 him  to  swerve  from  acting  in  that  matter  according  to 
 his  own  convictions  of  duty,  for  he  was  as  little  inclined 
 to  yield  up  himself  to  the  dictation  of  the  people,  its  to 
 the  ecclesiastical  supremacy  of  the  monarch. 
 
 Blackadder's  public  labours  was  now  near  a  close, 
 and  in  his  old  age  a  long  and  dreary  imprisonment 
 awaited  him,  from  which  he  was  to  be  relieved  only  by 
 the  hand  of  death.  He  was  apprehended  early  in  the 
 morning  of  April  5.  1681,  when  in  bed  in  his  own  house 
 
 •  Walker  informs  us,  that  these  divisions  amoiij?  tlie  banished  suff.Terb 
 at  Rotterdam,  on  account  of  the  indulj^ence,  broke  «>ut  in  U>79,  and  that 
 some  of  the  sufferers  not  only  refused  to  hear  Mr  Robert  Fleminfj  pn  nrh 
 in  the  Scottish  Church  there,  but  separated  e\en  from  Mr  Robert  M'Ward 
 and  others,  who,  though  hostile  to  the  indulgence,  heard  I'leuunj:,  not  judg- 
 ing the  difference  between  him  and  them  respectinjr  the  indulgence,  ii 
 sufficient  ground  of  separation.    Dioj;raph.  Tresb..  vol.  ii.  pj», 
 
356 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 at  Edinburgh  by  one  Johnston,  town-major,  with  a 
 party  of  the  city-guards.  After  being  repeatedly  ex- 
 amined by  a  Committee  of  the  Council,  he  was  on  the 
 following  day,  without  being  called  before  the  Council, 
 sentenced  by  them  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  Bass,  and 
 at  six  o'clock  next  morning  was  conveyed  by  a  party 
 of  lifeguards  to  that  place  of  confinement,  at  which  he 
 arrived  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  cell 
 in  which  he  was  imprisoned  is  still  pointed  out,  with 
 its  three  small  iron-barred  windows  to  the  west. 
 
 Blackadder  being  now  advanced  in  years,  and  with 
 a  constitution  shattered  by  fatigue  and  labour  in  tra- 
 velling from  place  to  place  preaching  the  gospel,  was 
 ill  prepared  for  being  immured  in  that  unwholesome 
 dungeon.  After  lying  there  for  four  years,  during 
 which  he  had  sulFered  much,*  his  health  became  so 
 seriously  impaired  under  the  attacks  of  a  complication 
 of  diseases  as  to  excite  apprehensions  for  his  life.  This 
 induced  his  friends  in  Edinburgh  to  present  to  the 
 Council  on  the  20th  of  June  1685  a  petition,  accom- 
 panied with  the  attestation  of  physicians,  representing 
 that  his  life  was  in  danger,  and  that  his  removal  from  the 
 sea  air  was  indispensable  to  his  recovery,  and  therefore 
 "  craving  liberty  for  him  to  be  brought  to  Edinburgh, 
 where  he  might  have  access  to  physicians  and  medi- 
 cines, (he  being  dangerously  sick  of  complicated  dis- 
 orders,) and  to  die  with  his  wife  and  children.''  The 
 humanity  of  the  Council  may  be  judged  of  from  their 
 ansAver  to  this  petition,  which  was  as  follows  : — 
 
 "  Edinburgh,  \dth  November  1685. 
 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  iMajesty's  IVivy  Council  having  con- 
 sidered a  petition  given  in  by  Mr  John  Blackadder,  prisoner 
 
 *  Se  •  an  account  of  tlic  sufrei  ings  of  the  prisoners  of  the  Pass  gfnerally, 
 in  pp.  113-1 IG. 
 
JOHN  BLACKADDER. 
 
 in  the  Bass,  supplicating  for  liberty  for  some  time  in  regard 
 of  bis  present  indisposition  tending  to  death,  attested  by  a 
 physician  upon  soul  and  conscience,  do  hereby  grant  order 
 and  warrant  to  the  deputy-governor  of  the  Isle  of  Bass,  to 
 allow  the  petitioner  to  be  brought  forth  of  the  Bass  to  the  pri- 
 sons of  Dunbar  or  Haddington  upon  his  finding  sufficient  cau- 
 tion, within  hours  after  he  comes  out  of  the  Bass,  to 
 
 enter  one  of  the  said  prisons  and  there  to  remain  prisoner  until 
 the  first  council-day  of  January  next,  under  the  penalty  of  five 
 thousand  merks  Scots  money  that  he  shall  not  escape  in  the 
 mean  time,  and  that  at  the  first  council-day  of  January  ensu- 
 ing, he  shall  re-enter  his  person  prisoner  in  the  Bass." 
 
 This  grant  being  merely  the  exchange  of  one  prison 
 for  another,  which  was  in  no  respect  preferable,  but 
 rather  more  inconvenient,  Blackadder  felt  it  to  be  a 
 cruel  mocker}'  of  his  distress,  and  in  a  communication 
 to  his  friends,  requested  them,  if  no  more  than  this 
 could  be  obtained,  to  desist  from  putting  themselves  to 
 farther  trouble  in  applying  to  the  Council  on  the  sub- 
 ject. "  This  day  (Monday),''  says  he,  "  I  received  two 
 letters  from  you,  dated  November  20,  about  the  busi- 
 ness of  my  liberty :  That  it  is  granted  I  should  be 
 transported  to  Dunbar  or  Haddington.  When,  with 
 due  deliberation  and  pains,  I  have  considered  all,  par- 
 ticularly what  you  write,  since  I  am  not  worse  of  my 
 dysentery,  though  my  rheumatism  be  returning  ;  and 
 finding  what  is  granted  is  not  the  thing  1  suuglit,  which 
 was  necessary  for  my  case,  viz.,  to  be  at  Edinburgh 
 where  I  might  have  access  to  physicians  and  medicines  ; 
 but  that  I  am  exchanging  one  prison  for  another  no 
 better,  but  rather  with  more  inconveniences,  and  the 
 time  being  but  short  till  I  should  return  ;  and  espe- 
 cially that  I  should  find  caution  not  to  escape,  (which 
 I  take  to  be  while  1  am  j)risoner  there)  ])eing  what  is 
 
358 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 not  a  prisoner's  part,  but  the  magistrate's  and  keeper's, 
 and  would  be  a  bad  preparative  to  all  prisoners ;  neither 
 have  I  ever  heard  the  like  required  of  a  prisoner :  I 
 say,  having  weighed  and  laid  all  together,  I  am  con- 
 strained rather  to  choose  to  take  God's  venture  in 
 staying  where  I  am,  whether  I  live  or  die,  seeing  I  can 
 have  no  liberty  for  relief  in  my  present  distressed  con- 
 dition, but  what  would  put  me  rather  in  worse  than 
 better  circustances.  Therefore,  unless  you  can  obtain 
 either  that  I  have  liberty  to  be  sick  at  my  own  house, 
 where  I  may  have  my  wife  and  children  to  wait  upon 
 me  ;  or  at  least,  if  no  better  can  be,  that  you  get  the 
 order  for  my  imprisonment  at  Haddington  reduced  to 
 confinement  in  a  chamber  upon  caution  to  keep  my 
 confinement  in  the  said  town,  no  definite  time  being 
 mentioned,  but  during  the  Council's  pleasure,  and  to 
 enter  prison  at  the  Bass  when  required,  I  being  able  to 
 travel : — If  this  cannot  be  procured  upon  these  or  the 
 like  terms,  you  may  desist  from  giving  the  Council, 
 yourself,  or  other  friends,  any  farther  trouble  about  the 
 matter."  He  adds,  "  I  hope  it  will  be  needless  that  I 
 repeat  it  iagain  and  again  to  you,  that  no  order  be  ex- 
 tracted for  me,  but  what  you  or  other  trusty  friends 
 see  has  no  engagement  on  me  or  my  cautioner,  to  lay 
 any  restraint  upon  my  ministry  or  the  exercise  thereof, 
 for  that  is  absolutely  out  of  my  power,  being  only  in- 
 trusted to  follow  my  Lord  and  Master's  call  and  plea- 
 sure therein,  although  I  be  in  little  case,  or  like  to  be, 
 to  discharge  any  of  the  duties  thereof" 
 
 The  strength  of  religious  principle  exhibited  in  this 
 concluding  sentence,  cannot  fail  to  excite  admiration. 
 Blackadder  was  in  a  condition  altogether  unable  to 
 preach,  and  he  had  little  prospect  of  ever  again  being 
 able  to  resume  that  work.   But  persuaded  that  it  would 
 
JOHX  BLACKADDER. 
 
 359 
 
 be  unwarrantable  for  him  to  come  under  any  engage- 
 ment, at  the  bidding  of  the  civil  power,  not  to  exercise 
 his  ministry,  he  strictly  charged  his  friends  in  their  deal- 
 ings with  the  Privy  Council,  whatever  might  be  the 
 consequences  as  to  himself, — though  he  should  die  in 
 that  dungeon,  as  he  actually  did, — not  to  bring  him 
 under  any  such  engagement,  which  he  believed  would 
 involve  him  in  unfaithfulness  to  the  Master  whom 
 he  served.  He  had  from  the  time  of  his  ejection  to 
 that  hour,  and  in  the  face  of  all  the  terrors  of  perse- 
 cution, testified  without  faltering  or  blanching  to  the 
 freedom  of  Christ's  ambassadors, — who  derive  their 
 ministerial  authority  from  Christ  and  not  from  the 
 civil  magistrate, — to  exercise  their  ministry  uncon- 
 trolled by  that  usurping  power  which  the  government 
 claimed  of  silencing  them  according  to  its  pleasure  ;  and 
 it  was  his  purpose  by  God's  grace  to  lift  up  the  same 
 unbroken  testimony  with  his  dying  breath. 
 
 Application  was  again  made  to  the  Council  by  his 
 friends  for  his  being  set  at  liberty,  that  in  the  bosom 
 of  his  own  family  he  might  receive  that  attention 
 which  his  situation  required  ;  and  it  was  again  repre- 
 -(^nted  to  them,  that  his  distemper  had  so  increased  as 
 to  threaten  within  a  short  time  a  fatal  termination. 
 Yielding  to  this  application,  the  Council  pass  the  fol- 
 lowing act  for  his  being  liberated  : — 
 
 "  E>liHlmr>ih,  Sd  December  1685. 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  having  heard 
 and  considered  the  petition  of  Mr  Joim  lilackadder,  suppli- 
 cating that  in  regard  of  his  long  imprisonment  he  hath  con- 
 tracted a  universal  rheumatism  anil  bloody  fkix,  and  of  his  old 
 age,  he  might  be  set  at  liberty  forth  of  the  Hass,  do  therefore 
 hereby  give  order  and  warrant  to  the  deputy-governor  of  the 
 Isle  of  Bass  to  set  the  petitioner  at  liberty,  lie  having  found 
 
.360 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 I 
 
 sufficient  caution  acted  in  the  Books  of  Privy  Council,  that 
 
 within  ^  hours  after  he  shall  be  liberated,  he  shall  enter 
 
 and  confine  himself  within  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  not 
 depart  forth  thereof  without  special  licence  and  order  from  the 
 Council,  and  in  the  mean  time  to  live  regularly  and  orderly, f 
 under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots  money  in  case 
 of  failure  ;  and  also  to  re-enter  the  said  prison  when  required 
 by  the  Council  under  the  foresaid  penalty." 
 
 But  this  order  was  too  late  to  be  of  any  service  to 
 the  prisoner.  Before  it  could  be  carried  into  effect, 
 death  came,  a  messenger  of  peace  to  him  ;  and  yielding 
 up  his  pious  spirit  to  Grod,  this  estimable  man  was 
 placed  for  ever  beyond  the  reach  of  persecution.  He 
 had  then  completed  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age  ;  and 
 though  he  fell  not  by  the  hand  of  violence,  he  deserves 
 to  be  honoured  with  a  place  among  the  most  distin- 
 guished of  our  martyrs,  for  he  displayed  an  intrepid 
 adherence  to  principle  which  scarcely  any  of  them  sur- 
 passed, and  the  lengthened  sufferings  of  his  captivity 
 may  be  said  to  be  the  infliction  of  a  lingering  death. 
 His  mortal  remains  were  carried  from  the  Bass,  and 
 interred  in  the  churchyard  of  North  Berwick,  where 
 a  handsome  tombstone  still  marks  the  spot  where  they 
 repose.  The  inscription  on  his  tombstone, J  which  is 
 not  without  beauty,  and  which  brings  out  the  most 
 prominent  features  of  his  character,  is  as  follows  : — 
 
 *  Blank  in  MS. 
 
 t  "  To  live  regularly  and  orderly"  as  has  been  repeatedly  stated,  was,  in 
 the  language  of  the  Privy  Council,  to  abstain  from  preaching.  Black- 
 adder  had  forbidden  his  friends  to  come  under  such  an  obligation  for 
 him.  Whether  they  had  come  under  this  engagement  against  his  wishes, 
 and  without  his  knowledge,  in  order  to  ol>tain  his  liberty,  or  whether  this 
 is  inserted  in  the  act  without  any  such  express  engagement  having  been 
 made,  cannot  now  be  determined, 
 
 \  This  stone  was  repaired  and  re-lettered  in  July  1821,  at  the  expeuhe 
 of  several  gontloiuon  in  the  neighbourhood. 
 
JOHN  BLACKADDER. 
 
 361 
 
 "  Blest  John,  for  Jesus'  sake,  in  Patmos  bound, 
 His  prison  Bethel,  Patmos  Pisgah  found  ; 
 So  the  bless'd  John,  on  yonder  rock  confined, — 
 His  body  suffer'd,  but  no  chains  could  bind 
 His  heaven-aspiring  soul ;  while  day  by  day, 
 As  from  Mount  Pisgah's  top,  he  did  survey 
 The  promised  land,  and  view'd  the  crown  by  faith 
 Laid  up  for  those  who  faithful  are  till  death. 
 Grace  formed  him  in  the  Christian  Hero's  mould — 
 Meek  in  his  own  concerns — in's  Master's  bold  ; 
 Passions  to  Reason  chained,  Prudence  did  lead — 
 Zeal  warm'd  his  breast,  and  Reason  cool'd  his  head. 
 Five  years  on  the  lone  rock,  yet  sweet  abode, 
 He  Enoch-like  enjoyed,  and  walk'd  with  God ; 
 Till,  by  long  living  on  this  heavenly  food, 
 His  soul  by  love  grew  up  too  great,  too  good 
 To  be  confined  to  jail,  or  flesh  and  blood. 
 Death  broke  his  fetters  ofF,  then  swift  he  fled 
 From  sin  and  sorrow  ;  and  by  angels  led, 
 Enter'd  the  mansions  of  eternal  joy; — 
 Blest  soul,  thy  warfare's  done,  praise,  love,  enjoy. 
 His  dust  here  rests  till  Jesus  come  again, — 
 Even  so,  blest  Jesus,  come, — come.  Lord — Amen." 
 
 Blackadder  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters.  1.  Wil- 
 liam, his  eldest  son,  studied  medicine,  and  graduated 
 at  Leyden  in  1680.  When  in  Holland  he  formed  an 
 acquaintance  with  some  of  the  most  eminent  of  the 
 Scottish  refugees,  and  was  much  in  their  confidence. 
 Coming  over  with  the  Earl  of  Argyle  in  1685,  he  was 
 taken  prisoner  in  Orkney.  After  the  Revolution  he 
 was  appointed  physician  to  King  William,  and  died 
 without  issue  about  the  year  1704.  2.  Adam,  his  se- 
 cond son,  followed  the  mercantile  profession.  He  was 
 eight  or  nine  years  in  Sweden,  and,  after  his  return, 
 resided  in  Edinburgh.  He  was  for  some  time  impri- 
 soned in  Blackness  for  hearing  his  father  preach.  3. 
 Robert,  his  third  son,  studied  theology  at  the  University 
 of  Utrecht,  and  died  in  Holland  in  1 689.  4.  Thomas, 
 his  fourth  son,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  merchant, 
 
 uh 
 
362  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 went  abroad  to  New  England  shortly  after  his  father's 
 imprisonment,  and  died  in  Maryland.  5.  John,  his  fifth 
 and  youngest  son,  entered  the  army,  and  became  colo- 
 nel of  a  Cameronian  regiment,  so  called  from  the  sect 
 of  which  it  was  composed.  He  served  with  distinction 
 under  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  in  Queen  Anne's  wars, 
 nor  was  he  less  eminent  as  a  devout  Christian  than  as 
 a  brave  soldier.  His  Memoirs  have  been  published  by 
 Dr  Crichton.  Of  Blackadder  s  two  daughters,  one  died 
 in  Glencairn  when  a  child.  The  other,  Elizabeth,  was 
 married  in  1687  to  a  Mr  Young,  writer  in  Edinburgh. 
 Pious  and  intelligent,  she  kept  a  register  or  diary  of  the 
 remarkable  providences  of  her  life  for  twenty-four  years. 
 She  died  in  1732. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 863 
 
 BEIEF  NOTICES  OF  THE  OTEEE  PEISONEES. 
 
 Our  space  will  not  admit  of  giving  lengthened  notices 
 of  the  other  prisoners  confined  in  the  Bass,  although 
 their  history  contains  some  very  interesting  facts. 
 Leaving  this  to  some  other  occasion,  should  such  offer 
 itself,  we  shall  present  the  reader  with  little  more  than 
 their  names,  and  a  few  particulars  relating  to  them. 
 
 Archibald  Riddell  was  the  son  of  Sir  Walter,  second 
 baronet  of  Riddell,  who  had  the  honour  of  knighthood 
 conferred  upon  him  when  but  a  young  man  ;  and  his 
 mother  was  Janet,  daughter  of  "William  Rigg  of  Ather- 
 nie,  in  the  county  of  Fife.  He  was  the  third  son,  his 
 eldest  brother  being  Sir  John,  who  succeeded  his  father, 
 and  his  second  brother  being  Mr  William,  progenitor  of 
 the  Riddells  of  Glen-Riddell,  in  Dumfries-shire.* 
 
 Riddell  was  privately  ordained  to  the  ministry  at 
 Kippen,  in  or  subsequent  to  the  year  1670.  He  be- 
 came afterwards  famous  as  a  field  preacher  ;  and  was 
 a  fellow  labourer  Avith  Mr  John  Dickson  and  Mr  John 
 Blackadder,  with  whom  he  associated,  as  we  have  pre- 
 viously seen,  in  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the 
 fields.!  He  was  ap{)rehended  in  September  16S0,  and 
 was  first  sent  to  Jedburgh  tolbooth,  and  thence  carried 
 
 Douglas'  Barouago  of  Scotland,  p.  ti7. 
 
 t  See  |>. 
 
364 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 to  Edinburgh  prison.  After  lying  there  about  nine 
 months,  during  which  time  he  was  twice  examined  by 
 a  Committee  of  Council,  he  was,  on  the  9th  of  June 
 1681,  sentenced  by  an  act  of  Council  to  be  carried  pri- 
 soner to  the  Bass,  "for  breaking  his  confinement  in 
 Kippen,  keeping  conventicles,  and  marrying  and  bap- 
 tizing in  a  disorderly  manner/'*  In  this  prison  he 
 continued  till  about  the  close  of  the  year  1684,  when 
 he  was  set  at  liberty  in  answer  to  a  petition  presented 
 to  the  Council,  on  his  behalf,  by  Mr  George  Scot  of 
 Pitlochie,  upon  condition  of  his  removing  to  East  New 
 Jersey  in  America,  in  the  ship  freighted  by  Scot,  to 
 carry  out  the  prisoners  gifted  to  him  for  his  intended 
 plantation  there,  and  never  returning  again  to  this 
 kingdom  without  the  special  permission  of  the  Coun- 
 cil.   The  act  of  Council  is  as  follows : — 
 
 "  Edinburgh,  24:th  December  1684. 
 "  The  Lords  of  his  Majesty's  Privy  Council  having  consi- 
 dered a  petition  presented  by  Mr  George  Scot  of  Pitlochie, 
 desiring  that,  in  regard  the  Council  have  granted  him  the 
 benefit  of  some  persons  lately  sentenced  to  the  plantations,  in 
 order  to  their  being  transported  thither,  and  that  he  is  willing 
 to  transport  Mr  Archibald  Riddell,  prisoner  in  the  Bass,  h- 
 berty  might  be  granted  to  him  for  some  time  to  put  his  afiFairs 
 in  order,  and  attend  several  processes  now  depending  both  for 
 and  against  him  before  the  Session,  upon  the  petitioner's  being 
 cautioner  for  him,  that  he  shall  immediately  after  his  liberty, 
 come  to  his  own  lodgings  in  Edinburgh,  and  confine  himself 
 there  during  his  abode  here,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  keep  do 
 conventicles ;  and  be  by  him  transported  to  East  Jersey  in 
 America,  and  never  return  to  this  kingdom  thereafter,  without 
 special  licence  from  the  Council :  The  said  Lords  do  grant  the 
 said  desire,  and  recommend  to  the  Lord  High  Chancellor, 
 governor  of  the  said  Isle  of  Bass,  to  give  order  and  warrant 
 
 *  Decreets  of  Privy  Council. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 365 
 
 to  his  deputy-governor  of  that  isle,  to  deliver  to  the  petitioner, 
 or  his  order,  the  person  of  the  said  Mr  Archibald  Riddell,  in 
 regard  the  petitioner  hath  become  caution  to  the  effect  fore- 
 said, under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots  money, 
 in  case  of  failure  in  any  of  the  premises." 
 
 This  voyage,  as  we  have  formerly  seen,  was  very 
 disastrous,  a  malignant  fever  having  broke  out  in  the 
 vessel,  and  raged  with  fearful  mortality.*  By  this  epi- 
 demic, Riddell  was  deprived  of  his  wife.  On  arriving 
 at  New  Jersey,  he  received  invitations  from  two  con- 
 gregations to  become  their  minister,  one  from  Long 
 Island  and  another  from  Woodbridge.  He  preferred 
 the  call  from  the  latter  place,  where  he  continued  to 
 labour  till  the  Revolution,  when  he  returned  to  his 
 native  country. 
 
 He  set  sail  for  home  in  June  1689,  and  the  wind  and 
 weather,  during  the  voyage,  were  highly  favourable  ;t 
 but  on  reaching  the  coast  of  England,  in  the  beginning 
 of  August,  he  and  his  son  were  captured  by  a  French 
 man-of-war,  and  carried  prisoners  to  France,  where 
 they  were  cruelly  treated  and  kept  for  a  considerable 
 time.  They  were  at  length  released  by  the  French 
 government,  through  the  interference  of  King  Wil- 
 liam's government,  which  gave  in  exchange  for  them 
 two  French  priests  who  were  then  prisoners  in  Black- 
 ness. After  his  return  to  Scotland,  Riddell  was  ad- 
 mitted minister  of  Wemyss  on  the  28th  of  September 
 1691,  whence  he  was  removed  to  Kirkcaldy  on  the  20th 
 
 •  Seo  pp.  166-172. 
 
 t  In  a  note  in  Dr  M'Crio's  Life  of  Veitch  uiul  «rysson,  v^«\.  Apprndix. 
 p.  523,  it  is  stated  tlnit  "on  his  passage  home  in  1G89,  Hiddoll's  wifo  and 
 three  of  her  relations  died."  This  is  a  mistake.  It  was  when  he  was 
 going  out  to  East  New  Jersey,  in  l(xS.'>,  that  his  wife  and  these  rolati«)ns 
 died,  having  been  cut  off  by  the  malignuut  fever  wliich  proved  fatal  lo  so 
 many  on  board  the  ves::el. 
 
366 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  May  1697;  and,  lastly,  translated  to  Edinburgh  in 
 1702.    He  died  in  1708. 
 
 John  Spreul,  apothecary  in  Glasgow,  appears  upon  the 
 stage  as  a  sufferer  chiefly  after  the  battle  of  Bothwell 
 Bridge.  On  the  12th  of  November  1680,  he  was  appre- 
 hended, and  being  brought  before  the  Council,  was 
 examined,  and  afterwards  put  to  the  torture  before  a 
 Committee  of  their  number.  Not  getting  him  to  con- 
 fess what  they  desired  by  torturing  him  in  the  new 
 boot,  they  sent  for  the  old  one,  and  tortured  him  over 
 again  ;  and  being  equally  unsuccessful  with  it,  Dalziel 
 alleged  that  the  hangman  favoured  him ;  upon  which 
 the  hangman  said,  he  struck  with  all  his  might,  and 
 bade  him  take  the  mallet  himself  to  do  it  better.  On 
 the  2d  of  March  1681,  Spreul  was  indicted  before  the 
 High  Court  of  Justiciary  on  the  charge  of  treason  and 
 rebellion,  for  alleged  accession  to  the  insurrection  at 
 Bothwell  Bridge.  The  proof,  however,  failed,  and  a 
 verdict  of  "  Not  proven''  was  returned  by  the  jury. 
 Upon  this,  instead  of  being  liberated,  as  he  ought  to 
 have  been,  he  was  still  kept  prisoner ;  and,  on  pretext 
 of  being  present  at  field  conventicles,  he  was  fined 
 £500  sterling,  and  sent  to  the  Bass,  by  an  act  of  Privy 
 Council,  July  14.  1681.  Here  he  continued  for  nearly 
 six  years.  The  act  of  Council  for  his  liberation  is  dated 
 12th*  May  1687.  He  was  the  last  prisoner  who  was 
 released  from  the  Bass.  He  survived  the  Revolution 
 many  years. 
 
 *  At  p.  15,  it  is  by  a  mistake  copied  from  Wodrow,  the  13th. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 367 
 
 William  Lin  was  a  writer  in  Edinburgh.  He  was 
 brought  before  the  Council  on  the  14th  of  July  1681, 
 charged  with  having  been  present  at  field  conventicles, 
 at  which  he  had  heard  ministers  who  were  declared 
 traitors,  and  with  having  harboured,  reset,  and  corres- 
 ponded with  them.  In  proof  of  this  last  charge,  it  is 
 said,  that  "  upon  one  of  the  rebels,  when  taken  and 
 examined,  were  found  particular  letters  addressed  to 
 him.''  The  several  parts  of  the  libel  against  him  were 
 referred  to  his  oath ;  and  on  his  refusing  to  depone 
 thereupon,  he  was  fined  in  the  sum  of  ^500  sterling, 
 and  appointed  to  be  carried  to  and  continue  prisoner 
 in  the  Bass,  till  he  paid  his  fine,  and  longer  should  it 
 be  the  Council's  pleasure.  How  long  he  was  impri- 
 soned is  uncertain,  nor  are  any  farther  particulars  of 
 his  history  known. 
 
