THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 

 
 
 THE 
 
 WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 LAST OF THE STUARTS 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE 
 
 SCOTTISH PERSECUTION 
 
 " I tread with reverence, the spot where I trace the footsteps of our suffering 
 fathers : it is to me a classical, yea, a holy land : it is rich in the memoirs of the 
 great, and the good, the martyrs of liberty, and the exiled heralds of truth." 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 NEW- YORK: . 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, 
 
 NO. 82, CLIFF-STREET, 
 
 AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 1833.
 
 [.Entered according to the act of Congress, in- the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and thirty-three, by J. & J. HARPER, in the Clerk's office, of the District. 
 Court of the United State* for the Southern District of New- York.] 
 
 Henry Ludwig, Print er.
 
 THE 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 LAST OF THE STUARTS. 
 


 
 DEDICATION, 
 
 TO THE DESCENDANTS OF THE WHIGS : AND TO THOSE WHO 
 HONOUR THEIR MEMORY. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 I had formerly dedicated these 
 volumes to SIR WALTER SCOTT, the immor 
 tal honour of Scotland ; who, though he frank 
 ly differed from us in many things, was, never 
 theless, known by all his friends, to admire 
 and applaud the character of the genuine AULD 
 WHIGS OF THE COVENANT. Alas ! Sir Walter 
 is no more ! Scotland mourns her immortal 
 poet and historian. Next to him, whom all 
 Scotland loved and admired, to whom can I 
 dedicate them, so appropriately, as unto you ? 
 
 Gentlemen : I lay before you a narrative of 
 the deeds of your gallant forebears. It em 
 braces a period of sixteen months in their histo 
 ry, emphatically styled the Killing Times. 
 
 While the Stuart has been commemorated 
 in the religious festivals of England ; and no 
 pains spared, on the part' of the tories of Bri 
 tain, especially of late, by Sir Walter, the 
 FIRST WRITER of our day, to glorify their an 
 cestors ; justice has not been rendered to our 
 gallant forebears. Much yet remains to be 
 done to set their character and actions in a true 
 light ; and remove the obloquy thrown on them, 
 by malignity or ignorance. Dr. M'Crie taught 
 Sir Walter to think differently of them. 
 
 VOL. I. A
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 The character and conduct of the Scottish 
 Whigs are public property. It belongs to the 
 community of nations to vindicate their honour. 
 Like WASHINGTON, they sought no private in 
 terests : they led the van in the revolution of 
 nations. The enemy which they encountered 
 and overthrew, is the same which the American 
 patriots overthrew; and the same which the 
 convulsed nations of Europe, and our Southern 
 continent, are now combatting. The Scottish 
 Whigs achieved, in their nation, what the pa 
 triots of every nation will achieve, in the day 
 when they rise to vindicate their rights. Theirs 
 is the proud honour of having struck the first 
 blow, as the van of the patriotic hosts, who will 
 overthrow tyranny; and give liberty to the 
 world! Every incident respecting them is, 
 therefore, of public interest. 
 
 One thing is peculiar to the Scottish strug 
 gle : it was for their religion, as well as their 
 liberty. This was not of the Covenanter's 
 choice. It was a necessity imposed on them, 
 by the intolerant claimants of Divine rights, 
 and absolute supremacy over the human con 
 science ! And this very circumstance throws 
 an air of higher grandeur and sublimity over 
 our forefathers' toils and sufferings. Our sym 
 pathies are intensely excited for the men who 
 perilled their lives for the altars of their God, 
 and the liberties of their country ! 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 TORFOOT HALL, ) 
 April, 1833. \
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Pleasant to the soul, is the remembrance of the days of other years*" 
 
 HISTORY can lay before us only a general detail. 
 Events, their causes and consequences, are the legitimate, 
 and almost only attainable objects of the historian. Mor e 
 than this it would be impossible for him to accomplish. 
 Materials for minute details, are not usually preserved. 
 And it would be utterly impolitic to attempt more. The 
 tedious delineations would render his voluminous history 
 inaccessible to the great majority of his readers. 
 
 How much is thereby lost to posterity, both of profit 
 and enjoyment ! The family picture, the fire-side seen e s 
 to which we long to be introduced, the smiling inno 
 cence, the unalloyed enjoyments which virtue and love 
 bestow ; the throbs of the patriot and martyr's bosom ; 
 the heart-rending sorrows spread over a whole circle o 
 helpless and innocent beings, by the cruelty of tyrants , 
 and the bigotry of fanatics ; the sufferers' firmness, and 
 patience, and meek-spirited forgiveness, are all lost to 
 us, with the instructive lessons of their minute detail. 
 
 Every one has felt how delightful history becomes
 
 IT INTRODUCTION. 
 
 when, occasionally, it condescends to enter into minute 
 and personal narrative. And it is this very thing which 
 renders works of imagination, the party tales, and parti 
 cularly the historical romance, so delightful to the young, 
 to the gay, and to the studious ; and acceptable even to 
 the philosopher and the divine. They supply, in a natu 
 ral manner, the thing we long after. The minute detail, 
 the family scenes, the mental labours, the gradual forma 
 tion of character, the shadings, the frailties of those 
 whose deeds and actings on the grand arena of human 
 life, we contemplate on the sober and chastened pages of 
 history. History exhibits them in the dimness and ob 
 scurity of distance. In the minute and personal narra 
 tive, we are brought near to the actors ; we are introduced 
 to them, and hold communion with their souls and feel 
 ings. 
 
 And he who has studied the human heart ; and the 
 various forms of character brought out on the arena of 
 life, may give a delineation of the character of the patriot- 
 martyr, his sorrows, and enjoyments, and motives, in a 
 manner, we doubt not, quite as faithfully according to 
 the truth, as are most of the historian's details of the 
 events, and personages, of what he is pleased to call the 
 history of real life. 
 
 There is a period in the Scottish History to which my 
 mind turns always with an irrepressible and holy enthu 
 siasm ; a period when mofle of the Scottish character 
 was brought out and set in bold relief, than in any other 
 period before it or since. 
 
 The bright days of happiness and peace, the singular 
 prosperity of the nation, and unparalleled progress of the 
 sciences, have changed the face of Scotland, since her 
 union with England. Every body now, is content with
 
 INTRODUCTION. T 
 
 the sacrifice of the nation's Independence. The sacri 
 fice, merely of feeling or national pride, which made the 
 high-minded Scottish patriot sigh for a season, has been 
 amply rewarded by its Union with England. But those 
 bright days were immediately preceded by a wintry 
 storm, which has not its equal in the records of Scot 
 land, or perhaps any other nation's story. During that 
 winter of her year, the boldest, and the best, and the 
 worst of her characters were exhibited in their full-length 
 portraits. The enthusiasm of the WHIG came into fierce 
 collision with the enthusiasm of the TORY. 
 
 In the present enlightened and liberal-minded age, 
 when charity throws, playfully, around each rival, a 
 chivalrous generosity ; the more liberal Tory renders 
 justice to the fierce rival of his forefathers. And even the 
 Whig lets down the stern features of olden times, and is 
 softened down into a smile of forbearance and even gra- 
 tulation. And, side by side, they look back over the 
 KILLING TIMES with a rare combination of pity, good 
 will, and forgiveness ! But no patriot, no politician, will 
 permit the remembrance of these times to pass away from 
 his heart. Nor can they : that dignity in the hour of 
 sufferings ; that purity of sentiment, and of Christian 
 doctrine ; that enthusiastic love of liberty, and of truth ; 
 that spirit of fearless investigation, and manly resistance, 
 which raised its voice and its hand, in the palaces of the 
 great, and the thatched cottages of the peasantry of Scot- 
 bind, against the gigantic efforts of a civil and religious 
 fanaticism, which aimed at no less than the dragooning 
 of a nation into the belief of the divine right of kings, 
 and the divine right of prelates, to rule in absolute 
 supremacy over men's souls and estates; that effec 
 tual and glorious overthrow of this tyranny and priest-
 
 Yl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 craft ; and that ushering in of the happiest and brightest 
 days of Scotland, can never be forgotten. And, more 
 over, it can never be forgotten that these were the fruits of 
 the toils and sufferings of the WHIGS OP SCOTLAND ! 
 Thence does the Christian patriot derive a holy and im 
 pressive lesson which he ceases not to imprint on the 
 memories of his children, that civil and religious liberty 
 will ultimately triumph over every conspiracy to put it 
 down ; were it plotted by a Leo of Medici, by a Laud 
 of England, and by a Sharp of Scotland ; and were it 
 executed by the sword of a Stuart, the bayonet of a Bour 
 bon,, and the scimetar of a Mahomet !
 
 
 THE 
 
 WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 \ 
 
 LAST OF THE STUARTS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " Ibat ovans, anima et spe sua damna levabat." 
 
 ON a bright winter evening in February, A.D. 1678, a 
 solitary student was pacing, with hurried step, the stone 
 pavement of the inner court of the College of Glasgow. He 
 had lingered behind his jocund associates, after the close of 
 the serious business of the day, and the amusements of the 
 evening. He was a tall and manly figure, wrapt in the 
 ample foldings of the scarlet cloak, the badge of the studious 
 youth of that ancient and famous University. His yellow 
 hair fell in a rich profusion of curls on his shoulders ; and 
 his slouched hat shaded a face, on whose features the hand 
 of nature had stamped the noble image of greatness, lighted 
 up by manly beauty, and softened, withal, by a gentle and 
 pensive melancholy, which quenched something of its ori 
 ginal and natural vivacity, but added greatly to its interest 
 in the eyes of the beholder. 
 
 " I keep tryst," said he, starting from his profound re 
 verie, and raising his eyes to the lofty spire, as the deep-toned 
 bell tolled the hour of nine. And with struggling emotions, 
 he glanced over the venerable pile which surrounded him, 
 as if taking his final leave of them. The moon's clear 
 beams illumined the ancient steep roofs, whose grey-colour 
 ed slates had resisted the storms of more than eleven score
 
 8 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 years.* The high narrow windows reflected back the gleam 
 of the moon's cold rays : and the turreted stair-cases, slated 
 to the summit of their circular peaks, cast their gloomy sha 
 dows on the dark wall and pavement below. 
 
 Not a step was heard in the inner, or outer court, but his 
 own. The deep silence was interrupted partially, by the 
 night winds moaning through the ancient turrets ; and the 
 fitful booming of the kettle drum of some stray party of the 
 Life guards, returning from some bloody forray, to their tents 
 which lay stretched forth beyond the College garden. 
 
 " Here," continued he, " I must wait my trusty com 
 rades : our arrangement with the leaders of the Whigs shall 
 be consummated : and then adieu to these academic shades, 
 and, perchance, for ever ! Dear and venerated spot ! 
 How my fond heart delights to linger nigh thee ! These 
 walls, these windows, these turrets, have looked down on the 
 busy crowds of youth of seven generations ! These courts, 
 and academic groves have re-echoed to the voices of thou 
 sands of Caledonia's choicest sons ! Within these spacious 
 halls many a notable spirit has panted in holy rivalship in 
 the career of science ! Many a scholar has drunk in the 
 classic lore at this fountain ! Many a young nobleman, and 
 chivalrous knight have gone hence, to light up the glory 
 of Caledonia's crown : and many a deep theologian to break 
 a spear with the foes of God ; and build up the solid fame, 
 and purity o' the gude auld KIRK o' SCOTLAND ; and many a 
 scholar to pour the hallowed rays of truth and science over 
 the breadth and length of our native land ! Venerated seat 
 of science! may heaven's holy benedictions rest on thee; 
 and light up in thee a brilliant constellation of new stars, to 
 throw their sparkling light in future generations, like thy 
 Boyds and thy Dicksons ; thy Baileys, and thy Gillespies ; 
 thy Loudons, thy Fletchers, thy Argyles, and thy Stewarts ! 
 
 The din ofarms," continued our youth, after a deep pause, 
 and gathering up the ample foldings of his cloak, " The 
 din of arms, I had fondly hoped, would not have reached us, 
 in our retreat, within these academic shades. I trusted that 
 we should have been permitted of heaven, to finish, in quiet 
 ness, like our gude forbears, our academic career ; and thence 
 have entered, in a manner befitting our fathers' sons, on the 
 
 * In A.D. 1678. The University of Glasgow was founded in A.D. 
 1450.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 9 
 
 arena of Scotland's politics. But the demons of discord 
 are abroad in the land. My country ! My king ! house of 
 the living God! dear to my soul as the kirk of my father's 
 God, you are hurled headlong against each other, in the 
 horrid broils of civil discord! The war shout of tyranny 
 from its bloody car, the wailing of the oppressed, the 
 clanking of chains, the clashing of arms, are heard over 
 the land : and men's ears are filled with direful rumours. 
 The day of Heaven's inquisition for blood will come it 
 will reveal where the guilt lies, whether with the bigot 
 Clarendon, or king Charles, sit fas loqui, or with his 
 minions, Archbishop Sharp, and Lauderdale, or with the 
 bold and uncompromising Covenanter. The gude auld 
 knight declares that none can be neutral in this, the day of 
 our country's visitation, and I begin to feel it, though the 
 charms of literature, absorbing my attention, have hitherto 
 denied the opportunity of settling this point for myself. But, 
 now, I am driven to the crisis, the gude knight has sent 
 his paternal injunctions "to throw aside, as the fishermen 
 their nets, of old, this trumpery of classical and metaphysi 
 cal laer, and hasten to the assistance o' the gallant spirits wha 
 hae sworn the great aith, to redress their kintry's vvrangs." 
 My certie ! the demons o' madness must hae scathed the 
 heads o' the nations, they must be red wud mad, when they 
 venture, thus wantonly, to trample, under their feet, the con 
 stitution and fundamental laws o' auld Scotland! and to 
 throw themselves in the shock of arms, upon the best and 
 maist patriotic men in the land !" 
 
 As our young knight was uttering these words in a tone 
 of despondency, a loud and unearthly scream issued from 
 the narrow passage, which conducts from the inner court 
 into the College garden : and a little, corpulent, roundfaced 
 man, bustling and panting in great agitation, and uttering 
 
 half broken sentences, ran headlong against him: "The 
 
 principal and haile faculty ! Na, na ! That thing wunna 
 du: run, call the beadles and the bailies, and e'en the Lord 
 Provost himsel. They'll hae the puir lad a' whanged up 
 intil callops ! Saf us a' ! And you too, Sir," continued he, 
 staring into the muffled face of our student, " Wha may ye 
 be, sir, at this untimeous hoor within this my ain precincts? 
 You too transgressing the gude laws o' the College, instead 
 o' being in yer bed, or study-room, lik a douce, sober student ;
 
 10 
 
 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND! 
 
 you too, to run over my puir body, when I'm, at this in 
 stant, in the King's service, trying to keep the peace, if I can 
 get the Bailies and Toon Cooncil to du it!" 
 
 " And I pray thee, Archy ! wilt thou condescend to inform 
 me, as soon as thy feckless brains hae recovered their senses, 
 on what fool's errand thou art careering at this gaite ? Or 
 what may hae scattered a' the puir wits thou aince hadst? In 
 thy vocation as Janitor and key bearer, Archy ! thou hast 
 usually displayed as meikle gravity, as micht du honour 
 saving his presence, to the archbishop Sharp himsel. 
 
 "Archbishop Sharp! Humph!" cried Archy. "But 
 run, Sir, I hae nae time to tak up archbishop Sharp wi' ye 
 Weel, as I was telling you" 
 
 " You have not told me a word yet, Archy," said the young 
 Knight. 
 
 " Howsomever, as I was telling you," continued the per 
 severing Archy, who had, like many of his betters, conceived 
 his preceding cogitations to be addressed, by way of conver 
 sation, to the present party; "As I was gangin', ye see, 
 my usual rounds, as in duty bound, before I turned the key 
 o* the front gate, I heard a fearfu' clashing o' swords, and 
 yelloching doon bye in the College garden. It souched up 
 frae the burnie which runs through the lower parts, ye ken ; 
 and the fearfu' bruit increased waur, and mair waur, than 
 the leather-lunged caterwauling o' a score o' cats, in full blast ! 
 I ran with a' my micht tow r ard the spot ; and after at least a 
 dozen o' upsets, and wi' nae sma' scaith to my frontispiece, 
 I gat near enough to discern ane o' oor students, frae his 
 gown, engaged in a stoot match at lang rapier. Noo, for 
 Gude's sake, run, Sir, and save the puir lad ; till I shall alarm 
 the haille High Street ; and bring a dozen beadles, and bailies 
 at the head o' them." 
 
 Our youth ran instantly to the spot pointed out by Archy, 
 and found two persons engaged in single combat. The moon 
 shone clearly: and each was manoeuvering to get his anta 
 gonist round to face the moon. It was no play of idle gillies, 
 or of awkward students at foils. It was a fierce and deadly 
 combat. A tall young man was sustaining an unequal fight 
 with a a strong built man, who seemed to be in military un 
 dress. The youth was evidently wounded, and was beginning 
 to stagger. And his more skilful antagonist was watching 
 his time to give the closing thrust. He was in the act of
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 11 
 
 giving a flourish with his long rapier ; for he had thrown 
 his antagonist off his guard, and was aiming a murderous 
 blow at his head, when our young knight dashed his cloak 
 into the cavalier's face, and entangled his sword. The unfor 
 tunate student, at this moment reeled, and fell on the hrown 
 swaird, and fainted. 
 
 "My certie! young man!" cried the soldier, "ye hae 
 saved a bonny callan's life. That scarlet rag o' yours has 
 delayed his journey, a bittoc, to the ither warld. I was just 
 drawing oot a steel passport to enable him to visit the canting 
 Whigs, by Sathan's fireside, whase wrangs, as he ca's 
 them, he was seeking to redress at my expense. Wattie 
 Hepburn, my bonny lad ! is not to be trifled with. God save 
 King Charles II. oor glorious King: and a has all canting, 
 whining, psalm-singing whigamores!" 
 
 Our young knight forgot for a moment, his situation and 
 danger. He threw his cloak over his shoulders, and snatch 
 ing the sword from the hand of his bleeding companion, he 
 took the lifeguard's man by the hand, and led him down to 
 wards the garden wall, while he whispered to him; " Mea 
 sure we swords here, my gallant! The son of a Whig, albeit 
 himself be nae Whig as yet, wunna permit with impunity, 
 the gude auld cause o' his father to be insulted : and his 
 comrade slauchtered afore his een. Nemo me impune lacessit, 
 ilka Scotchman, be he gentleman or simpleman, can read 
 that, Eh! If ye be the same I tak ye to be, ye'll need nae 
 midsman to interpret. And the blude o' the Hamilton, I 
 flatter myself, needs nae advantage of length of sword with 
 even a lifeguard's man!" 
 
 As he uttered these words with rapidity, he dashed the as 
 tonished soldier from him, and struck him on the cheek: 
 and then with a flourish of his sword, he threw himself into 
 an attitude of defence. He parried his antagonist's thrusts 
 with coolness, and even with ease. And in the vigour of 
 freshness and youthful excitement, he soon began to gain on 
 the exhausted soldier: and succeeded in bringing him round, 
 more and more, so as to make the moonlight fall fully into 
 his face. He had already given and received several wounds. 
 But by a masterly blow, he had weakened his antagonist's 
 sword arm, very materially. Wattie Hepburn's passion rose, 
 as he felt himself baffled. But as his passion chafed him, he
 
 12 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 only exposed himself the more to the aims of his cool and 
 collected antagonist. Each thrust caused him to retreat a 
 step >while he watched his opportunity in his turn, to spring 
 forward on him ; and close the combat. 
 