 Major  Joseph  Learmont  was  proprietor  of  the  lands 
 of  Newholm,  which  lay  partly  in  the  shire  of  Peebles 
 and  partly  in  that  of  Lanark.  He  was  one  of  the  offi- 
 cers in  the  Covenanters'  army  at  Pentland  Hills  in 
 1666,  and  at  Bothwell  Bridge  in  167.9.  In  the  year 
 1667  his  whole  fortune  was  forfeited  for  his  being  in 
 the  former  insurrection  ;  and  for  the  space  of  sixteen 
 years  thereafter,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  made 
 to  find  him,  he  remained  undiscovered.  But  about  the 
 month  of  February  1682,  he  was  taken  prisoner  and 
 carried  to  Edinburgh,  where,  on  the  7tli  of  April  that 
 same  year,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  executed.  This  sen- 
 tence, however,  by  the  interest  of  friends,  was  commu- 
 ted into  perpetual  imprisonment  in  the  Bass,  to  which 
 he  was  sent  on  the  13th  of  May.    He  there  remained 
 
368 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 close  prisoner  for  five  years,  when,  through  the  testi- 
 mony of  physicians  that  he  was  in  a  dying  condition, 
 he  was  liberated  by  the  Council,  upon  giving  bond  that 
 as  soon  as  he  recovered  he  would  return  to  that  place  of 
 confinement.  But  the  Revolution  taking  place  next 
 year  freed  him  from  this  obligation.  He  lived  at  his 
 own  house  atNewholm  some  years  after  that  memorable 
 event,  and  died  in  peace  in  the  88th  year  of  his  age. 
 
 Michael  Potter  Avas  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  in 
 the  year  1673.  After  this,  the  fury  of  the  persecution 
 drove  him  to  Holland  for  shelter  at  two  different  times. 
 He  returned  from  his  second  retreat  to  that  country 
 in  1680,  and  was  apprehended  about  November  1681 
 in  his  own  house  at  Borrowstounness,  whence  he  was 
 carried  to  Blackness  the  first  night,  and  the  next  day 
 to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh.  There  he  continued  a 
 close  prisoner  till  early  in  the  year  1683,  when  by  the 
 orders  of  the  Council  he  was  carried  to  the  Bass  for 
 keeping  conventicles,  for  disorderly  ordination,  and  for 
 refusing  to  engage  to  live  orderly  in  future.  In  this 
 dungeon  he  continued  till  March  or  April  1685,  at 
 which  time  he  was  liberated  on  condition  of  his  leav- 
 ing the  kingdom,  but  remaining  quiet  at  home,  the 
 liberty  granted  by  King  James  VII.,  relieved  him  from 
 the  necessity  of  obeying  the  sentence.  After  the  Re- 
 volution, he  was  first  minister  of  Borrowstounness,  and 
 then  of  Dunblane,  where  he  died.  He  had  a  son,  Michael, 
 who  was  first  minister  at  Kippen,  and  afterwards  in 
 1740  succeeded  Mr  John  Simson  as  Professor  of  Divi- 
 nity in  the  University  of  Glasgow,  but  did  not  long  fill 
 that  chair,  having  died  in  November  1743. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 369 
 
 John  Spreul,  town-clerk  of  Glasgow,  was  born  about 
 the  year  1615,  and  was  educated  at  the  University  of 
 Glasgow,  where  after  passing  through  the  usual  literary 
 and  philosopical  classes,  he  took  his  degree  of  master 
 of  arts  in  1635.  In  1660  he  was  imprisoned  in  Edin- 
 burgh for  refusing  to  subscribe  the  bond  containing  a 
 condemnation  of  the  Western  Remonstrance  ;  but  at 
 length  having  been  induced  to  subscribe  it,  he  was  set 
 at  liberty.  Being  afterwards  banished  out  of  Scotland 
 for  nonconformity,  he  lurked  some  years  at  Berwick 
 and  Newcastle  and  then  went  over  to  Holland,  where 
 he  remained  for  several  years.  On  his  return  to  Scot- 
 land, as  he  was  then  advanced  in  years  and  infirm  in 
 body,  he  hoped  liberty  would  be  allowed  him  to  remain 
 at  home  in  peace.  But  in  this  he  was  mistaken.  The 
 government,  instigated  by  the  bishops,  caused  him  to 
 be  brought  prisoner  from  his  own  house  to  the  tolbooth 
 of  Edinburgh  ;  and  refusing  to  come  under  obligation 
 to  go  and  hear  the  curates,  &c.,  he  was  sent  to  the  Bass 
 by  an  act  of  the  Privy  Council,  dated  28th  July  1688,* 
 where  he  lay  for  some  years.  On  petitioning  the 
 Council  to  compassionate  his  old  age  and  frailty,  an 
 order  was  issued  for  his  being  liberated,  and  within  a 
 year  or  two  after  he  died  in  his  own  house. 
 
 Alexander  Gordon  of  Earlston  was  tlie  son  of  Wil- 
 liam Gordon  of  Earlston,  the  correspondent  of  Ruther- 
 ford. He  was  in  the  army  of  the  Covenanters  at  Both- 
 well  Bridge,  and  narrowly  escaped  being  taken  by  tlio 
 ingenuity  of  one  of  liis  tenants,  who  recognising  him 
 as  he  rode  through  Hamilton,  made  him  dismount,  hid 
 
 ♦  See  p.  201. 
 
370 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 his  horse's  furniture  in  a  dunghill,  dressed  him  in  wo- 
 men's clothes,  and  set  him  to  rock  the  cradle.  On  the 
 19th  of  February  1680,  being  found  guilty  of  treason 
 and  rebellion  by  a  jury  in  his  absence,  he  was  con- 
 demned to  be  beheaded  at  the  market-cross  of  Edin- 
 burgh when  he  should  be  apprehended.  He  did  not, 
 however,  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  government  till  the 
 beginning  of  June  1683,  when  he  was  arrested  just  as  he 
 had  gone  on  board  a  vessel  at  Newcastle  for  Holland, 
 whether  he  had  been  commissioned  by  the  United  So- 
 cieties a  second  time — for  he  had  been  there  before 
 on  the  same  errand — to  represent  to  the  Reformed 
 Churches  abroad,  the  true  condition  of  these  people 
 and  their  principles.  Being  brought  before  the  Lords 
 of  Justiciary,  his  former  sentence  of  death  was  ordered 
 to  be  carried  into  effect  on  the  28th  of  September  en- 
 suing. But  by  the  influence  of  his  friend  the  Duke  of 
 Gordon  his  life  was  spared.  He  was,  however,  kept  a 
 prisoner  ;  and  on  the  8th  of  August  1684  was  conducted 
 to  the  Bass,  where,  however,  he  remained  only  about  a 
 fortnight,  having  been  sent  for  by  the  Privy  Council,  on 
 the  22d  of  that  month,  to  be  tortured.*  He  was  after- 
 wards transported  to  Blackness,  where  he  continued 
 imprisoned  till  the  5th  of  January  1689,  when  he  was 
 liberated. 
 
 John  Rae  at  the  Restoration  was  minister  of  a  parish 
 in  the  Presbytery  of  Biggar,  but  was  ejected  from  it 
 upon  the  establishment  of  Prelacy.  He  was  after  this 
 among  the  most  zealous  of  the  ejected  ministers  in 
 j)reaching  both  in  private  houses  and  in  the  fields.t 
 
 *  Fountainhall's  Decisions,  vol.  i.  pp.  549, 553. 
 t  See  pp.  329,  332,  335,  336. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 371 
 
 About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1670,  he  was  appre- 
 hended for  preaching  and  baptizing  in  houses  and  sent 
 to  Edinburgh.  He  lay  successively  in  the  Canongate 
 jail,  in  Stirling  Castle,  and  Dumbarton  Castle,  till  about 
 the  time  of  the  granting  of  the  second  indulgence  in 
 September  1672,  when  he  was  liberated.  By  this  in- 
 dulgence, he  was  allowed  to  exercise  his  ministry  within 
 the  parish  of  Cumbrays.  But  he  declined  to  accept  of 
 this  ensnaring  boon,  and  associated  with  Mr  John 
 Welsh  and  others  in  preaching  in  the  fields.  In  July 
 1674,  he  was  publicly  denounced  a  rebel  and  put  to 
 the  horn  ;  and  in  August  1676,  letters  of  intercom- 
 muning  were  issued  against  him.  On  the  15th  of 
 February  1683  he  was  apprehended  in  Edinburgh,  and 
 on  the  loth  of  September  next  year,  the  Council  ordered 
 him  to  be  sent  to  the  Bass,  where,  like  Mr  John  Black- 
 adder,  he  lay  till  released  by  the  hand  of  death.  His 
 mortal  remains  were  carried  from  his  prison  and  in- 
 terred in  the  churchyard  of  North  Berwick. 
 
 Sir  Hugh  Campbell  of  Cesnock  was  descended  from 
 the  ancient  and  honourable  family  of  the  Cam[>bells  of 
 Loudon.  After  the  Restoration,  his  well-known  at- 
 tachment to  Presbyterian  principles,  and  his  having  a 
 large  estate,  marked  him  out  as  a  victim  of  persecu- 
 tion. In  addition  to  his  previous  sufferings  by  fines 
 and  imprisonment,  he  was,  in  March  1684,  trit*d  for 
 high  treason,  on  pretext  of  accession  to  the  rising  at 
 Bothwell  Bridge  in  167J) ;  but  there  being  no  evidence, 
 the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of"  Not  proven."  Instead, 
 however,  of  being  liberated  after  this  verdict,  lie  and 
 his  son  George,  who  also  had  been  previously  in  cun- 
 
372 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 finement,  were  kept  prisoners,  and  on  the  15th  of  Sep- 
 tember were  ordered  by  the  Council  to  be  transported 
 to  the  Bass.  In  the  following  year  they  were  both  tried 
 before  the  Parliament  of  Scotland  for  alleged  accession 
 to  the  Rye-house  Plot,  and  although  the  proof  failed, 
 the  Parliament  brought  them  in  guilty.  Their  lives 
 were  spared,  but  an  act  of  attainder  was  passed,  by 
 which  their  estates  were  forfeited,  and  annexed  to  the 
 crown ;  and  they  themselves  were,  by  an  order  from 
 the  king,  sent  to  the  Bass,  towards  the  close  of  the 
 year  I680.  Sir  Hugh  did  not  long  survive  this  cruel 
 treatment,  having  died  on  the  20th  of  September  1686, 
 at  Edinburgh,  whither  he  had  been  allowed  to  come 
 on  account  of  his  infirmities. 
 
 Sir  George  Campbell  of  Cesnock  was  the  eldest  son 
 of  the  preceding.  He  was  knighted  in  his  father  s  life- 
 time; and  on  his  marriage,  in  1665,  to  Anna  M'Mouran, 
 heiress  of  an  estate  in  Fife,  a  crown  charter  of  part  of 
 his  father's  lands  was  expede  in  his  favour,  on  the  24th 
 of  November  that  year.  Sir  George,  as  we  have  seen, 
 was  associated  with  his  father  in  suffering,  but  he  sur- 
 vived those  evil  times,  and  had  his  losses  made  up. 
 Soon  after  the  Revolution,  an  act  was  passed  in  the 
 Parliament  which  sat  down  on  the  25th  of  April  1690, 
 rescinding  all  forfeitures  and  fines  inflicted  since  the 
 year  1665,  and  thus  the  lands  of  Cesnock  were  restored 
 to  Sir  George.  In  the  same  year  he  was  appointed 
 Lord  Justice-Clerk  and  one  of  the  Lords  of  Session. 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 373 
 
 John  Stewart  was,  at  the  Restoration,  minister  of 
 a  parish  in  the  Presbytery  of  Deer,  in  the  Synod  of 
 Aberdeen,  but,  on  the  establishment  of  Prelacy,  was 
 ejected  from  it  for  nonconformity.  On  the  30th  of 
 January  1685,  he  was  libelled  before  a  Committee  of 
 Council,  which  at  that  time  had  been  sent  north  to 
 Murrayshire  to  prosecute  all  persons  guilty  of  church 
 disorders  in  that  part  of  the  country,  and  which  met 
 at  Elgin.  He  was  charged  with  keeping  conventicles, 
 withdrawing  from  the  ordinances,  preaching  seditious 
 doctrine,  plotting  against  the  government,  supplying 
 and  harbouring  rebels,  and  other  public  crimes  and 
 irregularities."  When  examined  before  the  Committee 
 on  the  2d  of  February,  he  deponed,  upon  his  solemn 
 oath,  that  he  had  not  kept  his  own  parish  church  for 
 eighteen  or  nineteen  years,  and  that  he  had  preached 
 in  his  own  family,  and  in  several  private  houses,  but 
 denied  all  the  other  articles  of  the  libel.  On  the  ground 
 of  his  confession,  and  also  because  he  refused  to  take 
 the  oath  of  allegiance,  he  was,  on  the  4th  of  February, 
 sentenced  to  be  banished  out  of  his  Majesty's  dominions, 
 and  ordered,  with  that  view,  to  be  transported  prisoner 
 to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh.  Instead,  however,  of 
 being  banished,  on  his  arrival  in  the  south,  he  Avas  im- 
 prisoned in  the  Bass,  where  he  lay  till  liberated  by  an 
 order  of  the  Council,  issued  on  the  21st  of  June  1686. 
 
 Alexander  Dunbar  was  for  some  time  schoolmaster 
 at  Auldearn,  lie  was  licensed  to  ])rcafh  tlie  gospel  by  a 
 number  of  Presbyterian  ministers  at  Edinburgh.  When 
 the  Committee  of  thePrivy  Council,  just  now  referred  to, 
 met  at  Elgin,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1685,  he  was 
 
374 
 
 THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 brought  before  them,  charged  with  the  same  offences  for 
 which  Mr  John  Stewart  Avas  libelled.  Being  examined 
 before  them,  on  the  2d  of  February,  he  declared  that 
 he  did  not  keep  his  own  parish  church,  and  that  he  had 
 several  times  preached  within  these  four  years  in  private 
 houses.  He  also  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
 On  these  grounds,  the  Committee  of  Council,  at  their  diet 
 of  the  4th  of  February,  pronounced  the  same  sentence 
 of  banishment  upon  him  which  they  had  pronounced 
 on  Mr  Stewart.  This  sentence,  however,  was  not  car- 
 ried into  effect.  On  being  brought  to  the  south,  he 
 was  conveyed  prisoner  to  the  Bass,  where  he  remained 
 in  confinement  till  1686,  when  the  Council,  in  answer 
 to  a  petition  which  he  presented  to  them,  granted  an 
 order  for  his  being  set  at  liberty,  in  consideration  of 
 the  impaired  state  of  his  health. 
 
 James  Fithie  was  chaplain  of  Trinity  Hospital, 
 Edinburgh,  a  situation  to  which  he  was  elected  by  the 
 Town  Council  on  the  20th  of  January  1671.  He  had 
 attended  his  own  parish  church,  and  received  baptism 
 for  his  children  from  the  regular  incumbent  of  the 
 parish.  But  his  sympathies  being  on  the  side  of  the 
 persecuted  Presbyterians,  he  had  given  evidence  of  this 
 in  several  ways,  and  on  various  occasions.  On  this 
 account  he  was  apprehended,  and  lay  in  one  of  the  jails 
 of  Edinburgh  for  some  time  previous  to  July  1679,  when 
 he  was  released.*    He  was  again  arrested  about  the 
 
 ♦  Wodrow,  in  his  History,  (vol.  iii.  p.  151,)  calls  him  by  mistake  "  James 
 Forthie."  This  has  led  Dr  Crichton,  in  his  list  of  the  Bass  prisoners  an- 
 nexed to  his  Memoirs  of  Mr  John  Blackadder,  erroneously  to  suppose  that 
 the  person  whom  Wodrow  calls  in  that  place  "  James  Forthie,"  is  dif- 
 ferent from  "  James  Futhy,"  whose  imprisonment  in  the  Bass  in  1685,  is 
 recorded  by  that  historian  in  vol  iv.  p.  215.  It  is  the  same  person  who  is 
 spoken  of  in  both  places.    Crichton  is  also  mistaken  in  representing 
 
THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 375 
 
 beginning  of  the  year  1685,  and  imprisoned  in  the  Bass 
 in  April,  where  he  lay  till  March  1686,  at  which  time 
 he  was  liberated  by  an  order  of  the  Council,  in  consi- 
 deration of  his  own  iU  health,  and  the  afflicted  condi- 
 tion of  his  family. 
 
 Peter  Kid  was  settled  minister  at  Douglas,  in  the  Pres- 
 bytery of  Lanark,  about  the  year  1654,  but  was  ejected 
 from  his  parish  by  the  act  of  the  Privy  Council  at  Glas- 
 gow in  1662.  He  afterwards  became  indulged  minister 
 at  Carluke.  In  October  1684,  he  was  brought  before 
 the  Council  for  breaking  several  of  his  instructions  as 
 indulged  minister,  for  neglecting  to  observe  the  anni- 
 versary of  his  Majesty's  birth  and  restoration,  and  for 
 not  reading  from  his  pulpit  the  proclamation  enjoining 
 the  thanksgiving  appointed  to  be  observed  by  govern- 
 ment, for  his  Majesty's  and  the  Duke  of  York's  deliver- 
 ance from  the  Rye-house  Plot.*  On  these  grounds  his 
 indulgence  was  declared  to  be  null  and  void,  and  after- 
 wards, about  May  1685,  for  refusing  to  come  under  an 
 obligation  not  to  preach  without  receiving  permission 
 from  the  government,  he  was  sent  to  the  Bass,  where  he 
 continued  a  prisoner  upwards  of  a  year.  Being  then 
 advanced  in  life,  and  his  health  having  suffered  much, 
 he  presented  a  petition  to  the  Council,  praying  to  be  re- 
 leased from  prison,  and  to  be  allowed  to  live  at  his  own 
 house  privately.  In  compliance  with  this  petition,  the 
 Committee  of  Council  for  Public  Afiairs,  on  the  21st  of 
 September  1686,  gave  order  and  warrant  for  his  being 
 set  at  liberty. 
 
 •'  James  Forthie,"  or  more  correctly  .Fames  I'ithie,  as  iiiipri.suiied  iu  the 
 liass  in  1679.    That  he  was  not  imprisoned  there  at  that  time,  is  evident 
 from  wliat  is  stated  iu  Appendix,  No.  I.,  \>.  379. 
 «  See  pp.  92-94. 
 
376 
 
 THE  MARTmS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 William  Spexce  was  a  schoolmaster  in  Fife.  In 
 the  month  of  May  1685,  he  was  summoned  to  appear 
 before  the  Privy  Council,  and,  appearing,  was  committed 
 prisoner  to  the  Bass.  After  lying  there  for  about  a  year, 
 on  presenting  a  petition  to  the  Council,  praying  to  be 
 released,  on  the  ground  of  his  poverty  and  ill  health, 
 the  Council,  on  the  20th  of  July  1686,  grant  him  liberty, 
 "  upon  his  finding  caution  to  compear  before  the  Coun- 
 cil on  the  first  Council-day  in  November  next,  and  in 
 the  mean  time  to  live  peaceably,  and  not  to  keep  a 
 school,  under  the  penalty  of  five  thousand  merks  Scots 
 money  in  case  of  failure."  His  liberty  was  afterwards 
 repeatedly  prorogued. 
 
 Alexander  Shields  received  his  literary  and  philoso- 
 phical education  at  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  and  after 
 studying  theology,  was  licensed  by  some  Scottish  dis- 
 senting ministers  at  London,  whither  he  had  gone  with 
 an  intention  to  act  as  an  amanuensis  to  Dr  Owen,  or 
 some  other  of  the  English  divines.  On  the  11th  of 
 January  1685,  when  employed  in  preaching  in  a  pri- 
 vate house  in  Gutter-lane,  London,  he,  with  several  of 
 the  hearers,  were  apprehended  by  the  mayor  of  the 
 city,  and  at  length  he  was  shipped  for  Leith.  On  his 
 arrival,  he  was  in  that  same  year  twice  brought  before 
 the  Lords  of  Justiciary;  and  on  the  7th  of  August  1685, 
 the  Privy  Council  ordained  him  to  be  carried  prisoner 
 to  the  Bass.  About  the  autumn  of  1686,  he  with  the 
 other  ministers  imprisoned  in  the  Bass  were  brought 
 to  Edinburgh,  and  had  their  liberty  ofiered  them,  pro- 
 vided they  would  engage  to  live  orderly.  Refusing^ 
 when  brought  before  the  Council,  to  come  under  this 
 
THE  ilAP.TYRS  OF  TEE  BASS. 
 
 377 
 
 engagement,  he  was  recommitted  to  the  tolbooth  of 
 Edinburgh,*  but  he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape 
 from  it  disguised  in  women's  clothes.t  Immediately 
 after  this,  he  acceded  to  Mr  Renwick  and  his  party. 
 Shields  joined  the  Revolution  Church,  and  was  settled 
 minister  at  St  Andrews,  where  he  continued  to  labour 
 till  1699,  when  he,  with  three  other  ministers,  were 
 appointed  to  accompany  the  Scottish  colony  to  the  in- 
 tended settlement  at  Darien  in  America.  He  died  of 
 a  malignant  fever  on  the  14th  of  June  1700,  at  Port 
 Royal  in  Jamaica. 
 
 Thus  have  we  endeavoured — at  some  pains  indeed, 
 but  still  we  feel  imperfectly,  and  not  so  fully  as  we 
 desired — to  give  a  sketch  of  the  Worthies  who  were 
 immured  in  this  Scottish  Bastile.  Our  space  will  not 
 allow  us  to  indulge  in  the  reflections  which  naturally 
 arise  after  concluding  such  a  retrospect.  These  we 
 must  leave  to  the  candid  and  serious  reader  to  form  for 
 himself  It  may  only  be  remarked,  in  short,  that  the 
 cases  of  persecution  which  we  have  now  reviewed, — 
 and  they  are  only  a  few  of  the  enormities  of  these  per- 
 secuting times, — cannot  fail,  if  duly  pondered,  to  im- 
 press the  mind  with  abhorrence  of  civil  and  religious 
 tyranny,  to  fdl  us  with  gratitude  to  the  great  Giver  of 
 all  good  for  the  blessings  of  peace  and  liberty  we  now 
 enjoy,  and  to  elevate  in  our  esteem  and  veneration 
 those  good  but  evil-entreated  men  to  whom,  and  to 
 others  who  strugi^led  and  suffered  in  the  same  cause, 
 we  owe,  under  God,  the  preservation  of  all  that  we 
 hold  dear  as  Britons  and  as  Christians. 
 
 •  See  pp.  346,  347. 
 
 t  Howie,  in  his  Scots  Worthies,  orronoously  says  that  it  was  from  Ui* 
 Bass  that  Shields  made  his  escape. 
 
 I  i 
 
378 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 No.  I. 
 
 The  twelve  whom  Dr  Crichton  includes  among  the  prisoners  of  the 
 Bass,  but  who,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  were  never  imprisoned 
 there,  are  the  following : — Mr  William  Veitch,  minister  of  Dumfries 
 after  the  Revolution ;  Mr  Thomas  Wilkie,  preacher,  and  afterwards 
 minister,  of  the  Canongate,  Edinburgh  ;  Mr  Francis  Ii'vine,  minister  of 
 Kirkmahoe ;  Mr  John  Mossman,  preacher ;  Mr  Archibald  Maclean, 
 minister  of  Killean;  Mr  William  Kyle,  preacher,  and  minister  of  a  parish 
 in  Galloway  after  the  Revolution ;  Mr  Henry  Erskine,  minister  at 
 Cornhill,  Northumberland,  and  father  of  Ebenezer  Erskine,  the  founder 
 of  the  Secession  ;  Mr  John  Linlithgow,  minister  of  Ewes;  Lady  Gor- 
 don of  Earlston ;  Mr  Ralph  Rogers,  minister  in  Glasgow ;  Mr  James 
 Urquhart,  minister  at  Kinloss  ;  and  Mr  John  Knox,  minister  of  North 
 Leith,  and  afterwards  indulged  minister  at  West  Calder.  We  shall 
 briefly  state  the  grounds  upon  which  we  conclude  that  these  individuals 
 were  never  imprisoned  in  the  Bass. 
 
 With  respect  to  Mr  William  Veitch,  although  the  Privy  Council,  on 
 the  25tli  of  February  1679,  "approved  the  report  of  the  Committee  for 
 Public  Affairs  that  he  be  sent  to  the  Bass,"  and,  on  the  11th  of  March, 
 appointed  him  to  be  conveyed  to  that  prison, yet  this  act  was  not  executed ; 
 for,  in  an  order  of  the  1 8th  of  that  month,  requiring  the  King's  Advo- 
 cate to  proceed  against  him  before  the  Justiciary  Court,  he  is  repre- 
 sented as  "  prisoner  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh."*  Had  Veitch  been 
 a  prisoner  in  the  Bass,  such  a  fact  would  undoubtedly  have  been  re- 
 corded in  his  Memoirs  of  Himself,  in  which  he  describes  so  minutely  the 
 public  sufferings  he  endured  in  the  cause  of  Presbytery.  But  in  that 
 document  no  reference  to  any  such  thing  is  to  be  found. 
 
 That  Mr  Thomas  Wilkie  and  Mr  Francis  Irvine  are  erroneously 
 enumerated  among  the  prisoners  of  the  Bass  is  no  less  certain.  They 
 were  indeed  ordered  to  be  carried  thither  by  an  act  of  Privy  Council, 
 May  1679  hut  that  order  was  not  carried  into  effect.  They  continued 
 prisoners  at  Edinburgh  till  July,  when,  by  virtue  of  the  King's  indem- 
 nity granted  after  the  defeat  of  the  Covenanters  at  Eothwell  Bridge,  as 
 they  had  not  been  accessory  to  *'  the  rebellion"  they  were  set  at  liberty 
 by  the  following  act : — "  July  4.  1679. — Tlie  Council  grant  order  to  the 
 
 *  Wodrow'8  History,  vol.  iii.  pp.  7, 8. 
 
 t  Ibid.,  vol.  iii.  p.  til. 
 
APPENDIX  TO  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 379 
 
 Magistrates  of  Edinburgh  to  set  at  liberty  the  ministers  underwritten, 
 prisoners  for  conventicles,  Messrs  John  Mossman,  Archibald  Maclean, 
 James  Fithie,  William  Kyle,  Robert  Fleming,  Francis  Irvine,  and 
 Thomas  Wilkie,  they  enacting  themselves  in  the  books  of  Privy  Coun- 
 cil for  their  peaceable  behaviour,  and  that  they  shall  not  preach  at  field 
 conventicles  under  the  pains  contained  in  his  Majesty's  proclamation  ; 
 and  ordain  such  ministers  as  are  in  the  Bass  to  be  sent  for,  that  they 
 may  be  set  at  liberty  upon  their  enacting  themselves  as  aforesaid."* 
 
 This  act  forms  all  the  evidence  which  Crichton  has  for  classing  three 
 other  ministers,  Mr  John  Mossman,  Mr  Archibald  Maclean,  and  Mr 
 William  Kyle,  among  the  Bass  prisoners.  He  surely  had  not  read  the 
 act,  but  must  have  only  glanced  at  the  names  in  tiie  beginning  of  it,  and 
 "  Bass  "  at  the  close,  and  from  this  hastily  concluded  that  these  minis- 
 ters were  then  lying  in  the  prison  of  the  Bass ;  for  the  act  distinctly 
 intimates  that  they  were  at  that  time  imprisoned  in  Edinburgh. 
 
 Mr  Henry  Erskine  must  also  be  denied  a  place  among  the  martyrs 
 of  the  Bass.  In  Chalmers'  General  Biographical  Dictionary,  it  is  indeed 
 affirmed  that  he  continued  in  that  dungeon  nearly  three  years,  till, 
 through  the  interest  of  the  then  Earl  of  Mar,  his  kinsman,  he  was  set 
 at  liberty,  and  that  his  son  Ebenezer  was  bom  in  it.  But  both  these 
 statements,  although  they  have  been  repeatedly  quoted  as  facts  by  sub- 
 sequent writers,  are  equally  unfounded.  Erskine  was  indeed  sentenced 
 to  be  imprisoned  iu  the  Bass  by  an  act  of  Council,  June  G.  1G82.  But 
 on  presenting  a  petition  to  the  Council  praying  that  the  sentence  might 
 be  changed  into  banishment  from  the  kingdom,  this  favour,  through  the 
 interest  of  his  friends,  was  granted ;  and  within  fourteen  days,  the  time 
 specified  for  his  removing  from  the  kingdom,  taking  farewell  of  his 
 wife,  children,  and  friends,  he  went  to  England,  t  Ebenezer,  his  son, 
 was  born  on  the  22d  of  July  1680,  probably  at  Dryburgh,  as  his  parents 
 were  residing  at  that  village  at  that  time,  free  from  any  considerable 
 annoyance — that  is,  nearly  two  years  before;  his  father  was  sentenced  to 
 be  imprisoned  in  the  Bass.| 
 
 What  has  been  now  said  respecting  Mr  Henry  Erskine  is  e^iually 
 applicable  to  Mr  John  Linlithgow.  Ho  was  also,  on  the  0th  of  June 
 1()82,  sentenced  by  the  Council  to  be  transported  U)  the  Bass,  but,  on 
 presenting  a  petition  to  the  Council,  engaging  to  leave  the  kingdom  and 
 not  to  return  without  licence  from  his  Majesty  or  the  Council,  ho  was 
 in  like  manner  set  at  liberty. § 
 
 It  is  very  doubtful  whether  Lady  (rordou  of  Earlston  was  <»vor  in 
 
 •  Wodrow's  History,  vol.  iii.  j>.  l.'il. 
 
 t  Decrei-ts  of  Privy  Council;  and  Life  of  Hi  iiry  Erskine  iii  Chi-up  Publication* 
 of  the  Fri  e  Church  of  Scotland,  p. 
 J  Frasor's  Life  of  Henry  and  Eb.!iie/.er  Erskin.-,  pji.  IH, 
 S  Dt-rrec'ts  of  Privy  Council. 
 
3S0 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 the  Bass.  Earlston  himself  was  a  prisoner  there  only  about  a  fortnight  * 
 and  that  his  lady  was  confined  with  him  during  that  time  we  have  no 
 evidence.  In  her  case  the  Bass  has  been  confounded  with  Blackness. 
 She  voluntarily  became  prisoner  with  him  in  the  latter  dungeon, f  in 
 which  he  was  closely  shut  up  for  several  years,  and  it  was  there,  and 
 not  in  the  Bass,  as  has  been  sometimes  incorrectly  stated,  that  she  wrote 
 her  "  Soliloquies"  or  Religious  Meditations,  which  have  been  frequently 
 republished. 
 
 Mr  Ralph  Rogers  must  also  be  excluded  from  the  list  of  Bass  prison- 
 ers. Crichtou's  sole  authority  for  including  him  is  the  statement  made 
 by  Wodrow  in  his  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  41,  who,  under  the  year  1684,  says, 
 '•'  All  the  indulged  ministers  in  the  western  shires  and  elsewhere,  were 
 summarily  laid  aside,  and  those  of  them  who  would  not  oblige  themselves 
 not  to  preach  were  imprisoned,  first  in  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh  and 
 then  in  Blackness  or  the  Bass,  as  jNIr  Ralph  Rogers,  Mr  William  Tul- 
 lidaff,  Mr  Anthony  Murray,  Mr  John  Greig,  Mr  John  Knox,"  &c.  But 
 from  this  account  it  is  doubtful  whether  Rogers'  place  of  confinement 
 was  Blackness  or  the  Bass.  The  Records  of  the  Privy  Council,  how- 
 ever, determine  that  the  latter  and  not  the  former  was  the  place  of  his 
 imprisonment  after  his  removal  from  the  tolbootVi  of  Edinburgh. 
 
 It  is  equally  certain  that  Mr  James  Urquhart  is  not  entitled  to  a 
 place  on  the  list.  Crichton  has  enrolled  him  on  the  authority  of  the 
 sta,tement  of  Wodrow  in  his  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  196,  who,  when 
 speaking  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Committee  of  the  Council,  which 
 visited  Murrayshire  in  1685,  says,  "  Mr  James  Urquhart,  Mr  Alex- 
 ander Dunbar,  and  some  other  ministers,  were  sent  south  to  prison, 
 and  confined  in  tlie  Bass  and  Blackness."  There  is  some  ambiguity 
 in  this  statement.  But  Mr  James  Brodie,  a  gentleman  in  Murray- 
 shire, in  a  letter  to  Wodrow,  dated  April  7.  1719,  narrating  the 
 proceedings  of  that  Committee,  speaks  more  determinately,  shewing 
 that  the  Bass  was  Dunbar's  place  of  imprisonment  and  Blackness  that 
 of  Urquhart.  "  Several  of  our  Presbyterian  ministers,"  says  he, were 
 likewise  sent  south  to  prison  at  that  time,  such  as  Mr  James  Urquhart, 
 who  was  first  put  in  prison  [in  Edinburgh]  and  afterwards  in  the 
 Castle  of  Blackness;  Mr  Thomas  Hog,  Mr  Alexander  Dunbar,  Mr  John 
 M'Gilligen,  were  carried  south  prisoners  and  afterwards  put  into  the 
 Bass."J  The  accuracy  of  these  statements  is  confirmed  by  documents 
 found  among  the  Warrants  of  the  Privy  Coimcil. 
 
 Nor  have  we  discovered  any  evidence  that  Mr  John  Knox,  minister 
 
 »  See  p.  370. 
 
 t  In  some  instances  during  the  persecution  ladies  were  allowed  to  live  in  prison 
 with  their  husbands,  but  in  such  cases  they  were  subjected  to  the  same  conliue- 
 iijtnt  as  tlieir  husbands,  with  the  exception  of  being  laid  in  irons. 
 
 t  Wodrow  MSS.  vul.  XL,  folio,  no.  05. 
 
APPENDIX  TO  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 381 
 
 of  North  Leith,  was  ever  confined  in  the  Bass.  The  only  authority 
 which  Crichton  adduces  for  assigniug  him  a  place  on  his  list  is  the  state- 
 ment of  Wodrow  in  his  History,  vol.  iv.  p.  41,  already  quoted  (p.  380), 
 but  which  is  too  indeterminate  to  settle  the  point.  Knox  was  for  some 
 time  imprisoned  in  Edinburgh  in  1685,  but  was  soon  afterwards  set  at 
 liberty. 
 
 The  list  we  have  given  of  the  prisoners  of  the  Bass,  includes  all  who 
 were  confined  there  during  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  VII., 
 so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  discover,  with  only  three  exceptions.  As 
 these  three  were  not  imprisoned  for  Presbyterian  principles,  nor  were 
 Presbyterians  by  profession,  and  as  the  object  of  this  volume  is  to  illus- 
 trate the  persecution  of  the  Presbyterians,  we  have  not  included  them 
 among  our  Biographical  Sketches.  It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  give 
 a  brief  notice  of  these  individuals  in  the  order  of  their  imprisonment. 
 1.  The  first  is  Hector  Allan,  who  was  a  Quaker  in  his  religious  prin- 
 ciples, and  a  seaman  by  trade.  He  was  ordered  by  the  Council,  at 
 their  meeting  April  4.  1G78,  to  be  transported  prisoner  to  the  Bass, 
 "  for  abusing  and  railing  upon  one  of  the  ministers  of  North  Leith,'' 
 Mr  Thomas  Wilkie*  Meetings  of  the  Quakers  had  been  held  in  Allan's 
 house  at  Leith  ;  and  Mr  Wilkie,  being  informed  of  this,  took  occasion, 
 in  one  of  his  sermons,  to  condemn  the  principles  of  the  Quakers  ;  upon 
 which,  Allan,  oflfended,  addressed  Mr  AVilkie  in  these  terms,  about  the 
 close  of  divine  worship  one  Sabbath,  "  Friend,  I  would  know  by  what 
 authority  tliou  doest  those  things "  and  went  on  in  several  extrava- 
 gant expressions  to  upbraid  and  scoff  at  a  higli  rate,  until  he  was  in- 
 terrupted by  some  of  the  people  that  were  nearest  him,  and  committed 
 to  prison  by  some  of  the  constables."  He  did  not,  however,  remain 
 long  in  the  Bass,  an  order  having  been  issued  on  the  31st  of  May  1G78, 
 for  his  being  brought  thence  to  the  tolbooth  of  Edinburgh,  where,  and 
 also  in  the  tolbooth  of  Leith,  he  lay  for  some  time  during  that  year,  and 
 then  was  released.  2.  The  second  is  George  Young,  who  was  a  Popish 
 priest.  He  was  ordered  by  the  Council,  in  January  167!),  to  be  sent  to 
 the  Bass,  but  nothing  farther  is  known  respecting  him.  3.  The  third 
 is  John  Philip,  curate  at  Quecnsferry.  Ho  had  refused  to  take  the  test 
 for  which  he  was  laid  aside  from  his  curacy.  He  was  afterwards,  in 
 March  1G83,  libelled  before  the  Privy  Council,  for  having  said  "  that 
 the  Duke  of  York  was  a  bloody  and  cruel  man,  and  a  great  tyrant,  and 
 ■was  detestable  to  the  subjects ;  and  that  the  Bisliop  of  IMinburgli  and 
 the  King's  Advocate,  were  bloody  and  cruel  men,  and  ho  liopod  cro 
 long  to  see  them  sufl'er  for  it ;  as  also,  that  the  I'arl  of  Argyle  was  un- 
 justly forfeited,  and  that  there  was  no  law  for  forfeiting'  him."  Being 
 convicted  of  these  charges,  he  was  fined  £2000  sterling,  to  be  paid  within 
 •  Decreets  of  Privy  Council. 
 
382 
 
 APPENDIX  TO  THE  MARTYRS  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 fourteen  days,  declared  infamous,  and  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in  the 
 Bass  during  his  lifetime ;  and  the  Council  farther  declared,  that  if  he 
 did  not  pay  the  said  fine  within  the  time  specified,  he  should  be  pursued 
 before  the  Justiciary  Court  for  his  life.  Whether  he  died  on  the  Bass 
 we  do  not  know ;  but  his  deatli  took  place  before  the  1 7th  of  June 
 1686. 
 
 No.  II.,  pp.  285,  302. 
 "  24i/i  July  1689.— The  said  day  the  Lord  Provost  and  Bailies  of 
 Edinburgh,  having  called  before  them  the  Presbyterian  ministers  that 
 were  formerly  called  by  the  neighbours  of  the  Presbyterian  persuasion 
 within  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  and  having  desired  a  sight  of  their  re- 
 spective calls,  they  find  Mr  Hugh  Kennedy,  Mr  James  Kirkton,  Mr 
 John  Law,  and  Mr  William  Erskine,  to  have  been  called  by  them 
 upon  the  22d  day  of  July  1687  years,  and  Mr  Alexander  tiamil ton  to 
 have  been  called  on  the  6th  of  September  thereafter,  and  Mr  Gilbert 
 Rule  upon  the  7th  of  December  1688  years,  and  considering  their  fitness, 
 ability,  and  qualifications  to  be  constant  ministers  in  Edinburgh,  with 
 their  peaceable  deportment  since  their  coming  to  the  place,  and  that  it 
 will  be  good  and  acceptable  service  to  the  neighbours  and  inhabitants 
 of  the  city,  to  call,  settle,  and  present  them  to  benefices,  by  the  Magis- 
 trates and  Council :  AVe,  therefore,  the  Provost,  Bailies,  and  hail 
 
 common  Council  of  Edinburgh,  as  patrons,  do  by  thir  presents, 
 
 call,  nominate,  and  settle  the  said  Messrs  Hugh  Kennedy,  James  Kirk- 
 ton, John  Law,  William  Erskine,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  Gilbert 
 Rule,  constant  ministers  within  the  town  of  Edinburgh,  in  all  time  com- 
 ing, during  all  the  days  of  their  lifetime  ;  and  by  thir  presents,  we  do 
 ratify  and  approve  the  former  calls  given  to  them  by  the  neighbours 
 and  inhabitants  of  the  city,  and  declare  that  hereafter  we  will  take  care 
 to  provide  them  to  competent  stipends,  as  they  enter  to  churches  or  va- 
 cancies that  have  already  fallen  or  shall  happen  hereafter  to  vacate,  as 
 they  do  or  shall  fall  out." 
 
ALPHABETICAL  LIST  OF  MARTYRS. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Designation. 
 
 Anderson,  Patrick 
 BeU,  AVilliam 
 Bennet,  Robert 
 Blackadder,  John 
 
 Campbell,  Sir  Hugh 
 
 Campbell,  Sir  Geo. 
 
 Campbell,  John 
 
 Dick,  Robert 
 
 Dickson,  John 
 
 Drummond,  Jas.  | 
 
 Dunbar,  Alexander 
 
 Fithie,  James  | 
 
 Forrester,  Alex. 
 Fraser,  James 
 Gillespie,  Robert 
 Gordon,  Alexander 
 Greig,  .John 
 Hog,  Thomas 
 Kid,  Peter 
 Law,  John 
 
 Learmont,  Joseph  | 
 
 Lin,  William 
 Macaulay,  James 
 
 M'Gilligen,  John 
 
 Mitchell,  James 
 
 Peden,  Alexander  | 
 
 Potter,  Michael 
 '  le,  .John 
 
 liiddell,  Archibald 
 lloss,  Thomas 
 Ross,  Robert 
 
 Rule,  Gilbert 
 
 Scot,  George 
 Shields,  Alexandt 
 Spence,  William 
 Spreul,  John 
 Spreul,  John 
 
 Stewart,  John 
 
 Traill,  Robert 
 
 Minister  of  Walston. 
 Preacher, 
 of  Chesters. 
 Minister  of  Traquair. 
 
 ofCesnock.  | 
 
 of  Cesnock.  | 
 
 Minister  in  Ireland. 
 Saltgrieve  to  Lord  Car- 
 
 ington. 
 Minister  of  Rutherglen. 
 Chaplain  to  Marchioness 
 
 of  Argyle. 
 Preacher. 
 
 Chaplain  of  Trinity  Hos- 
 pital, Edinburgh. 
 
 Minister  of  St  Mungo. 
 
 of  Brea. 
 
 Preacher. 
 
 i)f  Earlston, 
 
 Minister  at  Carstairs. 
 
 Minister  of  Kiltearn. 
 
 Minister  at  Carluke. 
 
 Minister  of  Campsie. 
 
 Major  in  the  Covenan- 
 ters' Army. 
 
 AVriter  in  Edinburgh. 
 
 Preacher. 
 
 Minister  of  Fodderty.  | 
 Preacher. 
 
 Minister  of  New  Glen- 
 luce. 
 
 Preacher. 
 
 Minister  of  Symington. 
 Minister  at  Kippen. 
 Minister  in  the  North. 
 Preacher. 
 
 Mini.stor    at  Proston- 
 
 haugh. 
 of  Pitlochie. 
 Preacher. 
 
 Schoolmaster  in  Fife. 
 Apothecary  in  Glasgow. 
 Town  CU-rk  ofOlasgow. 
 Minister  of  a  parl.'^h  in 
 the  Presby.  of  Doer. 
 Minister  at  Cranbrook.  | 
 
 When  ordered 
 
 to  be 
 Imprisoned.* 
 
 When  ordered 
 to  be 
 Release  d.t 
 
 April 
 Oct.  12. 
 June  28. 
 April  6. 
 Sept.  15. 
 Close  of 
 Sept.  15. 
 Close  of 
 May  31. 
 
 Oct.  12. 
 
 iSept.  L 
 
 Jan.  28. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 April 
 
 Aug. 
 Jan.  f 
 
 April 
 Aug. 
 May 
 Feb. 
 May 
 April 
 
 May  13.1682. 
 
 1678. 
 1676. 
 1677. 
 1681. 
 1679. 
 1685. 
 1679. 
 1685. 
 1678. 
 
 1676. 
 
 1680. 
 
 1677. 
 
 1685. 
 
 1685. 
 
 16^7. 
 1677. 
 1673. 
 1684. 
 1685. 
 1677. 
 1685. 
 1679. 
 
 I  Julv 
 I  Julv 
 
 19.  1679. 
 19.  1679. 
 Feb.  18.1678. 
 Dec.    3. 1685. 
 
 Julv  14. 
 April  4. 
 Clo.se  of 
 July  28. 
 Jan.  29. 
 
 1681. 
 1679. 
 1677. 
 1683. 
 1677. 
 
 June  26.  1673. 
 
 Early  in  1683. 
 
 Sept.  15.  1683. 
 June   9.  KWl. 
 Uncertain. 
 April  4.  1(579. 
 
 April  8.  laO. 
 
 8.  1677. 
 7.  1685. 
 
 Am. 
 
 14.  I(i8l. 
 28.  1683. 
 
 Feb. 
 Aug. 
 May 
 Julv 
 July 
 
 I\-b. 
 
 1685. 
 
 Julv  19.  1677, 
 
 Uncertain. 
 
 Sept.  1678, 
 
 Oct.    8.  1686, 
 
 Oct.    5.  1677 
 
 1686. 
 
 March  1686. 
 
 1677. 
 July  19.  1679. 
 Jan.  8.  1674. 
 Aug.  22.  1684. 
 Julv  15.  1686. 
 Jul'v  19.  1679. 
 Sept.  21.  1686. 
 July  19.  1679. 
 
 1687. 
 
 Uncertain. 
 Julv  19.1679. 
 Jul'v  19.  1679. 
 Jul'v  1686. 
 Dec'.    6.  1677. 
 
 Oct.     9.  1677. 
 
 (  March  or 
 \  April  1685. 
 
 Dec.  24.  1684. 
 Uncertain. 
 July  19.  1679. 
 
 July  13.  1680. 
 
 Oct.  5.  1677. 
 Oct.     8.  1(»86. 
 
 Julv  20.  l(vS«i. 
 
 .Ma  v  12.  Ui«7. 
 
 Juno  21.  ma. 
 Oct.     f).  1677. 
 
 .1 
 
 Page. 
 
 260 
 110 
 203 
 350 
 
 371 
 
 372  i 
 
 271, 
 
 121 
 
 314 
 
 199 
 
 373 
 
 374 
 
 106 
 124 1 
 
 13 1 
 369' 
 
 80 
 174 
 375 
 276 
 
 367 
 
 367 
 290 
 
 j235 
 
 68 
 
 24 
 
 j368 
 
 370 
 363 
 I.  97 
 s  288 
 
 291 
 
 157 
 376 
 376 
 
 :m\ 
 
 369 
 372 
 217 
 
 *  This  column  gives  the  date  nf  the  act  of  the  Privy  Council  for  the  Imprisonment  of  the  sufrrrcn, 
 
 ut  till-  order  was  not  always  immediately  cnrrit-d  into  eflVct. 
 
 t  Tills  cohmui  in  like  manner  gives  the  dati- of  Hu- net  of  the  Council  for  the  ndeiwo  <»f  the  prl- 
 oners,  but  not  unfre<iuently  some  time  eUpsed  before  it  was  carried  Into  effict;  nnd  In  M»rvn»l  In^ 
 taiiees  the  prisoner,  though  released  from  the  Unss,  was  itllll  confined  lu  tUo  Tulbooth  of 
 Idinburgb. 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 j 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 i 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 j 
 
ZOOLOGY  or  THE  BASS. 
 
 BY  JOHN  FLEMING,  D.D.,  F.R.S.E..  Sc. 
 
 PROFESSOB  OF  NATCRAL  SCIENCE,  NEW  COLLEGE,  EDINBURGH. 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS, 
 
 ?Sfct?rHERE  are  few  objects  of  Natural  History  connected 
 '  i-ffi  -  '  "^^^^  which  do  not,  at  the  same  time,  occur 
 
 ---^■■^  in  the  neighbouring  localities,  but  these  few  are  of  a 
 very  interesting  kind.  Of  its  characteristic  Bird,  it 
 has  been  quaintly  said  by  a  biographer  of  Blackadder,  "  the 
 most  ancient  inhabitants  of  this  island  (the  Bass),  in  all  pro- 
 bability were  the  solan  geese."  Tradition,  however,  is  silent 
 as  to  the  period  of  its  colonization  by  these  sea-fowl,  equally 
 with  respect  to  the  region  whence  they  emigrated,  or  the  pe- 
 culiar aptitude  of  the  Bass  for  their  summer  residence.  Our 
 earliest  historians,  however,  do  not  fail  to  mention  the  occur- 
 rence of  these  birds  on  the  island,  and  they  even  vcuturc  to  re- 
 cord their  manners  and  the  useful  purposes  they  served  to  their 
 more  powerful  and  despotic  superiors. 
 
 Thus  Hector  Boece,  in  his  History  of  Scotland,  published 
 in  1526,  gives  the  following  detailed  account  of  this  siiifjular 
 colony  of  birds,  which  we  shall  quote  in  the  words  of  llollind- 
 shead's  Translation  : — 
 
 Kk 
 
386 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 "  Oertes,  there  is  nothing  in  this  rocke  that  is  not  full  of 
 admiration  and  woonder ;  therein  also  is  great  store  of  soland 
 geese  (vnlike  to  those  which  Plinie  calleth  water  eagles,  or 
 (as  we  sale)  sea  herons)  and  no  where  else  but  in  Ailsaie  and 
 this  rocke.  At  their  first  comming,  which  is  in  the  spring  of 
 the  yeare,  they  gather  such  great  plentie  of  sticks  and  boughs 
 togither  for  the  building  of  their  nests,  that  the  same  doo  satis- 
 fie  the  keeper  of  the  castell,  for  the  yeerelie  maintenance  of 
 his  fewell,  without  anie  other  prouision.  These  foules  doo 
 feed  their  yoong  with  the  most  delicat  fish  that  they  can  come 
 by.  For  though  they  have  alreadie  preied  vpon  anie  one,  and 
 haue  it  fast  in  their  beake  or  talons,  yet  if  they  happen  as 
 they  flie  toward  the  land  to  espie  a  better,  they  let  the  first 
 fall  againe  into  the  sea,  and  pursue  the  later  with  great  and 
 eager  swiftnesse,  vntiU  they  take  hold  thereof. 
 
 "  Sometimes  their  preie  is  taken  from  them  by  the  keepers 
 of  the  castell,  as  also  their  sticks  from  time  to  time  for  the 
 aforesaid  vse  ;  but  they  making  small  or  rather  no  resistance, 
 doo  turne  againe  forthwith,  for  more  wood  or  fish  (as  their 
 losse  requireth)  not  ceasing  till  they  haue  builded  their  nests 
 with  the  one,  and  nourished  vp  their  yoong  with  the  otheir,  so 
 that  what  by  the  timber  of  their  nests,  the  beguiling  them  of 
 their  prie,  and  stealing  awaie  of  their  yoong,  they  bring  yeerelie 
 no  small  commoditie  vnto  the  owner  of  the  castell.  Within  the 
 bowels  of  these  geese  there  is  a  kind  of  grease  to  be  had  of 
 singular  force  in  medcine,  and  fleaing  likewise  the  skin  from 
 their  bodies  with  the  fat,  they  make  an  oile  verie  profitable  for 
 the  gout  and  manie  other  diseases  in  the  hanches  and  groines 
 of  mankind.  In  this  crag  more,  there  groweth  an  herbe  verie 
 pleasant  and  delicious  for  salads,  but  if  it  be  taken  vp  and 
 planted  elsewhere,  it  either  groweth  not  at  all,  or  vtterlie  giueth 
 Guer  the  vertues  wherewith  it  was  earst  indued."* 
 
 *  As  connected  with  the  Bass,  Boece  mentions,  that  "  there  was  some- 
 time a  stone  found  here  in  this  rocke  much  like  to  a  water  sponge  or  pu- 
 mice, hollow  on  the  one  side,  and  of  such  a  nature,  that  if  anie  salt  water 
 had  beenepowrod  thereinto,  and  suffered  to  run  throxigh,  it  would  forthwith 
 lose  the  naturall  saltnesse,  and  become  fresh  and  verie  pleasant  vnto  the 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 S87 
 
 This  description,  although  faulty  in  some  particulars,  which 
 we  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  point  out,  nevertheless, 
 for  general  truthfulness,  forms  a  striking  contrast  with  those 
 delusions  of  the  fancy,  which  the  same  author  gravely  records 
 in  reference  to  the  production  of  birds  from  shells  found  attached 
 to  wood  in  the  sea. 
 
 "  Now  it  is  come  to  hand  that  I  intreat  of  those  geese  which 
 are  ingendred  by  the  sea,  whose  procreation  hath  hitherto 
 been  thought  to  haue  beene  made  upon  trees.  But  the  opi- 
 nion is  false,  and  yet  sith  their  generation  is  strange  indeed,  I 
 haue  not  a  little  trauelled,  and  with  no  small  diligence  in- 
 deuoured  to  search  out  the  truth  heerof,  whereby  I  learne  that 
 their  ingendrure  is  rather  to  be  referred  to  the  sea,  than  any 
 thing  els,  if  my  coniecture  be  oughts :  for  although  that  they 
 are  in  sundrie  wise  producted,  yet  I  find  the  same  to  be  per- 
 formed continuallie  in  the  sea,  and  not  elsewhere,  as  shall  ap- 
 peere  hereafter.  All  trees  cast  into  that  element  in  processe 
 of  time  become  wormeaten,  and  in  the  holes  thereof  are  the 
 said  wormes  to  be  found,  though  verie  little  and  small  (in  com- 
 parison to  that  they  be  afterward)  to  be  perceiued  at  the  first. 
 In  the  beginning,  these  worms  doo  shew  their  heads  and  feet, 
 and  last  of  all  their  plumes  &  wings.  Fiuallie  when  they  are 
 come  to  the  iust  measure  and  quantitie  of  geese,  they  flie  in 
 the  aire  as  other  foules  doo. 
 
 "  This  was  notablie  prooued  in  the  yeare  of  Grace  1490,  in 
 sight  of  many  people,  beside  the  castell  of  Pcslego,  whither 
 the  bodie  of  a  great  tree  was  brought  by  working  of  the  sea. 
 This  tree  being  taken,  it  was  carried  to  the  lord  of  the  soile, 
 who  soone  after  caused  it  to  be  slit  in  sunder  with  a  saw: 
 which  being  doone,  it  is  incredible  to  see,  what  a  multitude  of 
 wormes  came  out  of  their  holes.  Of  these  also  someappeered  as 
 if  they  had  beene  but  new  shapen,  diners  had  head,  foot  and 
 wings,  but  no  feathers,  the  rest  were  formed  into  perfect  foules. 
 
 mouth  and  tast.  We  hcare  in  these  daies  that  this  stone  is  to  bo  s^cne  in 
 Fast  castoll,  whither  it  was  brought  after  it  h;id  passed  nianio  hands  for 
 the  triall  of  this  mutter." 
 