 Our young knight perceived that his manoeuvres had com 
 pletely succeeded. He had brought Hepburn on the rough 
 ground of which he had not been aware or had not 
 noticed, in his eagerness to prevent the student from getting 
 betwixt him and the blaze of the full-moon. Hepburn stumbled, 
 and fell on one knee. The young knight instantly closed on 
 him ; seized him by the throat, dashed his sword out of his 
 hand with his left foot ; and flourishing his steel over him, 
 he brought its point to his throat. "My faith," croaked out 
 the exasperated, and half strangled lifeguard's man "ye' re 
 a cunning ane, and a clever." He had hardly uttered these 
 words when our student such was his real design, 
 rolled him, with a sudden jerk, heels over head, down the 
 bank, into the muddy brook, which creeps heavily through 
 the college garden ; jumps in himself and souses the soldier 
 over head and ears, before he could collect his scattered 
 senses ; and he left him snorting, and spouting out from mouth, 
 and nose, the filthy water ; and rehearsing all the oaths of his 
 royal Master's use and coinage ; and ejaculating half of the 
 names of the saints in the ghostly Calendar. He remained a few 
 moments, with his huge curly head sticking out of the muddy 
 brook, and supported by his brawny arms which were in the 
 mud up to his elbows, while he stared wildly around him. He 
 then drew his huge limbs up out of the mud, shook himself 
 like a great New-Foundland dog while his teeth chattered 
 in his mouth, like a pair of castanets. And finding himself 
 about to be surrounded by more attendants than he deemed 
 necessary and who, moreover, hailed him with tremendous 
 peals of laughter he hastily threw himself over the garden 
 wall, and disappeared, relieving the paroxisms of his wrath, 
 the meanwhile, by muttering fierce threats, " that he would 
 annihilate the haile College of Glasgow, Principal, pro* 
 fessors, students, and a' !" 
 
 When our young hero returned to his wounded comrade, 
 he found him supported by some of his companions, who 
 had, at the alarm of Archy, hastened to the spot. He was 
 exhausted and faint, through the loss of blood. He had re-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 13 
 
 ceived several wounds about the head and arms. They 
 wiped the bloody stains from his face ; and hastened to bind 
 up the wounds, in his head, which bled the most profusely. 
 
 "But, comrades," cried our knight, "We must hasten 
 from this place. I am confident that the zeal of Archy will 
 bring him hither with a strong party. Already I hear distant 
 voices, and they are approaching. We can retreat up the 
 Burn ; and take the party on the left, and so effect our escape. 
 I am grieved, and mortified at this night's work. But this 
 is not the place to reproach ; and I am sure it is not the time, 
 when our friend is in distress !" 
 
 They took up their wounded companion: and retreating 
 up the stream, near to the northern wall ; they crossed the 
 brook, and took a station behind some bushes, and thus es 
 caped the notice of the officers as they passed. 
 
 They could hear a deep-toned voice lamenting the scandal 
 ous deterioration of the public morals. " We nae langer 
 find, I trow, the soberness, and cautious prudence, and wis 
 dom, and moderation of the ancient Scottish character among 
 us. Even these walks, and academic shades, consecrated to 
 the retirement of studious youth, are broken in upon by the 
 brawls of drunkards, and their hellish feuds. The sober 
 collegians are transformed into wild soldados, and cut 
 throats!" 
 
 "Yes, gude Baillie," answered one of them "ay syn 
 thae black guards, waefully misnamed life guards faith ! 
 they hae these mony years, mounted guard at death's doors, 
 they are, in fact, the guard of death, the king o' terrors ; 
 ever syn the time that thae craters cam in amang us though 
 they profess to uphaud king and law ; my certes ! they labour 
 to put doon baith the aen and the ither. They trample a' 
 law and justice under their hoofs ; and the thrapples o' them 
 that wad lead quiet honest lives, they cut as unceremoniously, 
 as I wad slice ye a whang aff a new cheese, or the saft heart 
 o 1 a kail runt.* The faut o' a' this canna fa' on the Whigs. 
 We a' ken wha's to blame. Their example and mainers are 
 like the pestilential blast o' the burnin' desert. Our very 
 sanctuaries are profaned : and oor fire-sides invaded. There 
 is neither son nor dachter, o' oay o' us safe in the general 
 
 * These lifeguards of Charles II. formed the first nucleus of the Jlrit 
 ttanding army m Britain ! 
 VOL. I. B.
 
 14 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 corruption of public morals ! They're waefu' times ! and 
 weel I wat, the sair blast is only beginning to blaw dourly. 
 An unco dark cloud hangs ower the laun. And wha may 
 live tae see the clearin' up shower ! HE that's aboon only 
 kens !" 
 
 The youthful party hastened out of the garden : and they 
 mended their steps as they approached the college buildings. 
 And, happily for them, Archy had left the key on the inside 
 of the front gate of the College. They hurried into the 
 street ; and conveyed the wounded youth to his lodgings ! 
 
 " My dear BURLEIGH STEWART !" said our knight ; after 
 he had laid his comrade on his couch ; and had sent for 
 medical aid " For I may safely name you, now that there 
 
 is no ear to give it to the tortures of slander what evil 
 
 genius could possibly hurry a man of your habits and man 
 ners into this night's work of blood and degradation 1 Was 
 it in character, that the son of your father, should, like some 
 drunken gillie, brawl and fight with the cut-throats of King 
 Charles ? But I bethink me pardon me, dear Burleigh ! 
 That pang of sorrow I have wrung thoughtlessly frae thy 
 heart ; thou art not in a situation" 
 
 " I know it, Sir William, but I trust I shall be in a condition 
 soon." said Burleigh, " perchance to-morrow, to satisfy 
 you, and all my friends, touching this matter. Meantime, 
 comrade, render me justice. Let me have the credit of being 
 innocent, until I be honourably convicted. You must now 
 leave me, Sir William, to my surgeon, who enters, I see, 
 to dress my wounds. A plague on Wattie Hepburn's lang 
 Toledo. It cuts deep into a tender callan's body. But, stay, 
 comrade" and he beckoned Sir William back " I shall 
 need your services, my gallant, to send an express to the 
 domicil of the venerable old Baronet ; and hark ye, bring 
 them all." 
 
 Sir William pressed his hand, and nodded his assurance 
 that he would see all this done. He lingered near his friend 
 until he heard the surgeon slowly, and oraculously pro 
 nounce his opinion or at least what he conjectured to be his 
 opinion- clothed, and set forth in a semi-barbarous latinity ; 
 that ' the wounds were not, in their puttings on, at all mortal.' 
 He then joyfully returned Burleigh's nod and smile: and 
 kissing his hand to him, he hastened to his groom to send 
 off the express to the family mansion.
 
 * ' ' ' ' 
 
 '- " ' >: 
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain : 
 I have seen better faces in my time 
 Than stands on any shoulder that I see 
 Before me, at this instant." Shakspeare. 
 
 On the evening of the next day after Burleigh had re 
 ceived his wounds, his friend Sir William was sitting by his 
 bedside. Their close and earnest conversation Avas inter 
 rupted by the noise of feet on the stairs. The attendant 
 entered and whispered certain names in Burleigh's ear, 
 while he cast a smiling glance at Sir William. 
 
 " Show them up, Bauldy ; nae ceremony ; mine heart leaps 
 to embrace them." 
 
 In a few moments, two elegant females glided into the 
 room, muffled into their sprightly travelling attire of riding 
 coats, and hoods, of grey. They threw themselves on the 
 neck of Burleigh, forgetful of wounds and sickness. And 
 " my brother," " my sister," were mutually sobbed out 
 with tenderest emotions. 
 
 A venerable figure followed up in the rear. His visage 
 exhibited no common set of features. There was a calmness 
 and mildness about him ; mixed up with a gentle degree of 
 austerity. A stranger could detect in it a loftiness cf air, 
 bordering on defiance. His eye and the compression of the 
 lips seemed to say, I have thought and decided for myself: 
 and I am not to be dictated to, nor contradicted. His figure 
 was of that square and vigorous form, in which we see the 
 indications of a mind strongly braced up, and prepared for 
 every event ; and a constitution vigorous, and capable of 
 bearing toils, privations, and deepest sorrows. 
 
 He stood erect in the middle of the floor, with his eyes 
 turned on Burleigh. He uttered not a word : he offered no 
 salutations : his eyes sent forth the feelings of. his soul j 
 which laboured under a burden of sorrow and anger. A 
 stranger to him would have said that anger was uppermost. 
 But the father's eye which fell on the eye of a son, told that 
 son that sorrow prevailed over anger. 
 
 " And did my son receive a lesson on duelling at his 
 father's fireside, within a sabbath evening's domestic circle,
 
 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 when assembled e'en at a' hazards, frae the roving banditti 
 o 1 the Tories ? Is the house o' Carlsness to be disgraced 
 
 by" 
 
 " The share which I had in that evening's work, when 
 Burleigh Stewart was wounded," cried Sir William, 
 eagerly advancing toward the Baron, " does entitle me 
 
 to" 
 
 " And am I to call you the second o' my son, in that wark 
 o' disgracefu' folly and blude?" said the Baron fiercely 
 interrupting him. 
 
 " My father !" said Burleigh, " I pray you to hear me. 
 You behold before you, the gallant man to whose courage 
 I owe my life. But for him, you had lost the youngest son 
 of your already deeply wounded and bleeding family !" 
 
 The venerable Baron struggled hard, for an instant, to 
 hide his strong emotions : his bosom heaved ; he uttered 
 not a word in reply ; but turning to Sir William, he clasped 
 him in his arms, and uttered in a suppressed voice, " Ex 
 cuse that harsh word which fell frae a father's lips." 
 
 " He has promised to give an explanation of all the cir 
 cumstances, as soon as the state of his health will permit 
 him,"' said Sir William, very tenderly. 
 
 " And you were not with him then," cried the anxious 
 Baronet. 
 
 " He was not with me, venerable father," said Burleigh, 
 " He was, however, the last man on the field, even though 
 one of Clavers' right hand men was there. And, I think, 
 I can satisfy you, Sir, that my honour has not been impaired." 
 The Baron threw on him a keen and searching glance. 
 " Say, rather, thy moral principles, young man ;" cried the 
 Covenanter, " and I shall probably understand thee. Ho 
 nour is a word so often in the mouth of fools, that it is now 
 with me the mere cant of hypocrisy. It has nae meaning 
 wi' a man o' sense, when it drops frae certain young men's 
 Ups. Thy former principles, whilk were painfully instilled 
 intil thee, by thy Tutor, one o' the best o' men, whilk thy 
 father's anxious care could select ; whilk principles thy 
 father's Sabbath evening exercises should hae kept, at least, 
 frae rusting :-- were thae principles, Sir, violated in this 
 hair-brained piece o' wark?" 
 
 " I shall exculpate myself to your satisfaction, my venera 
 ble father, Only hae patience ; and believe me sound at
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 17 
 
 heart, and in principles, (such as you, honoured Sir, and my 
 Tutor instilled into me,) until my guilt shall show other 
 wise." 
 
 The affectionate parent paused, and cast one of those 
 searching looks over his son's face, which usually, in his 
 case, superseded the small talk, too much practised by pa 
 rents in the family circle. He saw candour and truth in his 
 son's looks. " Yes, I will believe thee, Burleigh," cried 
 he : " Thou hast ever been a good son and honourable, to 
 thy poor father. Ah ! me ;" he added with a sigh ; " I 
 hae been ane oak frae whilk many a lovely branch has been 
 cruelly hacked off And nae wonder it is that my heart 
 bends wi' neverceasing fondness over the life and honour 
 o' those who hae been spared. Sir William called you this 
 young man?" Added the Baron turning round to Sir 
 William. 
 
 " Yes, my father ;" replied Burleigh ; " This is Sir 
 William Hamilton, of Preston." 
 
 " Son o 1 mine ancient friend and frequent guest ! I am 
 greatly delighted to meet thy father's son by the bedside o' 
 ane sae dear to my heart !" And he gave a slight wave of 
 his hand towards the bed of his son, as he said this. " But 
 I see my sweet bairne Anna Burleigh is all impatience to 
 be presented to you." 
 
 Anna Burleigh had thrown back her hood, and from the 
 moment that her brother had uttered his name and his gallant 
 deed, she had been bending forward and fixing a deep and 
 searching look on the features, and person of the gallant 
 young knight : and she had, unconscious as she was of it, 
 presented before his sight, and that of another young noble 
 man who stood by his side, Lord Kardross, one of the 
 most bewitching faces, and sparkling eyes, which ever shot 
 perils into a young man's heart. Her deranged head-gear did 
 not destroy the effect. Over her brow, finely shaped, and 
 polished as the alabaster, her dark and glossy hair fell in a 
 profusion of silken curls. Her black eyes, naturally laugh 
 ing and playful, were softened into an inexpressible tender 
 ness, and a soft and chastened air cf melancholy. She was 
 clothed in weeds of deep mourning, for a sister who had 
 fallen a victim in the troubles of the day, which pressed sore 
 on the house of Carlsness. And she stood up before the 
 young noblemen in all the enchanting witchery cf a beauti- 
 
 B*
 
 18 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 ful maiden of nineteen. She blushed deeply when awak 
 ened out of her reverie by this abrupt sally of her father. 
 When presented to Sir William she held out her white 
 hand, which he raised to his lips, and kissed, with affection 
 ate respect, as the rich and musical tones of her voice uttered 
 a hurried congratulation, and many blessings on her bro 
 ther's deliverer. The good knight relieved his daughter's 
 embarrassment by presenting her sister; "And this is 
 Mary Stewart. Their mother is a saint in heaven:" he 
 added, with tender emotions, " And the man cf blood has 
 chased from their country, my Jamie and my David ! One, 
 brave as good and good as brave, he has given to the 
 
 sword ! And another my bony sweet Clara" he 
 
 paused and uttered a heavy sigh, then added in a voice 
 choaked with grief " My sweet Clara died of a broken 
 heart, when the martyred Me Kail died on the scaffold. But, 
 my bairns, I hae said it,, and will ne'er cease to say it. His 
 will be done." He turned himself to the window and sob 
 bed, as he dried the teardrops from his cheeks, and added 
 mournfully " Not lost ! They are only gone before ! We 
 meet in heaven!" 
 
 "Mary Stewart!" said Burleigh with tenderness, "Sir 
 William salutes thee." 
 
 Mary turned round to him in the midst of her grief. She 
 was a tall and beautiful maiden of seventeen years. Her 
 hair was of a bright auburn, approaching to a golden colour, 
 and dressed up in perfect rural simplicity. A green snood 
 was bound around her lovely temples, and over her hair 
 smoothed back from her brow. It was a lever's token as 
 was indicated by the initials which sparkled in brilliant and 
 pearlins, amidst the profusion of her golden locks. Her 
 nose, and blooming cheeks, and mouth were formed on the 
 finest specimen of the Grecian model. Her complexion was 
 of the purest red and white: and in her comely weeds she 
 sparkled like the diamond set on black velvet. Her dark 
 blue eyes were filled with tears at the moment she smiled on 
 Sir William, and blessed her brother's deliverer. 
 
 " My lovely maiden !" said Sir William in a whisper, 
 and with a significant glance, "although this be the first 
 time I ever stood before thee, I am, nailheless, nae stranger 
 to thy beauty and virtues. My younger brother" 
 
 A sudden glance from the maiden told him that he need
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 19 
 
 say no more: and she presented her fair cheek to him to be 
 kissed. 
 
 Mary, though younger than her sister, had much less of 
 the retiring maidenly bashfulness than she. She felt less 
 embarrassment : she courted conversation ; she met and in 
 vited every advance to it ; as well with the gay as the 
 severe; with the blooming young man; as with the old; 
 with the man of fashion, as with the divine. The nice ob 
 server of the gentle maiden, could, at once, say that the 
 beautiful Mary Stewart's heart had been given away; and 
 her manner said, given to one who merited it. Hence she 
 entered into an easy and unreserved conversation with Lord 
 Kardross and Sir William. 
 
 It was not so with her sister. Anna Burleigh had not 
 yet seen the man who could captivate her heart, unless 
 we may except the noble young Lord who, for the first time, 
 this morning, had bowed himself before her. She was, like 
 her sister, an accomplished maiden. The Baronet wanted 
 not the means, nor the heart to place them where their edu- 
 cation should receive that solidity and polish, which should 
 qualify them to move and shine, in any circle. But the sis 
 ters were the children of a Covenanter and a Whig. There 
 was a sacred respect had to the Christian religion within the 
 circles in which they were reared and educated. Themarir 
 ners and forms of education within a Whig's family and 
 that of a Tory, in those days, were as widely different as was 
 their respective political creed. The Whig made it his 
 particular study faithfully to combine the solid and shining 
 parts of male and female education with an enlightened 
 knowledge of Christianity. The vivacity of the young 
 mind was tempered with a meek and Christian sensibility : 
 it was taught to abhor an intolerant and persecuting spirit: 
 to hasten to the relief of the poor and the oppressed : to cheer 
 up the mind when under the sore pressure of tyranny, with 
 the pure and exhilarating joys of our holy religion. They 
 sought the reality, not the affectation, of a pure and simple 
 devotion. J> This, they well knew, operated like a charm on 
 the youthful mind. It diffuses over it a uniform serenity and 
 cheerfulness : it invigorates, and braces it up to deeds of 
 noble enterprize ; it enables it not merely to sustain, but to 
 bear with a placid temper, every suffering in their lot : and 
 it fails not to throw the light of joy and loveliness over all
 
 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 mental accomplishments in the still scenes of domestic life. 
 Enlightened and cheerful piety suffers not the youthful exu 
 berance of spirits to run to waste. It teaches them to flow in an 
 even and steady stream. It neither permits the young mind to 
 evaporate in the idle flash of earthly vanity : nor does it chill 
 them with vexatious disappointments. It lights up a pure 
 flame, which throws a steady and unfading lustre over the 
 whole inner and outer man : and sends joy unutterable, over 
 the whole circle which they bless with their presence. 
 
 This form of religious education characterised the entire 
 circle of the Whigs of Scotland. In the humblest cottages, 
 and where every outward polish was an utter stranger, the 
 practical influence of religion was felt, and seen in its fruits. 
 It was the business and the enjoyment of life, to fan this 
 sacred flame, and to keep their spirits bright from the world's 
 rust. 
 
 And this combining of a polished education, in the higher 
 ranks, with a simple and pure devotion, was steadily ad 
 hered to by the Whigs in face of all opposition and ridicule. 
 Nothing could shake them from their holy purpose. And 
 they hurled back the ridicule, and imputation of cant, by the 
 irresistible appeal to the uneducated beauties in the Tory 
 ranks, at the card table, in the ball, or the masquerade, fit 
 for the companionship of fops and witlings only. " They 
 open not their beautiful lips," cried they, li but to betray, 
 before all men of sense, their ignorance and want of princi 
 ple; to lisp slander, and descant on trifles !" 
 
 But, on the other hand, by a process, the most natural 
 imaginable, the existence, and the very appearance of sober 
 piety and religion, with all its moral beauty and loveliness, 
 were banished from almost every circle of the court party, 
 the Tories in those days. 
 
 King Charles II. even when on his knees in the act of 
 taking the coronation oath, and the oath of the National Co 
 venant, at Scoon, in the midst of the nobles of the land, and 
 the most distinguished of his loyal and learned divines, 
 was scarcely able to restrain his laughter, at the religious 
 ceremonies of the day. His wild laughing eye, and the 
 flush sent over his swarthy countenance, had well nigh be 
 trayed him. The very name of religion, preached in no 
 scanty measure, it is true, but nevertheless soberly and 
 faithfully, before him, was enough to throw one of his
 
 
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 21 
 
 principles, and laughter-loving constitution, absolutely into 
 an ague fit. The name and sight of the " Haly Beuk," 
 sent the cold chills into his heart. He hated and loathed 
 the Christian religion : he hated and loathed the whole of its 
 ministry. The imposing and theatrical pomp of the Mass 
 presented the least intolerable idea of religion to his soul. 
 And in the absence of that, which the tyrant, bold and un 
 blushing as he was, did not dare yet openly to confess, that 
 model of a harsh and ferocious prelatism devised by Laud 
 and Sharpe, was adapted to his taste and principles. 
 
 Moreover, in his heart there burned a dark fire of an 
 unsubduable licentiousness, which consumed every tender 
 feeling and emotion of religion. The groans of his sub 
 jects, the clanking of their chains, the intolerable misery 
 inflicted on thousands of once happy families : the wailings 
 of the Kirk of Scotland, the torrents of human blood shed 
 by legalized murderers over the land ; no, nothing could 
 awaken him to his duty, nor quench this dark fire which 
 burned in his bosom, nor drive him and his priest-ridden 
 minions, the Clarendons, the Lauderdales and M'Kenzies, 
 and Claverses of the day, from their fell purposes. They 
 had conceived the horrid purpose of dragooning a nation 
 into another religion, and then to extinguish in the deeds of 
 violence, all practical Christianity. And like the King of 
 Israel, they would have languished in disappointment; and 
 died of despair, had they not found an opportunity laid open 
 to them by a Jezebel, of revelling in tyranny, and shedding 
 the blood of the subjects, peaceful and even loyal as they 
 were, until unheard-of tyranny drove them to despair, to 
 madness, and to arms ! 
 