388 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 At  last  when  tlie  people  had  gazed  thereon  by  the  space  of  an 
 whole  dale,  they  carried  it  to  saiut  Andrewes  church  beside 
 Tire,  where  the  said  blocke  remains  still  to  be  scene.  Within 
 two  yeeres  after  there  hapned  such  another  tree  to  come  into 
 the  firth  of  Tay  beside  Dundee,  wormeaten  and  full  of  yoong 
 geese  after  the  same  maner :  the  third  was  seen  in  the  hauen 
 of  Leith  beside  Edenburgh  :  and  also  within  a  few  yeeres,  in 
 like  sort  a  ship  named  the  Christopher,  after  she  had  lien  three 
 yeeres  at  anchor  in  one  of  these  Hes,  was  broght  to  Leith, 
 where  bicause  hir  timber  was  found  to  be  rotten  she  was  taken 
 in  sunder,  and  in  hir  keele  were  found  infinite  holes  as  if  they 
 had  beene  eaten  with  wormes,  or  bored  with  a  wimble,  and 
 each  one  of  them  filled  with  such  creatures  as  I  haue  said  be- 
 fore. 
 
 "  Heere  if  any  man  will  alledge  that  the  Christopher  was 
 builded  of  such  timber  onelie  as  grew  in  these  lies,  and  that 
 all  roots  and  trees  there  growing,  are  of  such  nature  as  in  their 
 corruption  doo  turne  into  these  foules,  I  will  disprooue  his  as- 
 sertion by  one  notable  example  shewed  before  mine  eies. 
 Maister  Alexander  Galloway  parson  of  Kinkell,  was  with  vs  in 
 these  lies,  &  giuing  his  mind  with  attentiue  diligence  to  search 
 out  a  full  resolution  with  vs  of  these  obscure  and  hidden  mat- 
 ters, it  hapned  on  a  time  that  he  took  vp  a  branch  of  Alga, 
 called  in  Scotish,  Seatangle,  which  hanged  full  of  muskle  shels 
 from  the  root  euen  to  the  verie  top.  Being  also  desirous  to 
 see  what  was  in  them,  he  grew  to  be  more  astonished  than  be- 
 fore :  for  when  he  opened  one  or  two  of  them,  he  saw  no  fish 
 but  a  foule  perfectlie  shapen  fullie  answering  to  the  capacitie 
 of  the  shell. 
 
 "  Finallie,  knowing  that  I  was  verie  inquisitiue  of  these  and 
 the  like  rare  nouelties,  he  came  hastilie  with  the  said  hearbe 
 &  shewed  it  vnto  me,  who  found  no  lesse  by  experience  than 
 I  before  reported.  By  these  and  many  other  reasons  and  ex- 
 amples I  cannot  beleeue  that  these  Claiks  (or  Barnacls  as  I  call 
 them)  are  producted  either  by  the  qualities  of  the  trees  or 
 the  roots  thereof,  but  onelie  by  the  nature  of  the  sea,  which 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 is  the  verie  cause  and  productrix  of  so  manie  worderfull  crea- 
 tures. Futhennore,  bicause  the  rude  and  ignorant  people  saw 
 oftentimes  the  fruits  that  fell  from  trees,  which  stood  neuer  in 
 the  sea,  conuerted  within  short  time  into  geese,  they  beleeued 
 that  these  geese  grew  vpon  trees,  hanging  by  their  nebs  as 
 apples  and  other  fi-uit  doo  by  their  stalks,  but  their  opinion  is 
 vtterHe  to  be  reiected.  For  so  soone  as  these  apples  or  fruit 
 fall  from  the  tree  into  the  sea,  they  grow  first  to  be  wormeaten, 
 and  in  processe  of  time  to  be  conuerted  into  geese." 
 
 This  account  of  the  origin  of  the  Barnacle  goose,  was  after- 
 wards modified  by  Gerard  and  others,  and  furnished  the  author 
 of  Hudibras  with  the  materials  which  led  him  to  err  in  his 
 facts  and  invert  his  sense  when  he  said — 
 
 "  And  from  the  most  refined  of  saints 
 As  naturally  grow  miscreants. 
 As  Barnacles  turn  Soland  Geese 
 In  the  islands  of  the  Orcades." 
 
 The  next  historian  of  the  colony  of  the  Solan  geese  of  the 
 Bass,  is  no  less  a  personage  than  the  discoverer  of  the  circulation 
 of  the  blood,  the  celebrated  William  Harxt^y.  This  success- 
 ful physiologist,  in  his  work  on  the  Generation  of  Animals  in 
 1651,  gives  a  full  account  of  the  impressions  produced  on  his 
 mind  by  a  visit  to  this  interesting  rock,  and  which  we  shall 
 give  in  the  words  of  the  translation  published  under  the  au- 
 thority of  the  Sydenham  Society  : — 
 
 "  In  the  desert  islands  of  the  east  coast  of  Scotland,  such 
 flights  of  almost  every  kind  of  sea-fowl  congregate,  that  were  1 
 to  state  what  I  have  heard  from  parties  very  worthy  of  credit, 
 I  fear  I  should  be  held  guilty  of  telling  greater  stories  than 
 they  who  have  committed  themselves  in  regard  to  the  Scottish 
 geese  produced,  as  they  say,  from  the  fruits  of  certain  trees  that 
 had  fallen  into  the  sea.  These  geese  the  narrators  themselvfs 
 had  never  seen  so  produced  ;  but  T  will  here  relate  tliat  wliicli 
 I  have  myself  witnessed. 
 
 "  There  is  a  small  island  which  the  Scots  call  the  Bass  Island 
 
390 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 (and  speaking  of  this  one  will  suffice  for  all),  situated  in  the 
 open  ocean,  not  far  from  the  shore,  of  the  most  abrupt  and  pre- 
 cipitous character,  so  that  it  rather  resembles  one  huge  rock  or 
 stone  than  an  island,  and  indeed  it  is  not  more  than  a  mile  in 
 circumference.  The  surface  of  this  island  in  the  months  of  May 
 and  June  is  almost  completely  covered  with  nests,  eggs,  and 
 young  birds,  so  that  you  can  scarce  find  free  footing  anywhere ; 
 and  then  such  is  the  density  of  the  flight  of  the  old  birds 
 above,  that  like  a  cloud  they  darken  the  sun  and  the  sky  ;  and 
 such  the  screaming  and  din  that  you  can  scarce  hear  the  voice 
 of  one  who  addresses  you.  If  you  turn  your  eyes  below,  and 
 from  your  lofty  stance  and  precipice  regard  the  sea,  there  you 
 perceive  on  all  sides  around  an  infinite  variety  of  diff'erent  kinds 
 of  sea-fowl  swimming  about  in  pursuit  of  their  prey  :  the  face 
 of  the  ocean  is  very  like  that  of  a  pool  in  the  spring  season, 
 when  it  appears  swarming  with  frogs  ;  or  to  those  sunny  hills 
 and  cliffy  mountains  looked  at  from  below,  that  are  covered  with 
 numerous  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats.  If  you  sail  round  the  island 
 and  look  up,  you  see  on  every  ledge  and  shelf,  and  recess,  in- 
 numerable flocks  of  birds  of  almost  every  size  and  order  ;  more 
 numerous  than  the  stars  that  appear  in  the  unclouded  moonless 
 sky  ;  and  if  you  regard  the  flights  that  incessantly  come  and  go 
 you  may  imagine  that  it  is  a  mighty  swarm  of  bees  you  have  be- 
 fore you.  I  should  scarcely  be  credited  did  I  name  the  revenue 
 which  was  annually  derived  from  the  feathers,  the  eggs,  and  the 
 old  nests,  which,  as  useful  for  firing,  are  all  made  objects  of 
 traffic  by  the  proprietor  ;  the  sum  he  mentioned  to  me  exceeds 
 credibility.  There  was  this  particular  feature  which,  as  it  refers 
 to  our  subject,  I  shall  mention,  and  also  as  it  bears  me  out  in 
 my  report  of  the  multitudes  of  sea-fowl:  the  whole  island  appears 
 of  a  brilliant  white  colour  to  those  who  approach  it, — all  the 
 cliffs  look  as  if  they  consisted  of  the  whitest  chalk  ;  the  true 
 colour  of  the  rock,  however,  is  dusky  and  black.  It  is  a  friable 
 white  crust  that  is  spread  over  all,  which  gives  the  island  its 
 whiteness  and  splendour,  a  crust,  having  the  same  consistency, 
 colour,  and  nature  as  an  egg-shell,  which  plasters  everything 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 891 
 
 with  a  hard,  though  friable  and  testaceous  kind  of  covering.  ^ 
 
 The  lower  part  of  the  rock,  laved  by  the  ebbing  and  flowing 
 
 tide,  preserves  its  native  colour,  and  clearly  shows  that  the 
 
 whiteness  of  the  superior  parts  is  due  to  the  liquid  excrements 
 
 of  the  birds,  which  are  voided  along  with  the  alvine  fseces ;  j 
 
 which  liquid  excrements,  white,  hard,  and  brittle  like  the  shell  j 
 
 of  the  egg,  cover  the  rock,  and,  under  the  influence  of  the  cold 
 
 of  the  air,  incrust  it.    Now  this  is  precisely  the  way  in  which  ^ 
 
 Aristotle  and  Pliny  will  have  •  it  that  the  shell  of  the  egg 
 
 is  formed.    None  of  the  birds  are  permanent  occupants  of 
 
 the  island,  but  visitors  for  purposes  of  procreation  only, 
 
 staying  there  for  a  few  weeks,  in  lodgings,  as  it  were,  and 
 
 until  their  young  ones  can  take  wing  along  with  them.  The 
 
 white  crust  is  so  hard  and  solid,  and  adheres  so  intimately  to 
 
 the  rock,  that  it  might  readily  be  mistaken  for  the  natural  soil 
 
 of  the  place. 
 
 "  The  liquid,  white,  and  shining  excrement  is  conveyed  from 
 the  kidneys  of  birds  by  the  ureters,  into  the  common  receptacle 
 or  cloaca ;  where  it  covers  over  the  alvine  fasces,  and  with 
 them  is  discharged.    It  constitutes,  in  fact,  the  thicker  por-  i 
 tion  of  the  urine  of  these  creatures,  and  coiTesponds  with  that 
 which,  in  our  urine,  we  call  the  hypostase  or  sediment.  We 
 have  already  said  something  above  on  this  topic,  and  have  j 
 entered  into  it  still  more  fully  elsewhere.    We  always  find  an 
 abundance  of  this  white  excrement  in  mews ;  where  hawks  be- 
 smear walls  beside  their  perches,  they  cover  them  with  a  kind 
 of  gypseous  crust,  or  make  them  look  as  if  they  were  painted  i 
 with  white  lead.  j 
 
 "  In  the  cloaca  of  a  dead  ostrich  I  found  as  much  of  this  gyp-  j 
 seous  cement  as  would  have  filled  the  hand.  And  in  like 
 manner  the  same  substance  abounds  in  tortoises  and  other 
 oviparous  animals  ;  discharged  from  the  body  it  soon  concretes 
 either  into  a  friable  crust,  or  into  a  powder  which  greatly  re- 
 sembles pulverized  egg-shells,  in  consequence  of  the  evaporation 
 of  ha  thinner  part.  I 
 
 "  Among  the  many  difl'erent  kinds  of  birds  which  seek  the  j 
 
392 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Bass  island  for  the  sake  of  laying  and  incubating  their  eggs, 
 and  which  have  such  variety  of  nests,  one  bird  was  pointed  out 
 to  me  which  lays  but  one  egg,  and  this  it  places  upon  the 
 point  of  a  rock,  with  nothing  like  a  nest  or  bed  beneath  it,  yet 
 so  firmly  that  the  mother  can  go  and  return  without  injury  to 
 it ;  but  if  any  one  move  it  from  its  place,  by  no  art  can  it  be 
 fixed  or  balanced  again  ;  left  at  liberty,  it  straightway  rolls  off 
 and  falls  into  the  sea.  The  place,  as  I  have  said,  is  crusted 
 over  with  a  white  cement,  and  the  egg,  when  laid,  is  bedewed 
 with  a  thick  and  viscid  moisture,  which  setting  speedily,  the 
 egg  is  soldered  as  it  were,  or  agglutinated  to  the  subjacent 
 rock. 
 
 "  An  instance  of  like  rapid  concretion  may  be  seen  any  day 
 at  a  statuary's,  when  he  uses  his  cement  of  burnt  alabaster  or 
 gypsum  tempered  with  water ;  by  means  of  which  the  likeness 
 of  one  dead,  or  the  cast  of  anything  else  may  be  speedily  taken, 
 and  used  as  a  mould. 
 
 "  There  is  also  in  like  manner  a  certain  earthy  or  solid  some- 
 thing in  almost  all  liquids,  as,  for  example,  tartar  in  wine,  mud 
 or  sand  in  water,  salt  in  lixivium,  which,  when  the  greater  por- 
 tion of  the  water  has  been  dissipated,  concretes  and  subsides  ; 
 and  so  do  I  conceive  the  white  sediment  of  birds  to  descend 
 along  with  the  urine  from  the  kidneys  into  the  cloaca,  and 
 there  to  cover  over  and  incrust  the  egg,  much  as  the  pavement 
 of  a  mews  is  plastered  over  by  falcons,  and  every  cliff  of  the 
 aforementioned  island  by  the  birds  that  frequent  it ;  much  also 
 as  chamber  utensils,  and  places  where  many  persons  make  water, 
 become  covered  with  a  yellow  incrustation ;  that  substance,  in 
 fact,  concreting  externally,  of  which  calculi  in  the  kidneys, 
 bladder,  and  other  parts  are  formed.  I  did  formerly  believe 
 then,  as  I  have  said,  persuaded  especially  by  the  authority  of 
 Aristotle  and  Pliny,  that  the  shell  of  the  hen's  egg  was  formed 
 of  this  white  sediment,  which  abounds  in  all  the  oviparous  ani- 
 mals whose  eggs  are  laid  with  a  hard  shell,  the  matter  concret- 
 ing through  contact  with  the  air  when  the  egg  was  laid.  And 
 so  many  additional  observations  have  since  strengthened  this 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 398 
 
 conclusion,  that  I  can  scarcely  keep  from  believing  that  some 
 part  at  least  of  the  shell  is  thus  produced." 
 
 The  last  author  to  whose  description  of  the  Bass  we  shall 
 particularly  refer  and  quote  fully,  is  the  celebrated  Ray. 
 This  eminent  zoologist  and  botanist,  perhaps  better  known  to 
 the  general  reader  by  his  esteemed  work  "  The  Wisdom  of 
 God  in  the  Creation,"  paid  a  visit  to  the  Bass  19th  August 
 1661,  and  the  following  account  of  his  observations  are  re- 
 corded in  his  "  Itineraries"  as  forming  a  part  of  the  "  Select 
 Eemains :" — 
 
 "  We  went  to  Leith,  keeping  all  along  on  the  side  of  the 
 Fryth.  By  the  way  we  viewed  Tontallon  Castle,  and  passed 
 over  to  the  Bass  Island ;  where  we  saw,  on  the  rocks,  innu- 
 merable of  the  Soland  geese.*  The  old  ones  are  all  over  white, 
 excepting  the  pinion  or  hard  feathers  of  then*  wings,  which  are 
 black.  The  upper  part  of  the  head  and  neck,  in  those  that  are 
 old,  is  of  a  yellowish  dua  colour.  They  lay  but  one  egg  apiece, 
 which  is  white,  and  not  very  large  :  they  are  very  bold  and  sit 
 in  great  multitudes  till  one  comes  close  up  to  them,  because 
 they  are  not  wont  to  be  scared  or  disturbed.  The  young  ones 
 are  esteemed  a  choice  dish  in  Scotland,  and  sold  very  dear 
 (Is.  8d.  plucked).  We  eat  of  them  at  Dunbar.  They  are  in 
 bigness  little  inferior  to  an  ordinary  goose.  The  young  one  is 
 upon  the  back  black,  and  speckled  with  little  white  spots,  under 
 the  breast  and  belly  grey.  The  beak  is  sharp-pointed,  the 
 mouth  very  wide  and  large,  the  tongue  very  small,  the  cyts 
 great,  the  foot  hath  four  toes  webbed  together.  It  feeds  upon 
 mackrel  and  herring,  and  the  flesh  of  the  young  one  smells  and 
 tastes  strong  of  these  fish.  The  other  birds  which  no.stlc  in  the 
 Basse  are  these  ;  the  scout,  which  is  double  ribbed  ;  the  catti- 
 wake,  in  Euglish  cormorant ;  the  scart,  and  a  bird  called  the 
 
 •  '"In  Scotia  Anatum,  seu  Anserum  Goiius,  liornarlcs,  ox  Conchia  ant 
 Arboribus  vulgo  nast  i  perhibetur.'  Ex  Everardi  Ottt^nis  N(>titi&  prao- 
 cipuarum  Europat  Rerunipub.  oap.  iv.  soot.  1,  p.  2*J7. 
 
 "This  name  of  Bcrnaclcs,  as  applied  to  the  Soland  gooso,  explain«  what 
 Cleaveland,  in  his  Satyr  upon  tho  Scotch,  moans  by  feeding  on  Hornaclc«." 
 
394 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 turtle-dove,  whole  footed,  and  the  feet  red.    There  are  verses  < 
 
 which  contain  the  names  of  these  birds  among  the  vulgar,  two  i 
 whereof  are, 
 
 The  scout,  the  scart,  the  cattiwake,  ^ 
 The  Soland  goose  sits  on  the  lack, 
 
 Yearly  in  the  spring.  ( 
 
 We  saw  of  the  scout's  eggs,  which  are  very  large  and  speckled,  j 
 
 It  is  very  dangerous  to  climb  the  rocks  for  the  young  of  these  ' 
 
 fowls,  and  seldom  a  year  passeth,  but  one  or  other  of  the  : 
 climbers  fall  down  and  lose  their  lives,  as  did  one  not  long  be- 
 fore our  being  there.    The  laird  of  this  island  makes  a  great 
 profit  yearly  of  the  Soland  geese  taken  ;  as  I  remember,  they 
 
 told  us  £130  sterling.    There  is  in  the  isle  a  small  house,  ' 
 which  they  call  a  castle ;  it  is  inaccessible  and  impregnable, 
 but  of  no  great  consideration  in  a  war,  there  being  no  harbour, 
 
 nor  any  thing  like  it.    The  island  will  afford  grass  enough  to  i 
 
 keep  30  sheep.    They  make  strangers  that  come  to  visit  it  j 
 
 burgesses  of  the  Basse,  by  giving  them  to  drink  of  the  water  | 
 
 of  the  well,  which  springs  near  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  a  j 
 
 flower  out  of  the  garden  thereby.    The  island  is  nought  else  | 
 
 but  a  rock,  and  stands  off  the  land  near  a  mile ;  at  Dunbar  j 
 
 you  would  not  guess  it  above  a  mile  distant,  though  it  be  j 
 
 thence  at  least  five.    We  found  growing  in  the  island,  in  great  \ 
 
 plenty,  Beta  marina.  Lychnis  marina  nostras,  Malva  arborea  I 
 
 marina  nostras,  and  Cochlearia  rotundifolia."  ; 
 
 In  the  preceding  extracts  from  Boece,  Harvey,  and  Ray, 
 
 given  entire  as  from  works  not  generally  accessible  to  the  or-  j 
 
 dinary  reader,  the  more  prominent  features  of  the  feathered  | 
 
 inhabitants  of  the  Bass  have  been  depicted  with  tolerable  j 
 
 fidelity,  blended,  however,  with  a  few  speculations  requiring  ] 
 
 correction.  i 
 
 In  the  "  Ornithology"  of  Willoughby,  edited  (1678)  by  | 
 Ray,  it  is  stated,  that  "  in  the  Bass  island  in  Scotland,  lying 
 
 in  the  middle  of  the  Edinburgh  Frith,  and  no  where  else  that  j 
 I  know  of  in  Britan>/y  a  huge  number  of  these  birds  (Solan 
 
 I 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 395 
 
 geese)  doth  yearly  breed."  This  learned  naturalist  was  not 
 aware  of  the  announcement  of  Boece,  a  century  and  a  half 
 previously,  that  "  Ailsaie"  in  the  Gyde,  was  in  one  respect 
 equal  to  the  "  Solangoosifera  Bassa"  of  the  Forth,  nor  had 
 the  numerous  other  British  localities  where  the  gannet  breeds, 
 been  in  his  day  discovered.  At  the  present  time  England  can 
 boast  of  its  colony  at  Lundy  Island  off  the  coast  of  Devon, 
 Ireland  that  of  the  Skelig  Isles  off  the  Kerry  coast,  while 
 Scotland,  in  addition  to  the  Bass  and  Ailsa,  can  refer  to  the 
 more  extensive  congregations  of  these  birds  at  St  Kilda  and 
 the  Suliskerry,  or,  as  the  latter  may  be  translated,  Gannet 
 Ftock. 
 
 The  total  number  of  gannets  which  resort  annually  to  the 
 Bass  as  breeding  ground,  cannot  be  determined  in  a  satisfac- 
 tory manner.  Considering  1800  as  rather  a  high  number  of 
 young  birds,  annually  removed  from  their  nests  before  being  able 
 to  fly,  and  taking  into  account  those  old  birds  which  select  in- 
 accessible positions  for  their  nests,  we  shall  probably  be  tole- 
 rably near  the  truth,  when  we  estimate  the  breeding  pairs  at 
 (J 00.  This  number,  however,  is  insignificant  when  compared 
 with  those  of  St  Kilda,  if  we  may  credit  the  numerical  state- 
 ment of  Martin  on  the  subject,  who  says,  "  the  Solan  geese 
 are  very  numerous  here,  insomuch  that  the  inhabitants  com- 
 monly keep  j^early  ahove  twenty  thousand  young  and  old  in 
 the  little  stone-houses,  of  which  there  are  some  hundreds,  for 
 preserving  their  fowls'  eggs."  Description  of  the  Western 
 Islands,  1703,  p.  281. 
 
 The  Solan  goose,  as  a  denizen  of  tlio  northern  hemisphere, 
 has  other  breeding  places  than  those  around  our  o\sti  coast. 
 To  the  north  it  abounds  at  the  Myggenaes,  the  westmost  of 
 the  group  of  the  Faroe  Islands.  In  North  America  they  are 
 extremely  abundant  on  some  rocky  isles  in  the  Bay  of  St 
 Lawrence,  and  of  the  coast  of  Labrador.  Thi.s  extensive  lati- 
 tudinal range  of  breeding  ground  of  the  gannet,  extending  to 
 upwards  of  twelve  degrees,  indicates  very  plainly  that  tempe- 
 rature exercises  but  a  very  feeble  influence  on  its  migrations. 
 
396 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 A  supply  of  suitable  food  for  the  young  is  at  all  times  an 
 essential  requisite  in  a  breeding  station,  and  in  tbis  respect 
 tbe  whole  range  of  coast  seems  well  adapted,  and  yet  the  colo- 
 nies of  gannets  are  distributed  differently  from  those  sea-fowl 
 which  invariably  breed  where  they  breed.  We  have  numerous 
 breeding  places  for  the  Kittiwake,  Razor-bill,  Foolish  Guille- 
 mot, and  the  Scraber,  on  different  parts  of  the  coast,  which 
 the  Gannet  never  frequents,  although  these  birds  are  its  usual 
 associates  in  its  selected  stations.  The  size  of  the  bird  pro- 
 bably interferes  and  restricts  its  occupancy  to  those  rocks,  the 
 ledges  of  which  have  sufficient  breadth  to  allow  the  young  bird 
 to  grow  to  its  full  size  in  safety,  and  the  old  birds  to  alight  or 
 take  wing  conveniently.  Even  where  protected,  as  at  the 
 Bass,  the  two  colonies  which,  unable  probably  to  find  space 
 among  the  cliffs,  have  occupied  the  surface  of  the  island,  con- 
 fine themselves  to  the  very  margin.  On  level  ground  the 
 gannets  could  not  mount  into  the  air  like  the  gulls,  but  re- 
 quire for  commencing  their  course  a  free  space,  through  which 
 they  fall  for  several  yards  almost  perpendicularly  before  the 
 motion  of  the  wings  can  give  them  the  full  command  of  their 
 flight.    In  alighting,  too,  they  seem  to  fall  heavily. 
 
 The  gannets  occupy  their  breeding  places  simply  for  the 
 purposes  of  incubation,  deserting  them,  in  a  great  measure, 
 when  these  have  been  served.  The  period,  however,  which  is 
 occupied  in  the  rearing  of  the  young  until  these  become  able 
 to  fly  and  shift  for  themselves,  is  somewhat  prolonged.  The 
 old  birds,  as  is  usual  with  other  congregating  migratory  species, 
 neither  arrive  nor  depart  simultaneously.  A  few  stragglers 
 make  their  appearance  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  main 
 body,  and  a  few  linger  behind  after  the  mass  of  the  colony 
 has  departed.  In  general,  however,  it  may  be  stated  that 
 the  process  of  incubation  lasts  throughout  a  period  of  nearly 
 seven  months,  or  from  March  to  September. 
 
 The  nest  of  the  gannet  has  been  variously  described  by  dif- 
 ferent observers.  Boece  deals  largely  in  the  marvellous,  when 
 he  tells  us,  in  the  extract  already  quoted,  that  the  gannets  at 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS, 
 
 397 
 
 their  first  coining  gather  such  great  plenty  of  sticks  and  boughs 
 together  for  the  building  of  their  nests,  that  the  same  satisfies 
 the  keeper  of  the  castle  for  the  yearly  maintenance  of  his  fuel, 
 without  any  other  provision.  Harvey  states,  with  greater  re- 
 serve, that  the  old  nests  are  useful  for  fuel.  This  remark 
 called  forth  the  animadversions  of  Willoughby,  who  says,  "  I 
 suppose  he  was  mistaken  in  that  he  writes  that  the  lord  of  the 
 island  makes  some  profit  yearly  of  the  reliques  of  the  nests  use- 
 ful for  fuel.  For  these  kind  of  birds  do  not  make  their  nests 
 of  straws,  sticks,  or  such  like  combustible  matter  good  for  fuel ; 
 but  either  lay  their  eggs  on  the  naked  rocks,  or  spread  under 
 them  very  few  straws,  bents,  or  such  like  inconsiderable  stuffs." 
 (Ornithology J  p.  19.)  The  notion  thus  entertained  by  Wil- 
 loughly  appeared  to  Dr  Walker  as  involving  a  very  unfair  way 
 of  reasoning,  by  opposing  a  supposition  to  a  fact,  and  he  adds, 
 "  If  Mr  Willoughby  had  ever  been  upon  the  Bass,  he  would  in 
 some  measure  have  altered  his  opinion  concerning  the  nests  of 
 sea-fowl.  The  nests  of  the  Solan  geese,  which  cover  a  consi- 
 derable part  of  the  island,  are  of  a  great  size,  are  built  for  the 
 most  part  of  sticks  and  branches  of  trees,  some  of  them  pretty 
 large ;  and  as  Dr  Harvey  related,  the  demolition  of  these  nests 
 still  supplies  the  keepers  of  the  Bass  with  a  considerable  quan- 
 tity of  fuel.  (Essays  on  Natural  History,  Edin.  1808,  p.  287  ) 
 In  opposition,  however,  to  this  very  decided  statement  of  Dr 
 Walker,  we  must  quote  the  words  of  an  acute  observer,  Dr 
 Macgillivray,  who  did  visit  the  Bass  in  company  with  Mr  Au- 
 dubon, the  celebrated  American  ornithologist,  in  the  middle 
 of  August  1835.  He  says,  "  The  nests  are  composed  of  grass 
 and  sea- weeds,  generally  placed  on  the  bare  rock  or  earth, 
 elevated  in  the  fonn  of  a  truncated  cone,  of  which  the  base  is 
 about  twenty  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  shallow  tcnuiuul  cavity. 
 On  the  summit  of  the  island  arc  numerous  holes  in  the  turf, 
 from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  deep,  and  from  six  to  nine  broad, 
 formed  by  the  gannets  in  pulling  away  grass  and  turf  for  their 
 nests.  They  are  placed  on  all  parts  of  the  rocks  where  a  con- 
 venient spot  occurs,  but  are  U'uch  more  numerous  towards  the 
 
398 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 summit.  Some  of  them  on  the  face  of  the  rock,  or  in  a  shal- 
 low fissure,  and  which  have  been  occupied  for  years,  are  piled 
 up  to  the  height  of  from  three  to  five  feet,  but  in  this  case 
 they  always  lean  against  the  rock."  (Description  of  the  Ra- 
 pacious Birds  of  Great  Britain,  Edinb.  1836,  p.  172.)  The 
 nests  which  we  examined  in  August  last,  seemed  chiefly  com- 
 posed of  sea-weedSj  and  a  very  little  grass,  in  some  cases  the 
 materials  so  decomposed  as  to  resemble  a  mass  of  peat  or  an 
 old  dung-heap,  and  well  fitted  for  being  used  as  a  manure. 
 
 How  then  are  we  to  account  for  these  statements  respecting 
 the  productiveness  of  the  nests,  as  a  supply  of  fuel?  That 
 sticks  and  branches  have  been  found  on  certain  occasions  con- 
 stituting the  nests  of  the  gannets,  can  scarcely  admit  of  a  doubt, 
 although  the  present  keeper  does  not  gain  any  addition  to  his 
 fuel  from  the  modern  nests.  In  certain  seasons  the  spring  floods 
 may  have  abounded,  and  brought  down  into  the  Forth  many 
 branches.  These,  as  the  gannets  found  them  carried  about  by 
 the  tide,  would  be  seized  upon,  as  floating  seaweeds  are  at  pre- 
 sent, and  conveyed  to  the  nests,  and  might  be  available  to  the 
 keepers  to  some  extent.  Or  the  nests,  of  old,  may  have  been 
 dried  and  used  as  fuel,  as  cow  dung  is  employed  in  several 
 places  in  Orkney  at  the  present  day.  These  conjectures  may 
 in  some  measure  save  us  from  the  still  bolder  conclusion,  that 
 the  nest  building  propensities  of  the  gannet  have  undergone  a 
 change,  or  that  the  anciently  available  materials  are  not  now 
 accessible. 
 
 As  a  proof  of  this  indiscriminate  propensity  of  the  gannet, 
 to  gather  every  removeable  object  for  the  construction  of  its 
 nest,  Martin  states  that  "  the  steward  of  St  Kilda  told  (him), 
 that  they  found  a  Red  Coat  in  the  nest,  a  Brass  Dial  and  an 
 Arrow  and  some  Molucca  beans  in  another  nest,"  all  doubtless 
 found  floating  on  the  sea  or  left  on  some  easily  accessible 
 islet. 
 
 If  considerable  difierences  prevail  in  the  published  accounts 
 of  the  materials  of  the  nest  of  the  gannet,  there  are  likewise 
 discrepancies  in  the  history  of  the  egg  and  its  incubation,  to 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BAS5. 
 
 399 
 
 which  we  shall  now  very  briefly  advert.  Harvey  refers  to  one 
 bird  on  the  Bass,  which,  he  says,  lays  but  one  egg,  and  places 
 it  upon  the  point  of  a  rock,  with  nothing  like  a  nest  or  bed  be- 
 neath it,  yet  so  firmly,  that  the  mother  can  go  and  return  with- 
 out injury  to  it ;  but  if  any  one  remove  it  from  its  place,  by 
 no  art  can  it  be  fixed  or  balanced  again ;  left  at  liberty,  it 
 straightway  rolls  off  and  falls  into  the  sea ;  and  this  reference 
 has  usually  been  considered  as  connected  with  the  gannet. 
 This  report,  which  Harvey  the  more  easily  credited  from  the 
 notions  which  he  entertained  of  the  secretion  by  birds  of  a 
 '  gypseous  cement,"  as  stated  in  tlie  extract  already  made, 
 does  not  seem  to  have  been  countenanced  by  any  subsequent 
 visitor  of  the  Bass,  and  may  fairly  be  ranked  among  exploded 
 popular  errors. 
 
 Dr  Walker  states,  on  the  authority  of  the  then  keeper  of  the 
 island,  "  that  they  (gannets)  do  not  stand  upon  the  egg,  as  is 
 commonly  reported,  but  sit  upon  it  with  their  breast,  which 
 we  saw  indeed,  like  other  fowls,  hut  one  of  their  feet  always 
 folded  under  them  upon  the  egg^  Dr  Macgillivray,  in  refer- 
 ence to  the  egg,  says,  it  "  is  solitary,  and  presents  nothing  re- 
 markable in  its  position,  is  of  an  elongated  oval  form,  bluish 
 white,  dull  with  a  chalky  surface,  usually  patched  with  yellow- 
 ish-brown dust.  It  is  subjected  to  what  might  appear  rough 
 usage,  for  the  bird  in  alighting,  flying  off,  or  when  disturbed 
 by  the  intrusion  of  human  visitors,  tumbles  it  about  and  often 
 stands  upon  it."  In  approaching  the  nest  during  incubation, 
 the  gannet  seems  usually  to  move  off  by  the  side,  and  while 
 one  foot  is  on  the  margin  of  the  nest,  the  other  may  very  fre- 
 quently be  observed  resting  on  the  egg,  not  however,  in  differ- 
 ent examples,  always  in  the  same  position.  Judging,  indeed, 
 from  the  observations  which  we  have  been  able  to  make,  it 
 seems  probable  that  the  gannet  rests  on  the  egg  in  the  nest  as 
 other  birds  do,  but  in  preparing  to  move,  especially  in  retiring 
 from  an  intruder,  it  does  not  hesitate  to  set  its  foot  upon  the 
 egg,  and  hence  it  has  been  imagined  to  embrace  it  always 
 throughout  the  whole  process  of  incubation. 
 
400 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 When  engaged  in  the  process  of  hatching,  the  gannets  allow 
 of  a  very  near  approach,  but  as  far  as  we  have  observed,  not 
 suffering  themselves  to  be  touched,  without  opening  their  bills, 
 and  by  sounds  and  gestures  assuming  rather  a  threatening  as- 
 pect.   Mr  Selby  must  have  found  the  colony  on  the  flat  sur- 
 face of  the  rock  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  island  in  a  pecu- 
 liarly peaceable  and  confiding  temperament  when  they  allowed 
 themselves  to  be  stroked  by  the  hand,  without  resistance  or 
 any  show  even  of  impatience,  except  a  low  guttural  note." 
 Even  to  one  another  there  is  often  displayed  among  neigh- 
 bours no  small  amount  of  strife,  arising  from  the  mutual  pilfer- 
 ing of  the  materials  of  the  nests,  and  other  sources  of  irrita- 
 tion not  perhaps  as  yet  determined.    On  one  occasion  we  saw, 
 on  an  old  bird  alighting,  another  immediately  exhibit  signs  of 
 displeasure,  but  instead  of  opening  their  bills,  they  proceeded 
 to  a  series  of  rapid  alternate  crossings  of  these  organs,  uttering 
 a  peculiar  cry,  and  after  continuing  for  about  a  minute  sepa-- 
 rated,  as  if  worn  out  with  this  singular  rubbing  of  noses. 
 
 The  young  birds  are  at  first  a  comparatively  shapeless  mass 
 of  fat,  covered  with  a  very  soft  white  down.  After  five  or  six 
 weeks  the  first  feathers  make  their  appearance,  and  in  about 
 three  months  they  are  able  to  leave  the  nest  for  the  open  sea. 
 At  this  period  of  independent  existence,  they  are  light-coloured 
 on  the  under  side,  and  are  black  above  with  white  spots,  as 
 may  be  seen  in  the  annexed  cut,  copied  from  Yarrell's  interest- 
 ing work  on  British  Birds.  In  this  state  of  in  part  immature 
 plumage  the  bird  remains  until  the  third,  if  not  in  some  cases 
 the  fourth  year,  changing  gradually  into  the  parent  dress  and 
 not  pairing  until  this  is  acquired. 
 
 During  the  period  of  the  rearing  of  the  young  birds,  the  pa- 
 rents provide,  at  the  different  stages  of  their  growth,  food  suit- 
 able to  their  powers.  At  first  the  young  are  fed  with  a  nearly 
 pulpy  mass  ejected  from  the  gullet  of  the  parent,  and  after- 
 wards they  are  supplied  with  entire  fish  from  the  same  source ; 
 for  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  food  for  the  young  is  never 
 carried  by  the  old  birds  from  the  sea  in  their  bill,  but  is  in- 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 401 
 
 variably  disgorged.  In  the  process  of  feeding,  Dr  Walker 
 states,  that  the  parent  birds  "  bring  to  the  nest  four  or  five 
 herrings  or  a  greater  number  of  garvies  (sprats)  in  their  gor- 
 get, and  these  the  young  fowl  pulls  out  with  his  bill  as  with 
 a  pincer."  In  watching  the  process  of  feeding,  we  have  wit- 
 nessed appearances  such  as  Dr  Walker  has  described,  the 
 young  bird  seizing  the  prey  before  it  had  passed  from  the  bill 
 of  the  parent ;  but  in  other  cases  we  have  seen  the  old  bird, 
 after  a  characteristic  shaking  of  the  head  and  neck,  get  the 
 contents  of  the  gullet  transferred  to  the  mouth,  and  fairly 
 lay  a  portion  of  the  contents  into  the  gaping  mouth  of  the 
 young ;  the  giver  and  the  receiver,  however,  being  equally  dis- 
 posed towards  the  accomplishment  of  the  object. 
 
 The  gannet  has  been  stated  by  Temminck  to  swim  seldom, 
 and  never  to  submerge  or  dive  at  aU.  (Manuel  d'Ornithologie, 
 t.  2d,  p.  204).  Nuttall,  in  his  Ornithology  of  the  United 
 States,  likewise  advocates  the  same  view.  "  The  gannet  seems 
 incapable  of  diving,  at  least  no  alarm  can  force  it  to  immerse. 
 Upon  the  water,  it  seems  as  buoyant  as  a  gull.  When  olfered 
 fish,  they  will  take  it,  but  w^ll  never  go  into  a  pond  after  it ; 
 and  from  every  appearance  of  their  action  on  water,  to  which 
 they  will  only  go  by  compulsion,  they  cannot  procure  the  fish  be- 
 yond the  extent  of  their  neck."  (Water  Birds,  p.  498).  These 
 statements  are  perhaps  rather  strongly  expressed.  Like  the 
 gulls,  our  bird  when  floating  on  the  water  is  incapable  by  any 
 exertion  of  its  feet  and  wings  to  effect  the  submergence  of  its 
 body.  But  when  soaring  in  the  air,  at  sixty  or  a  hundred 
 yards  above  the  surface,  it  espies  a  fish  beneath  the  surfiice  of 
 the  water,  it  immediately  descends,  with  rigid  outstretched 
 neck  vei-tically,  like  an  arrow,  penetrates  into  the  water  with 
 a  squash,  and  having  secured  its  prey,riscs  to  the  surface  to 
 dispose  of  it  in  its  gorget,  and  then  takes  wing  to  repeat  the 
 operation  :  when  unsuccessful,  it  very  speedily  mounts  into  the 
 air.  Judging  from  the  rapidity  of  descent  by  gravity,  for  dur- 
 ing the  fall  the  wings  are  motionless,  and  the  length  of  time 
 during  which  the  bird  remains  out  of  sight  beneath  the  water, 
 
 Ll 
 
402 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 it  probably  penetrates  at  times  to  tbe  depth  of  several  fathoms. 
 Dr  Borlace  stated  to  Mr  Pennant,  that  a  gannet  "  flying  over 
 Penzance,  and  seeing  some  pilchards  lying  on  a  fir  plank,  in 
 a  cellar  used  for  curing  fish,  darted  itself  down  with  such 
 violence,  that  it  struck  its  bill  quite  through  the  board,  about 
 an  inch  and  quarter  thick,  and  broke  its  neck."  Pennant 
 adds,  "  These  birds  are  sometimes  taken  at  sea  by  a  deception 
 of  the  like  kind.  The  fishermen  fasten  a  pilchard  to  a  board 
 and  leave  it  floating,  whose  inviting  bait  decoys  the  unwary 
 gannet  to  its  own  destruction."    (British  Zoology,  2d,  p.  619). 
 
 The  old  birds,  after  the  period  of  incubation,  and  rearing 
 the  young  is  finished,  generally  speaking,  leave  the  rock  and 
 lead  a  wandering  life  on  the  ocean  in  search  of  food.  On  the 
 west  side  of  the  Atlantic,  they  extend  their  flight  as  far  south 
 as  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  northwards  to  Labrador,  and  even 
 occasionally  as  far  as  Greenland.  Their  southern  limit  on  the 
 east  side  of  the  Atlantic  is  the  coast  of  Portugal.  Off"  Bergen, 
 according  to  Pontopeidan,  where,  from  the  keeping  at  a  dis- 
 tance from  land,  it  is  called  Hav-Sule,  "  It  is  a  bird  of  pas- 
 sage, or  of  the  wandering  unsettled  sort.  It  is  not  seen  in  this 
 country,  before  the  latter  end  of  January,  or  beginning  of  Feb- 
 ruary when  the  herring  fishery  begins,  and  then  it  serves  for  a 
 sign  to  give  notice  of  the  season.  They  do  not  come  nearer 
 land  than  half  a  mile.  Then  the  farmer  observes  when  the  fish 
 seek  the  narrow  shallow  water.  At  Easter,  these  birds  are 
 not  seen  any  more,  therefore  I  cannot  say  much  about  them 
 breeding.  They  are  so  stupid,  that  by  laying  a  few  herrings 
 upon  a  floating  board,  they  may  be  enticed  to  the  bait  and 
 killed  with  the  oar." 
 
 The  Island  of  the  Bass  is  the  property  of  Sir  Hew  Dal- 
 rymple,  Bart.,  and  is  leased  by  an  active  tenant  for  £38  of 
 rent.  This,  however,  is  exclusive  of  the  pasturage  of  the 
 island,  but  includes  a  small  patch  of  ground  at  Canty  Bay  on 
 the  contiguous  shore,  with  a  house,  and  where  the  tenant  of 
 the  island  resides,  who  is  usually  denominated  the  keeper. 
 The  principal  produce  of  the  island,  on  which  the  tenant  de- 
 pends for  the  means  of  paying  his  rent,  is  the  young  gannets. 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 408 
 
 In  Ray's  time,  the  young  ones  plucked  and  prepared  for  the 
 market  by  being  flayed  and  gutted,  were  esteemed  a  choice 
 dish,  and  fetched  one  shilling  and  eightpence  apiece.  Dr 
 Walker,  who  wrote  his  account  of  the  Bass  probably  previously 
 to  1774,  estimates  their  price  at  the  same  value.  At  the  pre- 
 sent time,  however,  their  price  varies  from  ninepence  to  six- 
 pence, and  the  demand  is  yearly  decreasing.  The  public  taste 
 in  eatables,  as  in  dress,  undergoes  changes  which  it  is  difficult  to 
 account  for.  This  is  very  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  Household 
 Book  of  James  V.,  published  by  the  Bannatyne  Club  in  1837. 
 In  the  introductory  observations,  it  is  said,  "  The  table  of  the 
 king  appears  to  have  been  frequently  supplied  with  dishes  un- 
 known at  present  in  this  country,  as  in  use  by  either  rich  or  poor. 
 Thus  the  Seal  was  purchased  for  the  larder,  either  whole  or 
 in  quarters,  and  entered  as  Phoca  or  Selch.  The  Porpoise 
 too  was  in  demand  in  similar  circumstances,  under  the  name 
 of  Pellok.  It  may  be  added,  that  the  monks  of  Dunfermline 
 had  a  grant  from  Malcolm  IV.  of  the  heads  of  the  Porpoises 
 caught  in  the  Forth,  except  the  tongues  (reserved  for  the 
 royal  table  at  Holyrood) ;  and  that  the  bones  of  this  small 
 kind  of  whale,  found  a  few  years  ago  near  the  monastery  of  that 
 place,  must  be  regarded  as  the  offals  of  the  kitchen  instead  of 
 the  relics  of  a  deluge,"  (p.  xi).  In  other  portions  of  the  work, 
 there  are  entries  equally  singular,  and  in  reference  to  the  gannet, 
 the  purchases  for  the  royal  table  seem  to  have  taken  place 
 with  tolerable  regularity,  ranging  in  numbers  on  any  one  day 
 from  a  single  bird  to  thirty-six.  At  present,  we  suspect  that 
 a  young  gannet  would  not  be  considered  a  dainty  dish  to  set 
 before  the  Queen.    But  ancient  tastes  may  yet  be  revived. 
 
 In  St  Kilda,  according  to  Martin,  "  the  natives  make  a  pud- 
 ding of  the  fat  of  this  fowl  in  the  stomach  of  it,  and  boil  it  in 
 thin  water-gruel,  which  they  call  Drorhan  ;  they  drink  it  like- 
 wise for  removing  the  cough  ;  it  is,  by  daily  exi)orieucc,  found 
 to  be  an  excellent,  vulnerary,"  p.  282.  Tradition  seems  to  be 
 silent  respecting  the  mode  of  dressing  the  geese  in  the  neigh- 
 bourhood of  the  Bass  in  bygone  times,  but  that  they  were  in 
 high  repute  is  clear  from  the  fact  of  "  a  curious  remnant  of 
 
404^ 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 olden  ecclesiastical  privileges,  that  twelve  Solan  geese,  entire, 
 with  the  feathers  on,  are  annually  paid  to  the  minister  of  North 
 Berwick,— the  Vicar  of  the  Bass."  (Stat.  Acct.  of  Scotland, 
 vol.  ii.  p.  333,  Edin.  1845.) 
 
 Besides  the  prepared  carcases  of  the  young  gannets,  now 
 certainly  in  less  estimation  for  the  table  than  formerly,  the 
 flayed  skin  and  the  guts  yield  a  considerable  quantity  of  oil. 
 This  product,  once  esteemed  of"  singular  force  in  medicine,"  and 
 
 very  profitable  for  the  gout,  and  many  other  diseases  in  the 
 haunches  and  groins  of  mankind,"  does  not  now  occupy  a  place 
 in  the  laboratory,  but  is  almost  exclusively  employed  to  grease 
 the  axils  of  cart-wheels,  and  the  machinery  of  the  thrashing- 
 mills  on  the  farms  in  the  neighbourhood. 
 
 Besides  the  carcase  and  the  fat,  the  young  gannets  supply 
 to  the  keeper  a  considerable  quantity  of  feathers.  In  ordinary 
 cases,  these  feathers  are  not  fit  for  the  market,  owing  to  their 
 strong  fishy  scent.  By  certain  manipulations,  however,  espe- 
 cially exposing  them  for  weeks  together  in  a  warm  place,  as 
 near  a  baker's  oven,  the  offensive  odour  is  said  to  disappear. 
 
 The  other  feathered  inhabitants  of  this  singular  island,  al- 
 though embracing  several  congregating  species,  are  inconsi- 
 derable in  point  of  numbers  when  contrasted  with  the  gannets. 
 When  the  birds  have  been  scared  from  their  nests  by  the  firing 
 of  a  musket,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  the  diff"erent  degrees 
 of  facility  with  which  they  take  flight,  from  the  light  and  active 
 kittiwake  at  the  one  extreme,  to  the  sluggish  gannet  at  the 
 other.  All,  however,  are  soon  in  motion,  and  then  their  nume- 
 rous circling  crossing  paths  as  the  different  kinds  display  their 
 anxiety  or  their  fear,  produce  a  busy  scene,  which  Harvey  not 
 inaptly  compared  to  "  a  might}^  swarm  of  bees." 
 
 "Who  can  recount  what  transmigrations  there 
 Are  annual  made  ?  what  nations  come  and  go  ? 
 And  how  the  living  clouds  on  clouds  arise  ? 
 Infinite  wings  :  till  all  the  plume-dark  air 
 And  rude  resounding  shore  are  one  wild  cry. 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 When  Ray  visited  the  Bass,  he  only  found  six  species  of 
 birds  breeding  thereon,  and  Dr  Walker,  in  reference  to  this 
 
ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 405 
 
 statement,  observes,  "  All  that  we  could  discover  upon  it  in 
 the  month  of  May  just  amounted  to  the  same  number,  but 
 with  this  difference,  that  two  of  the  species  which  he  mentions 
 did  not  occur  to  us,  and  two  of  those  which  we  saw,  were  not 
 observed  by  him."  In  a  breeding  place  like  the  Bass,  of  such 
 easy  access,  and  where  the  birds  are  liable  to  disturbance  and 
 persecution,  it  is  not  likely  that  all  the  species  can  maintain 
 their  places  with  equal  success,  or  that  any  two  observers  visit- 
 ing the  island  at  distant,  or  even  tolerably  near  intervals,  will 
 meet  with  the  same  breeders.  The  following  species  were  found 
 by  Ray : — 
 
 1.  Solan  goose,  Sula  Bassana.  The  numbers  have  pro- 
 bably diminished,  owing  to  unfeeling  sportsmen  shooting  the 
 parent  birds  throughout  the  period  of  incubation.  Mr  Selby 
 indeed  refers  to  a  "  privilege  possessed  by  the  proprietor  of 
 preventing  any  person  from  shooting,  or  otherwise  destroying 
 them  within  a  certain  limited  distance  of  the  island."  If,  how- 
 ever, such  a  privilege  exists,  it  is  at  present  neither  respected 
 nor  enforced. 
 
 2.  The  Scout  or  Foolish  Guillemot,  Uria  troiJe,  is  still 
 found  in  considerable  numbers.  The  species,  or  perhaps  rather 
 a  variety,  with  a  white  line  behind  the  eye,  constituting  the 
 Guillemot  Bride^  Uria  laciymans  of  Temminck,  (Ornith.  4e 
 partie,  Paris,  1840,  p.  572,)  has  been  shot  in  the  neighbour- 
 hood of  the  Bass.  We  are  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  what  Ray 
 intended  by  the  Scout  being    double  ribbed." 
 
 3.  The  Kittiwake,  Larus  Rissa.  This  species  still  occu- 
 pies a  place,  and  never  fails  to  attract  the  notice  of  visitors, 
 by  its  easy  motions  and  plaintive  cries. 
 
 4.  The  Cormorant,  Pilalacrocorax  Curbo. 
 
 5.  Scart  or  Shag,  Pilalacrocorax  Graculu.t.  The  Cor- 
 morant was  found  by  Dr  Walker,  and  still  maintains  its  place. 
 The  Shag  very  probably  is  yet  to  be  met  with. 
 
 G.  The  Turtle  Dove,  Scraber,  Tystie,  or  Cei'IIUS  Grylle,  was 
 not  found  ])y  Walker,  and  has  now  probably  deserted  the  lo- 
 cality. The  birds  which  Dr  Walker  added,  were  the  two  fol- 
 lowing :  — 
 
406 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 7.  The  Eazor-bill  or  Marrot,  Alca  Tor  da,  a  species  which 
 may  still  be  found  in  tolerable  abundance, 
 
 8.  The  Herring  Gull,  Larus  argentatus.  This  still  occurs, 
 but  in  very  limited  numbers. 
 
 9.  The  Common  GruU,  Larus  canus,  is  recorded  by  Walker, 
 who  apparently  considers  it  the  same  as  the  Kittiwake  of  Ray. 
 Last  autumn,  we  saw  a  few  common  gulls  flying  about  in  the 
 neighbourhood  of  the  island,  along  with  the  following  species 
 not  noticed  by  Ray  or  Walker,  an  observation  which  is  like- 
 wise applicable  to  the  remaining  birds  of  the  Bass,  noticed  in 
 the  continuation  of  our  list. 
 
 10.  The  Black-backed  Grull,  Larus  marinus,  is  enumerated 
 among  the  feathered  inhabitants  of  the  Bass,  in  the  Statistical 
 Account  to  which  we  have  already  referred.  We  observed 
 one  single  bird  during  one  of  our  visits,  and  while  performing 
 its  usual  evolutions,  uttering  its  well-known  warning  cry  to 
 all  to  beware. 
 
 1 1 .  The  Coulterneb  or  Tammie  Norrie,  Fratercul a  arctica. 
 This  singular-looking  bird,  which  prefers  a  hole  in  the  soil  to 
 a  ledge  of  rock  as  a  breeding  place,  has  here  to  carry  on  a 
 warfare  with  intruding  rabbits. 
 
 12.  The  Eider  Duck  or  Dunter,  Somoteria  molUssima,  was 
 but  a  few  years  ago  a  regular  inhabitant  of  the  Bass.  In  the  Mu- 
 seum in  the  College  of  Edinburgh,  there  are  specimens  of  the 
 male,  female,  and  young  birds  taken  from  the  island  in  the  sum- 
 mer of  1824.  It  is  now  confined,  however,  since  persecution 
 expelled  it  from  the  Bass  and  the  neighbouring  islands,  to  the 
 sandy  downs  on  the  shore  between  North  Berwick  and  Gulane. 
 
 13.  The  Peregrine  Falcon,  Falco  peregrinus,  like  the 
 Dunter,  occupied  the  Bass  as  a  breeding  place,  and  furnished 
 hunting  hawks  to  the  lovers  of  falconry.  During  the  last  two 
 summers,  old  birds  have  been  occasionally  seen  hovering  round 
 the  island,  but  have  not  succeeded  in  establishing  a  nest  in  the 
 opinion  of  the  keeper. 
 
 Besides  these  more  remarkable  birds  which  give  to  the 
 Bass  its  peculiar  striking  features  as  breeding  ground,  there  are 
 other  species  which  occasionally  or  regularly  nestle  in  its  old 
 
ZOOLOGF  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 407 
 
 towers  or  its  cliffs,  as  the  jackdaw,  the  raven,  and  the  hooded 
 crow.  As  we  have  abeady  stated,  the  list  of  the  birds  which 
 breed  on  the  Bass  in  one  season,  would  not  in  all  probability 
 correspond  in  every  particular  with  that  of  another  season,  the 
 difference  arising  from  causes  sufficiently  obvious. 
 
 The  pasture  surface  of  the  Bass  "  is  guessed  at  seven  acres," 
 (Stat.  Ace),  and  is  considered  as  affording  pasture  for  about 
 thirty  sheep.  But  the  differences  of  seasons  occasion  a  cor- 
 responding change  in  the  quantity  of  food,  although,  in  the 
 popular  belief,  twenty  sheep  form  the  suitable  number.  It  is 
 said  that  the  sheep  fed  upon  the  Bass  "  are  in  high  estima- 
 tion for  their  very  peculiar  excellence,  and  bring  a  high  corres- 
 ponding price,"  (lb.).  It  is  even  alleged,  that  carcases  have 
 been  sold  els  Bass  fed  mutton^hich  had  been  fattened  elsewhere. 
 