 Now the " Cavaliers" of England, and the "Malignants" 
 of Scotland flattered and applauded, and bowed obsequi 
 ously before the tyrants. But the " Puritans" of England, 
 and the " Whigs" of Scotland opposed all the mightiness of 
 their power to the inroads of the enemies of God and their 
 country. But the former were as much opposed to thu 
 latter in piety and morals, as they were pitted against each 
 other in politics. Cavalier and Malignant became unhap 
 pily synonymous with royalty and irreligion ! the Puritan 
 and Whig were devoted to the pure Christian religion, and 
 they drew their battle blades against a mad and frantic 
 tyranny. They were loyal to their country and God ; and
 
 22 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 to a king that rules in righteousness, and by the laws of 
 the Kingdom. 
 
 Hence it was very natural for the tyrant, and his para 
 sites, to associate in their minds, the idea of a Christian, with 
 that of an enemy to his throne. And, hence, to mingle in 
 devotions, to utter the venerated language of Christian piety, 
 to sing psalms, to speak and preach against tyranny, to 
 educate the youth in these principles, dear to every genuine 
 Scottishman's heart, were deemed crimes sufficient to draw 
 down the heaviest wrath of the tyrant, and Tory partizans ! 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by the attendant an 
 nouncing supper. 
 
 "A student's supper, I engage it," cried Anna Bur- 
 leigh, with an arch glance at her brother; as she followed 
 the servant ; " it is time for me to be framing an apology." 
 
 " Not to me, surely, who am also a student," cried Sir 
 William, as he led in Mary Stewart. 
 
 " It is no part of my whig creed," said the Baronet, 
 willing to see his children and friends happy and cheerful ; 
 "to believe that Divine Providence designs all good 
 things for ungodly men and Tories. We shall find, at 
 least, a stoup o' gude claret." 
 
 " He is a man of principle," said Burleigh to himself, 
 as they shut the door behind them : " and he has ever car 
 ried his principles out honestly into active life. My father's 
 fireside scenes, and the welcome which he gave to stran 
 gers have shewn the tenets of the whig school in this parti 
 cular item. I hae perceived, hithertil, no great ground o' 
 quarrel between the Whig and Tory on the score o' Crater 
 comforts! What say you to that, Archy?" added he, ad 
 dressing himself to the Janitor, who had slipt quietly into 
 the room, and was listening as if he expected to hear the 
 death-rattles in Burleigh's throat. 
 
 " Na, na!" cried Archy, overjoyed to see him so well. 
 " There's nae kind o' difference on that score, preceesly. 
 There may be, and is a wee difference as to the season and 
 the modus, as oor learned ones wad say. They'll no just 
 eat yer plumpuddings on a christmas day, for fear o' being 
 jaloosed o' keeping sacred and holy sic a day, ye ken. Nor 
 tak they a royatous dinner of a Sabbath, or Sunday, as 
 yer pockpuddin Englishers ca't. But, my certie ! if they 
 oinna like their gausy beef and puddins, o' a richt kind, in
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 23 
 
 their proper season, then I'm no Archy Cawmill. And 
 then as to the modus, ye see, the Whig's table will be gar 
 nished oot wi' the gude things o' this life, and the best o' 
 them. But then, he puts his knife to his throat : he's mais- 
 ter o' his appetite: he fa's na on like yer dog. He mingles 
 a' things wi' religion, the grand seasoner. He wull lift 
 baith his hauns, and he wull pronounce ye a blessing lang 
 eneugh foraneo' the Indulged ministers' forenoon prayers! 
 And he wull scrupulously return thanks in the same 
 gaite. Noo, unless the Tories be slandered shamously, 
 not e'en their bishops du this. And by some cantripe or 
 ither, their prayers and graces hae ay grown shorter and 
 shorter syn the King cam hame ; and latterly they hae 
 vanished wi' a hasty consumption. Then the Whig stints 
 himsel. The limit he sets to his indulgences he winna 
 transgress. Did any o' us e'er hear o' a gluttonous Whig 1 
 A drunken Whig ? A swearing Whig ? But yer Tory is a 
 gourmand by taste and profession. You may limit him in 
 his liberties : you may e'en strip him o' liberty and reli 
 gion, that is, supposing, for the sake o' oor argument, that 
 the crater e'er had ony religion to be stript aff him, for a 
 man canna tak the breeks aff a heelan man ! Why he wad 
 utter ye nae complaint, providin' ye wad allow him ane 
 unlimited profusion o' gude vivers, divine claret, and bois 
 terous merriment! But were yer absolute supremacy and 
 divine-right men to trench upon this, and e'en gie them a' 
 their liberties and religion to the fullest, they wad curse his 
 maist sacred majesty to his face ; as the deel aince observ 
 ed to his betters ! 
 
 " Noo, in thae waesome times, I'm meikle grieved to see 
 monya bonny callan, no to speak o' bearded men, suffering, 
 when they micht contrive to cheat the Tory oot o' his prey, 
 and sae escape. Noo, Maister Burleigh," added Archy 
 as he drew up near his bed and assumed a grave and know 
 ing look, " could I gain the ears o' the Whigs as their 
 adviser and advocate, and if I could prevail on them just 
 to tak ae salutary advice whilk I could gie, that is, sup 
 posing a Whig, wi' reverence be it spoken, could be 
 induced, for a time, as it were, to jouk and let the jaw gae 
 ower, and just quiet the scruples o' conscience, and conceal 
 his religion and politics, I wad na hae them to deny 
 them ootricht, but just dissemble, as it were, a wee while ;
 
 24 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND! 
 
 and tak on wi' the noisy Tories, and learn a wee touch o' 
 their ways ; and drink their stoup o' claret, and throw aff 
 their tass o' brandy wi' yer roaring splorers in the houffs ; 
 and sing yer catch o' some indecent sang ; and hiccup 
 blasphemy, and curse a' psalm-singers ; and let oot in high 
 style yer King Charlie oaths noo and then, Why, my 
 Maister, I reddye weel, no ane o' them micht e'er be called 
 to glorify HIM in the Grass-market o' Embroch; or the 
 Gallows-field o' Glasgow ! But if they wunna consent to 
 dissemble, or gie up their religion and liberty, they maun 
 e'en suffer. There's nae remedy !" 
 
 " Glorious logic ! Archy," cried Burleigh. " And is it 
 a matter o' difficulty wi' thee to evolve the conclusion ?" 
 
 " Conclusion ! Humph," ejaculated Archy, as if he 
 viewed the case in despair. " We canna get a Scotch 
 Whig e'en to eat plum-pudding on Christmas! And on 
 what ither point wad they yield? In troth, I micht suner 
 set Tintoc hill on the tap o' Benlomond, as mak a Scotch 
 Whig swerve, or e'en dissemble. But, I'm forgetting my- 
 sel', wi' my nonsense; excuse me, Master Burleigh; I 
 came frae his Reverence the Principal, (God bless him,) to 
 tell you, that he, and twa or three others o' the Faculty will 
 come ower bye to visit you to-morrow forenoon." 
 
 " I shall be honoured and gratified," said Burleigh. 
 " He has been grieved to hear an unco ill report o' you ;" 
 continued the loquacious Archy ; " but I hae been doing my 
 best to put as passable a face on the business, as I can." 
 
 " Yes, Archy," cried Burleigh, " and before you do 
 yourself know any thing about the business. I dare say 
 you succeeded, to admiration, in illuminating the Principal 
 on this subject. We shall live, I dare say, Archy, to giva 
 you joy as councillor for the Whigs. Adieu, and carry my 
 dutiful obedience to the gude Principal, and his learned 
 coadjutors." 
 
 Archy, with the freedom, for which a kind heart made 
 ample atonement, shook Burleigh by the hand ; and ex 
 pressed his immeasurable felicity at seeing him so well ; 
 " For, surely, I thocht o' naething short o' seeing you 
 streekit oot i' the last gasp o' mortal agony : yer een stelled 
 in yer head ; the death rattle in yer throat, an' a' ready 
 for the extreme, unction, gif ye had been a Roman, gude 
 forgie me for e'en conceivin' it possible that the son o' yer
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 25 
 
 feither could be sic a thing ! Fare ye weel, my bonny lad! 
 I'll no fail to report you favourably to the Principal," 
 continued Archy with a condescension ludicrously grave, 
 4i and I sail assure him, that yer principles are, after a, 5 
 haile at heart; and that the affair is na half sae heinous, 
 on the whole, as thae glaikit craters, the Tories, wha 
 want ay to hae a hair in oor neck, I'm no saying wha they 
 are, hae officiously reported the thing till him!" 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " St. Why what a monstrous fellow thou art, thus to rail on me. 
 
 " Kent. Draw, you rogue ! for though it be night, the moon shine*. 
 Til make a sop of the moonshine of you. Draw, you cullionly barber- 
 monger, draw !" SHAKSPEARE'S LEAR. 
 
 NEXT morning, at the hour appointed, Sir William hast 
 ened to the apartments of his friend, without having ar 
 ranged his thoughts or having even made the least pre 
 paration to meet the approaching investigation by the Prin 
 cipal. 
 
 While the college bell was yet ringing the hour, the 
 Principal, and several of the professors, entered Burleigh's 
 sitting-room for they knew the value of time, and the 
 promise to keep an engagement, was with them sacred. 
 
 Principal was a person of a very fine figure. He 
 
 was tall and erect ; and unusually grave in his mariners. 
 His hair was white but not by age. The sorrows of the 
 times and he had received his share of them had 
 bleached it whiter than the hand of time could have done 
 it. His complexion was fresh : his brow high and finely 
 polished : with the exception of a few wrinkles on the lower 
 and central parts thereof. His hair was neatly parted on 
 the forehead; and fell in curls, over his ears, and on hi 
 shoulders. His beard, after the fashion of the senior min 
 isters of that day, he wore about five inches long; and it 
 terminated in a point in front. His eyebrows still retained 
 their jet black colour: His eyes were dark ; and they had 
 an expression of severity in them. His coat arid doublet 
 
 VOL. I. C.
 
 26 THB WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 were of black velvet; the former having the usual liberal 
 allowance of skirt as to fulness but short; with large 
 flaps over his outside pockets, and a row of buttons trans 
 versely, of no small dimensions like those on the single 
 row in front: and the latter the doublet, having pockets 
 and flaps nearly as liberal, rounded off at each side, and 
 extending down over the small clothes almost to the knees. 
 The latter mentioned item of his dress, of the same mate 
 rials, barely reached the cap of the knee ; had a long row 
 of buttons extending up half way from the knee to the loin : 
 and the lower extremity of this side opening was fixed by 
 a knot of black ribbons, shaped out in the f jrm of a large 
 moss rose. His silk stockings came up over his knee, when 
 he sat his shoes came up over his ankles, and each of 
 them had a graceful bunch of black silk ribbon, as large 
 as those at his knees. 
 
 He walked forward, bowing and smiling with a paternal 
 air, into the midst of the circle ; and, then, he saluted each 
 with a smile of courteousness, and unaffected good will. He 
 embraced the Baronet with great affection : and the re 
 membrance of their mutual sufferings rose in their minds, 
 and sent a tear at the same instant, over their cheeks. He 
 laid his hand in a paternal manner on the head of each of 
 the Baronet's beautiful daughters, as they were presented to 
 him, and kissed them as he pronounced his blessing on them. 
 And while the other professors were paying their services 
 to the company, he walked up to the bedside of Burleigh, 
 and sat down beside him. And taking Burleigh's hand in 
 his right hand, and Sir William's in the other he fixed on 
 them a long and silent look. He uttered no reproach. Sud 
 denly dropping their hands, he whispered to them " I for 
 got me, young men ! your hands are stained with blood." 
 As he left them, and seated himself by the Baronet, 
 several of the professors placed themselves in a circle by 
 the bedside of Burleigh ; and kindly inquired if his wounds 
 were nearly healed. " They are I may say well," whis 
 pered Burleigh " at least they give me no paiA. The 
 wound is mainly in my heart." " In your heart, Sir" ex 
 claimed the mathematical professor, taking him in a literal 
 sense. " Oh ! no I do not mean that," said Burleigh, re 
 plying to his meaning, rather than to his words. " There
 
 OR, THE LAST OT THE STUARTS. 27 
 
 are two men, my two parents, the Baronet and the Princi 
 pal to have been the cause of wounding their feelings, has 
 been to me the most exquisitely painful thing in the whole of 
 this unhappy business." 
 
 The mathematical professor first cast a quizzical glance 
 over our student's face, then looking up to the ceiling, he ex 
 claimed "Pho! pshaw, ha! ha! ha!" Then pausing; he 
 gathered up his mouth into a solid circle as the professor 
 himself would have called it : and at the same time raising 
 his two dark heavy eye-brows, halfway up to the extremity 
 of his nicely smothed back hair, he began " Egad ! my gaucy 
 young fellow, had you been among the Tories as ye hap 
 pen to be among the Whigs ; They would not hae deeved 
 yer lugs, nor "wounded" yer bit chicken's "heart," wi' a' 
 this fuss about a trifle o' a duel ! No lad o' spirit and mettle 
 can pretend to get along in real active life, I mean your stir 
 ring life without a duel or two. Youth maun oot my hear 
 ties ! Youth maun oot, Sir. Let your Whigs talk as they 
 e'en please." 
 
 The other professors smiled. The mathematician was 
 an eccentric character : and a kind of privileged man with 
 them. And they seldom threw away an argument upon 
 him. It was not so with the good Principal. He had 
 caught the last expression, and began to suspect the ortho 
 doxy of his condolence offered to Burleigh. 
 
 " You are always orthodox on Euclid, and Diophantes, 
 my good Professor," said he. " But I fear, that, like other 
 sage Professors, whose heads are store-houses of classical 
 and mathematical lore but sadly bankrupt and beggared, 
 touching religious science, you have not yet learned the 
 first definitions, and axioms of theology." 
 
 The Professor bit his lip and sat down ; casting at the 
 same time, however, a respectful look on the Principal 
 though it was very evident that the extremities of his lips 
 began to curl up ; and the general expression of his counte 
 nance said that he was as willing to receive a good-natured 
 stroke of wit, as ever he was to give one. 
 
 " I pray you worthy Professor, let us hear your theorem 
 it cannot be a problem I conjecture ; and then your for 
 mal demonstration" continued the Principal. " Suppose 
 now I announce your theorem, on this same subject of duel-
 
 28 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND '. 
 
 ling in your own way, thus : Duelling is necessary by tht 
 laws of honour : and defensible by the laws of God and o/ 
 men" 
 
 " In troth, Mr. Principal, do you put the enunciation in 
 strong set phrase, and in unco preceese terms. The fact, 
 however, is, as I rather suspect our young raw blades, and 
 your dashing hairum scairum soldados, neer hae fashed 
 their noddles about the laws o' God in this kind o' business. 
 They leave out the haile o' the last clause of your announce 
 ment. The law of honour is the only law in this work." 
 
 "I crave your pardon, Mr. Professor. You cannot 
 claim, for them, any reason to do so. A man's life aimed at 
 in a duel, is public property. None of us live unto ourselves, 
 and none of us die unto ourselves; whether we live, we live 
 unto the Lord ; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: 
 whether we live or die, therefore, we are the Lord's. A 
 man's life is the property of God ; and in another sense it is 
 the property of the State. This lemma is not to be questioned 
 far less denied. You must deny the first dictate of rea 
 son and common sense : and especially Holy Writ, if you 
 deny this. It is as strongly based in truth as any propo 
 sition in Euclid." 
 
 The Professor, wiping his brow, nodded his assent : he 
 " could not see how that could be evaded by any person that 
 did reason on the subject." He laid a full emphasis on 
 reason. 
 
 " Reason on it" said the Principal, gravely repeating 
 the emphatic words of the Professor. " Why, my most 
 worthy friend, if any human being can be found in civilized 
 or uncivilized society, \vho enters on any business of such 
 vast moment, that his life and death, his present and eternal 
 happiness, are necessarily involved in it and yet does not 
 pause to reason on it ; I should deem it an insult on common 
 sense to call him a rational being ! He must be an irra 
 tional a brute ! And your duellers, who never reason, I 
 would set down by the side of a brace of mad bull*dogs, 
 battling it out in their bloody kennel, or over their knawed 
 bones on the dung-hill !" 
 
 " But supposing we meet with men who advocate duel 
 ling, and who venture to reason on the subject ; I would shape 
 an argument of this kind for their candour. If you do 
 advocate duelling, as a thing defensible, you must, first dis-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STTTARTS. 29 
 
 pose of, in some satisfactory manner, these principles which 
 we lay down before you ; and which we judge sufficient to 
 lay an impassable barrier in your way. A human being, 
 owing allegiance to his God, and also the State, has most 
 assuredly, no private right to take away that which is not 
 his own ; which is not private property ; but which is, in 
 fact, the property of God, and of the State ; and which can 
 never be alienated from God ; nor transferred to any created 
 being! But the truth is this; it will bear neither the in 
 spection of reason, nor the test of common sense. It Is a 
 wretched fragment of Gothic manners ; a pitiful remnant of 
 the barbarous ages. Had the fair sex set their faces against 
 it, and banished the bloody duellist, at the same time that they 
 banished the naked painted savage, from decent society, they 
 would have rendered the reformation of manners more com 
 plete. Your sex, lovely maiden," continued the Princi 
 pal, addressing himself to Anna Burleigh, " can do more 
 to the excision of this barbarism than all the laws of the land. 
 
 For our laws" 
 
 " I'm by nae means confident," said the Professor, rally 
 ing his spirits to a fresh charge, " that it would be, at all 
 proper, or consistent with sound policy, to enact laws against 
 duelling ; or to bespeak the irresistible influence of the fair 
 against it. Excuse me, fair maiden for interrupting you. 
 I love my old paradox ; and I cling to it. Duelling is bene 
 ficial and salutary: e'en as mickle sae as hanging. Ye 
 canna get alang without hanging ; and neither can ye with 
 out duelling. I hae viewed its corrective and reforming in 
 fluence in the dark ages. It is like yer physic in the body, 
 natural. I'm as sure of this as I'm sure that three angles 
 of a triangle are equal to two right angles. And that it has 
 been a pruning-knife, right weel, and seasonably applied 
 to the wild luxuriance of barbarism! It sent many a 
 rascally crusader, and cowled priest to hades, in a giffy . . . . 
 without waiting the slow process of justice which leads by 
 a circuitous way, through many trap door's of escape to 
 the axe and the halter ! And, now, in these last days, when 
 a decency of morality, and the bright beams of extending 
 science, constrain the villains which prowl in society to put 
 on the mask,, at least of hypocrisy I should be sorry to see 
 any laws enacted, or at least executed against the ancient 
 and knightlike order pf duellers. Away with your laws 
 
 c*
 
 30 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 against a good shot, and the adroitness of the'rapier's man, 
 Let your smart pistolet and swordsman streek ye out yer 
 villainslike rizzared haddocks ! Why, my masters, your 
 duelling purifies the moral atmosphere, as a thunderstorm 
 does the burning air of a Jamaica climate. And, my cer- 
 tie ! it rids the world of many a rascal and leaves them 
 where they should have been, to wit dragged out long 
 ago even by the dyke side, and in a ditch, like an auld 
 worn out pack-horse. Suppose now that our brave young 
 friend Burleigh here, for instance, had sent Wattie Hepburn, 
 and a few sic lyke tikes reeking in their guilt to the 
 nether dominions, wha wad say, foul fa' ye?" 
 
 There was not a grave face in the room, except the Princi 
 pal 's, as the eccentric Professor thus ran on, until he had 
 uttered the last sentence, when Anna Burleigh and her sis 
 ter Mary screamed outright and started up from their seats ; 
 and the Baronet interposed. 
 
 "Even so, Professor," said the Principal, in a calm, but 
 firm tone " Now you perceive that whilst you dealt in 
 generals, and stood at a distance from us, and faintly put 
 down the grave by the side of the ludicrous, you only wrung 
 a smile from us. But when you embodied your idea into a 
 real and visible shape, and set it before our eyes, and, more 
 over, brought it home to our hearts, in the action of a bro 
 ther murdering a fellow being, we were shocked inconti 
 nently." 
 