 The  richness  of  the  pasture  is  mainly  owing  to  the  continual 
 muting  of  the  birds  in  their  flights  across  the  islands,  and 
 perhaps  likewise  from  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  having 
 been  formerly  tenanted  by  gulls  and  other  wild  fowl.  When 
 even  a  poor  soil,  in  ordinary  cases  disposed  to  produce  Httle 
 else  than  heath,  is  dunged  by  birds,  or  otherwise,  to  a  sufficient 
 extent,  new  plants  appear,  and  a  green  sward  of  rich  grass  occu- 
 pies the  place  of  the  coarsest  herbage.  We  remember  a  few 
 years  ago  being  struck  with  the  peculiar  rude  pasture  of  the 
 Dunies  near  Peterhead,  when  contrasted  with  the  sterility  ex- 
 hibited by  the  similar  peati/  soil  on  Stirling  hill  in  the  neigh- 
 bourhood. On  examining  a  portion  of  the  soil  of  the  Dunies 
 taken  a  few  inches  below  the  surface,  carbonate  of  lime,  phos- 
 phate of  lime,  oxalate  of  lime,  with  a  trace  of  magnesia,  were 
 detected  by  suitable  tests,  indicating  at  once,  as  a  conclusion, 
 that,  of  old,  this  had  been  a  breeding  station  for  birds,  but  doubt- 
 less deserted  on  account  of  the  increased  population  of  the  dis- 
 trict becoming  incompatible  with  their  processes  of  incubation. 
 Yet  the  guano  then  produced  had  changed  the  character  of  the 
 soil,  and  the  rich  grasses,  then  for  the  first  time  encouraged  in 
 their  growth,  have  continued  to  maintain  their  ground. 
 
 In  illustration  of  the  above  remark,  it  may  be  mentioned 
 that  the  summits  and  sides  of  those  hills  which  were  occupied 
 
408 
 
 ZOOLOGY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 by  our  ancestors  as  Hill  Forts,  usually  exhibit  a  far  richer 
 herbage  than  corresponding  heights  in  the  neighbourhood  with 
 the  mineral  soil  derived  from  the  very  same  source.  It  is  to  be 
 kept  in  view,  that  these  positions  of  strength  were  at  the  same 
 time  occupied  as  Hill  Folds,  into  which,  during  the  threatened 
 or  actual  invasion  of  the  district  by  a  hostile  tribe,  the  cattle 
 were  driven,  especially  during  the  night,  as  to  a  place  of  safety, 
 and  sent  out  to  pasture  in  the  neighbourhood  during  the  day. 
 The  droppings  of  these  collected  herds,  would,  as  takes  place 
 in  analogous  cases  at  present,  very  speedily  improve  the  soil  to 
 such  an  extent  as  to  induce  a  permanent  fertility. 
 
 The  view  of  the  origin  of  the  richness  of  the  pasture  of  the 
 island  under  consideration,  receives  striking  confirmation  from 
 the  phenomena  presented  in  another  quarter.  On  the  bleak 
 and  barren  muir  of  Culloden,  there  are,  here  and  there,  very 
 singular  green  patches  of  rich  grass,  contrasting  in  a  remark- 
 able manner  with  the  heath-clad  surface  around.  These  are 
 the  graves  of  the  slain  on  that  memorable  battle-field,  when  the 
 fallen  fortunes  of  a  perfidious  race  were  decided,  and  the  vic- 
 tory of  civil  and  religious  liberty  secured.  We  visited  the  spot 
 a  century  after  the  engagement,  and  the  efi"ects  of  the  corrup- 
 tion of  the  warriors  on  the  sod  which  covered  them,  remained 
 in  unequivocal  distinctness. 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 BY  JOHN  H.  BALFOUE,  II.D.,  F.R.S.E., 
 
 PBOFES.«OB  or  BOTANT  IS  THE  f.VIVEKFITY  OF  EDINBI  KGH. 
 
 M  m 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ^^^^gT  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  Botany  of  such  a 
 <:g||fi||g>  limited  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  as  the  Bass, 
 4^^^^'^  could  furnish  materials  for  an  extended  treatise.  A 
 Sr{W-^^')^  very  few  lines  will  contain  the  enumeration  of  all  the 
 plants  which  it  furnishes.  Instead  of  confining  myself,  how- 
 ever, to  such  a  dry  detail,  I  have  made  the  botany  of  the  island 
 the  text,  as  it  were,  on  which  to  found  observations  connected 
 with  the  mode  in  which  the  globe  has  been  clothed  with  ver- 
 dure. I  have  endeavoured  to  point  out  the  relation  which  the 
 various  tribes  of  plants  bear  to  each  other,  and  the  place  which 
 they  occupy  in  the  general  economy  of  vegetation. 
 
 The  Bass  has  been  long  an  object  of  interest  both  to  the 
 tourist  and  the  naturalist.  Its  remarkable  form  and  position, 
 its  geological  structure,  and  the  plants  and  animals  found  on  it, 
 have  rendered  it  famous  in  tlic  itineraries  of  travellers.  So 
 early  as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  visited 
 by  the  illustrious  Harvey,  the  discovenT  of  the  circulation  oi 
 the  blood  ;  and  he  gives  an  account  of  it  in  one  of  ins  works. 
 
412 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 He  notices  tlie  peculiar  whiteness  of  the  cliffs,  and  the  innu- 
 merable tribes  of  birds  which  darken  the  air  when  on  the 
 wing  *  On  the  19th  August  1661,  the  celebrated  John  Ray, 
 well  known  for  his  able  works  on  Natural  History,  visited  the 
 island.  He  describes  the  solan  geese  as  being  very  bold,  and 
 sitting  in  great  multitudes  till  one  comes  close  up  to  them. 
 He  also  states  that  there  was  a  small  house  on  the  isle  called 
 a  castle,  which  he  describes  as  inaccessible  and  impregnable. f 
 
 From  the  facility  of  communication  with  North  Berwick, 
 the  Bass  of  late  years  has  become  one  of  the  spots  to  which 
 the  Edinburgh  botanists  pay  regular  visits.:!: 
 
 The  island,  like  the  others  in  the  Frith  of  Forth,  is  formed 
 of  trap-rocks,  which  lava -like  have  burst  through  the  overlying 
 strata  at  a  distant  epoch  of  the  earth's  history,  "  when  the  moun- 
 tains ascended  and  the  valleys  descended  to  the  place  ap- 
 pointed for  them."§  The  earliest  vegetation  on  rocks  of  this 
 kind,  consists  of  plants  belonging  to  the  Lichen  tribe,  whose 
 invisible  germs  are  constantly  floating  in  the  atmosphere,  ready 
 to  light  on  any  spot  favourable  for  their  growth.  These  grey, 
 yellow,  and  black  lichens  are  too  often  despised  and  neglected 
 by  ordinary  observers.  When  carefully  examined,  however, 
 they  are  found  to  present  an  interesting  structure,  and  to  oc- 
 cupy an  important  place  in  the  economy  of  nature.    They  act 
 
 *  Hujus  insulse  superficies,  mensibus  Maio  et  Junio,  nidis,  ovis,  pullis- 
 que  propemodum  tota  instrata  est ;  adeo,  iit  vix  uspiam,  prse  eorum  copia, 
 pedem  libere  ponere  liceat :  taniaque  supervolitantium  turba,  ut,  nubium 
 instar,  solem,  ccelumque  auferant,  *  *  *  Tota  insula  adventantibus 
 candido  nitore  micat  ;  clivique,  tanquam  ex  albissima  creta,  fulgent. 
 Harvey,  Exercitationes  de  Generatione  Animalium.    Lond.  1651,  p.  30. 
 
 t  Memorials  of  Ray  published  by  the  Ray  Society.    Lond.  1846,  p.  154. 
 
 +  Mr  Keddie  has  given  in  the  Phytologist,  vol.  ii.  p.  222,  an  interest- 
 ing account  of  an  excursion  to  the  Bass  by  a  party  of  Glasgow  Botanists 
 in  July  1844. 
 
 ^-  n^vp2  nn^  onn  ^b))' 
 
 Tsalrn  civ.  8. 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 413 
 
 by  degrees  upon  the  hard  rocks,  cause  disintegration  of  their 
 stony  particles,  and  thus  form  a  stratum  of  mould  in  which 
 the  seeds  of  higher  plants  can  find  a  nidus  when  wafted  thither 
 by  winds  or  other  causes.  They  are  able  to  vegetate  on  sterile 
 rocks  without  a  particle  of  previously  organized  matter  in  their 
 neighbourhood  ;  and  some  of  them  seem,  in  the  first  stages  of 
 their  growth,  to  depend  for  their  nourishment  on  the  atmo- 
 sphere and  moisture  alone.  Many  of  them,  no  doubt,  take 
 up  into  their  substance  the  materials  of  the  rocks  on  which 
 they  grow,  and  when  analysed  are  found  to  contain  phosphate 
 and  oxalate  of  lime  and  other  inorganic  substances.  Dr  R. 
 D.  Thomson,  Lecturer  on  Practical  Chemistry  in  the  Uni- 
 versity of  Glasgow,  instituted  a  series  of  analyses  by  which  he 
 shewed  that  lichens  in  general  require  inorganic  matter  as 
 part  of  their  food.* 
 
 Besides  rocks,  we  find  that  lichens  also  attach  themselves  to 
 trees  and  other  plants,  and  it  has  been  said  that  particular 
 lichens  vegetate  on  certain  species  ;  so  that  the  plants  which 
 yield  cinchona  and  angustura  bark  and  strychnia  may  thus  be 
 distinguished.  This  would  seem  to  depend  principally  on  lo- 
 cality, exposure  to  light  and  moisture,  and  not  on  the  nature 
 of  the  trees  themselves.  All  tourists  may  have  remarked  that 
 some  trees  bear  these  lichens  in  greater  abundance  than 
 others,  and  that  while  the  usnea  or  beard-moss  is  found  com- 
 monly on  fir,  ash,  oak,  and  birch,  it  is  less  frequent  on  beech, 
 elm,  sycamore,  and  lime. 
 
 In  several  places  where  the  rocks  are  exposed,  we  find  tlic 
 Bass  covered  with  plants  of  this  description.  One  of  th«^ 
 species,  Parmelia  parietina  (yellow  wall-paraielia),  occurs  in 
 great  profusion,  giving  in  some  parts  an  orange  colour  to  the 
 surface  of  the  rocks.  This  lichen  yields  a  yellow  colouring 
 matter  called  Parietin,  which  has  been  used  as  a  dye,  and 
 
 ♦  Thus  Cladonia  pyxidata  was  found  to  contain  silica,  phosphates  of 
 iron  and  lime,  carbonate  of  lime,  &c.  See  paper  in  proceedings  of  Philo- 
 Siiphicil  Society  of  Glasgow,  vol.  i.  p.  182. 
 
414 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 which  is  a  very  delicate  test  for  alkalies.*  Among  other 
 Bass  lichens  may  be  noticed  Parmelia  saxatilis  (grey  stone- 
 parmelia)  ;  Lecanora  parella  (perelle),  yielding  a  dye  equal 
 to  cudbear ;  Ramalina  scopulorum  (rock  ramalina)  ;  Lecidea 
 geographica  (mapt  lecidea) ;  and  Sphgerophoron  coralloides 
 (coral  sphgerophoron).  These  plants  grow  also  on  the  ruined 
 buildings  of  the  Bass,  and  give  to  them  those  sombre  colours 
 which  add  in  no  small  degree  to  the  interest  with  which 
 such  edifices  are  contemplated.  They  are  well  denominated 
 "  time  stains,"  and  they  have  given  rise  to  the  following  lines 
 of  Crabbe : 
 
 "  But  ere  you  enter,  yon  bold  tower  survey, 
 Tall  and  entire  and  venerably  grey, 
 For  time  has  softened  what  was  harsh  when  new. 
 And  now  the  stains  are  all  of  sober  hue, — 
 The  living  stains  which  Nature's  hand  alone 
 Profuse  of  life  pours  forth  upon  the  stone ; 
 For  ever  growing,  where  the  common  eye 
 Can  but  the  bare  and  rocky  bed  descry. 
 There  Science  loves  to  trace  her  tribes  minute 
 The  juiceless  foliage  and  the  tasteless  fruit ; 
 There  she  perceives  them  round  the  surface  creep. 
 And  while  they  meet,  their  due  distinction  keep, 
 Mixed  but  not  blended,  each  its  name  retains. 
 And  these  are  Nature's  ever-during  stains. 
 And  wouldst  thou,  artist,  with  thy  tints  and  brush 
 Form  shades  like  these  ?  pretender,  where  thy  blush  ? 
 In  three  short  hours  shall  thy  presuming  hand 
 The  effect  of  three  slow  centuries  command  ? 
 Thou  may'st  thy  various  greens  and  greys  contrive, 
 They  are  not  lichens,  nor  like  aught  alive ; 
 But  yet  proceed,  and  when  thy  tints  are  lost, 
 Fled  in  the  shower,  or  crumbled  by  the  frost ; 
 When  all  thy  work  is  done  away  as  clean 
 As  if  thou  never  spread'st  thy  grey  and  green  ; 
 Then  may'st  thou  see  how  Nature's  work  is  done. 
 How  slowly  true  she  lays  her  colours  on. 
 
 *  See  Dr  R.  Thomson's  paper  on  Parietin.  Proceedings  of  Philosophical 
 Society  of  Glasgow,  vol.  i.  p.  187. 
 
 t  So  called  from  the  peculiar  marking  it  produces  on  the  rocks. 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 415 
 
 When  her  least  speck  upon  the  hardest  flint 
 Has  mark  and  form,  and  is  a  living  tint. 
 And  so  embodied  with  the  rock  that  few 
 Can  the  small  germ  upon  the  substance  view." 
 
 Lichens,  to  use  the  old  Linnean  phraseology,  may  be  called 
 Bondslaves,  for  they  are  chained  to  the  soil  and  render  it  fit 
 for  the  nourishment  of  others, — 
 
 "  they  make  a  wav 
 
 For  bolder  foliage  nursed  by  their  decay." 
 
 They  form  a  large  proportion  of  the  vegetation  of  cold  regions 
 and  of  the  summits  of  lofty  mountains.  Some  of  them  have 
 nutritious  qualities,  and  supply  materials  for  food  in  regions 
 where  no  other  species  of  plant  would  grow.  Among  them 
 may  be  noticed  Cetraria  islandica  (Iceland  moss),  Cladonia 
 rangiferina  (reindeer  moss),  and  several  species  of  Gyrophora, 
 which  constitute  the  Tripe  de  roche  of  the  Canadians,  and 
 furnished  Captain  Sir  John  FrankUn  and  his  companions  with 
 food  in  Arctic  Regions  during  a  season  when  no  other  means  of 
 subsistence  could  be  obtained. 
 
 By  means  of  lichens  the  Coral  Islands  of  the  Pacific  are  in 
 the  course  of  a  few  years  enabled  to  furnish  a  soil  for  the 
 growth  of  the  Coco-nut  palm.  Thus  it  is  when  we  contem- 
 plate the  operations  of  the  God  of  nature  upon  a  grand  scale, 
 we  find  that  he  employs  the  most  minute  and  apjmrently  in- 
 significant agents  to  accomplish  his  vast  designs.  The  Coral 
 Islands  owe  their  existence  to  innumerable  animals  scarcely 
 visible  to  the  eye,  and  the  vegetation  of  these  islands  com- 
 mences with  specks  of  lichens  whicli  would  escape  the  notice 
 of  the  ordinary  observer.  How  different  are  God's  ways  from 
 man's  ways  in  this  resi)ect.  D'Aubigne  remarks,  "  When 
 man  would  raise  a  shelter  against  the  weather — a  shade  from 
 the  heat  of  the  sun, — what  preparation  of  materials,  what 
 scaffolding  and  crowds  of  workmen,  what  trenches,  and  heaps 
 of  nibbisli  !    15nt  when  (Mid  would  do        same  lie  takes  tlie 
 
416 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 smallest  seed,  that  a  new-born  child  might  clasp  in  its  feeble 
 hand,  deposits  it  in  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  and  from  that 
 grain,  scarcely  distinguishable  in  its  commencement,  he  pro- 
 duces the  stately  tree  under  whose  spreading  branches  the 
 families  of  man  may  find  a  refuge." 
 
 On  the  rocks  more  immediately  under  the  influence  of  the 
 sea,  various  species  of  Algae  or  sea-weed  occur.  The  water, 
 however,  surrounding  the  Bass  is  in  general  too  deep,  and  the 
 rocks  too  precipitous  to  allow  of  the  growth  of  these  plants. 
 It  is  chiefly  at  that  part  where  the  rocks  shelve  into  the  sea, 
 and  where  a  landing  is  efl'ected,  that  the  sea-weeds  develop 
 their  fronds.  Several  species  of  Fucus,  Laminaria,  Delesseria, 
 Rhodymenia,  Lichina,  Chondrus,  Ulva,  and  Enteromorpha,  may 
 be  seen  at  particular  times.  These  plants  are  interesting,  not 
 only  on  account  of  their  structure,  but  also  on  account  of  their 
 nutritive  qualities.  Some  of  them,  such  as  Irish  moss  (Chon- 
 drus crispus),  supply  a  gelatinous  food  which  is  used  at  table, 
 and  the  dulse,  tangle,  and  lavers  of  the  shores  are  used  as  ar- 
 ticles of  diet  in  various  parts  of  Britain. 
 
 A  few  Mosses  and  Fungi  are  also  met  with  on  the  island. 
 An  acrid  species  of  the  latter  tribe,  Agaricus  peronatus,  or 
 spatterdash  agaric,  has  been  seen  growing  in  profusion,  and 
 assuming  an  annular  or  ring-like  mode  of  development.  This 
 form  of  growth  is  common  in  the  mushroom  tribe,  and  to 
 some  of  the  species,  as  Agaricus  oreades  and  peronatus,  the 
 origin  of  fairy  rings  has  been  attributed. 
 
 Such  are  a  few  remarks  on  the  Cryptogamic  vegetation  of 
 the  island.  These  flowerless  plants,  minute  and  despised 
 though  they  may  be,  exhibit  under  the  microscope  forms  of 
 the  most  exquisite  beauty  and  symmetry.*  They  are  as  finely 
 contrived  as  the  grandest  creature,  and  they  point  out  to  us 
 that  greatness  and  smallness  are  nothing  in  the  eye§  of  Him 
 who  is  "  wonderful  in  counsel  and  excellent  in  working."  The 
 
 *  See  the  Plates  of  Greville's  Scottish  Cryptogamic  Floi'a,  Hooker's 
 J ungormanniese, Harvey's  Phycologia,  Dr  J.  D.  Hooker's  Antarctic  Crypto- 
 gamic Flora,  &c.,  for  a  confirmation  of  this  statement. 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 417 
 
 more  intimately  we  examine  the  works  of  the  Creator  the  more 
 beautiful  do  they  appear.  Every  attempt  to  magnify  them 
 exhibits  new  wonders,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the 
 microscopic  discoveries  of  the  naturalist.  In  speaking  of  the 
 wonders  which  are  disclosed  by  the  minute  investigation  of 
 the  works  of  God,  Dr  Chalmers  remarks  : — "  About  the  time 
 of  the  invention  of  the  telescope,  another  instrument  was  formed 
 which  laid  open  a  scene  no  less  wonderful,  and  rewarded  the 
 inquisitive  spirit  of  man.  This  was  the  microscope.  The 
 one  led  me  to  see  a  system  in  every  star  ;  the  other  leads  me 
 to  see  a  world  in  every  atom.  The  one  taught  me  that  this 
 mighty  globe,  with  the  whole  burden  of  its  people  and  of  its 
 countries,  is  but  a  grain  of  sand  in  the  high  field  of  immensity  ; 
 the  other  teaches  me  that  every  grain  of  sand  may  harbour 
 within  it  the  tribes  and  the  families  of  a  busy  population.  The 
 one  told  me  of  the  insignificance  of  the  world  I  tread  upon  ; 
 the  other  redeems  it  from  all  its  insignificance,  for  it  tells  me 
 that  in  the  leaves  of  every  forest,  and  in  the  flowers  of  every 
 garden,  and  in  the  waters  of  every  rivulet,  there  are  worlds 
 teeming  with  life,  and  numberless  as  are  the  glories  of  the  fir- 
 nament." 
 
 The  Phanerogamous  or  flowering  plants  of  the  Bass,  are 
 not  numerous.  They  are  less  than  one-half  of  those  found  on 
 Ailsa  Crag,*  which  may  be  said  to  represent  the  Bass  in  the 
 west  coast  of  Scotland.  The  mode  in  which  the  cliff's  dip  per- 
 pendicularly into  the  sea  on  all  sides  except  one,  the  absence 
 of  a  shore,  the  smaller  extent  of  the  island,  and  the  diff'erence 
 in  the  climate,  may  account  for  the  comparatively  small  num- 
 ber of  flowering  plants  found  on  the  Bass. 
 
 The  pasture  of  the  island  is  said  to  be  peculiarly  good  for 
 the  feeding  of  sheep,  and  Bass  mutton  has  long  been  celebrated. 
 The  saline  matter  scattered  l)y  the  qmvy  of  the  ocean  may  con- 
 tribute to  the  nutritious  quality  of  the  grass.  Liebig  regards 
 connnon  salt  as  an  impc^rtant  addition  to  the  food  of  cattU?,  and 
 
 •  See  iicc.unt  ol'tlif  Botany  uf  Ailsa  C'rau'  in  tlu-  IMivt..l..tri<t.  vol.  ii. 
 
418 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 shews  that,  in  the  case  of  cattle  fed  in  inland  districts,  it  leads 
 to  the  formation  of  phosphate  of  soda,  an  ingredient  of  blood.* 
 Boussingault,  on  the  other  hand,  says  that  the  statements  made 
 in  regard  to  the  effects  of  salt  are  totally  erroneous,  and  that 
 when  two  lots  of  cattle  were  supplied  for  some  time  with  the 
 same  kind  of  food,  the  one  without  and  the  other  with  salt, 
 scarcely  any  difference  in  weight  could  be  detected.  There 
 can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  salt  is  eagerly  sought  by  ani- 
 mals, and  it  seems  to  be  necessary  for  their  comfort. 
 
 The  general  herbage  of  the  Bass  consists  chiefly  of  the  fol- 
 lowing grasses  : — Festuca  ovina,  sheep's  fescue-grass,  a  favour- 
 ite food  of  sheep,  and  said  to  be  very  nutritious  ;  Festuca  duri- 
 uscula,  hard  fescue,  and  a  peculiar  glaucous  variety, — this 
 grass  is  also  valuable  in  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  and  Dr 
 Parnell,  in  his  excellent  work  on  British  G-rasses.  says,  "  It  is 
 very  productive  for  its  size,  of  early  growth,  and  thrives  well 
 in  a  great  variety  of  soils  and  situations.  It  withstands  the 
 effects  of  long-continued  dry  weather,  in  rich  natural  pastures, 
 better  than  many  other  grasses,  and  retains  its  verdure  during 
 winter  in  a  remarkable  degree ;"  sheep  are  very  fond  of  it : 
 Poa  trivialis,  pratensis,  and  annua,  rough,  smooth,  and  annual 
 meadow-grass,  all  good  for  herbage ;  Dactylis  glomerata,  rough 
 cock's-foot  grass ; — also  useful  in  agriculture,  but  occurring  more 
 sparingly  than  those  already  noticed.  Besides  these  there  are 
 other  grasses  which  are  not  prized  for  pasture,  such  as  Agrostis 
 vulgaris  and  canina,  species  of  bent-grass  ;  Holcus  lanatus, 
 meadow  soft  grass  ;  Serrafalcus  (Bromus)  mollis,  soft  brome- 
 grass;  and  Sclerochloa  (Poa)  maritima,  creeping  sea  meadow- 
 grass. 
 
 The  dung  of  the  sea-fowl  is  washed  down  by  rains  into  the 
 sea,  and  is  thus  prevented  from  accumulating  in  the  form  of 
 guano.  In  some  parts  of  the  island,  where  it  has  become 
 mixed  with  the  soil  in  moderate  quantity,  the  vegetation  is 
 
 *  Sec  Liebig's  Researches  into  the  Chemistry  of  Food ;  translated  by 
 Dr  Gregory.  1847. 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 419 
 
 very  luxui-iant.  This  is  seen  in  the  case  of  Lychnis  dioica 
 (diurna,  of  Babington's  Manual),  pink  campion,  which  in  a  ra- 
 vine running  towards  the  sea  on  the  west  side,  attains  a  large 
 size,  and  is  accompanied  with  luxuriant  specimens  of  Rumex 
 Acetosa,  or  common  son-el.  On  making  a  longitudinal  section 
 of  the  lower  part  of  the  stem  of  the  Lychnis,  I  remarked  nu- 
 merous cavities  separated  from  each  other  by  partitions,  and 
 the  same  structure  was  observed  in  the  stem  of  Silybum  niari- 
 anum  (Carduus  marianus),  or  milk  thistle,*  found  near  North 
 Berwick.  These  cavities  resemble  what  is  seen  in  the  pith  of 
 the  walnut  and  other  plants,  as  well  as  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
 stem  of  Cicuta  virosa,  or  water-hemlock.  The  cavities  seem 
 to  contain  air;  and  in  the  last-mentioned  plant  they  serve  the 
 purpose  of  floating  the  plant  in  the  water. 
 
 It  is  interesting  to  remark,  that  the  species  of  Lychnis  and 
 Rumex  mentioned  also  grow  luxuriantly  on  Ailsa  Crag.  On 
 the  latter  island  Cochlearia  officinalis,  common  scurvy-grass, 
 occurs  occasionally  with  leaves  4^-  inches  in  diameter.  In  my 
 notice  of  its  botany,  I  state  that  "  the  luxuriance  of  this  and 
 the  other  plants  depends  in  part  on  the  dung  of  the  sea-fowl, 
 which  serves  as  an  excellent  manure  when  applied  in  moderate 
 quantity.  At  the  base  of  some  of  the  cliffs  there  is  a  large 
 accumulation  of  black  mould,  mixed  with  the  dung  of  sea- 
 fowl,  and  the  remains  of  numerous  birds  that  have  fallen  from 
 the  cliff's.  The  ammoniacal  odour  arising  from  these  sources, 
 under  the  influence  of  the  sun's  rays,  was  very  powerful.  Some 
 of  the  soil  was  analysed  by  Dr  R.  D.  Thomson,  and  found  to 
 contain  a  notable  quantity  of  ammonia.  Where  the  guano 
 existed  in  greatest  quantity  there  was  scarcely  any  vegetation, 
 
 •  As  far  as  the  motto,  "  Nemo  me  impuno  laccsset,"  is  concerned,  no 
 thistle  deserves  better  the  name  of  Scotch  thistle.  It  seems  also  to  have 
 l)eon  cultivated  in  the  neighbourhood  of  castles  in  Scotland,  and  is  n(»w 
 found  about  their  ruins.  It  certainly  deserves  the  title  better  than  the 
 plant  at  present  cultivated  as  the  Scotch  thistle,  viz. Onopordum  Acanthiuni, 
 which  is  a  doubtful  native  of  Scotland.  Three  species  of  thistle  are  found 
 native  on  the  Bass,  viz,  Carduus  lanceolatus,  palustris,  and  tenuifloriis, 
 spear,  marsh,  and  slender-flowered  thistle. 
 