 " Were men to receive back their tails again, and return 
 into the forest to play their pranks with their kindred, the 
 monkeys, and the ourang-outangs, I should say, amen. 
 Let us have no laws against duelling let us have no frowns 
 from the virtuous part of the community against duelling. 
 It is the pruning-knife. The profligate will weed out the 
 
 thistle ; and lop off the rotten branches. But Oh ! my 
 
 young friend" and he took Burleigh' s hand and pressed it 
 between both his hands, as he uttered these pathetic words 
 " that an immortal being should thus presume to play his 
 pranks before High Heaven ; and dance over the precipice 
 of eternity with a wild maniac's shudder, and his fitful con 
 vulsive laughter! Oh ! my soul, comenot tliou into their 
 
 secret unto their assembly, my honour, be not thou united. . . 
 I knew you think so, dear Burleigh and you, my good Pro 
 fessor, notwithstanding that sally of extravagance," As the
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 31 
 
 j* 
 
 venerable man uttered this with great tenderness, he took 
 him by the hand, while he still retained the hold of Burleigh' s. 
 There was not a dry eye in the room. 
 
 " I feel myself called upon to explain," cried Burleigh ; 
 " I did not fight a duel : I had no second, of course ; Sir 
 William had no concern whatever in my original affair 
 with Wattie Hepburn." 
 
 The good old Baronet at these words started up, and 
 clasped Burleigh to his bosom ; while the sisters gave vent 
 to their passionate joy. 
 
 " I thocht sae, I ay thocht sae," cried the Baronet : 
 " I could na doubt the honour o' my child !" 
 
 " Let us hear him out," said the Principal ; " Bur 
 leigh' s honour, and nobility of soul have ever been pure, 
 and unspotted, as the white ground on the shield o' his 
 forebears !" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 *' But love, first learned in lady's eyes, 
 
 Lives not alone immured in the brain ; 
 
 But with the motion of all elements, 
 
 Courses as swift as thought in every power : 
 
 And gives to every power a double power." SHAKSPEAKE. 
 
 As the Principal was uttering these words, they were 
 interrupted by the attendant leading in two persons, who 
 appeared, from their dress, to come from a journey. The 
 one was a tall, and erect figure ; and when he threw off his 
 cloak, he stood forth in the undress of a soldier, copied 
 after the model of the Covenanters' army of forty-two. His 
 face, though youthful, exhibited no common-place features. 
 There was an air of solemnity about it. But it was lighted 
 up by a smile of unaffected pleasantness, and gladness. A 
 stranger would have said that there was in it the expression 
 of conscious superiority: there was certainly much dignity, 
 and firmness in it. The nose was prominent and aquiline. 
 His polished brow rose high under his dark and curled 
 hair. His eye brows were heavy, but not bushy, and jet
 
 32 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 black. They were drawn together at the inner extremi 
 ties in a manner which indicated not so much pride or 
 fierceness, as deep and habitual thought of a rather melan 
 choly cast. His face was full and oval. His mouth small ; 
 his lips finely shaped ; and rather prominent : his eyes 
 large, dark, and piercing. He saluted the company indi 
 vidually with the easy manner of one who has seen the 
 world ; and at the same time with a sprinkling of that re 
 serve into which a young man naturally falls, who is con 
 strained to be on his guard, habitually, among strangers ; 
 and from which he cannot altogether free himself when 
 among his friends. He might be twenty-five years of age. 
 
 The other was a youth of about seventeen, well shaped, 
 short in stature, erect, and unusually sedate. His counte 
 nance was peculiarly interesting. His complexion was 
 bright and ruddy : his brow unusually high, and square ; 
 and there was a loftiness, and noble air over the whole com 
 bination of features; and, moreover, a certain cast of his 
 dark blue eyes which indicated great penetration and un- 
 subduable courage. His manners were plain and simple. 
 But there was withal an ease and collectedriess in them, 
 which, in one of his age, showed that he had associated 
 with good company. He merely bowed to each of the 
 company, while his companion was busied in embracing 
 every individual round- the circle. 
 
 " Brother Robert," said Sir William Hamilton as our 
 traveller reached him, and another beautiful being whom 
 he would most gladly have saluted first but whom, 
 through a kind of mysterious awkwardness he happened 
 to approach the very last " I greet you weel on your arri 
 val. I present you to the lovely Mary Stuart," added he 
 in a louder tone, and with well-affected nonchalance, " for 
 really you do not seem to have ,seen her or rather to 
 judge you in the spirit of charity, the light of her charms 
 may have struck you blind ; for, as the poetical Secretary 
 of old Noll hath it, ' the excess of light is darkness. 1 It 
 is certainly so to us, frail mortals, in this mundane sphere." 
 
 Mary Stewart was all the while struggling to conceal 
 her agitation. The first vision of the two figures, as they 
 entered the room, had sent the blood to her brow and her 
 neck. Then with a tumult it hurried back : and she stood 
 pale and agitated leaning on her sister's arm, as Sir Ro-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 33 
 
 bert approached her. This well-timed rallying of Sir Wil 
 liam brought her relief. Her face was soon lighted up with 
 a smile while the clear tear drop that had stolen down 
 her cheek, fell into her beautiful bosom, and disappeared. 
 
 Sir Robert saluted her with the tenderest affection and 
 leading her to a seat, entered into earnest conversation with 
 her. But it was not after the manner of the poets' painting, 
 or of romance. It was not even in the manner, and imagina 
 tive communings of two lovers, whose vows are being ratified 
 for the first time, or renewed under the sweet hawthorn 
 tree ; and the charming scenery of a midsummer night's 
 moon. Their love for we must render justice to it, was 
 as sincere, and as ardent as ever poet painted, or ever 
 glowing imagination conceived. But a thousand circum 
 stances, growing out of Scotland's afflicted times, had com 
 bined to chase away, or rather to chasten down the sweet 
 poetry and romance of love. Theirs was the love of en 
 lightened and feeling minds, bowed down under the bur 
 den of family sorrows, and those of their country, and the 
 Kirk of God. Their respective families, especially that of 
 Mary Stewart, had again and again bled under the cruel 
 inflictions of tyranny. They had followed to the grave, in 
 the bitterness of their youthful grief, the dearest relations 
 in life. Their love, as often as it broke forth in as pure 
 and holy a flame as ever poet pourtrayed, or the warmest 
 heart conceived had felt the chilling death-stroke which 
 the horrid din of civil war, and the cruelty of tyranny fail 
 not to inflict on the heart. Their sweetest hopes, often on 
 the eve of being realized, had been again and again de 
 ferred ; and they had felt, in the midst of their brightest 
 anticipations, that protracted sickness under which the 
 heart sinks when the fondest hopes of a lover are suddenly 
 disappointed. 
 
 " I found thee not my sweet Mary either in the cot 
 tage of auld Maisy ; nor had thy foot passed under the 
 Trysting Oak in thy daily visit to the wounded sufferers. 
 But having learned the cause of your sudden departure 
 hither, we hastened after you. The season, indeed, calls 
 imperatively for action, my lovely Mary," continued Sir 
 Robert after a long pause and with great embarrassment, 
 " The expiring liberty of our country, and the groans of 
 the wounded Kirk of God, sound loudly in my ears and
 
 34 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 painful it is, God knoweth, to bide it. And I come aince 
 mair to press my humble suit before we finally embark in 
 these difficulties and perils. Only let me call thee mine 
 own " 
 
 " Ah ! Sir Robert, I cannot look forward into the coming 
 days without beholding another tragic scene. My sainted 
 sister Clara, and the martyred McKail rise up before me 
 in my waking dreams with the wild and frantic grief of my 
 family. The vow has passed my lips, which first I whis 
 pered to thee under the green oak of Carlsness. But let 
 me whisper it to thee, in thine ear, Mary Stewart will 
 never wed the beloved of her soul, until the light of peace 
 shall revisit our country, and the wounds of her bleeding 
 family be closed. But this is not the place to rehearse 
 these things. Burleigh is now so well, that we shall leave 
 this place, perhaps, to-morrow. And I will meet thee at 
 the TRYSTING OAK in a few short weeks when spring 
 puts on her young leaves and flowers ; that is, if we return 
 to my father's house ; or meet we in the cave of Kirkfield 
 if I visit the retirement of my grandfather. 1 ' 
 
 All this was uttered in a whisper while a brisk conver 
 sation occupied the attention of the rest of the company. 
 
 Hamilton was overwhelmed at this resolution of his be 
 trothed and more so by the firm and even obstinate 
 manner in which she uttered it, than by the resolution 
 itself. For the lover learned his fate rather from the man 
 ner than from the words of his mistress. He raised her 
 hand to his lips, and a shower of tears fell on it. He 
 thought on the past : he gazed on the face of Mary Stew 
 art ; and in the bitterness of his soul he looked forward, and 
 saw between him and his happiness a fearful space covered 
 . with the visions of blood and death, the battle-ground on 
 " which his country was to conquer her liberty and religion, 
 or to fall under the steel of tyranny, with the flower of her 
 sons! 
 
 But the soul of the young Hamilton was the soul of a" hero 
 as well as a lover. It possessed the singular elasticity, and 
 the courage of the house w*hence he was descended. It 
 rested not until it had taken up its bold purpose. And then, 
 nothing could move him, nor turn him aside from the exe 
 cution of his purpose. The dark cloud soon passed away 
 from his mind and from his brow. His betrothed saw it ;
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 35 
 
 and her smile gave the life, and body of words to his reso 
 lution. "A glorious prize!" cried he, "Well worth a 
 soldier, and a Christian's toils ! The deliverance of the 
 Kirk ; the liberty of my kintry, and the hand of Mary 
 
 Stewart ! Onward and the rallying word of a Hamilton 
 
 is THROUGH!"* 
 
 The tone of enthusiasm, with which he uttered the last 
 words, fell on the ear of the loudest speaker in the company; 
 and it produced suddenly a deep silence. And Sir William 
 was just pronouncing the words " Encore the rallying 
 word of a Hamilton is THROUGH," when a new visitant 
 was ushered in by the attendant. He paused near the door 
 and stood muffled up in the ample foldings of a grey 
 cloak, and a large slouched hat tied under his chin, and 
 over a bushy beard. He first saw that the attendant had 
 retired; and then he threw his eye hurriedly over each face 
 in the company. His eye, at length, fell on Sir Robert, and 
 his young companion ; and that sight seemed to tell him 
 that the coasts were all clear and that none but friends 
 were present. He instantly threw off his cloak, and hat; 
 and stood forward before the company a comely old man, 
 in the well known and distinctive dress of a Scottish Minis 
 ter of that day. He had on a plain coat, of the darkest grey, 
 approaching to black, with a row of black buttons from the 
 collar to the bottom of the skirt : a doublet of black velvet, 
 with flaps, peaked, and extending nearly to the knee : and 
 small clothes of the same materials and colour; which reach 
 ed within a few inches of the knee, and were garnished with 
 a black garter, a buckle, and a row of buttons half way up 
 to the loin : his stockings were drawn tightly up over the 
 knees, showing at once the graceful leg, and knee joint. 
 His shoes were neatly fitted on ; reaching above the ankle ; 
 and ornamented, in front, with a gausy, rose-knot of ribbon. 
 
 There was something venerable, and stately in the Pas 
 tor's manner. His whole deportment and air indicated a 
 man who had seen the world, and mixed in good company. 
 There was a sprio-htliness~and vivacity which lighted up 
 his countenance: But it was evident that sufferings and 
 melancholy had thrown over it no small mixture of the se- 
 
 * Thi is the well known motto on the Arms of th* Duk of Ha 
 milton, and of all the Hamilton*.
 
 36 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND ": 
 
 vere. His hair, as white as the snow, was parted in front 
 with some taste ; and nicely smoothed back behind his 
 ears ; and it fell in a profusion of curls on his bosom and 
 shoulders. His brow was broad and high. And across its 
 snowy coloxir some deep furrows were traced by cares and 
 the hand of time. His beard was bushy, and nearly as 
 white as his head. His face was long- and of an oval form : 
 his nose was prominent, and formed according to the no 
 ble Roman model : His lips full and well shaped : His eyes 
 grey, large, and sparkling. 
 
 At the first recognition, and as he uttered his " Gude'en 
 Gude'en may the presence of the MASTER be amang ye 
 a' " every person in the room rose up, and crowded 
 around him : And every mouth uttered the benediction, 
 " God bless you, venerable father!" 
 
 In a brief space he was seated in the midst of the circle; 
 evidently much fatigued, and under some degree of agitation. 
 The principal placed himself on one side of him ; and Sir 
 James Stewart took his seat on the other. And, as if by a 
 concerted signal all were silent; and every eye was fixed 
 on the venerable man ; and every face seemed to wait with 
 anxiety for an answer to the question, wherefore is this 
 visit paid, so unexpectedly, and in such a perilous hour? 
 
 The old man fixed his eyes for some time in silence upon 
 Burleigh. It was at first a look of anxiety and sorrow; 
 but in an instant every trace of sorrow and anxiety had 
 passed away. His eyes beamed with unusual joy. He 
 was evidently struggling to conceal his emotions. A big 
 tear rolled down his cheek. But he made no demonstra 
 tion by wiping it away. It fell gently on his beard, and 
 dropt down on his black leather girdle. 
 
 "Sir James" said he, taking the Baronet by the hand, 
 " The object of my visit is already accomplished. And I 
 ought, perhaps, to retire. My prayers have been heard. I 
 have with my ain auld een seen Burleigh alive, and sitting 
 m your presence God bless him." 
 
 All eyes were turned instantly with eager and inquiring 
 looks on Burleigh, who at this moment rose up, and with 
 affectionate respect threw his arms around the venerable 
 man's neck, and kissed his cheek ; while he in ^return, em 
 braced and kissed Burleigh and both sobbed aloud. HaT- 
 mg speedily composed himself, he thus went on.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 37 
 
 " Sir James, I trembled to think it e'en possible, that I micht 
 hae been the cause of death again visitin' ony branch o' the 
 family o' Carlsness. My bowels yearned ower him : and I 
 longed to see him on this spot ; and to satisfy my ain heart, 
 that he was alive and weel. I could na' in these unco wae- 
 some times, gain ony information. The enemy was abroad. 
 And I could na, dear Burleigh, see thee ony suner in per 
 son. I hae just aince mair again got upon my auld limbs. 
 My wounds closed but slowly. And I am just noo per 
 mitted, lauded be HIS name, to tak the advantage o' the 
 nicht, and the sleep o' the foemen, to come and thank thee, 
 Burleigh, for saving the life o' puir auld DONALD CARGIL. 
 
 He arose to depart : but the whole circle stood up, and 
 begged, and even compelled him to remain a little longer. 
 And Sir James, in utter amazement requested his son, as 
 soon as all were seated, to explain the meaning of all this 
 mysterious language. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Me Duff; "Stands Scotland where it did? 
 
 Rosse. Alas ! poor country, 
 Almost afraid to know itself ! It cannot 
 Be called our mother, but our grave : where nothing, 
 But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile. 
 Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks which rend the air, 
 Are made, not marked ! Where violent sorrow seems, 
 A modern ecstacy ! the dead man's knell 
 Is there scarce asked, for whom ? And good men's lives 
 Expire before the flowers in their caps, 
 Dying, or ere they sicken !" SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 " My revered father," said Burleigh, "our father Car- 
 gil has arrived most opportunely to vindicate me from the 
 suspicion of having fought a duel ; so I pray you, my vene 
 rable father But excuse me, my friends, a moment, 
 Here, Gillie, my braw callan, excuse me, father Cargil," 
 continued Burleigh, apostrophising the minister, and 
 addressing his attendent, at the same time : " Here Gillie 
 O'Nogan, bring us in that stoup of claret : and, harkee, bring 
 also in thy canny hand the black jack also ; t^'s talking 
 
 VOL. I. D.
 
 38 THE WHIGS cff SCOTLAND: 
 
 creates drouth. Noo, father Cargil, proceed wi' a narrative 
 o' the haile affair. Een silly stories downa be clipped 
 ower short. It wad only create an ill-timed, and unneces 
 sary mystery in the haile matter : sae een tell a'. But here 
 come the crater comforts, as our betters ca' them." 
 
 He filled up a bickerfu' to each of the old men ; and pass 
 ed the stoup to the rest ; giving a nod to Sir William, and 
 requesting him "to see that each should have justice, at his 
 hands ; and that nae ane be allowed, by any manner o 1 
 means, to be cap-stridden." 
 
 Cargil having set down his bicker, which he had drained 
 off with a hearty good will, while he added according to 
 his custom, "be His name praised for the crater comforts, 
 that's gude yill," Burleigh went on to observe that 
 "touching the affairs alluded to, a narrative of it was neces 
 sary. You will thereby, for instance, vindicate me, in this 
 circle, frae the suspicion o' having fought a duel, heaven 
 help me, with Col. Graham's richt hand man Wattie 
 Hepburn. Ne'er has ane in my father's hoose, through a 
 lang race o' gallant and gude men, had the foul charge fast 
 ened on him, o' shedding blude in private griefs. Ane act 
 o' this kind Ave class wi' deeds o' infamy, sic as treachery 
 to a friend; forgery, breach o' trust, perjury, treason, assas 
 sination. Nae Scottish gentleman can sink sae low with 
 out the utter loss o' honour ! And I am anxious to hae 
 e'en the suspicion of sic baseness and dishonour removed 
 frae the breast o' ilk ane o' ye here." Meantime, my mas 
 ters, wi' yer leave, I shall betake myself to my chamber 
 for a brief space. I'm no like to forget the keen edge o' 
 Wattie's steel sune. Howsomever, I shall pay my respects 
 some day, to that semi-Goliath, when the cause o' oor kintry 
 maun be richted by the steel o' the Whigs." 
 
 Burleigh having retired, the venerable Pastor commenced 
 his explanations. 
 
 " The present state o' oor unhappy kintry has, ilka week, 
 given occasion to sic brulzies, as that which has brought 
 Burleigh into the present trouble. For aughteen lang 
 years* has Scotland groaned under misrule and tyranny. 
 
 The royal Stuart, wha thanked God, in the presence o' 
 bis Scottish Parliament, that he was born a Scotsman, and 
 
 * From A.D. 1660, to A.D. 1678.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 39 
 
 educated a presbyterian, had been thankfu', it seems, for 
 what he himself deemed an unco sma' favour. Nae suner 
 had he felt the crown of Henry VIII. on his empty noddle, 
 and his shacklin body in the throne o' a lang line o' spiritual 
 tyrants, Edward VI. ay excepted, God bless his memory 
 to us, than he felt the working, in his banny brains, o' 
 that wild fanaticism, peculiar to that headstrong race. He 
 lost sight o' his kintry; and forgot his presbyterian up 
 bringing. His heart was uplifted to a dizzy height, by the 
 flattery o' the lordly prelates ; and the crater forgot himself. 
 Noo, he was king, said they, by divine richt: he was God's 
 civil vice-gerent upon the throne ; and sae was he ! The 
 land, and the very soil were his by divine richt : the people 
 o' fair England, and Scotland, and Ireland, a', body and 
 soul, were e'en his, by divine richt! Their consciences 
 were his, and in his keeping alennarly by divine richt ! 
 
 He was the Lord's anointed: the Scottish Solomon the 
 
 second edition o' Solomon the wise." 
 
 "Bravo! ay! and that he must hae been: and bound too, 
 in gude calf-skin, 11 exclaimed the mathematical professor, 
 with an honest roar of laughter ; for he could not for the 
 soul of him resist the pun. 
 
 Cargil cast his eyes on him for a moment, and the grave 
 cast of his countenance instantly relaxed into a smile. But 
 as the remembrance of past sorrows crowded upon his spirit, 
 he relapsed into the severe, as he replied, 
 
 " Be sober, my dear professor, we are na in the green 
 room o' the college. Weel timed dajfin is gude in its place : 
 but wha can mak merry ower a subject, whilk causes a' 
 Scotland to be in tears. Weel, thae principles o' King 
 James were painfully instilled into "Babee" Charles, the 
 the first, and by him into his son's mind, the second Charles, 
 wi" a' the fell earnestness o' ane, whose fanaticism avowed 
 that, by divine richt, and in virtue of his being the anointed 
 o' the Lord, he had the power o' converting the haile realm 
 and people into his heritable property, to be held in fee sim 
 ple, and enfeofed into the saum by the Court o' Heaven. 
 
 " Noo, my masters, the present Stuart, after a' that this 
 
 loyal kingdom has done for him, is causing his wrath to 
 
 descend on auld Scotland, in a shower o' blude ! Its noo 
 
 seventeen years and mair,* syn tyranny tore up the beautiful 
 
 * From A.D. 1662.
 
 40 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 tree o' the Kirk o' Scotland; and strewed her green 
 branches in the dust. The -religion o' the court, and its 
 form of government, has been laid on oor necks, as a griev 
 ous burden ; it has been done by an act of mere supremacy. 
 Scotland's wull was never asked. And what's mair, the 
 kirk did neer, to this day, surrender her richts, nor yield 
 her consent. The Act which professed to establish prelacy 
 was unconstitutional, as weel as unjust. For there stands, 
 unrepealed, to this day, in the statute-book, the Acts of Par 
 liament, which established oor gude presbyterian kirk gov 
 ernment : and the sincere doctrines o' the gospel. 
 
 " Injustice is usually followed by cruelty. That was the 
 
 day o' a nation's lament February 1st, 1C62, when /our 
 
 hundred o' the maist learned ministers o' the kirk o' Scot 
 land, were driven from their churches and their homes: their 
 beloved flock, in deep mourning, crowded around them for 
 the last time : bearded men hung on the necks of their much 
 loved Pastors, and wept in the bitterness o' their spirits, 
 as they bade them their last and lingering fareweel ! 
 
 "And a' Scotland kens whilk method the cou^t teuk to 
 overcome the nation's prejudice against the prelates and 
 their curates. Did they elect choice men, o' weel kenned 
 pairts, and piety; like many o' thae bricht stars, whilk 
 sparkle in England's skies, baith within her church, and 
 amang the Puritans ? Did they strive like men o' sense 
 wha study human nature, to tak the best means to supplant 
 the much-loved Pastor, in the hearts o' the people, by giving 
 them their matches in the purity o' doctrine, and the fervour 
 a 1 piety ? No, sirs ! They caught your half fledged whaups, 
 lads wha soucht the priests 1 office for a bit o' bread. 
 And as touching the mair elderly o' them, wha were de 
 signed for the mair important stations, they were the refuse 
 o' the gude auld Kirk, men, wha, lik James Sharp, had 
 sold the Kirk o' Scotland for gold ! Men wha could na 
 stand a bang o' disputation wi the maist feck o' the laymen 
 whigs ; wha dang the bottom oot o' a' thei arguments and 
 logic, at the first onset. And men o' low manners who add 
 ed to their haly office that of spies and informers against 
 their ain parishioners. They were leagued with the un 
 principled military whom they honoured with the title o 1 
 their Ruling Elders. Ah ! what a withering blast hae
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 41 
 
 their cruelty and heartless impiety breathed over the kirk 
 o 1 God! 
 
 "And, noo, the Scottish nation recalls wi' increasing an 
 guish o' their souls, the fondly cherished memory o' their 
 gude auld pastors. They could na but compare sic pastors 
 wi' sic priests. There was, on the part o' the latter a proud 
 defiance o' the people's hatred, and the people's utmost ven 
 geance. They soucht the fleece only : and they studied not 
 much delicacy in the manner o' takin it off! 
 
 " The venerable auld pastors, came in amang them wi' the 
 sincere gospel. Few were their wants, and those easily 
 supplied : their aim was to make them disciples o' the 
 blessed master, good men, and worthy citizens. But the 
 prelates and their curates cam in amang the flock wi' spears, 
 and carabines, and blood-thirsty soldadoes, whom they blush 
 ed not to employ to establish themselves in their usurpa 
 tions. In this rude way sought they to woo over the Scot 
 tish heart to their religion ! In ae word, the minister's 
 came as humble messengers of heaven to guide suffering 
 and dying men to immortal bliss ! The priests came wi' 
 fire and sword to dragoon a nation into their religion, with 
 motives whilk nae man can mistake ! 
 
 "And what's to be the end o' a thae things Yes, I see 
 
 it, my friends." The venerable pastor uttered this in an 
 under tone, as if to himself; and like one whose eye is fixed 
 with intense interest on a distant object, "yes ! it will be 
 short, but sharp ! 
 
 "All these acts and doings, originating in the frantic bi 
 gotry o' Clarendon, and the cruelty o' the cooncil wha mak 
 a cat's paw o' royalty, to gain their ain ends, are sending 
 into the bosom o' Scotsmen, a deep and deadly hostility o' 
 soul ; ane hostility whilk nae English prince, whilk nae 
 deep planning, and" ungodly favourite, whilk nae scheme 
 o' Scottish bishop ; whilk nae threatening, and nae force o 1 
 men, be they Heeland host, or fierce soldadoes, can eer 
 subdue. It is the virtuous hostility of a nation against fero 
 cious tyranny. I see auld Scotland retiring into her fast 
 nesses : like the red lion o' Africa, she retires slowly before 
 the hunter's spear: with sullenness she retires; but with 
 the conscious superiority, and proud defiance o' that noble 
 animal : she retires, but her bludeshot een are often thrown 
 back on her oppressors. 
 
 D*
 
 42 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND." 
 
 "And, my masters, what crime hae we Scotchmen com 
 mitted, that we are thus outlawed, and hunted down, and 
 murdered at oor ain hearth stone, in the presence o' wife 
 and bairns? We hae done naething against the kirk J 
 God : naething against oor kintry ; naething against oor 
 King! Let the foeman name it, let them write it in a 
 beuk. Oor hearts were leal to oor kintry ; and oor king, 
 until he drove us frae his protection, and refused us the pro 
 tection o' his natural born subjects. We avowed the cove 
 nants o' the reformation frae prelacy ; sae did King Charles 
 II. sae did Lauderdale, sae did Sharpe. They broke their 
 vows voluntarily made, and broucht on themselves the 
 guilt o' pe jury : so, help us Gcd, did not we ! 
 
 " The head and front o' oor offending is this : while they 
 place the supremacy, and the dominion ower men's con 
 sciences on the shoulders of a mortal man : a man too wha 
 violates the first principles o' religion and even decorum. 
 We place the croon o' supremacy on the head o' HIM whose 
 head has many croons. They forbid us to preach, or to wor 
 ship the God o' oor fathers but at their nod and dictation. 
 We declare afore high heaven and the angels, that nae 
 power on earth or hell either can abstract frae us the richts 
 and inheritance o' free born men, and Christians. They de 
 prived us by force o' oor kirks ! We yielded them up wi' 
 sair hearts indeed ; but peaceably we teuk this spoiling o' 
 oor gudes, and our temples. We retired to meet oor flocks, 
 under the wide-spreading oak o' the forest, or on the heathy 
 mountain's side. Did we injury to king, or kintry ? They 
 chase vs frae een these retreats ! They denounce us ; and 
 set a p;ice on oor heads ; they drive the people by fines, by 
 spear, and carabine into the churches o' the merciless priests. 
 They attack oor Conventicles, where alone we can meet, 
 they attack oor peaceable families, by their fierce soldiers, 
 and foreigners let loose on us, wha hae not the bowels o' 
 civilized men. They employ e'en the sagacity o } blude 
 hounds to track the wretched wanderer in his hiding-places. 
 Noo, whaur's the man that can blame us for takin' up airms 
 to repel, by force, the violence o' the assassins ? Has he 
 the heart o' a man, Scotchman he canna be, wha can say, 
 we have dune wrong ? 
 
 "We appeal to men ! We appeal to angels ! We appeal 
 to THEE, O maist just and holy One !... .against the Stuart,
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 43 
 
 and his minions the Lauderdales, the Sharps, and the 
 Claverses ! We appeal to POSTERITY. And the men o' 
 ither ages, standing on oor gravestones, will con over oor 
 epitaphs ; and teach their children to respect them : and they 
 will bless the memory o' the MARTYRS o' SCOTLAND !" 
 
 The venerable pastor, as he uttered these words in a deep 
 tone of earnestness, bent forward and covered his face with 
 his hands; while a shower of tears fell on his lap. There 
 was not a dry eye in the company. 
 
 "And where's the heartless wretch," said the Principal, 
 first breaking the silence, " wha can stand up and justify the 
 foeman; and their measures? Nane, I'm sure, but they 
 only excepted, wha wad bind bleeding Scotland, and the 
 Kirk o' God in chains!" 
 
 "Ye wunna find ae honest man o' Scotland duin' it," 
 cried the mathematic Professor ; and it cost even him an 
 effort, to keep his voice steady. "But pray you my friends," 
 continued he, "Let our venerated Pastor gang on; and 
 dinna interrupt him wi' thae silly tears, and whimperings at 
 this gaite. There's ane hoor when the patriot and minister 
 o' God weep nae mair : and that hoor is come wi' us. 
 Let oor father gang on: ne'er did I hear him wi' half sae 
 mickle pleasure, in the days o' his youth, when the haile o' 
 his audience in the Landward Kirk, in the Heigh Kirk, I 
 hae seen bathed in tears under his outpourings." 
 
 " I shall first beg Sir William to narrate the preceding; 
 adventures of Burleigh and his college associates," said 
 Cargil, " which drew on them the vengeance of the Life- 
 Guards."
 
 44 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 -Cornwall. " Peace, Sirrah ! 
 
 You beastly knave, know you no reverence ? 
 
 Kent : Yes, Sir, but anger has a privilege. 
 
 Cornwall : Why art thou angry ? 
 Kent : That such a slave as this should wear a sword, 
 Who wears no honesty ! Such smiling rogues as these 
 Like rats oft bite the holy cords atwain. 
 Goose, If I had you upon Sarum's plain 
 I'd drive you cackling home to Camolet !" SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 " It is proper," said Sir Wiliam, " here to notice the ad 
 ventures of our young- friends; they grew oot o' the melan 
 choly state o' the kingdom: oor youth were not the ag 
 gressors. 
 
 " The troop o' the Life Guards were stationed in oor vicinity 
 to watch oor movements, and oor religious meetings, sir- 
 named Conventicles. Thae military supervisors o' spiritual 
 affairs, hae been made acquainted wi' the fact o' a growing 
 spirit o' liberty, and a consequent opposition to tyranny, 
 amang oor youth o' the College o' Glasgow. And it has 
 alarmed the prime-movers in these inquitous measures against 
 Scotland, inasmuch as this spirit has shown itself amang 
 the young noblemen, and those o' the better sort, as weel as 
 amang the sons o' the clergy. They had seen some morti 
 fying proofs o' this : and some o' them had den. felt it. 
 
 " When the Curates o' the neeghbouring parishes, had, in 
 their usual way, of a sabbath, called over the names o' their 
 parishioners, to find oot, wha had been speelin' ower the 
 fauld dyke, and heinously transgressin' by lending their 
 presence to a Conventicle ; instead o' being at their ain 
 parish Church ; and when the curate, with the zeal o' a ser 
 vant o' the" 
 
 "Bewaur o' unguarded words," cried the Princi 
 pal, as Sir William was casting about in his mind for a pro 
 per word, " Ye mean to say, a servant o' his Maist 
 Saucred Majesty Charles II. I ken weel, the curate o' 
 Cruikethoum : he wad prefer that alliance to that of hea 
 ven!" 
 
 " Weel, weel !" cried Sir William with a quizzical nod, 
 * When this spiritual servant o' his Maist Saucred Majesty,
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 5 
 
 handed to aposse o' the Life Guards, whom he baptized 
 his ruling Elders, the names o' the delinquents, and also 
 o' a' these vvha were suspected o' squintin' the wrang way, 
 often did the students way-lay these ghostly inquisitors, 
 wi' their military escorts, and after giving them a gude drub 
 bing ; compelled them to gie back their ill-gotten gear. 
 
 On one occasion, lately, Burleigh at the head o ! a.posse 
 o' the students, met Kennoway andWattie Hepturn, wi' a 
 few troops, and the hopefu' Curate o' Cathcart, near the 
 hoose o' Hamilton o' Aikenhead. Thae worthies Avere 
 dragging alang that leal and religious gentleman, and some 
 o' his family to the jail ; as a preparatory step to his paying 
 his respects to the thumbkins and bootkins, before the 
 Honourable the Cooncill at Edinburgh. 
 
 The Collegioners, after an animated speech frae oor young 
 hero, formed in gude order, sic lyke as was befitting men o' 
 the red gown, when about to receive military men returning 
 frae sic wark. They were armed wi' clubs o' hawthorn : 
 One or two only had fire-airms. The troop, with their 
 grave chaplain, the said Curate, made a full halt, and en 
 tered into parlance. They were in no condition for sic a 
 rencountre. The worthy Chaplain and his reformin' asso 
 ciates had loaded the horses wi' a huge pile o' blankets, and 
 the linen o' the gude lady o' Aikenhead , whilk like prur 
 dent soldiers, they were carryin' off for the double purpose 
 of weakenin' the resources o' the enemy, and of compensat 
 ing themselves for his Majesty's scrimpit wages. At the 
 head o' the military, on a bit dun coloured shalty, rode the 
 chaplain, the Curate o' Cathcart, in his white bushy wig, 
 and his broad brimmed hat, w r ith the flap turned up, ortho 
 dox like, in front. He had not, it seems, deemed it below 
 the standard o' correct morals, himself to aid his worthy as 
 sistants in his vocation, and discipline his refractory parish 
 ioners. They had aften, like gude shepherd collies, helped 
 him on the sabbath days to ca 1 the ewes, tae the richt knows 
 and intil the haly faulds o' his church. And he, in his 
 turn, out o' sheer kindness and gratitude, helped them to 
 tak their pay for their trouble frae the wicked delinquents. 
 The Curate, in fact, had a huge bundle o' blankets behind 
 his reverence on his nag, but then it had been consigned 
 to him on account of Wattie Hepburn. 
 
 Burleigh began the parlance wi' mock solemnity. " We
 
 46 THE WHIGS or SCOTLAND: 
 
 are meikle grieved, beloved, that we hae to interrupt yer 
 godly conversation, gude and holy Mr. Curate: and yer pi 
 ous and edifyin' lesson on sound morals ; whilk we see, ye 
 are enforcin' upon yer maist hopeful and unco religious no 
 vices there. But we soldadoes o' the thorn club" 
 
 "Who art thou, varlet" cried Hepburn stopping him 
 short, " who darest at the head of these callans, interrupt 
 the royal Life Guards of his Most Sacred Majesty ? I see 
 that you do not disguise the fact that you are Glasgow stu 
 dents ! But I swear," (added he, with an oath of the court 
 fashion.) "I will cleave thee to the brisket if you choke 
 up the passage which I am peaceably pursuing along the 
 king's high way." 
 
 "Bide a wee bit, beloved," cried Burleigh, "and learn 
 a lesson frae the swollen fox in the fable. Ye canna get 
 through this narrow gate, until ye disgorge this ill-gotten 
 gear. And you, stubborn, ancient knave, you, reverend 
 braggart ! We shall teach your reverence ae lesson o 1 sound 
 morals" 
 
 Here the troopers were bringing round their carabines ; 
 and just as they were a preparing to fire, Burleigh gave a 
 signal, and his ambuscade, frae behind the hedge fell stoutly, 
 club in hand, on the flank and rear of the Curate and his 
 military associates. In a giffy the carabines and pistols were 
 dashed frae their hauns. And sae weel applied clubs waur 
 laid on their shoulders and hurdies that they saw naithin 1 
 but clubs ; and felt naithin' but blows. The Curate rolled 
 oot ower, frae his shalty, like a bag o' wool. But he very 
 dexterously contrived to get his bundle o' blankets into his 
 arms not only to break his fa' but what was na less his 
 concern, to serve the purpose o' a target, to ward aff the 
 heavy blows o' the students; who had not yet learned the 
 courtesy o' acknowledging the person o' a plunderer to be 
 sacred be he e'en curate or soldier. 
 
 As the military claimed the undivided attention o' ilka ane 
 o' the students, that Burleigh, their captain protem, micht 
 na get hurt, the curate soon got an opportunity of gathering 
 himself up, out o' the midst o' his blankets, into which he 
 had rolled himself during the process o' the belabourin' 
 and he betook himsel into an adjacent thicket, wi' the loss o' 
 his hat and wig. 
 
 The troopers being speedily overpowered and disarmed
 
 OR, THB LAST OF THE STUARTS.' 47 
 
 for the students were sax-times their number search was 
 made for the Curate, that there micht be nane to carry tales. 
 He was sune found, lying coiled up, like a hurchin, wi' his 
 huge bald pate, stuck in amang the brambles and whins, 
 while he was dolefully singin' and greetin' 
 
 " By Babel's streams we sat and wept," 
 
 His fears being calmed, on an assurance given that no 
 lives would be taken; a council was held; and it was re 
 solved unanimously by our gentlemen students, J^irst: That 
 the curate and the soldiers should carry the plundered goods 
 back to the place whence they were abstracted, Second: That 
 each one o' the marauders, not exceptin' their chaplain, 
 should carry them on their backs their horses being led 
 before ilka ane o' them in single file. 
 
 All this was scrupulously done the curate being entitled 
 to the honour of takin' the lead ; and the students, weelairmed, 
 as far as the weapons o' the conquered foemen went for that 
 purpose, marching in close column; and each o' the dra 
 goons being under the strict surveillance o' a file to prevent 
 surprise. 
 
 And third, it was resolved, that the haile band o' marau 
 ders should be marched on Rutherglen, the ancient head o' 
 the lower ward o' Lanrick: that, being caught in the act o' 
 carrying affthe gudes and gear o' his Majesty's subjects, the 
 curate and dragoons should be marched on horse-back; wi 1 
 their faces to the horses tails; their coats turned inside-out, 
 to hide the king's livery, that nae disgrace micht be cast on 
 it-*-their hands bound ahint their back wi' pease wusps or 
 in lack o' that, wi' yett straw rapes ; their heads bare a' the 
 length o' that lang street o' the Borough: their swords borne 
 before them wi' their points reversed ; and he wha had the 
 strongest voice \vas to proclaim on the ears o' the gude peo 
 ple, their said crime that the red coats, and all whilk it 
 concerned, micht hear and fear, and du nae mafa sic deeds o' 
 darkness. And a' this was scrupulously dune, amid roars 
 o" laughter, and the huzzas o' the boys, and citizens o' the 
 gude auld whiggish Borough ! 
 
 Anither circumstance and this is a fair picture o' the times, 
 occured ae sabbath day, in anithei parish; whilk madte 
 Burleigh still more obnoxious to the lifeguard's men. 
 
 Burleigh and his fellow-students, having received intelli 
 gence of what usually took place there, were on the spot in
 
 48 THE WHIOS or SCOTLAND: 
 
 gude time. Young Lord Annandale, Lord Sample, and Lord 
 Mauchlin, noAv collegioners, I maun speak it oot, Mr. 
 Principal waur o' the party. After service, the curate 
 presented himself at the altar. And havin' adjusted his wig, 
 and fixed his coontenance into a rather severe aspect ; he pro 
 duct d the roll o' his parishioners ; and proceeded in a so 
 lemn monotonous voice, to call ower their names in order 
 to discover the delinquents, with a view to hand them ower 
 to the proper military discipline. Having finished this dis 
 gusting service, and noted wi' precision a' the names o' the 
 absentees whilk he handed to his military aid slandin' hy ; 
 he came forward a step or twa, and waivin' wi' his haun he 
 addressed the audience thus. 
 
 " The cooncil o' his Majesty's government have, further, 
 made it the duty o' a' the ministers o' the haly apostolic 
 church, within oor laun', to ascertain, to wit, wha are in 
 oor churches frae the neighborin' parishes, and are no 
 orderly at their ain parish churches." 
 
 He then gave his signal to the chaplain o' his military 
 aids ; and instantly a file o' soldiers occupied each o' the doors 
 shutting them a' except the front door. There, a double 
 line o' military were stationed. And as the haile congrega 
 tion moved out under this inspection, ilka individual, whom 
 the curate did not know personally, was compelled to swear 
 that he was not from a neebourin' parish but a gude ho 
 nest lamb o' his ain fauld an' nae strayin gimmer. If there 
 were any strayin' sheep there or if any individuals were 
 unwillin' to swear, they were fined on the spot. If no money 
 was found in their pockets, then they teuk the upper gar 
 ments o' the men; and the plaids and bibles o' the females.* 
 
 As the curate and soldiers went through this new piece 
 of their pastoral service, and while the congregation moved 
 ofFin rotation, he deemed it due to his sacred function to ex 
 plain and give reasons the while. " That we du this, is his 
 Sacred Majesty's gude wull and pleasure, wha is king and 
 head o' the church o' England, whilk, to the eternal confu 
 sion o' a' the rebels, and cantin' psalm-singin' Covenanters, 
 is now established by law in this Scottish realm. The king 
 is the head o' the church absolute, and supreme in a' things, 
 
 * This is no fiction : it is recorded history. See "Woodrow, Crook- 
 shanks, aud Cock's histories. 