420 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 and  it  was  only  when  the  manure  was  sparingly  applied  that 
 the  plants  assumed  the  luxuriance  I  have  described."  The 
 absence  of  a  shore  round  the  Bass  prevents  the  guano  from 
 contributing  in  the  same  manner  to  its  vegetation. 
 
 The  species  of  Compositae  or  Composite  flowers  found  on 
 the  Bass  amount  to  six, — the  dandelion,  sow-thistle,  mouse-ear 
 hawk  weed,  besides  three  species  of  thistle  already  noticed. 
 They  are  all  well  marked  by  the  hairs  which  occupy  the  place 
 of  the  calyx,  and  which,  after  flowering,  are  developed  so  as  to 
 waft  the  fruit  to  a  distance.  The  down  of  thistles  is  a  fami- 
 liar illustration.  In  the  plants  mentioned  there  are  numerous 
 florets  or  small  flowers  on  a  common  head  or  receptacle,  sur- 
 rounded by  green  leaves  called  an  involucre.  In  the  young 
 state  the  receptacle  is  succulent,  being  full  of  fluid  and  starchy 
 matter  for  the  nourishment  of  the  flowers,  and  in  this  stage  of 
 the  plant's  growth  it  is  occasionally  used  as  food.  An  instance 
 of  this  occurs  in  the  common  artichoke, — the  part  eaten  being 
 the  receptacle  or  the  central  portion  to  which  the  flowers 
 and  scales  of  the  involucre  are  attached.  The  unexpanded 
 florets  constitute  the  choke.  The  same  thing  is  seen  in  thistles, 
 the  receptacles  of  which  are  sometimes  eaten.  In  the  pro- 
 gress of  growth  the  insoluble  starch  of  the  receptacle  is  con- 
 verted into  soluble  saccharine  matter,  which  is  absorbed  by 
 the  flowers  for  their  nourishment.  As  the  fruit  ripens  the 
 receptacle  becomes  dry,  and  in  many  cases,  as  in  the  dande- 
 lion, assumes  a  convex  form,  while  the  leaves  of  the  involucre 
 are  turned  downwards.  These  circumstances  conspire  to 
 allow  the  fruit,  with  its  feathery  appendages,  to  be  easily  scat- 
 tered by  the  wind.  It  is  interesting  to  see  the  beautiful  pro- 
 visions thus  made  for  the  dissemination  of  seeds  and  the  per- 
 petuation of  the  species. 
 
 Some  of  the  Composite  plants  are  remarkable  as  being  what 
 are  called  horological  or  meteoric  flowers,  expanding  and  shut- 
 ting their  petals  and  florets  at  particular  periods  of  the  day  or 
 according  to  the  nature  of  the  weather.  They  thus  act  as 
 silent  monitors,  warning  us  of  the  rapid  flight  of  time.    In  the 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 421 
 
 floral  clock  of  Linnaeus  there  are  many  plants  of  this  natural 
 order,  and  although  the  hours  are  perhaps  not  so  regular  as 
 laid  down  by  the  Swedish  naturalist,  still  there  is  a  tendency 
 to  periodicity  in  their  movements.  The  following  are  a  few, 
 with  the  hours  of  the  expansion  of  their  flowers  as  noticed  at 
 Upsal, — 
 
 Tragopogon  pratensis,  Yellow  Goatsbeard,  .  4-5  a.m. 
 
 Crepis  virens,  Smooth  Haw ksbeard,        .  .  4-5  ... 
 
 Cichorium  Intybus,  Wild  Succory,         .  .  5  . . . 
 
 Taraxacum  oflBcinale.  Dandelion,  5-6  . . . 
 
 Lapsana  communis,  Common  Nipple-wort,  .  5-(I  . . . 
 
 Hypochseris  maculata,  Spotted  Cat's-ear,  f» 
 
 Several  species  of  Sonchus,  Sow-thistles,  .  (J-J  ... 
 
 Several  species  of  Hieracium,  Hawkweeds,  (J-J  - . . 
 
 Calendula  pluvialis.  Small  Cape  Marygold,  1  ... 
 
  arvensis.  Field  Marygold,       .  9  ... 
 
 Hieracium  chondrilloides.  Gum-succory  Hawkweed,  <J  ... 
 
 Tragopogon  porrifolius,  Purple  Goatsbeard  or  Salsafy,  opens  its 
 flowers  in  the  morning  and  closes  them  about  1  p.  m. 
 
 This  periodicity  in  the  expanding  and  closing  of  flowers  is 
 alluded  to  by  the  poet  in  the  following  lines  : — 
 
 In  every  copse  and  sheltered  dell, 
 ,  Unveiled  to  the  observant  eye, 
 
 Are  faithful  monitors  who  tell 
 
 How  pass  the  hours  and  seasons  by. 
 
 The  green-robed  children  of  the  spring 
 
 Will  mark  the  periods  as  they  pass, 
 Mingle  with  leaves  Time's  feathered  wing. 
 
 And  bind  with  flowers  his  silent  glass. 
 
 See  Ilieracium's  various  tribes 
 
 Of  plumy  seed  and  radiate  flowers, 
 The  course  of  time  their  Mooms  describe, 
 
 And  wake  and  sleep  ai»p()intod  hours. 
 
 Broad  o'er  its  imbricated  cup 
 
 The  Goatfheard  spreads  its  puri)k'  rays, 
 
 But  shuts  its  cautious  petal.'?  up, 
 
 Ketroating  from  the  noontide  blaze. 
 
422 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 On  upland  shores  the  shepherd  marks 
 
 The  hour  when,  as  the  dial  true, 
 Cichorium  to  the  towering  lark 
 
 Lifts  her  soft  eyes  serenely  blue. 
 
 Thus  in  each  flower  and  simple  bell, 
 
 That  in  our  path  betrodden  lie, 
 Are  sweet  remembrancers  who  tell 
 
 How  fast  the  winged  moments  fly. 
 
 Thus  "  Man  comes  forth  like  a  flower  ;  as  a  flower  of  the  field 
 so  he  flourisheth ;  and  as  the  flower  of  the  grass  he  shall  pass 
 away.  For  the  sun  is  no  sooner  risen  with  a  burning  heat 
 than  it  withereth  the  grass,  and  the  flower  thereof  falleth,  and 
 the  grace  of  the  fashion  of  it  perisheth." 
 
 The  plants  of  the  Composite  tribe  are  usually  despised  as  being 
 common  weeds,  and  the  traveller  passes  them  unnoticed.  How 
 different  are  the  feelings  with  which  some  of  the  commonest 
 of  them  are  contemplated  when  they  spring  up  in  other  climes. 
 The  common  daisy  (Bellis  perennis)  furnishes  a  good  illustra- 
 tion. Among  some  English  earth  in  which  seeds  had  been 
 conveyed  to  Dr  Carey  in  India,  there  sprang  up,  to  his  great 
 delight,  the  daisy  ;  and  this  he  perpetuated  as  an  annual  raised 
 from  seed  preserved  from  season  to  season.  The  feelings  ex- 
 cited in  his  mind  by  this  incident  are  thus  beautifully  depicted 
 by  Montgomery : — 
 
 Thrice  welcome,  little  English  flower  I 
 
 My  mother  country's  white  and  red, 
 In  rose  or  lily,  till  this  hour 
 
 Never  to  me  such  beauty  spread  ; 
 Transplanted  from  thine  island  bed, 
 
 A  treasure  in  a  grain  of  earth, 
 Strange  as  a  spirit  from  the  dead. 
 
 Thine  embryo  sprang  to  birth. 
 
 Thrice  welcome,  little  English  flower! 
 
 Of  early  scenes  beloved  by  me. 
 While  happy  in  my  father's  boAver, 
 
 Thou  shalt  the  blythe  memorial  be  ; 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 423 
 
 The  fairy  spots  of  infancy, 
 
 Youth's  golden  age,  and  manhood's  prime, 
 
 Home,  country,  kindred,  friends  with  thee, 
 I  find  in  this  far  clime. 
 
 Thrice  Avelcome,  little  English  flower  ! 
 
 To  me  the  pledge  of  hope  unseen  ; 
 When  sorrow  would  my  soul  o'erpower, 
 
 In  joys  that  were  or  might  have  been, 
 I'd  call  to  mind  how  fresh  and  green — 
 
 I  saw  thee  waking  from  the  dust ; 
 Then  turn  to  heaven,  with  brow  serene, 
 
 And  place  in  God  my  trust. 
 
 On  one  part  of  the  Bass  there  is  a  space  enclosed  by  a  de- 
 lapidated  wall,  where  a  garden  formerly  existed.  In  this  spot, 
 the  soil  of  which  consists  of  fine  deep  mould,  there  is  now  a 
 vigorous  crop  of  Urtica  dioica,  or  common  nettle,  one  of  the 
 plants  which  follow  the  footsteps  of  man,  and  which  often  in- 
 dicates by  its  presence  the  situations  on  which  cottages  stood 
 in  some  of  the  now  thinly  peopled  or  deserted  Highland  glens. 
 Thus,  while  proprietors  of  the  soil,  in  their  desire  to  have  the 
 exclusive  use  of  large  tracts  of  country,  whether  for  sheep  or 
 for  deer,  make  clearances  of  Highland  glens,  and  endeavour  to 
 get  rid  of  all  vestiges  of  the  peasantry  who  inhabited  them, 
 and  "  lay  field  to  field,  till  there  be  no  place,  that  they  may 
 be  placed  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  earth," — there  springs  up 
 in  the  wild  waste  a  plant,  which  marks  the  cottage-sites  as 
 hallowed  ground,  and  tells  of  the  deed  to  future  generations. 
 The  occurrence  of  nettles  in  neglected  gardens  and  fortresses 
 was  a  subject  of  observation  in  times  long  gone  by.  Thus 
 Solomon,  when  speaking  of  the  field  of  the  slothful  and  the 
 vineyard  of  the  man  void  of  understanding,  remarks  tliat, 
 "  nettles  had  covered  the  face  thereof ;"  and  the  prophet 
 Isaiah  when  alluding  to  the  desolation  which  shall  come  on 
 the  enemies  of  God's  peo])le,  says,  "  Thorns  shall  come  up  in 
 her  palaces,  nettles  and  brambles  in  the  fortresses  thereof." 
 
 Nettles  furnish  fibres  which  may  be  employed  as  hemp, 
 and  in  a  young  state  they  have  been  employed  as  articles 
 
424 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 of  diet.    In  former  days  they  were  used  in  Scotland  to  fur- 
 nish spring-kail,  and  Andrew  Fairservice  remarks,  "  Nae 
 doubt,  I  suld  understand  my  ain  trade  of  horticulture,  seeing 
 I  was  bred  in  the  jDarish  of  Dreepdaily  near  Glasco',  where 
 they  raise  lang-kail  under  glass,  and  force  the  early  nettles  for 
 their  spring  kail."    Some  species  of  nettle  attain  a  large 
 size.    Mr  Backhouse,  in  his  travels  in  Australia,  met  with 
 specimens  of  tree-nettles  (Urtica  gigantea)  which  measured 
 18,  20,  and  21  feet  in  circumference.    They  were  "fierce 
 with  poisoned  stings,"  and  when  touched  caused  severe  pain 
 and  inflammation.    The  sting  of  the  common  nettle  (ignoble 
 though  the  plant  is  generally  reckoned),  is  well  worthy  of 
 examination.    It  consists  of  a  hollow  conical  hair  with  a 
 pointed  or  rounded  top,  and  a  large  swelling  at  its  base.^  This 
 swelling  or  bag  contains  an  irritating  fluid,  which  is  discharged 
 through  the  hair  when  pressed  upon.    In  the  interior  of  the 
 hair  there  may  be  observed,  under  the  microscope,  beautiful 
 currents  of  fluids,  which  proceed  in  a  spiral  direction,  and  seem 
 to  be  connected  with  the  nutrition  of  the  hair. 
 
 Among  the  nettles  on  the  Bass  there  is  a  deep  pool  of 
 water,  said  to  be  a  spring,  but  there  appears  to  be  considerable 
 doubt  in  regard  to  this,  more  especially  if  conclusions  can  be 
 drawn  from  the  temperature  of  the  water.  In  the  garden, 
 besides  culinary  vegetables,  flowers  seem  to  have  been  culti- 
 vated, and  there  are  still  one  or  two  garden  flowers  growing 
 wild,  such  as  Narcissus  Pseudo-Narcissus,  common  daffodil, 
 and  Narcissus  biflorus,  or  pale  narcissus.  In  the  early  part 
 of  the  season  these  flowers  present  a  lively  appearanf-e,  and  in 
 days  of  yore  they  may  have  helped  to  cheer  the  lonely  hours 
 of  the  prisoners.  The  sight  of  these  lilies  (as  they  are  often 
 called),  transplanted  from  their  native  soil  to  the  narrow  limits 
 of  a  small  island  garden,  and  expanding  their  gaudy  corollas 
 in  the  free  air  of  heaven,  must  have  excited  similar  feelings  to 
 those  which  arose  in  the  mind  of  Mungo  Park,  when  he  con- 
 templated a  small  moss  sending  up  its  fruiting  stem  in  the 
 desert,  and  must  have  irresistibly  recalled  our  Saviour's  words, 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 425 
 
 "  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow ;  they  toil  not, 
 neither  do  they  spin :  and  yet,  I  say  unto  you,  That  even  So- 
 lomon in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these." 
 
 Many  are  the  useful  lessons  which  may  thus  be  drawn  by 
 the  true  lover  of  science,  from  the  flowers  which  are  scattered 
 so  profusely  over  the  earth, — those  "  stars  which  shine  in  earth's 
 firmament." 
 
 "  In  all  places,  then,  and  in  all  seasons, 
 
 Flowers  expand  their  light  and  soul-like  wings  ; 
 Teaching  us  by  most  persuasive  reasons, 
 How  akin  they  are  to  human  things. 
 
 And  with  child-like,  credulous  affection, 
 
 "NVe  behold  their  tender  buds  expand ; 
 Emblems  of  our  own  great  resurrection. 
 
 Emblems  of  the  bright  and  better  land." 
 
 Ray  says  they  make  strangers  visiting  the  island  "  Bur- 
 gesses of  the  Basse,"  by  giving  them  to  drink  of  the  water  of 
 the  well,  which  springs  near  the  top  of  the  rock,  and  a  flower 
 out  of  the  garden  thereby. 
 
 The  plants  which,  in  an  especial  manner,  attract  the  atten- 
 tion of  botanists  visiting  the  Bass,  are  Beta  maritima,  sea-beet, 
 which  grows  luxuriantly  on  the  rocks  outside  the  walls  of  the 
 old  fortification  ;  and  Lavatera  arborea,  tree-mallow,  which 
 occurs  on  the  rocks  within  the  walls.  Both  these  plants  are 
 noticed  by  Ray  in  his  Itinerary. 
 
 The  sea-beet  may  be  used  as  an  article  of  diet  in  the  samt* 
 way  as  Beta  vulgaris,  or  the  true  beet.  If  cultivated,  the 
 former  would  supply  a  good  vegetable,  its  leaves  serving  a? 
 spinach,  and  its  root  furnishing  nutritious  saccharine  food.  It 
 is  found  on  the  sea-shore  in  several  parts  of  Scotland,  especially 
 in  the  south  and  west.  In  some  of  the  Western  Isles,  as  in 
 Islay,  it  grows  luxuriantly  on  clifls  near  the  sea.  I  may  re- 
 mark here,  that  many  of  the  esculent  plants  cultivated  in  our 
 gardens,  have  been,  like  the  beet,  originally  derived  froni  spe- 
 cies found  on  the  sea-shore.    This  may  be  illustrated  }»y  re- 
 
 N  n 
 
426 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 ference  to  the  sea-kale  (Crambe  maritima).  a  plant  mentioned 
 by  Dr  Walker  doubtfully  as  a  native  of  the  Bass,  and  found 
 v>^i\d  on  the  shores  of  Arran,  as  well  as  in  many  places  of  the 
 British  coasts  ;  the  asparagus  (Asparagus  officinalis),  a  native 
 of  the  Cornish  shores ;  cabbage,  cauliflower,  brocoli,  and  sa- 
 voys, which  are  all  derived  from  one  maritime  species,  Brassica 
 oleracea,  or  the  sea  cole-wort.  Dr  "Walker,  in  his  Essays  on 
 Natural  History,"^'  remarks,  that  a  great  number  of  plants 
 found  growing  on  the  sea-shore  are  salubrious.  He  illustrates 
 this,  not  merely  in  the  case  of  many  culinary  vegetables,  but 
 also  in  such  poisonous  tribes,  as  umbelliferous  plants,  among 
 which  we  find,  innocuous  sea-shore  species,  as  fennel  (Foeni- 
 culum  vulgare)  ;  Alexanders  (Smyrnium  Olusatrum)  ;  celery 
 (Apium  graveolens) ;  samphire  (Crithmum  maritimum)  ;  Scot- 
 tish lovage  (Ligusticum  Scoticum);  sulphur- wort  (Peucedanum 
 officinale)  ;  and  sea  holly  (Eryngium  maritimum).  He  re- 
 marks, "Though  I  would  not  propose  it  as  a  rule  to  be  depended 
 on,  in  so  dangerous  a  case  as  that  of  poisons,  yet  I  think  it 
 highly  probable  that  all  the  maritime  plants  of  the  umbelli- 
 ferous class  are  salutary  and  esculent.  This  I  am  certain  of, 
 that  none  of  the  umbelliferous  plants  known  to  be  poisonous 
 are  stationed  upon  the  sea-shore ;  all  the  maritime  plants  of 
 this  class  whose  qualities  are  known  are  innocent ;  and  it  is 
 further  remarkable,  that  this  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  their  dry 
 situation  among  the  maritime  rocks,  or  upon  the  sandy  beach  ; 
 for  the  celery  and  the  sulphur-wort  grow  in  the  salt-marshes 
 in  as  watery  a  soil  as  any  of  the  umbelliferous  aquatics  that 
 are  poisonous.  But  here,  I  imagine,  lies  an  essential  difference 
 between  plants  that  inhabit  salt  water  and  fresh."  Perhaps 
 Dr  Walker's  conclusions  are  too  general ;  but  there  is  cer- 
 tainly nmch  truth  in  his  statements.  In  regard  to  umbelli- 
 ferous plants,  there  seems  to  be  still  some  infonuation  neces- 
 sary before  we  can  determine  their  poisonous  or  non-poisonous 
 
 *  See  "Walker's  descrij^tion  of  the  Basse  in  his  Essays  on  Natural  ITis- 
 tory.   Edin.  1808,  p.  297. 
 
I 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS.      ^  427 
 
 qualities.  Of  late,  Dr  Christison  has  shewn  that  many  species 
 reputed  to  be  violent  poisons,  failed  to  produce  any  bad  effect 
 when  given  in  large  doses  to  animals.  (Enanthe  crocata,  or 
 hemlock  water  drop-wort,  a  plant  commonly  stated  to  be  poison- 
 ous, and  said  to  have  caused  death,  by  its  roots  having  been 
 used  for  parsnips,  was  found  by  him,  when  collected  in  the 
 neighbourhood  of  Edinburgh,  to  have  no  deleterious  properties 
 whatever.  The  same  species,  however,  gathered  in  other  parts 
 of  Britain,  has  been  reported  recently  as  producing  fatal  effects. 
 Perhaps  the  fact  of  Dr  Christison's  specimens  having  been 
 collected  from  marshy  ground  near  the  sea  at  Dalmeny  Park, 
 may  in  part  account  for  the  difference  in  qualities,  and  thus 
 corroborate  Dr  Walker's  statements. 
 
 Lavatera  arborea,  tree-mallow,  velvet  leaf,  or  Bass  mallow, 
 is  the  most  important  plant,  in  a  botanical  point  of  view,  which 
 grows  on  the  Bass  Rock.  This  plant,  according  to  Sibbald, 
 existed  at  one  time  on  other  islands  of  the  Frith  of  Forth,  viz., 
 on  Inch  Garvie  and  Inch  Mykrie,  but  it  has  now  disappeared 
 from  these  localities.  It  is  a  biennial  plant,  belonging  to  the 
 natural  order  Malvaceas,  or  Mallow  tribe,  and  is  characterized 
 by  its  outer  calyx  or  involucre  being  three-lobed,  and  by  its 
 woody  stem  attaining  a  height  of  six  or  eight  feet.  On  the 
 rocks  below  the  fortification  it  grows  in  great  profusion,  and 
 in  the  month  of  J uly  it  has  a  gorgeous  appearance,  with  its 
 rose-coloured  flowers  streaked  with  darker  veins.  Like  other 
 plants  of  the  order,  it  is  mucilaginous  and  demulcent  in  its 
 properties,  and  yields  tenacious  fibres,  which  may  be  used  for 
 fonning  ropes.  It  is  a  rare  plant  in  Britain.  It  is  met  with 
 on  Ailsa  Crag,  and  on  rocks  in  the  south-west  of  England. 
 
 The  name  Lavatera  was  given  in  honour  of  the  two  Lava- 
 tors,  friends  of  Tournefort,  the  cole})ratcd  French  botanist. 
 The  plant  is  figured  in  the  lithograph  as  being  that  which 
 chiefly  characterises  the  botany  of  the  Bass.  Figure  1.  is  a 
 drawing  of  a  flowering  branch,  while  figure  2.  represents  tlie 
 double  calyx  remaining  around  the  fruit.  The  outer  calyx  or 
 involucre  is  larger  than  the  inner,  and  is  divided  into  three 
 
 i 
 
428 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 broad  spreading  lobes ;  the  inner  is  divided  into  five  more  erect 
 and  acute  segments.  The  corolla  is  twisted  when  in  bud,  or 
 consists  of  five  pink-coloured  purplish  petals,  which  are  in- 
 versely heart-shaped  and  abrupt.  The  stamens  are  numerous 
 and  monadelphous,  i.e.  united  by  their  filaments  into  a  tube; 
 hence  the  plant  is  put  in  the  class  Monadelphia,  order  Polyandria, 
 of  the  Linnean  system.  The  pistil  consists  of  an  orbicular 
 ovary,  a  cylindrical  style  with  a  conical  base,  and  numerous  stig- 
 mas, varying  from  seven  to  eight,  or  more.  The  capsules  or  seed- 
 vessels  are  reticulated,  as  numerous  as  the  stigmas,  and  ranged  in 
 a  circle  round  a  central  column.  The  root  runs  deeply  into  the 
 ground.  The  stem  is  woody,  from  six  to  eight,  and  even  ten  feet 
 high,  simple  below,  and  branching  above  with  a  leafy  head. 
 The  leaves  are  downy,  (hence  the  name,  velvet  leaf,)  alternate, 
 on  long  footstalks,  plaited,  and  divided  into  seven  shallow  lobes 
 at  their  margin.  The  peduncles  are  single-flowered,  and  are 
 aggregated  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves ;  the  flowers  in  the  centre 
 of  the  clusters  being  first  developed.  The  plant,  if  allowed  to 
 scatter  its  seeds  in  a  garden,  will  spring  up  for  many  years  in 
 succession.  It  usually  flowers  during  the  second  year,  and 
 then  dies. 
 
 Among  other  Bass  plants  may  be  noticed  Armeria  maritima 
 (Statice  Armeria)  or  sea-pink,  and  Cochlearia  officinalis,  com- 
 mon scurvy-grass.  These  plants  are  found  both  on  the  sea- 
 shore, and  on  the  tops  of  the  highest  mountains  in  Scotland. 
 I  have  picked  the  former  on  the  summit  of  Ben  Muich  Dhui, 
 a  mountain  only  second  in  height  to  Ben  Nevis.  It  has  been 
 shewn  by  Dr  Dickie,  that  these  plants  vary  in  their  inorganic 
 constituents  according  to  the  situation  in  which  they  grow. 
 When  on  the  sea-shore,  they  contain  salts  of  soda  and  iodine ; 
 when  inland,  they  lose  the  iodine,  and  exchange  soda  for 
 
 None  of  the  other  plants  of  the  Bass  seem  to  call  for  special 
 notice.  Enough  has  been  said  to  point  out  the  general  cha- 
 racter of  its  vegetable  productions,  and  to  shew  to  those  who 
 are  interested  in  botanical  pursuits  the  plants  which  in  an  es- 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 429 
 
 pecial  manner  deserve  attention.  Even  in  a  circumscribed 
 spot  like  the  Bass,  there  are  many  objects  to  interest  the  sci- 
 entific inquirer.  To  one  who  studies  the  objects  with  which 
 he  is  surrounded,  there  are  in  all  places,  and  at  all  times,  ma- 
 terials for  mental  improvement,  and  the  naturalist  who  con- 
 templates nature  in  the  true  spirit  of  wisdom, — who  sees  in  it 
 the  hand  of  an  all-wise  and  beneficent  God,  whom  he  can,  in 
 the  spirit  of  adoption,  address  as  Abba  Father, — is  led  from 
 the  heart  to  exclaim  in  adoring  praise  with  the  Psalmist,  0 
 Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works  I  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made 
 them  all,  the  earth  is  full  of  thy  riches," 
 
 LIST  OF  TUE  PHANEROGAMOUS  OR  FLOAVERIN(;  PLANTS 
 OF  THE  BASS, 
 
 ARR.\NGED  ACCORDING  TO  THE  NATURAL  SYSTEM  OF  BOTANY. 
 
 DICOTYLEDONOUS  PLANTS. 
 
 Banunculacece.    Crowfoot  tribe. 
 
 Ranunculus  repens,  L.    Creeping  Crowfoot. 
 Crucifero'.   Cruciferous  tribe. 
 
 Crambe  maritima,  L.  Sea-kale.  This  is  given  on  Dr  Walker's  au- 
 thority, but  it  is  doubtful. 
 Cochlearia  oflicinalis,  L.  Common  Scurvy-grass.  This  plant  is  found 
 very  generally  diftused  over  the  globe,  and  from  being  common  on 
 the  sea-shores  would  naturally  be  used  by  sailors  afVcctod  with 
 scurvy,  as  the  first  fresh  jilant  they  picked  on  landing.  Hence  tlie 
 English  name  of  the  plant. 
 
430 
 
 BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 Caryophyllace(B.    Chickweed  tribe,  or  Clove-worts. 
 
 Silene  maritima,  With.  Sea  Campion  or  Catchfly,  The  name 
 Catchfly  is  given  to  the  genus  because  some  of  the  species  secrete 
 a  viscid  matter  which  entraps  flies. 
 
 Lychnis  dioica,  L.  (L.  diurna  of  Babington's  Manual.)  Red  and 
 white  Campion. 
 
 Cerastium  atro-virens,  Bab.    Mouse-ear  chickweed. 
 
  semidecandrum,  L.   Little  Mouse-ear  Chickweed. 
 
 Malvaceae.    Mallow  tribe,  or  Mallow-worts. 
 
 Lavatera  arborea,  L.    Sea  Tree-Mallow. 
 Geraniacew.    Crane's-bill  tribe. 
 