 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 49 
 
 to make and to mend ; to baud and to bind ; to prescribe and 
 to fix the mode o' our worship, and the form o' oor church 
 government. We maun believe as he believes, and pray as 
 he prays in a' thae things. Nane but wicked Whigs baud 
 the doctrine o' resistance, or self-defence. Nane, beloved, 
 but cantin' hypocrites, refuse to place his conscience at the 
 direction o' his Maist Sacred Majesty. What richt hae you 
 or I puir craters ! to think anent religious affairs, or 
 anent oor sauls, or the form and the mainer o' worship ex- 
 ceptin' it be, allenarly, according to the laws o 1 the land, by 
 king and cooncil established. Awa' wi' yer arbitrary, and 
 tyrannical parliaments, wha thwart his Majesty, and downa 
 let him put his hauns in the people's pockets to tak what his 
 Saucred Majesty needs. The king can- du nae wrang, God 
 bless him. To oppose this, is to oppose the Lord's anointed. 
 To fecht against this, is rebellion. And " rebellion is as 
 the sin o' witchcraft." Yes! beloved, and I hope there is 
 na ae wicked Whig within thae wa's to draw doon on us 
 the judgments o' the Almighty ; by foul heresy and rebellion ; 
 or ane wha would venture to " mutter or peep," or e'en to 
 whisper the doctrine o' resistance, to his absolute supremacy 
 based on his divine richt. He wha doubteth on this matter 
 is condemned if he doubt. La ! beloved, what then wull 
 become o' him wha adds the crime o' fechtin' against it. 
 Come, forward, then, dearly beloved, pass oot, pew by pew : 
 it's a' for oor gude, and edification !" 
 
 As the Curate ran on in this vile cant of the Tory ser 
 mons o' the day, for this edifying doctrine they preach, 
 ilka sabbath day, he put himself beside his military re 
 formers, who fined and " fleeced," every delinquent, and 
 suspected person. And their zeal was quickened by the 
 liberty granted by the Cooncil to take payment on the spot, 
 for their trouble and loyalty, in putting doon treason : for 
 the military are judges, executioners, and p^rymasters, a' 
 at the expense o' the lives, gudes, and gear o' the lieges. 
 Hence Charles' work is dune wi' surprising fidelity ! 
 
 Oor students presented themselves in a body, last of all, 
 before these spiritual supervisors. Burleigh marched in 
 front, as he uttered in a thundering voice : " Give place, 
 thou canting hypocrite ! What honest man e'er gave cre 
 dence to this Tory canto' thine? Verily, if tools like thee, 
 miscreant, knave ! could be found to give, in sufficient 
 VOL. i. E.
 
 50 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 numbers, practical credence to this precious doctrine o' 
 thine, preached at the bidding o' Clarendon, ye wad sune 
 hae Scotland on the bread o' her back, like the trodden 
 doon kintry o' the Turks. This, then, is yer sabbath day's 
 wark, in wooing ower the sons and dachters o' Scotland, into 
 the gudely faulds o' prelacy ! And you, soldiers, wha wear 
 the livery o' yer kintry ; and wha used to fecht for Scot 
 land's king, and laws, you noo mak yersels the thocht- 
 less tools o' a miserable tyranny ; you plunderers o' yer 
 fellow-citizens, and the Kirk o' God; bandits I and nae 
 mair soldiers ! Dogs ! give place to yer masters !" 
 
 " Bravo !" shouted the whole squadron of the students, as 
 they rushed forward, and threw themselves pell mell, upon 
 the soldiers ; who being hitherto witnesses of passive obedi 
 ence on the part of the simple-minded people, were thun 
 derstruck at this sudden resistance ; and who, moreover, be 
 ing too much encumbered with the plundered garments o' 
 the gude parishioners, were in nae condition to aid them 
 selves, or the priest who had sae eloquently preached the 
 doctrine o' passive obedience. Before they could disen 
 cumber themselves, the Collegioners had fallen on the mili 
 tary, wi' their thorn clubs, and fists ; and had dealt them 
 such lusty blows, that in a brief space, ilka soldier there, 
 and the curate likewise, lay groanin' and sprachlin' in the 
 dust ! ' They were promptly disarmed ; so that when they 
 recovered their senses, our young heroes were ready to 
 combat them afresh, and with their own weapons. 
 
 A' this was done in a space of time, shorter than what I 
 hae taken to describe it ; amid the shouting and huzzaing o' 
 the congregation. 
 
 It was an unfortunate circumstance that, in the heat o' 
 this action, young Lord Mauchlin happened to name Bur- 
 leigh, their leader. That instant Wattie Hepburn turned 
 his eyes with a ferocious glance on him : but the sudden 
 overthrow of Wattie and his party, prevented the meditated 
 blow at him. But Wattie had treasured up his name, and 
 figure, in his memory : and he had nursed his wrath to 
 keep it hot !" 
 
 " And verily, oor adventure," said Cargil, taking up the 
 narrative, " was by nae means calculated to cool his wrath, 
 or erase Burleigh from his memory. 
 
 I had received, by a trusty haun, while in my conceal-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 51 
 
 ment, at Dame Margaret Craig's, a message to meet the 
 sufferers, in a great Conventicle on the Clyde. It was a 
 sma' thing for me to put my life in my haun, and meet 
 them. I ne'er yet stude twa calls frae God's afflicted peo 
 ple. My time speeds ; aud I maun hasten to du a' my 
 wark! 
 
 " The place of our meeting was a favourite retreat on the 
 banks o' the Clyde. We approach it by a narrow defile, 
 and a kittle pathway in the water's edge, where we star 
 tion our canny sentinels. Over our heads are projected a 
 pile of rocks, grey and venerable, with their coverings of 
 lichens, and different species of the stanraw :* and sending 
 forth from their dizzy cliffs the mountain ash, and ever 
 greens : Lower down the aspen shakes its quivering leaves : 
 and a few venerable oaks, covered with moss, send forth 
 their towering, paternal boughs over the whole. 
 
 " In the distant perspective, and on the opposite bank of 
 the Clyde, on a projecting rock, are seen the dark turrets 
 ofBothwell Castle,f rising over the ivy-clad towers cf that 
 massy and magnificent pile, once the dwelling-place o' 
 the proudest nobles of Scottish fame; the Murrays, the 
 Douglases, the Cummings, and the Hamiltons. Oppo 
 site to this, the bold Craig o' Blantyre rears its head, 
 crowned wi' its native brush-wood, and from behind it, 
 peer dimly the ruins o' the auld house of the Priors. Be 
 fore us extends the broad expanse o' the Clyde, which 
 glitters gaily in the sun-beam, as it rolls its slow and sil 
 very wave to the bosom of the ocean. 
 
 "Buried in this romantic scenery, have I spent the days 
 and nights o' my lonely and perilous wanderings. And 
 often hae the hearts o' our sufferers, as well as mine, Striven 
 to forget our sorrows, in our sympathy with gladsome na 
 ture, shining and rejoicing on ilka hand. 
 
 " Far frae the haunts o' men, among the oaks o' Lee, or o' 
 Draffan ; or buried in the shady groves o' the Clyde, or 
 the grassy cliffs o' Loudon Hill, have we listened, the live 
 long day o' our hidings, to the notes o' the lark carroling 
 it high in air ; and the yellow-hammer with its simple, 
 melting note ; and the merry redbreast's loud chirrup, 
 
 * A peculiar moss, which grows on the face of rocks. 
 f The ancient Botlmell Castle.
 
 52 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND ! 
 
 alas ! it only reminded us of past joys ; and the merle 
 pouring his notes of deep, soft, and richest tone, filling 
 rocks and vale with the echo of his sweetest music, the 
 only merry rival o' the mavis and the blackbird. But we 
 had hardly yielded ourselves to the enchantment of the 
 reverie ; and felt the sad remembrance of past scenes, 
 never to return, beginning to flit over our busy memo 
 ries, and wringing a tear o' delicious recollection frae our 
 eyes, when we were suddenly roused from our troubled 
 dreams, by the fierce clangor o' the bugle note: or the 
 prancing tread of the Life-guard's horse : or the deep bay 
 ing o' the blood-hound guiding the man o' blood to the 
 hiding-place o' the wanderers. Oh! man! man! Man 
 is the worst enemy to man ! How lovely all nature looks 
 and smiles ! E'en the bleak winter's day has charms for 
 me, under the smilings o' infinite goodness ! But the pre 
 sence o'bloody men turns the paradise of nature, into a wil 
 derness ! The sweet music o' the grove is drooned by the 
 long protracted howling of the blood-hounds ; and the sol 
 dier's heavy death-note o' the sloggan ! And these sweet 
 spots o' nature, the romantic and enchanting scenery o' 
 our native land, is profaned by the foot o' foreigners, and 
 blood-thirsty men whose eye keenly spies out the helpless, 
 shivering victim o' tyranny ; and hunts him down as he 
 does the red deer o' the forest!" 
 
 "Pardon me, my masters!" added the venerable man. 
 after a sudden pause ; " my puir auld broken heart must 
 
 hae vent to its griefs." "Weel, %s I was saying," 
 
 continued he with a reviving air, ' we met for the wor 
 ship o' God, in this retreat. Our swords were by our 
 sides ;., our carabines and spears lay glittering on the with 
 ered leaves. The song of praise floated in plaintive " Mar 
 tyrs," on the sighing blast. We uttered our prayers and 
 our praises on the ears o' HIM who hears the cry o' the poor 
 and needy. Our troubles and sorrows were for a moment 
 forgotten in the heart-stirring devotions o' the day. Nor 
 did we forget to breathe in forgiveness, the name o' our 
 cruel persecutors, in our devotions : nor those o' their 
 slaves in livery of royalty, who might that moment be 
 speeding their course to the work o' blood. 
 
 " The sun was near his setting, and we had uttered oor 
 last prayer, and oor thanksgiving. The wanderers had
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 53 
 
 ta'en their leave o' their pastor, and o' each ither as 
 those do, wha might ne'er again look on each ither in this 
 warld; and, wi' their Avives and their weans, were returning 
 in groups, through the leafless woods. Wi' Burleigh and 
 his youthfu' comrades attending us, we had passed through 
 the copse- wood, on the north side o' the river ; and had 
 reached the open plain through which the great road passes 
 from Hamilton to Glasgow. They had attended the meet 
 ing weel airmed. And mair in their daffin, than wi' ony 
 serious expectation o' using such a weapon, they had imi 
 tated the new implement o' war, which some o' them had 
 seen used by the Heelan Host in their descent frae their 
 hills into the Lalands. That is to say, they had contrived 
 to fix their poignards on the muzzle o' their carabines ;* 
 and were sporting themselves my youthful guards to Bal- 
 ormock. 
 
 " In a moment o 1 fearful surprise, we heard the distant 
 trampling of horses as if in full gallop, in the quarter in 
 which we beheld the evening smoke of Glasgow rolling off 
 in lazy volumes. And we heard, in an instant after, the 
 bugle-note calling to the onset, a small number o' resolute 
 horsemen, now rushing into view. They had seen the 
 gleam reflected back by the arms of our youthful company, 
 and were urging their speed into fury. A distant hollow 
 shout was heard far in oor rear and a shrill wailing o' 
 female voices. We thocht that it came frae the quarter in 
 which the main body o' my beloved flock had been dis 
 persing to their houses. They had heard also, and had 
 seen, from the adjacent heights, the Life Guards rushing 
 on that very point, through which, they knew, we were 
 shaping our way. 
 
 " At the first moment o' surprise, we halted. Every breath 
 was suppressed : Every eye-ball was strained on the vision 
 which burst so suddenly on our view. 
 
 " Burleigh Stewart ! ;) exclaimed the whole of the youth 
 ful band, as if in one breath. 
 
 " Your captain is ready, my brave lads ! I thought I 
 heard a strange sound on the stillness of eve ; and I had 
 
 * This early and rude imitation of the bayonet, was found in ths 
 Highland Host, and formed a part of their weapons, which were aeen 
 as they passed through Glasgow to the West, in 1677. 
 
 E2
 
 54 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 my eye on that suspicious quarter. Stand to your arms, 
 my lads ! and be firm. You will now find the use of those 
 military lessons which we hae taken for oor amusement in 
 oor idle hoors! Noo, see that ilka ane o' ye hae loaded 
 yer carabine weel ; and screw on yer poinards." They 
 obeyed their youthful commander, in perfect silence, and 
 in gude order. Burleigh was in the meantime urgin' me 
 to betake mysel into a place o' safety. 
 
 "Retire," cried my gallant young friend: and I saw 
 him dash a tear frae his eye " Retire, father, if you love 
 us : You cannot aid us. And you are the butt and mark 
 of their fellest vengeance." 
 
 " I cannot and I will not do it :" I could only get time 
 to say : " If a sacrifice must be made on this spot, let my 
 blude stream wi' yours. In truth it is too late to urge me : 
 already the foemen are on us.' " 
 
 " Burleigh flew to young Lord Annandale, issued his 
 orders, and fell in at the head of his youthful troop. But I 
 thocht all was in vain. We breathed oor fervent prayer. 
 " Noo is the hour, and the power 0' darkness ! We are 
 sorely beset, and in great distress: We see nae escape for 
 these dear lads! Good Lord! Receive thy puir auld trent- 
 blin' servant , Let me be the sacrifice : But, Och ! spare 
 spare those dear lads, the hopes o 1 their kititry and the 
 stay o' their parents' hearts ! Oh ! let not their sun go 
 down at noon / * * * *" 
 
 " I threw myself into the midst o' them. The troopers 
 were near us and in full gallop. " My brave masters," 
 cried Burleigh, "when ye hae ta' en a gudevizzey, and hae 
 fired to some purpose you will ground your carabines : 
 and presenting your poinards to the foemen's horses, you 
 will bear a steady haun. They canna break our rank. 
 Fire and God be wi' the innocent." 
 
 " They fired and the dragoons fired their pistoletts at the 
 same instant. None o' us fell. We received some severe 
 wounds only. Our carabines did mair execution than their 
 pistols. Some o' the troopers fell. The rest, in a deathlike 
 silence, and Avith ferocious looks, galloped on us with a view 
 to break oor rank, and to trample us doon. But their 
 horses not being the best trained shrunk aside from our 
 bristling poinards. A strong party of our youth formed to 
 their front, and with the butt end of their carabines firmly
 
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 55 
 
 fixed in the ground, received the troop as they formed and 
 jralloped down on us and thus kept them at bay, while 
 another party of us kept up a well-directed fire from the 
 rear of those who were kneeling. Several of their men 
 tumbled from their saddles. They reeled : they retreated. 
 It was only a feint. They wheeled, and returned on us, 
 at full gallop. 
 
 "To the richt, and left, wheel and open," cried Bur- 
 leigh. We opened in an instant, and their line passed 
 through the opening, without killing one o' us with their 
 long swords. 
 
 "Form front again, and receive the enemy." Again 
 the horses shivered, and turned aside from our spears ; 
 or stopt short ere they reached us though the furious 
 soldiers plunged the rowels into their flanks. They re 
 treated to some distance : their number was reduced : 
 they formed into a close column of several horses deep ; 
 and came on us, in good order, at full speed. 
 
 "Open again," cried Burleigh j "and see that ye move 
 out beyond the reach o' their broad swords keep close 
 together, this aince. Remember the deeds o' yer fathers. 
 Hurra ! for auld Scotland ! 
 
 " We wheeled suddenly, and left them space. Wattie 
 Hepburn was on their right. He had singled oot Burleigh 
 and me. But by the sudden reining up of his courser, to 
 turn him on us, when at full speed he came to the ground 
 wi' a tremendous crash ! And his bridle arm struck us 
 both to the ground. In the moment o' danger the human 
 frame is nerved wi' unusual power. Though this huge 
 man rolled over us, we were instantly on oor feet. Bur 
 leigh looked round on Annandale. " Noo dear Annan ! 
 sa ve your comrades : my hands are full," cried my gene 
 rous deliverer. Hepburn still clung to the bridle o' his 
 horse, whilk dragged him alang ; for he was aware o' 
 the consequence if he lost his horse. With tremendous 
 imprecations he breathed vengeance and death. By the 
 time that he was disentangled, I had thrown a sword o' 
 ane o' the fallen dragoons, to Burleigh. He threw his 
 carabine to me , and faced his antagonist exultingly wi' 
 the sword. 
 
 "Noo we are safe fear nought, Father," cried he, "I 
 feel always at hame wi' this."
 
 56 THE WHIGS or SCOTLAND: 
 
 " He glanced his eye at Annandale : he saw him forming 
 his front rank as usual. Burleigh placed his back towards 
 his company, and beckoned to me. I threw myself into 
 the midst of his associates in the rear. Conscious that he 
 was no match for this truculent life-guard, Burleigh was 
 satisfied with merely warding off his blows, while he 
 receded gradually on his company, and drew Hepburn 
 up to a point, which he saw would throw him in a di 
 rect line before his own troops. It succeeded perfectly. 
 The troopers approached with rapidity; but suddenly 
 flinched : and, by a side movement they carried Hepburn 
 away before them, and prostrated him under their feet, 
 this was done just at the instant that he was flourishing, 
 and closing with Burleigh. At the next approach of the 
 desperate troopers ; we heard a loud hurra in oor rear. 
 It was oor friends, with whom we had parted at the 
 conventicle. With a loud shout they cheered oor gallant 
 little company, and rushed in between us, and the enemy. 
 At this moment I must have fainted. As I gazed on 
 my old friends approaching, and heard their soul-stirring 
 cheers, I felt the whole vision suddenly melted awa frae 
 before my darkened eyes, and from my memory. I knew 
 nothing mair till I opened my eyes on my worthy freen 
 the laird o' Torfoot, who was pourin' water on my face, by 
 the side o' a wee icy murmurin' brook, in a thicket o' 
 saughs, and boortree.* I had lost meikle blude in the 
 wound received by the first fire o' the enemy. And I felt 
 mysel slowly recoverin frae weakness. It was noo nearly 
 dark. I could perceive that the tumult was ceased. And 
 the distant shout, and the trampling o' horses, and the report 
 of irregular firing came fitfully on oor ears. And, at last, 
 the bugle note sounding a retreat died away gradually on 
 the stilly ear of nicht. 
 
 "My deliverer and I were in awful suspense. I was 
 afraid to break silence. I trembled even to put a question. 
 At last the laird observed "that he feared the worst o 1 it 
 for the young collegioners. As I carried you off" con 
 tinued he, " the foemen dashed through the midst o' them 
 as their leader for an instant was thrown off his guard, 
 amid the loud cries o' CARGIL L.CARGIL L.I saw wi' a 
 
 * Anglice, Elder tro.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE BTUART8. 57 
 
 kind o' a glint the Collegioner's doon, and aneath the 
 horse's hoofs. I heard their shrieks. I thought I saw 
 Burleigh fall, I'm sure it was he, and Annandale 
 under the awfu' neive, and sword o' the foeman chief, and 
 sax ither troopers, who directed their fury on that quarter" 
 
 Sae spak Torfoot. And I was, my masters, in awfu' 
 
 suspense, during thae sorrowfu' days o' my confinement. 
 As soon as I could raise my weary limbs, and hold up 
 my auld pow, I hirpled up hither: and lauded be HIS 
 haly name I hae seen my brave deliverer alive, and richt 
 weel !" 
 
 "And sae also is Annandale, and ilka soul o' us," cried 
 Burleigh, who had resumed his seat again "Be HIS 
 name praised : we did, indeed, fall in the confusion, caused 
 by the twilight ; and a moment's anxiety about your fate fa 
 ther Cargil, But we escaped mortal wounds from under the 
 horse's feet. And oor freends having joined us, we pre 
 sented to the foemen a threatening front. The moment that 
 Hepburn's eye caught this unexpected, and imposing ac 
 cession to oor strength, and perceived the flashes o' ooi 
 carabines, he sounded a retreat, and retired amid a volley 
 fired at random from our ranks, as wi' youthful enthu 
 siasm, we pursued them ! 
 
 " This ferocious soldier had heard my name mair than 
 aince ; and he suspected that I belonged to the college. 
 On the evening on which my adventure fell oot he had, 
 while watching his opportunity, cast his slee eyes adown 
 the outer ground of the College garden : and he had spied 
 me ere I was aware o' his presence. And in turning at 
 the end o' my walk, he threw himsel ower the garden wa 1 , 
 and set on me suddenly. 
 
 " I had some kind o' intentions o' takin' thee afore the 
 Cooncil" said he with a fierce smile as he drew his 
 sword "that thou mightest glorify God in the grass- 
 market as thy betters hae done afore thee ; but this 
 same slow process wad na satiate Wattie's soul wi' deep, 
 and sweet revenge ! Thou hast crossed my path again 
 and again" continued he with a malignant scowl as he 
 adjusted his heavy sword, "And thy last villanous inter 
 ference took oot o' my very grasp, thae three thoosan' gude 
 siller marks, for Cargil's head, after I was as cock-sure 
 of it, as if it had been dangling at my saddle bow ! Now,
 
 58 THE WHIOS OF SCOTLAND: " 
 
 Whiggamore ! let thy sword, and the power o' thy God de 
 fend thee, if they can ! Thy head wull compensate, in some 
 sma' measure, for the loss o' Cargil's." 
 
 " This flourish relative to " my sword's defending me," 
 was in consequence of his seeing my drawn sword already 
 in my hand. It was not the language of an honourable, 
 though misguided man, permitting me time to draw. Had 
 I been unarmed, I should hae been favoured with nae speech 
 on the occasion. The unarmed peasantry against whilk 
 Claverse and his bandits wage war, are not so honoured : 
 the butchery is done in silence, and a horrid promptness. 
 We fought ! you know the rest. I shall say nothing o' 
 the silent, and desperate effort of self-defence, on my pairt : 
 or o' the deep-settled purpose o' murder, whilk distorted 
 my assailant's face, wi' the fury o' hell ! Had Sir William 
 been a few short moments later, I should have shared the fate 
 of oor martyred brethren. My body would have been trod 
 den under the heel of the ferocious soldier: and my severed 
 head, under the hammer o' the Cooncil's executioner, wad 
 hae been looking down, this day frae the high spike, on the 
 West Bow o' Embroch!" 
 
 A convulsive shudder passed over every individual in the 
 group, as he uttered these words. 
 
 " Oh ! my kintry," exclaimed the Principal, his voice 
 stifled with grief and indignation, " What miseries are 
 brought on thee by prelates, wha hae na the bowels o 1 
 mercy; and by oor treacherous nobles : and by a prince, the 
 toolo' Clarendon, ignorant, indolent, licentious ; and wha 
 cares less for his prostrated kintry and his bleeding subjects, 
 than the hounds o' his kennel !" 
 
 " Ay ! gude my worthy Principal," replied Cargil with 
 one of those keen glances of paternal reproof, for which he 
 was so remarkable, among his friends, " It is weel said : 
 but e'en sae says ilka ane o' oer nobility ; ay ! ilka ane o' 
 oor maist cauldrifo Scotchmen ! that is, if they hae felt a 
 looner frae the foeman. We hae the benefit, in that case, o' 
 their indignation, set forth in weel set phrase eneugh ! If 
 they hae basked in prosperity through an excess o' neutrali 
 ty, we are edified by their weel jointed and clamorous 
 praises o' sweet liberty ! They cry ye shame on all tyranny 
 in lugubrious exhortations. But move they ae finger to 
 help us ? Respond they to the spirit of our gallant Whigs,
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 59 
 
 whose voice wi' awful warning-, calls to Scotland's deliver 
 ance, Oh ! when the harvest of OUR toils, and bludy suffer 
 ings has come: and when the very bairns shall see that for 
 all the liberty and independence, in the Kirk and State, 
 whilk they enjoy as Scotchmen, they are indebted to the 
 Whigs o' Scotland's Killing Times, then let them not for 
 get our memory, nor usurp the honours due to the WHIGS ! 
 But, my gallants ! time speeds ; let us hence." 
 
 On uttering these words, Cargil arose, and taking Bur- 
 leigh in his arms, he kissed him with paternal affection : 
 And having uttered his blessing on all the rest, he beckon 
 ed to Sir Robert Hamilton, and the youth who had entered 
 with him, to follow him ; and they retired to their retreat 
 beyond the Molindinar Burn. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 "This Lara marked, and laid his hand on his: 
 It trembled not/in such an hour as this : 
 His lip was silent, scarcely beat his heart, 
 His eye alone proclaimed. ' We will not part ! 
 Thy band may perish, or thy friends may flee, 
 Farewell to life, but not adieu to thee /' " BIRON. 
 
 Within the grey walls of the venerable college of Glas 
 gow, there was no more that deep silence, which indicates 
 intense application to literary pursuits and which is inter 
 rupted only by the hourly bustle of youth pressing intoths 
 recitation halls: or retiring in to the stillness of their cham 
 bers. There were jarring elements already operating within; 
 and putting forth their violence. And the distant bruit 
 of arms over the land was heard by the restless and impa 
 tient students. The decided superiority alone of the Whig 
 students in point of numbers prevented open war between 
 them and the Tories. The king's council had long watched, 
 with anxiety, the growing principles, which manifested them 
 selves among the better class of youth, in the University pf 
 Glasgow, and of Edinburgh. They had repeatedly threat 4 - 
 ened to strike a blow which would suspend the exercises of
 
 60 THR WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 both institutions : and disperse the dangerous youth. The 
 Glasgow Professors, and the regents had, many of them 
 at least, taken the oaths ; and made their peace by conces 
 sions. But it was not in the power of the Faculty, espe 
 cially when none of them took a zealous lead in the affair, 
 to check the growing spirit of liberty : it was easy to'perceive 
 the practical result of the principles of the Whigs, as they 
 were developed strikingly, before the public eye, under 
 their cruel sufferings. The martyrs were undaunted in the 
 hour of death. They exhibited at once, the unshaken cour 
 age, and coolness of the old Romans ; and the ardent and 
 enlightened piety of the primitive Christians. Hence, by 
 every public execution of a martyr at the Grass-market ; or 
 on the Gallowlee the royal cause lost ground. In the de 
 portment of the sufferers who stept in to fill there place, there 
 was an artless, and unaffected display of virtues at once, 
 so awful and solemn ; so lofty and chivalrous, that the en 
 thusiastic spirit of liberty was thereby excited in the bosom 
 of all ranks especially of the ingenuous youth, to an im- 
 measureable degree. And in the same proportion did the 
 tyranny of the Court, and cold-blooded cruelty of the Prelates, 
 who had hitherto braved public opinion, send over every 
 heart a deep indignation and abhorrence. And all this only 
 waited its opportunity, and the hour of retribution. And the 
 revolting barbarity of the Council, as if sporting with the 
 feelings of the nation, seemed to spare no pains to nurse this 
 feeling. The mangled limbs of the martyrs were seen sus 
 pended on the battlements of Castles, at the grating of the 
 prison windows, and in the most frequented streets of the 
 cities. At Kirkudbright was set upon a high pole, the head 
 of Major McCulloch, with those of his gallant associates. 
 At Glasgow cross hung the heads of others of these brave 
 men who were dispersed at Pentland. At the gate of Lanark 
 there was a long row of human arms and hands, with their 
 fingers pointing toward heaven ; on the spot where these 
 religious patriots had, with uplifted hands, sworn the Coven*- 
 ants. And from the dark walls of Edinburgh, on their 
 lofty iron spikes there looked down, for years, the head of 
 that illustrious patriot and Christian nobleman the MARQUIS 
 01 ARGYLE and the head of that eloquent statesman LORD 
 WARRISTON : and near these was the skull of the immortal
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 61 
 
 JAMES GUTHRIE which has been left to bleach in the sun 
 and rain, for twenty-seven years ! 
 
 In these shocking spectacles, which met the eye every 
 where, Scotland saw the threatened prostration of religion 
 and the extinction of her liberty. The busy multitude look 
 ed on without concern : Matrons mourned their murdered 
 husbands and sons : the weeping orphan kneeled down, and 
 clasping his little hands, at the foot of the gallow's tree, im 
 plored the cruel men ' no to kill his puir faither.' The pa 
 triot looked on and he shed no idle tears. For he was 
 planning, in silence, the redemption of his country. While 
 every ingenuous youth, as he passed by, felt a thrill of horror 
 and grasped more firmly the hilt of his sword ! 
 
 The first public demonstration of this spirit was at the re 
 turn of the foremost division of the " Heeland Host," after 
 the failure of the Council in their attempts to press the BOND 
 on the West and South of Scotland. 
 
 " Meet me at mine hostess', when the evening star is up ;" 
 Cargil had whispered to Burleigh "and bring the youth 
 wi' you, in whom you have confidence." 
 
 The twilight had now disappeared in the West ; and the 
 evening star was sending her purple light over the lofty 
 spire which rises from the centre of the Heigh Kirk ; the 
 evening hum of the busy city was dying gently away ; and 
 the kettle drum, and bugle note of the Life Guards, from 
 their neighbouring tents, were no longer heard on the still 
 ear of a February night when Burleigh Stewart, and a 
 large company of his comrades, hastened along the Rotten- 
 Row, and hied them over the Molindinar Burn : and over 
 banks and braes, through Cockmuir and up the Lang Glen, 
 to the sequestered cottage of Dame Margaret Craig. 
 
 They presented themselves at the door. All was silence; 
 but a large fire of peats and pine-knots was sending forth a 
 merry blaze from the hearth. 
 
 " There must be some mistake in this thing, Burleigh," 
 whispered Lord Mauchlin : " Here are verily no indi 
 cations of a conventicle" 
 
 " Leave that to me" said Burleigh, as the door opened, 
 and sent a blinding light on their faces. 
 
 " Come ye peaceably, my braw gallants," cried the 
 Dame " when the clash o' airms and the souch o' war is 
 a' ower the laun?" 
 VOL. i. F.
 
 62 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 *' J*h 
 
 She was a tall and erect figure who uttered this. Her 
 features were full of the light of peace : and her eyes sent 
 forth a look of smiling kindness and affection. Her dark 
 hair, yet untinged with grey, was combed in front and en 
 veloped in a coiffure of no small dimensions. For the rest 
 a small snow white mutch, from under which her glossy 
 hair fell down on her shoulders and bosom ; the long slim 
 waist, decked out with plain and tasselated ornaments, the 
 quilted petticoat, the white apron, the white stockings, with red 
 cloaks, completed the tout-ensemble. Dame Margaret Craig 
 was born and bred a gentlewoman. And like those whom 
 she sheltered, she had seen better days. But no one could 
 say that he ever heard her repine; or call her lot hard. 
 " He whom I serve," she would say, " was sae puir, that 
 he had na whare to lay his head. I hae a cottage and 
 plenty, and freens ; can I repine ?" 
 
 The sufferers had their signals. And the faithful Dame 
 was speedily convinced that none but friends stood before 
 her. 
 
 They were conducted into the clean and neatly sanded par 
 lour : and thence into a small bed-room, the floor of which 
 was, according to the fashion of the age, tastefully covered 
 with green rushes. The walls were lined with pannel 
 work of dark oak which seemed to be a row of door's. 
 Between these false doors were smooth surfaces of the same 
 materials. One of these was a real door, and admirably 
 concealed. It opened into a narrow and dark turnpike, as 
 their conductress, in the Scottish style called it. The house 
 was situated close on the bank of a stream, which rushed, 
 and murmured close by, over its stony channel, between 
 two walls of rocks, which were surmounted with copse- 
 wood of hawthorn, sloe and bramble bushes, with here and 
 there a rown tree. A natural cave had been in this spot ; 
 and the cellar of the house had been united to it by a narrow 
 passage. 
 
 Our party of young men descended into the cellar, and 
 thence into the passage which led to the cave. Voices were now 
 heard. And upon opening the door and lifting a temporary 
 curtain formed by a highland plaid, they found themselves 
 within the cave. From the roof, a lamp was suspended, 
 which shed a dim light on the inmates. The floor was cover 
 ed with green rushes : and the members of the conventicle sat
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 63 
 
 on low rude benches, with cushions rudely formed out of 
 wusps of sprits. Burleigh pronounced the respectful saluta 
 tion of the " gudeen." Cargil received them with cordial 
 embraces ; and gave them assurance that, when they visited 
 him at his retirement on the Moose, in the cave of Wallace, 
 he would be in a condition to receive them in more spacious 
 apartments. "As it is, my gallants," continued he, "better 
 to me far is a wee cave, wi' my mistress liberty, and a gude 
 conscience ; than the palace of the sceptered priest ; or the 
 gilded cieling o' the heartless tyrant !" So saying, he 
 presented them to the assembled sufferers : and led them to 
 rustic sofas formed of piled up bundles of rushes and sweet- 
 scented sprits and ling. 
 
 The speaker whom they interrupted, and who still kept 
 his position, was a short thick man, with an animated and 
 interesting countenance ; in a plain suit of black ; with 
 white woolen stockings. It was BAILEY WARDLAW. He 
 went on amid a general call of " Bailey gang on." 
 
 "Exercise is over, ye' 11 ken, my young lads" said 
 he, by way of preface, to the Collegioners. " And we are 
 on business in which we seek your aid." Then clearing 
 his throat, and smothing back his hair, he \vent on. " Ye' re 
 weel awaur, ilka ane o' ye ; my masters, that the HOST 
 the HEELAN HOST . . . we hae been speakin' o' my noble 
 freens." .... And he bowed to the students .... "-was called 
 frae their Heelan hills to put doon an insurrection in the 
 South and West o' Scotland, which was never planned, nor 
 e'en thoght o'. The South and West, and especially the 
 shires o' Ayr, Galloway, and Lanark, were full of Conven 
 ticles, they said. The heritors o' ilka parish declared they 
 could na put them down. For lik as the auld Gauls, o' 
 antiquity, juked the bludy minded Caesar, when they sailed, 
 by water frae ae toon till anither ; as by laun he beleagered 
 them : and whensomever he was cock-sure o' having them 
 fast plump, like a water moose, they dived and rose up 
 again in anither place as weel prepared to oppose him as 
 ever. E'en sae : nae suner Avas ae Conventicle put doon 
 in Beith hill, than another was heard o' on Loudon hill ; 
 on Wardlaw; or Cairntable; in Well-wood, or Glenmore. 
 They might put doon ae conventicles in the Aird's woods 
 or Barscob. Ten new anes arose in place o' ane in Lanark, 
 or Nithsdale, or through Galloway. The doctrine o' the
 
 64 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 haly evangel o' the Maist Highest, is something sae deevers 
 frae ilka thing else, and in a special manner frae the fushion- 
 less trash o' thae puir craters, the curates and priests ; that 
 nae power on earth, can mak' the West and Southland peo 
 ple yield. Thae men's meat is Scotchman's pushion ! 
 Hech, Sirs ! Du they think that they can force a Scotchman's 
 conscience, intil the slaps o' their faulds ; and hear \vi' ony kind 
 o' acceptance at a', sic craters as the curates ? What wilfu' 
 ignorance o' human nature ! Their morals gar us scunner : 
 and their doctrine o' passive obedience, and the divine richt 
 o 1 kings and bishops, heaven save the mark ! puts us a' 
 clean red wud mad ! 
 
 The Cooncil, therefore, has in this new Bond, whilk I 
 hae been speakiri' o', made a last desperate thrust at us a'. 
 It's a kin' o' ne plus ultra. They wha tak that Bond and 
 Aith, do bind themsels, their wives, and bairns, girt and 
 sma', ne'er to shelter, or comfort outed ministers. And 
 mairover, they maun, after the spirit of the ancient Norman 
 law, wha hanged the man, if the wife wha stole the gudes 
 could na be found they maun e'en bind and oblige 
 themsels for their wives and bairns : ay ! and their servant 
 laddies, and girls, their hostlers, cooks, tenants, and cot 
 ters, to the bargain that they wunna gie their counte 
 nance to a conventicle ; nor house room, nor e'en a cup o' 
 cauld water to a minister wha preaches in the fields ; nor 
 to ane o' the sufferers were they e'en o' their ain flesh and 
 blude. 
 
 Noo, as I live by bread, the Cooncil hae been attemptin* 
 
 to cram doon this deevilish morsel" r " Order, Bailey !" 
 
 cried half a dozen of the Covenanters at once. 
 
 " I meant to say," cried the Bailey stammering "this 
 daumed morsel...." 
 
 " Hoot, toot ! Avaur and waur, man !" cried several voices 
 afthe same time. 
 
 "Just call it the BOND, worthy Bailey," cried Car- 
 gil ; " It needs nae epithets to mauk it blacker. It strikes 
 all epithets clean dead, in every true Scotchman's ears." 
 
 " Weel," resumed the Bailey, hemming and coughing, 
 as he sought out an acceptable phrase, " the Cooncil hae 
 been tryin' to cram this same BOND doon oor thrapples. 
 And ye see, my masters, in order to make a' things sickar, 
 and to enforce the BOND on the Heritors o' ilka parish in
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 65 
 
 the South and West, the Managers sent doon the Heelan 
 Host, ten thousand strong, the wild heeland men frae 
 Athole; in order to spulzie the lieges o' their gudes and 
 gear ; to live at free quarters ; and to hae a free indemnity 
 against a' pursuits, criminal and civil, for injuring, or kill 
 ing ony wha might oppose them. And to gie a' proper 
 effect to this singular mode of disciplining a nation, by a 
 new-fashioned kind o' reformers too, to wit, thae travel 
 ling inquisitors, the Heelan Host, the Council has sent a 
 Commission o ; ghostly supervisors ower them. And some 
 o' oor auncient nobles are the members thereof, such as 
 the marquis o' Athole ; the earls o' Mar, and Murray, and 
 Glencairn : alas ! he is no lik his loyal and religious fore 
 bears : and the earls o' Wigton, Linlithgow, Airley, Perth, 
 and Ross. These Scottish nobles, shame fa' them, that 
 they should du the like ! did press the Bond wi' the maist 
 indecent zeal ! 
 
 But they a' failed totally, praise be blessed ! and I am 
 prood to say't, oor ain good shire o' Lanark stood clear oot, 
 and stark, Avi' the exception o' a few daidlin bodies, o' the 
 waurer sort o' heritors, and fewers, wha cam frae hame, 
 without their consciences, prepared to swallow the BOND, 
 or any thing else that might be offered them, to mak peace 
 aad save their gear ! 
 
 When this utter failure, touching the Bond, was made 
 known in Council, Lauderdale put himself into a towering 
 passion : and ripping up the lang row o' buttons on his 
 wide sleeve, he laid bare his huge arm o' purple flesh, lik 
 the ham o' ane ox, and swore ane oath, in terrible blas 
 phemy, by Jehovah, that he Avad mak man, woman, and 
 bairn tak that same Bond. 
 
 But there has been a perfect failure, in this particular, on 
 the part o' the Council. They hae bent the bow until it 
 has snapt. The best men o' the laun view their measures 
 wi' abhorrence ; and hae refused, in the firmest tone, to tak 
 the Bond, or show it any favour, such as the Deuk o' Ha 
 milton, the earls o' Cassils, and London, the father of my 
 noble young freen there, together with my Lords Mont 
 gomery, Cochran, Bargenny, and Cathcart." 
 
 The Bailey, after a few additional remarks, laid down 
 his project ; which was speedily matured, and accepted by 
 the meeting. And this project, the Bailey insisted, should 
 
 F*
 
 66 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 be executed by the youth of the city, with the students at 
 their head. And the meeting broke up on Burleigh and 
 his noble young associates giving their pledge that they 
 would go through with it. They only asked the favour 
 that Bailey Wardlaw should be with them. 
 
 As the college bell tolled the hour of twelve, next day, 
 an immense number of youth, including all the Whig stu 
 dents, and a great proportion of the enlightened Tories, to 
 gether with the youth of the principal families of the city, 
 met in the College garden. Young Annandale was called, 
 by acclamation, to preside : and it was understood that he 
 was, next to the leading Whigs, to take a conspicuous place 
 in this novel enterprise. 
 
 The old Earl his father, was a rigid Tory, and a fierce 
 persecutor. But our young Lord had not yet imbibed the 
 spirit of old Annandale. He was a youth of a venturous 
 and daring spirit; such as usually characterised the no 
 bility, and gentry of the Scottish Border. Proud, fierce, 
 generous, undaunted, he was jealous, to excess, of his pri 
 vileges and rights, as a nobleman. In a special manner 
 could he not brook the novi homines, even though they 
 came forward with honours and pretensions equal to those 
 of his own family, who first blazoned his device on his no 
 ble shield. 
 