 Geranium  molle,  L,    Dove's-foot  Crane's-bill, 
 Leguminosce,   Pea  and  Bean  tribe, 
 
 Vicia  lathyroides,  L.    Spring  Vetch. 
 Callitrichacece.    Starwort  tribe. 
 
 Callitriche  verna,  L.    Vernal  "VVater-starwort. 
 Portulacacece.    Purslane  tribe. 
 
 Montia  fontana,  L.  Water-blinks. 
 Compositce.    Composite  tribe. 
 
 Sonchus  oleraceus,  L.    Common  Sow-thistle. 
 
 Hieracium  Pilosella,  L.    Common  Mouse-ear  Hawkweed. 
 
 Taraxacum  officinale,  Wigg.  Common  Dandelion.  The  root  of  this 
 plant,  like  that  of  chiccory,  may  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  coffer. 
 
 Carduus  teuuiflorus,  Curt.    Slender-flowered  Thistle, 
 
  lanceolatus,  L,    Spear  Plume -Thistle. 
 
  palustris,  L.    Marsh  Plume-Thistle. 
 
 Chenopodiacece.   Goose-foot  tribe. 
 
 Atriplex.  rosea,  L.  Spreading- fruited  Orache.  One  of  the  plants 
 which  furnish  soda. 
 
 Beta  maritima,  L.  Sea-Beet. 
 Polygonacece.    Buck-wheat  and  Dock  tribe. 
 
 Rumex  crispus,  L.    Curled  Dock. 
 
  Acetosa,  L.    Common  Sorrel. 
 
 Urticacece.    Nettle  tribe,  or  Nettle-worts. 
 
 Urtica  dioica,  L.    Great  Nettle. 
 
 MONOCOTYLEDONOUS  PLANTS. 
 
 AmarylUdacecB.    Amaryllis  tribe. 
 
 Narcissus  Pseudo-narcissus,  L.    Common  Daffodil. 
  biflorus,  Curt,    Pale  Narcissus. 
 
BOTANY  OF  THE  BASS. 
 
 431 
 
 Graminece.  Grasses. 
 
 Agrostis  canina,  L.    Brown  Bent -grass. 
 
   vulgaris,  With.    Fine  Bent-grass. 
 
 Holcus  lanatus,  L.  Meadow  Soft-grass. 
 Poa  trivialis,  L.    Rough  Meadow-grass. 
 
  pratensis,  L.    Smooth-stalked  Meadow-grass. 
 
  annua,  L.    Annual  Meadow-grass 
 
 Sclerochloa  maritima,  Lindl,  (Poa  maritima.)  Creeping  Sea  Meadow- 
 grass. 
 
 Dactylis  glomerata,  L.    Rough  Cocks-foot  grass. 
 Festuca  ovina,  L.    Sheep's  Fescue-grass. 
 
  duriuscula,  L.    Hard  Fescue-grass. 
 
 Serrafalcus  mollis.  Pari.  (Bromus  mollis.)    Soft  Brome-grass. 
 
(    ^33  ) 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Adamnax,  an  ancient  presbyter  who 
 
 resided  on  Inchkeith,  [6]. 
 Aflleck,  Lady,  50. 
 
 Ailsa  in  the  Clyde,  abounds  in  solan 
 
 geese,  395. 
 Albany,  Duke  of.    See  Stewart,  Mur- 
 
 »lac. 
 
 Albany,  the  Duchess  of,  [13]. 
 
 Allan,  Hector,  a  Quaker,  imprisoned 
 in  the  Bass,  381. 
 
 Anderson,  Mr  Hugh,  minister  of  Cro- 
 marty, 239,  241,  242,  259. 
 
 Anderson,  James,  a  celebrated  anti- 
 quary, 270. 
 
 Anderson,  Patrick,  minister  of  Wal- 
 ston,  ejected  from  his  charge,  260 ; 
 sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in  the 
 Bass,  269 ;  released,  270.  ^  ; 
 
 Arnot,  Mr  Samuel,  minister,  264, 238,  I 
 279,  317,  335.  i 
 
 Athole,  Earl  of,  280. 
 
 BaiLLIE,  Dr  Robert,  Principal  of 
 
 Glasgow  College,  277,  314,  315. 
 Baldred,  St,  [5]. 
 
 Balfour,  Mr  John,  of  Kinloch,  160.  I 
 liaptisms,  disorderly,  act  against,  297.  | 
 Barclay,  Mr  George,  minister,  48.  ] 
 Bass,  the,  de.-!cription  of.  [3].  9  ;  an- 
 cient chapel  on,  [4],  [10],  [104];  the  i 
 Lauders  the  earliest  projtrietors  of,  j 
 [12],  [41] ;  it  surrenders  to  Crom-  i 
 well,  [16] ;  is  purchased  by  the  Go- 
 vernment of  Charles  1 1. for  a  j)rison,  , 
 [17].  9;  Botanv  ..f,  411-431;  Geo- 
 b.gy  of,  [51Ul;3y] ;  Zoology  of,  385-  \ 
 408  ;  hardships  of  the  prisoners  of,  I 
 17,  [29],  32,  113,  1.39.  252 ;  their  I 
 spiritual  comforts,  [30].  ' 
 i{a\ter.  Kichard,  228,  229. 
 ik'll,  Mr  ^Villi^lm,  minister,  inipri-  i 
 
 soned  in  the  Bass,  112. 
 IJonnet,  Robert,  of  Chosters,  is  pre- 
 sent at  an  arnu;d  fudd  conventicle, 
 203,  205  ;  imprisone<l.  214. 
 Berwick,  North,  the  Al>bey  of.  [11]. 
 lilai-kadder,  Mr  Jolin,  minister  of 
 Trnquair,  203-206,  213,  227,  264, 
 
 279,  317,  319  ;  h.dds  a  famous  liebl- 
 meeting  at  Beath-hill,  318-325  ;  as- 
 sists at  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
 Supper  in  the  fields,  328-339 ;  im- 
 prisoned in  the  Bass,  355, 356 ;  dies 
 in  the  Bass,  360. 
 
 Blackadder.  Adam,  son  of  the  pre- 
 ceding, [37]. 
 
 Blackadder,  Colonel  John,  also  son 
 of  the  martyr,  [38]. 
 
 Blackie,  James,  87. 
 
 Blair,  Mr  David,  one  of  the  ministers 
 of  Edinburgh,  305. 
 
 Blair,  Mr  John,  minister,  88. 
 
 Boece,  Hector,  [3],  [9],  385. 
 
 Boots,  The,  the  instrument  of  torture 
 so  called,  69. 
 
 Both  well  Bridge,  battle  of,  38,  116. 
 
 Brown,  John,  of  Priesthill,  shot  by 
 Claverhouse,  39. 
 
 Brown,  Mr  John,  minister  of  Wain- 
 phray  ;  his  ojtposition  to  tlie  in- 
 dulgence, 21,  221,  :341,  342. 
 
 Bruce,  Mr  Robert,  one  of  the  minis- 
 ters of  Edin])urgh.  [19],  99. 
 
 Burnet,  Dr  Gilbert,  Bislmp  of  S.iruin, 
 the  historian,  62,  64,  66,  261. 
 
 Calamy,  Dr  Edmund.  2:30.  2i>6. 
 
 Cameron,  Mr  Richard.  42. 47. 1 18.:J43. 
 
 Cameronians.    See  Societ;/  People. 
 
 Canipbell,  Dr  George,  Profe.ssor  of 
 Divinity,  310. 
 
 ('ampbell,  Sir  Hugh,  of  Cad<lell. 
 146,  192.  245.  249. 
 
 Canjjjbell, Sir  IIugh,»»f  Cesu<»ck,  brief 
 notice  of  371. 
 
 ('ampbell,  Sir  (»e(»rge,  notice  »>f,  372. 
 
 Camjibell,  Mr  Jnhn,  a  minister  in  Ire- 
 land, iuiprisoned  in  the  B.ibs,  273. 
 
 Campbill,  Mr  .1..  minister  of  Sorii,  271. 
 
 Cami)beil.  Mr  .lohn,  niinibter  of 'i'<ir- 
 thorwald.  273. 
 
 Campbell.  John,  ..f  Wellwood.  46. 
 
 Cargill.  Mr  Douiild,  42.56.  119,  2<H, 
 
 Carstairs,  .M  r  .lohn.  niinister  of  ( J  l.is- 
 gow,  70, 143,  14  4.1  15.  24<i.  2H.3. 
 
 Carstairs,  Mr  William,  2.-<7. 
 
 U  (> 
 
434 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Charles  11.,  principles  impelling  to 
 the  persecution  during  his  reign, 
 [18]-[23] ;  his  character,  2,  3. 
 
 Chauncey,  Dr  Isaac,  229. 
 
 Claverhouse,  John  Graham  of,  39. 
 
 Clarendon,  Lord,  his  opinion  of  the 
 restoration  of  Charles  II.,  2. 
 
 Clelland,  Captain,  93. 
 
 Clelland,  Lieut.-Col.  William,  48. 
 
 Cockburn,  Major,  31. 
 
 Cole,  .Air  Elisha,  229. 
 
 CoUace,  Jane,  100,  101,  188, 189. 
 
 Columba,  St,  a  presbyter,  [5],  [6.] 
 
 Communions  in  the  fields,  328. 
 
 Conventicles,  severe  laws  against,  6, 
 8,  9 ;  became  more  numerous  after 
 the  battle  of  Pentland  Hills,  2,  264; 
 penalty  to  magistrates  for  conven- 
 ticles kept  within  royal  burghs, 
 264,265.         Field  Meetings.  ' 
 
 Council,  Privy,  their  zeal  in  persecu- 
 ting the  Presbyterians,  10,  11. 
 
 Crisp,  Dr  Tobias,  228,  229,  231. 
 
 Crisp,  Mr  Samuel,  228. 
 
 Cunningham,  Mr  Gab,,  minister,  279. 
 
 Curates,  their  character,  4  ;  their 
 hostility  to  the  Presbyterians,  84  ; 
 their  ejection,  306;  scheme  for  their 
 comprehension  with  the  Church  of 
 Scotland,  307-309,  349 ;  on  Presby- 
 terians hearing  them  preach,  351. 
 
 Currie,  Mr  J.,  minister  of  Shotts,  92. 
 
 Dalziel,  Sir  John,  337. 
 
 Dalziel,  General,  of  Binns,  29,  252. 
 
 Denniston,  Mr  Archibald,  minister, 
 deposed  by  the  Protesters,  276. 
 
 Dick,  Robert,  notice  of,  121. 
 
 Dickson,  Mr  David,  minister  at  Ir- 
 vine, 99. 
 
 Dickson,  Mr  John,  min  ister  of  Ruther- 
 
 §len,  279;  is  ejected  from  his  charge, 
 16  ;  keeps  a  large  field-meeting  at 
 Beath-hill,  318-325  ;  assists  at  com- 
 munions in  the  fields,  328  ;  is  zeal- 
 ously opposed  to  the  indulgence, 
 340 ;  desists  from  preaching  in  the 
 fields,  343;  is  apprehended  and  im- 
 prisoned in  the  Bass,  344  ;  restored 
 to  his  old  parish  at  the  Revolution, 
 348  ;  his  death,  349. 
 Douglas,  James,  47. 
 Down,  Lord,  248. 
 
 Drummond,  Mr  James,  preacher,  200. 
 
 Duft'us,  Lord,  180,  238. 
 
 Dumfries,  Earl  and  Countess  of,  50. 
 
 Dumfries,  Countess  of,  50. 
 
 Dunbar,  Mr  Alexander,  preacher,  no- 
 tice of,  373,  380. 
 
 Dunlop,  iMrs  Alexander,  265,  266. 
 
 Dunottar  Castle,  prisoners  in,  164, 
 165,  168. 
 
 Ellis,  Mr  John,  advocate,  71,  72. 
 Erskine,  Mr  Ebenezer,  23,  379. 
 Erskine,  Mr  Henry,  379. 
 Erskine,  Mr  "William,  one  of  the  mi- 
 nisters of  Edinburgh,  285,  382. 
 Errol,  Earl  of,  86. 
 
 Ferguson,  Hugh,  of  Knockdown,  32. 
 Field  meetings,  7, 8, 318-325, 328-339 : 
 
 armed  meetings,  203-210, 328,  331. 
 Fithie,  Mr  James,  chaplain  of  Triuitv 
 
 Hospital,  Edinburgh,  374, 379. 
 Fleming,  Mr  William,  minister  of 
 
 Cambuslang,  354,  355,  379. 
 Fletcher,  Andrew,  of  Saltoun,  [36J. 
 Forrester,  Mr  Alexander,  minister  of 
 
 St  Mungo,  notice  of,  106^109. 
 Forrester,  Mr  Thomas,  minister,  279. 
 Forsyth,  Mr  Henry,  minister,  279. 
 Forsyth,  Mr  James,  banished,  164. 
 Fowles,  Lady  Dowager  of,  239. 
 Eraser,  Sir  James  of  Brea,  124, 125. 
 Eraser,  ]\Ir  James,  124-156, 
 Eraser,  Mr  John,  banished,  168. 
 
 Gillespie,  Mr  George,  minister  of 
 
 Strathmiglo,  23. 
 Gillespie,  Mr  Patrick,  276,  315. 
 Gillespie,  Mr  Robert,  notice  of,  13. 
 Goodwin,  Dr  Thomas,  junior,  229. 
 Gordon,  Alexander,  of  Earlston,  338  : 
 
 brief  notice  of,  369. 
 Gordon,  Lady,  of  Earlston,  380, 
 Grange,  Lord,  53. 
 
 Gray,  Mr  Andrew,  one  of  the  minis- 
 ters of  Glasgow,  276. 
 
 Greig,  Mr  James,  85,  87. 
 
 Greig,Mr  John,  minister  of  Skirling, 
 notice  of,  80-96. 
 
 Grifiith,  Mr  George,  congregational 
 minister,  230. 
 
 Guthrie,  Mr  James,  221,  264,  315. 
 
 Guthrie,  Mrs  James,  264. 
 
 Guthrie,  Mr  John,  minister  of  Tar- 
 bolton,  24,  25,  264. 
 
 Guthrie,  Mrs  John,  264-266. 
 
 Hackston,  David,  of  Rathillet,  161. 
 
 Haddington,  Earl  of,  296. 
 
 Halton,  Lord,  71,  72,  88,  138. 
 
 Hamilton,  Mr  Alexander,  one  of  the 
 ministers  of  Edinburgh,  382. 
 
 Hamilton,  Duke  of,  88,  262. 
 
 Hamilton,  Sir  Jas.,  of  Earlston,  315. 
 
 Hamilton,  Mr  John,  one  of  the  minis- 
 ters of  Edinburgh,  302. 
 
 Hog,  Mr  James,  minister  of  Carnock, 
 184,  308,  309. 
 
 Hog,  Mr  Thomas,  minister  of  Kil- 
 tearn,  notice  of,  174,  198. 
 
 Holland,  Presbyterian  exiles  in,  194. 
 
 lioundwocd,  Laird  of,  295. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 4:35 
 
 Iluuston,  Mr  David,  minister,  44,  45. 
 Hume  or  Home,  Mr  David,  minister, 
 
 279,  317. 
 Hume,  Earl  of,  295,  296. 
 Hutchison,  Mr  George,  minister,  278. 
 Hutchison,  Mr  James,  minister  of 
 
 Killean,  92. 
 Hutchison,  Mr  John,  171. 
 
 Indulgences,  the,  21,  43,  80,  116, 
 257,  258,  284;  controversy  among 
 the  Covenanters  on  account  of,  42, 
 83,  340,  354. 
 
 Innes,  Captain,  207, 
 
 Intercomiuuning,  letters  of,  19-21. 
 
 Ireland,  Mr,  curate,  327. 
 
 Irvine,  Mr  Francis,  minister  of  Kirk- 
 mahoe,  378. 
 
 James  I.,  [13],  [60]. 
 
 James  VI.,  [15],  [19],  [91]. 
 
 James  VII.,  [22],  [34],  [60],  194,  257, 
 
 284,  308,  347. 
 Johnston,  Mr  George,  minister,  206, 
 
 213,  214,  268,  279. 
 Johnston,  John,  druggist,  170-172. 
 Johnston,  Major,  225. 
 
 Kennedy,  Mr  Andrew  of  Closeburn, 
 285. 
 
 Kennedy,  Mr  Hugh,  minister  of  Edin- 
 burgh, 285,  304,  382. 
 
 Kennedy,  Mr  John,  296,  299. 
 
 Kentigern  or  Mungo,  St,  [5],  [7]. 
 
 Kid,  Mr  Peter,  minister  of  Carluke, 
 92,  94  ;  l)rief  notice  of,  375. 
 
 King,  Mr  John,  preacher,  201. 
 
 Kirkton,  Mr  James,  285,  308,  .'J82. 
 
 Kn<jx,  Mr  John,  minister  of  North 
 Leith.  380. 
 
 Kyle,  Mr  William,  preacher,  379. 
 
 TjADIES  interconununed,  19. 
 lianglands,  Mr  Robert,  48. 
 Lauder,  Mr  John,  minister  of  Dalziel, 
 92. 
 
 Lauder,  Robert,  of  the  Ba.-s.  [12]. 
 Lauderdale,  Duke  of,  [17],  [22],  [21] 
 
 9,l>4,  71,  74, 16.3,  252,  256,  261,  282^ 
 Lauderdale,  Dn  hess  of,  90. 
 Law,  Mr  John,  minister  of  Canipsic, 
 
 notice  of,  '276-'^.-7. 
 liHw,  Mr  Uoln-rt,  ruinibter,  279. 
 Law,  Mr  Mungo,  oin;  of  the  ministers 
 
 of  Edinbiirgli,  2lb. 
 Learniont,  J  itnes,  [3  |. 
 Tiearmont,  Major  Jos.,  notice  of,  367. 
 Leighton,    Itibort,    Archbishop  oi 
 
 lilasj^ow,  5,  261. 
 Lin,  \V  illiuni,  writer  in  IMiuburgli, 
 
 brief  notice  of,  367. 
 
 Linlithgow,  Earl  of,  68,  280. 
 Linlithgow,  Mr  John,  minister  of 
 
 Ewes,  379. 
 Livingstone,  Mr  John,  3. 
 Livingstone,  Mr  James,  296,  299. 
 Livingstone,  Mary,  daughter  of  Lady 
 
 Saltcoats,  265. 
 Lockhart,  Sir  George,  71-73. 
 
 M'Bean,  Mr  Angus,  Episcopal  minis- 
 ter at  Inverness,  259. 
 Macaulay,  Mr  James,  preacher,  290. 
 Maclean,  Mr  Archibald j  minister  of 
 
 KiHean,  379. 
 3J'Culloch,  Margery,  275. 
 M'Gilligen,  Mr  John,  minister  of  Eo- 
 
 dertie,  notice  of,  235-259. 
 M'Kenzie,  Sir  George,  his  Majesty's 
 
 advocate,  64,  71, 159, 192. 
 M'Kenzie,  Sir  G.  of  Tarbet,  247,  255. 
 M'Kenzie,  Mr  Murdoch,  Bishop  of 
 
 Murray,  182,  186,  237,  241. 
 M'Kenzie,  Sir  R.,  of  Findcn,  241. 
 M'NVard,  Mr   Robert,   minister  of 
 
 Glasgow,  afterwards  banished,  21, 
 
 223,  276, 323,  341,  354. 
 Maitland,  Charles,  deputv-gcvernor 
 
 of  the  Bass,  [.'WJ,  [35],  252. 
 Mather,  Mr  Mathaniel,  minister,  229. 
 Mehille,  Earl  of,  303,  304, 
 Melville,  Sir  James,  of  ilallhill,  1.57. 
 Melville,  Mr  Thomas,  minister,  201. 
 Mitchell,  Mr  James,  preacher,  i58. 
 Mitchell,  Mr  R.  minister  of  Luss,  92. 
 Moderate   party  in  the  Church  of 
 
 Scotland,  origin  of,  308. 
 Monro,  Dr  Alexander,  2b7,  3(X3,  312. 
 Monro,  Sir  Robert,  ol'  Fowli.s,  I7y. 
 Monmouth,  Duke  of,  117.  193,  194. 
 Murray,  Mr  Anthonv.  minister  of 
 
 Carmichael,  90.  92,  ij-jO. 
 Murray,  Eai  1  of,  99,  l8o,  2.38. 
 Mossman,  Mr  John,  minister,  279,379. 
 
 Nethknus,  Dr  Matthias,  Professor 
 of  Theology  at  Utrecht,  222-224. 
 
 Nisbet,  Sergeant  James,  46,  52. 
 
 Nisbet,  Sir  .John,  of  Dirlet.m,  13,  211. 
 
 Nisbet.  .Mr  John,  of  ller.lhill.  4.5. 
 
 Nithsdalo,  Karl  of,  a  Papist,  .'3.37. 
 
 Nuns,  Cistercian,  inhabited  the  Ai  - 
 boy  of  North  Berwick,  [11]. 
 
 Oath  of  abjuration,  165;  oath  of  al- 
 legiance, 152. 
 
 Uliphant,  Mr  .lohn,  minister  of  Stone- 
 house,  92. 
 
 Orange,  iVinco  of,  194.  See  WiUunn 
 II.,  Kin.,. 
 
 Orde,  Major,  church  warden  of  Aln- 
 wick, 2l»l,  292. 
 
4.36 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Paterson,  Bishop  of  Ross,  236,  243. 
 
 Paterson,  Mr  John,  Archbishop  of 
 Glasgow,  236,  256. 
 
 Paterson,  Sir  William,  251. 
 
 Peden,  Mr  Alex.,  notice  of,  24-57. 
 
 Peebles,  Mr  Hugh,  minister,  88. 
 
 Pentland  Hills,  battle  of,  7,  29,  30, 
 
 Perth,  Earl  of,  [34],  [35],  252. 
 
 Philip,  Mr  John,  curate,  251,  381. 
 
 Potter,  Mr  Michael,  minister  of  Bor- 
 rowstounness,  brief  notice  of,  368. 
 
 Primrose,  Sir  Archibald,  71,  73,  76. 
 
 Prisons  in  Scotland  during  the  per- 
 secution, [25]. 
 
 Protesters  and  Resolutioners,  181, 
 276,  277,  314. 
 
 Rae,  Mr  John,  minister,  279,  329, 
 332,  335,  336,  370,  371. 
 
 Ramsav,  Sir  A.,  of  Abbotshall,[17],9. 
 
 Renwick,  Mr  James,  41,  49,  258,  377. 
 
 Resolutioners  and  Protesters,  181, 
 276,  277, 314. 
 
 Revolution,  state  of  the  Church  at, 
 303-309,  349. 
 
 Riddell,  Mr  Archibald,  119, 164,  169, 
 279,  329, 332, 334, 
 
 Riddell,  Sir  John,  363. 
 
 Riddell,  Sir  Walter,  363. 
 
 Riddell,  Mr  AVilliam,  363. 
 
 Rigg,  William,  of  Athernie,  363. 
 
 Rogers,  Mr  Ralph,  one  of  the  minis- 
 ters of  Glasgow,  380. 
 
 Ross,  Mr  Robert,  preacher,  279,  288. 
 
 Ross,  Mr  Thomas,  notice  of,  97-105. 
 
 Ross,  Mrs,  97,  186,  187. 
 
 Rule,  Dr  Gilbert,  Principal  of  the 
 College  of  Edinburgh,  291. 
 
 Russell,  Lord,  151. 
 
 Rutherford,  Mr  Samnel,181, 222-224. 
 
 Rye-house  Plot,  90. 
 
 Saltcoats,  Lady  of,  265. 
 
 Scot,  Mr  George,  of  Pitlochie,  157. 
 
 Scot,  Sir  J.,  of  Scotstarvet,  157, 163. 
 
 Semple,  Mr  Gabriel,  minister,  19, 
 268,  279, 316, 317. 
 
 Sharp,  James,  Archbishop  of  St  An- 
 drews, [21],  60,  63,  65,  71,  76,  137, 
 146,  161,  190, 322. 
 
 Sharp,  Sir  William,  63,  87. 
 
 Shields,  Mr  A.,  minister,  94,347,376. 
 
 Sidney,  Colonel,  151. 
 
 Simson,  Mr  Patrick,  minister  of  Ren- 
 frew, 34. 
 
 Society  People,  42,  165. 
 
 Sommervail,  Nicol,  63,  72,  73. 
 
 Sprciil,  John,  apothecary,  15,  366. 
 
 Spreul,  John,  town-clerk  in  Glasgow, 
 251,  369. 
 
 Stewart,  Sir  James,  of  Kirkfield,  274. 
 Stewart,  Mr  John,  minister,  373. 
 Stewart,  Murdac,  Duke  of  Albany, 
 
 [13],  [14.] 
 Stewart,  Walter,  [13],  [14]. 
 Spallanzani,  Abbe,  a  distinguished 
 
 Continental  naturalist,  [64]. 
 Spence,  Mr  William,  notice  of,  376. 
 Supremacy,  the  act  of,  3. 
 
 Tantallan,  Castle  of,  [68],  [77], 
 
 Traill,  Mr  Robert,  minister  of  Edin- 
 burgh, 59,  217-220. 
 
 Traill,  Mr  Robert,  notice  of,  217-234. 
 
 Tullidaff,  Mr  W.,  minister,  261,  380. 
 
 Turnbull,  Thomas,  of  Standhill,  205. 
 
 Turner,  Sir  James,  6,  7. 
 
 Turner,  Mr,  Episcopal  incumbent  of 
 St  Giles'  Church,  Edinburgh,  296. 
 
 Tweeddale,  Earl  of,  62,  238. 
 
 Urquhart,  Mr  James,  minister  of 
 
 "    Kinloss,  99,  380. 
 
 Urquhart,  Mr  Thomas,  minister,  238. 
 
 Veitch,  Mr  William,  minister  of 
 Dumfries,  378. 
 
 Walker,  Pat.,  27, 37, 46, 50, 53,  306. 
 Wallace,  Lieut.-Col.  James,  29,  59. 
 Waughton,  the  Laird  of,  [17]. 
 Wardlaw,  Mr  John,  minister,  22. 
 Weir,  Isabel,  39. 
 
 Welsh,  Mr  John,  minister  of  Iron- 
 grav,  19,  119,  201,  203,  213,  238, 
 279;  316,  329,  331,  335,  353.^ 
 
 Wilkie,  Mr  John,  minister,  264. 
 
 Wilkie,  Mr  Thomas,  minister  of  the 
 Oanongate,  378. 
 
 Wilkie,  Mr  Thos.,  minister  of  North 
 Lcith,  381. 
 
 William  II.,  [34],  194,  195,  287,  305. 
 
 Williams,  Dr  Daniel,  229,  230. 
 
 Williamson,  Mr  D.,  minister  of  West 
 Kirk,  Edinburgh,  203,  213,  268. 
 
 Wilson,  Alexander,  the  celebrated 
 ornithologist,  [107]. 
 
 Wylie,  Dr  Thomas,  minister  of  Kirk- 
 cudbright, 59. 
 
 York,  Dake  of,  151,  344.  Sec  James 
 VII. 
 
 Young,  Mr  Geo.,  a  Popish  priest,  381. 
 Young,  Mr  Robert,  minister  of  Ru- 
 therglen,  314. 
 
 rDI.NIlUHC.lI:  PIUNTKD  BY  JOHN  OKKIO. 
 
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