 He believed in the divine right of nobility, as much as 
 did the Tories in that of kings and bishops. It was the 
 effect of nursery flattery, and imposition on a young and 
 fervid imagination. It was with him a matter of youthful 
 feeling : he could not argue upon it. When he had re 
 course to any argument, it was that of club-logic. And all 
 his comrades admitted that there was not a form of syllo- 
 * gism, or demonstration in the ancient or modern schools, 
 which he had more thoroughly studied than this. He was 
 a youth of extraordinary bodily powers. Young Perth 
 only was his match. 
 
 He had an especial abhorrence of ghostly nobility, and 
 lords spiritual The title of " Your Grace, the Lord 
 Archbishop" he could not hear with patience or even 
 common decency. It was from this fixed principle, in 
 him, that he refused the courtly title to the Archbishop of 
 Glasgow, before whom he had been so unfortunate as to be
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 67 
 
 convened for some youthful overflowings of his zeal against 
 the men in power, and their measures. 
 
 He rendered him honour such as was due, in the strict 
 est rules of politeness, to a gentleman, and a gentleman in 
 power under the king. But he gave him simply the title 
 of Sir. 
 
 " William," said his regent, with affection and respect, 
 " You surely forget to whom you are speaking. His 
 grace, the Lord Archbishop is a greater man than your 
 self, William." 
 
 " I thank you, good Master Regent," said the young 
 nobleman, " and I honour your heart and your loyalty. I 
 needed not to be reminded that the King, God bless him ! did 
 make this person, a spiritual lord. I believe in the King's 
 power to make and manufacture such ware : and he wull 
 do it right, as long as he is the pure fountain of honour, 
 and keeps the streams and streamlets pure. But the ho 
 nour frae the young decree whilk made this gentleman a 
 lord, is but green yet ! 
 
 " And nobility, I mean nobility, my masters, is a fruit 
 o' true honour, whilk has had the ripening and mellowing 
 o' many generations. Besides, in my weak judgment, in 
 the whilk, however, all the true nobles, and sound-hearted 
 commons o' gude auld Scotland, God bless her ! are deci 
 dedly united, the honours o' nobility, and yer titles o' 
 yer lordship, and yer grace Heaven save the mark! du 
 sit maist awkwardly upon a PRIEST ! And, mairover," he 
 added, as he drew himself up to the full measure of his 
 length, and put on one of the most lofty and contemptuous 
 looks imaginable, " in reference to the present case, gude 
 Master Regent, I know fu' weel, that the son of the piper 
 o ! Arbroath here, in the Archi-episcopal chair, is not onee 
 to be named wi' the son of my father !" 
 
 As Annandale took his station as Preses, he uncovered 
 with gracefulness, and dignity, his brent brow, and finely 
 shaped head, adorned with a profusion of yellow curls, 
 which fell down in glossy ringlets on his shoulders ; and in a 
 few hurried words, uttered in a silvery tone of voice, he de 
 manded " What the pleasure of the present meeting was V 
 " Break the ice, Master James !" said Bailey Wardlaw 
 in a loud whisper ; and he beckoned, and nodded to the 
 youthful companion of Cargil : and enforced his nods by
 
 68 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 actions suited thereto. For he actually moved him, as 
 they say in deliberative assemblies, with this difference, 
 that the Bailey's action was a literal motion. 
 
 " The business, may it please you, my masters ! may be 
 told you in one word," said master James. " We hae as 
 certained, that a corps o' the heelan host, some twa thoo- 
 sand strong, is now marchin' on Glasgow, in its return tae 
 its mountains. It may be in the Gorballs on the noon o' 
 the second day hence. And we call on you, noble Annan- 
 dale, and on you, noble Loudon and Sample, and the re- 
 manent members o' the gentlemen and burgesses present : 
 and we conjure you not to permit, wi' impunity, these 
 licensed marauders to plunder your city, or to carry their 
 defiling presence into your sanctuaries, and families. Their 
 hauns are stained wi' the blude o' oor fellow-citizens : and 
 they came loaded wi' the booty o' peaceable men, wha 
 plotted nae treason, and wha executed nae conspiracies : 
 and whase forbearance has permitted thae man o' Athole 
 to take themselves awa alive notwithstanding that they 
 hae carried themsels wi' mair insult and cruelty, than ony 
 im-ading foemen wad hae dune. We hae nae military in 
 whilk wi' can repose the safety and honour o' the city. 
 And the nobility and gentry, the gentlemen and burgesses 
 are sunk into ane apathy, utterly unaccountable. Rouse 
 we up the ceevil powers. Whare's the Lord Provost, and 
 Bailies ? Whare are their trained bands ? Whare are 
 the volunteers, the brave Presbyterian True Blues? 
 Whare are the dean o' Guild, and the convener o' the 
 trades ? Whare sleeps the spirit o' Wallace, or o' John 
 Knox ? Are there nane to staun up for auld Glasgow, in 
 the hoor o' danger ? " 
 
 A general murmur ran over the assembly as he sat down. 
 " Let us march to the auld brigg :" cried one. " That 
 wunna du " cried another " Let us seize and garrison the 
 Gorballs." " Hoot, toot, man," cried another, "that's waur 
 and Avaur ; They'll set the wee bits o' thacket hooses o' 
 the auld village a' in a lowe aboot oor lugs ; and that 
 ye'll see and skeyl us lik a nest o' bumbees." Let's 
 hasten to the spat, and throw up a fort on St. Ringan's 
 croft, and flank it wi' a sconce or twa," cried some with 
 much zeal. Others could see no use in it. Multitudes 
 spoke without object, or any motive. Many plans were
 
 OR, THE LAST OT? THE STUARTS. 6d 
 
 proposed, and speedily abandoned, Some spoke aloud' 
 not to the chair, but to the little circles of listeners around 
 them. And each of them had his own "effectual plan 
 against the Highland Host, if it wad only be adopted." 
 Some were for springing a mine on them, and sending 
 them sooner than they could wish it, towards the hea 
 vens. Others " preferred blawin' up the auld brigg when 
 the main body should be fairly on it. Others proposed to 
 rush on them, pell, mell, wi' ony kind o' Aveapon, whilk 
 chance micht throw in the way and then snatchin' theft 
 ain weapons frae their hauns, ye micht streek them oot 
 like rizzard haddocks a' in a heap. Some laughed this 
 wild project to scorn and proposed to establish a battery 
 on the Stockwell end o' the Brigg, and blaw them up 
 at twa rounds, allowing a thoosan' at ae round as they 
 reached the centre arch o' the brigg." 
 
 Annandale controlled the youthful minds with prudence 
 and firmness. At length Bailey Wardlaw after " suffi 
 ciently finnin" the pulse o' the meetin', as he himself ob 
 served " that he micht tak siccar grun', and sure coonsel," 
 rose and addressed the assembly. 
 
 " May it please you, my noble Annandale, and you 
 my richt gude masters ; I'm no ane o' thae Glasgow folks 
 wha can neer be perfectly certain that they are right, 
 until they find themsels followed, or preceded, by the 
 many; or wha neer lack zeal, except w^ien the public 
 weal calls lood for it. But wha, as sune as the multitude 
 laud, and self-interest brogs on, mak ane inordinate splut 
 ter in warslin' and sprachlin' up the brae ! 
 
 Neither wad I be ane o' yer het-bluded Lawlanders, 
 wha at the very show o' contradiction, get clean daft, 
 nay, red wud mad, by the gush o' Scottish blude up to 
 their weak heads ! I'm ay for moderate measures, lik 
 my gude faither afore me. Ay leuk afore ye loup, was 
 the sayin' o' my duce faither, wha was in his day, the 
 right hand man o' worthy maister Durham. Noo, my 
 gallants! I'm not for fighting I'm not for spilling 
 blude. I'm not for garrisoning Gorbals, nor casting up 
 a sconce in the rear o' the auld biggins; nor in their 
 front on St. Ringan's Craft. Na, Na ! The Heelan Host 
 hae ower lang swords ; they wad be at yer briskets afore 
 ye could look aboot ye! And they hae targets, lik' Ho-
 
 70 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 mer's shields to the life meikle brass doors, to wit, carried 
 afore them ; frae whilk oor pistol, and musquetoon bullets 
 wad skeyt off lik dry pease ! And they hae heavy ar 
 tillery, transported at the expense o' a thoosand siller 
 merks and whilk they made gude use o' in the Wast 
 and Sooth in the glorious wark o 1 blawing up Kirks, and 
 the Whig's cotter hooses ; and the skeylM o conventicles! 
 And they march their meikle guns in their fore fronts I'm 
 told. Noo, hoo lang think ye, could we stand a bout wi 1 
 sic heavy gear ? Ae lunner would blaw us off in a giffy, 
 lik ribbons, or peelins o' ingens ! I'm for nae overt acts 
 nae forcible assaults ! Na, Na ! It's a' vain," continued 
 the Bailey, turning from the chair to an objecter in 
 his rear, to whom he continued his speech. "We canna 
 get ony big guns oot, to match the enemy's artillery. 
 We canna muster o' the city's property, mair than ane 
 or twa lang Tarns. And but ane at this day, to the best 
 o' my knowledge, is fit for service." 
 
 " E'en thae rusty gear, the frichtfu' tubalcain lik'^pieces 
 o' wark, hooped wi' iron hoops, whilk for oucht I ken, hae, 
 frae the days o' the unlucky Armada, been leukin' doon sae 
 threatenin' lik' on the city, frae the heichts o' the Dean-side 
 Brae ; or whilk lurk amang the auld ruins o' the bishop's 
 palace canna be put into ony usefu' service. But, my gal 
 lants, it's a puir thing to hae but ae string to ane's bow. 
 For no to be rusin' aneself, for self-praise is nae honour : 
 I hae na been idle syn I saw ye in the cave." The Bailey 
 paused, coughed loud, and took back his words, " in the 
 cooncil ha\ I wad hae ye understan' me. For thismornin', 
 e'en by the peep o' day, I was at my Lord Provost's bed 
 side ; and I gat me the Bailies Anderson, and Zeuill, and 
 Waddel and Graham, and McKechnie, and the convener o' 
 the Trades, and the Dean o' Guild, wi' a few ooted Bailies, 
 and I argied the point twa hoors, on my legs. But, hech 
 Sirs ! they wad na budge. Wad thae oppose force to the 
 troops o' his Sacred Majesty? Wad they cut their ain 
 thrapples ? Wad they fight against the throne and the 
 bishops ? ' A bonny pirn ye're gin to spin us,' cried Bailey 
 Zeuil, 'the lifeguards wad come ahint us, and the Heelan 
 Host afore us ! Why, sirs, auld Glasgow could na staun it. 
 She wad coup the cran.' " 
 
 " Ye're a' braw slaves and futemen, cried I, ye're glori-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 71 
 
 ous passive obedience, and non-resistence men, my certie I 
 Sic doctrines ye canna cram doon a Scotchman's thrapple, 
 His blude's ower het for't. It wunna du. Press it on them 
 wha hae neither herns nor gumption ; whae hae naething 
 to lose but traitor's gear ; and Avha will sell themselves to 
 harm auld Scotland, God bless her. And my Lord and 
 Bailies, I begin to jaloose ye a', cried I, "dinna interrupt me, 
 my Lord, I'm a member o' this cooncil, and am in my place, 
 I maun be heard, nane o' yer gag-laws, my Scotch chafts 
 wunna bide them, my tongue's as free as the wind on oor 
 mountains : Weel, Sirs, I'm awaur o' the difeeculties afore 
 me. It's no that canny to live at Rume, and fight wi' the 
 Pape ! and he maun hae a lang spune that sups wi' the 
 Deil ! But I'll tell ye, what's what, my Lord Provost, 
 and you Bailey Zeuil, wha art a red het Tory, ye may 
 e'en pickle in yer ain pock-neuk, as my auld father, the El 
 der o' the High Kirk Session used to say, and he had gump 
 tion equal to baith o' ye. E'en tak yer ain gaite. Let thae 
 wild Heelanmen in again wi' their dirks, and joktelegs, and 
 whangin gullies. Ye'll no get them to stay at the Water 
 gate ; nor can ye wyse them up lik a flock o' tame geese to 
 the Coocuddins ! There wull no be a. wantin' they wha 
 wad wyse them anither gaite. And they'll gang straight 
 up the Saut Mercat, and doon the Gallowgate, and amang 
 the rich gudes, and gear in the Tron-gate shops. And my 
 certie ! when ye'll see the kilted craters coming in without 
 speerin' yer leave; and beginnin' to thrapple ye, and spul- 
 zie, and violate yer wives and sisters, and bairns, [there 
 wull be nae danger o' yer wife and dochters sufFerin' Bailey 
 Zeuill !] then wull ye remember the words o' Bailey Ward- 
 law : and I wish I be nae the Cassandra o' yer Cooncil. 
 
 " But to cut a lang story short, I did prevail wi' the Toon 
 Cooncil at last, seein' they declined appearin' in their offi 
 cial capacity, just to let me tak my ain gaite for aince, in 
 order to save Glasgow, if possible; and, in ae word, to act 
 as if I had the Toon Cooncil on my back, as it were ; and, 
 mairover, no to prevent, or gie trouble to ony ane wha 
 might be like minded wi' oorsels. 
 
 " Noo hear, my masters, what I advise. Choose we a 
 committee o' active and sponsible men, and to their hauns 
 commit we the haile arrangement, and through-carrying o' 
 the business.
 
 72 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 " I hae already, at my ain risk, made arrangements wi' 
 the Glasgow trained bands, and volunteers. We wull be 
 on the Auld Brigg, by nine o'clock, to-morrow mornin'. 
 And my masters, let us multiply oor forces by this sim 
 ple expedient. Let each ane o' us muster sax o' oor com 
 panions, and bring them thither, wi' something o' ane im 
 posing dress and armour. Let them be as fantastic as a 
 Scotchman's fancy can devise : thae wild Heelanders dinna 
 ken the king's Lawlin uniform, frae that o' their brither 
 Russ, or Turk!" 
 
 This proposal was no sooner announced than it was ac 
 ceded to, by acclamation : and the shout of applause rent 
 the welkin, and re-echoed back again from the grey walls 
 of the College, and died away on the glen of the Molindinar 
 Burn. Bailey Wardlaw was placed at the head of the 
 committee, which had the management of the whole enter 
 prise. And they hastened to accomplish the work entrusted 
 to their care. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " Guns, trumpets, blunderbusses, drums, and thunder." 
 
 The Bailey and his committee had been busy men all 
 that day, and all the succeeding night. And by the aid of 
 the mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths, and carters, who 
 cheerfully volunteered their aid in great crowds, they had 
 contrived to make the Auld Brigg, and the vicinity assume 
 an imposing air of a strongly occupied military position. 
 
 They had caused something, which looked like a breast 
 work of heavy timber, to be thrown up in the middle of the 
 Stockwell-street, fronting the passage over the Auld Brigg. 
 And contrary to all expectation they had mounted on it, a 
 very threatening line of heavy looking guns. To the eye of 
 the beholder at a distance, this work seemed to be flanked 
 by mounted cannons possessing something of a new con 
 struction. They had stationed by those guns tall men, fan 
 tastically dressed. And in front of them, as if designed to
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 73 
 
 mask them, there were a few corps of guards of very fero 
 cious looking men, with every variety of armour which 
 human ingenuity, or sheer necessity could put into requisi 
 tion. And beyond this formidable looking fort, in the dis 
 tant back-ground, at the crossing of the streets, which could 
 be seen by the expected Highland companies, as they as 
 cended to the centre arch of the Auld Brigg, there appeared 
 a strong corps of men mounted in an imposing manner. 
 
 They had placed the finest looking men, and the best 
 armed immediately on the Bridge, and on each side of the 
 Street to flank the approaching Host as they passed over 
 the Bridge into the city. The students were dressed in their 
 scarlet gowns, with belts, and swords. Each had a brace of 
 pistolets in his belt, and a musquetoon slung on his shoulder. 
 The broad brims worn in those days, being smartly turned 
 up, lent a fierce look to their cocked hats. An immense 
 crowd of young men, of fine appearance, and tolerably well 
 armed, poured down the Stockwell and Salt-market: defiled 
 before the committee, and gravely waited their orders. 
 
 " My certes ! the thing succeeds gloriously," exclaimed 
 the Bailey. " Wha wad believe it, that -this fine corps o' 
 braw Glasgovegians, hae contrived this imposing appear 
 ance, by clappin' cm a shirt for a tunic ; and a yellow rib 
 bon for a buff belt, and their grandmithers' red mantles for 
 military cloaks." 
 
 A long column of strong, blackaviced fierce looking 
 men, next followed. They were the carpenters with long 
 shafted lances ; and the blacksmiths with spears. Each 
 in the hurry, had fabricated his own lethal weapon ; not 
 made for inspection but for a job of terror. These men 
 were placed, in a line, two file deep, on each side of the 
 passage of the Auld Brigg. In short, such was the zeal, 
 suddenly inspired by the alarm of these marauders approach 
 ing, for the city now rang with the evil doings df the Host in 
 the South and West, that the committee were in a brief 
 space of time fully ready to receive the Host. 
 
 The Bailey, no mean looking man, was well mounted on 
 his fine grey horse ; and sat bolt-upright in the huge sad 
 dle of the construction of those days. His dress was not 
 like that of a modern Glasgow Bailey. There were none 
 of the courtly velvets, and black broad-cloths about him. 
 There was no gold chain, falling down in copious and rich 
 VOL.
 
 74 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 links over his breast. These appendages of the venerable 
 officers of justice, whose grave and majestic carriage creates 
 respect and awe iri the minds of every beholder, were of a 
 later date by nearly a century. He had put on a cocked 
 hat of no small dimensions, and his snuff browns. He had 
 girded a sword on his loins by a huge buff belt. And, by an 
 especial arrangement of the committee, he had thrown 
 over his shoulders a wide yellow sash, for the purpose of 
 making him conspicuous among the other members. And 
 a star had been got up for the occasion, and was fixed on 
 the left breast, Avhich for its size and its splendour might 
 have been sported by a Duke. 
 
 " These vanities !" cried the Bailey to young Annandale, 
 on whose ancestor's breast this star had blazed, in some 
 more terrible scenes of conflict. " I ferley at the menseless 
 foppery o' man !" added he, as he continued to rub it brighter 
 with the great buff glove, which extended up to his elbow. 
 
 The Bailey took his station in the middle of the centre 
 arch. " It's canny," cried he, as he pranced up with some 
 feelings of pride which he could not conceal." " It's canny 
 to meet the faemen here on Lady Carlo w's arch.* And if 
 we warna' unco weel prepared to foregather wi 1 them, I 
 suld be tempted to offer up a supplication that the South arch, 
 wad fa' aince mair, as it lately did, and that it micht fa' just 
 as the Heelan reivers were a' fairly on it. But I'm forgettin' 
 mysel, Master James, its no richt to wush for the destruction 
 o' ony body ; not e'en for the destruction o' the deevil, as 
 Jemmie Bogue the weaver, in the Lang Lees, ance prayed, 
 when his wee bit bairnie was deeing. He began wi' an 
 intent to pray that the deevil, the cause o' sin, whilk is the 
 cause o' deeth, micht be clean destroyed. And waes me ! 
 the crater committed twa fearfu' blunders in this same thing. 
 For he prayed on his knees that " the Lion 0' the tribe 0' 
 Judah micht be destroyed, stump and rump!" Weel! 
 here we are on the centre arch, on the very key stane. 
 And we can stow oor guards, on ilka side, in sic a way that 
 only four o' the Athole men, at a time, can gang abreast. 
 And then we can maister them yeffectually !" 
 
 The Bailey had for his aid-de-camps, the young men of 
 
 * Lady Campbell of Carlow insisted on bearing the entire expense 
 of this arch, when Archbishop Rae built the Jluld Brigg of Glasgow.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 75 
 
 the committee twelve in number, all on horseback, well 
 mounted, and presenting an imposing aspect. Lord Annan- 
 dale was in splendid style ; and Lord Manchlin, and several 
 others were not much inferior in appearance. 
 
 The good Bailey was evidently much agitated in his 
 novel station. He was often heard to whisper a vow to the 
 Almighty for his most holy benediction and countenance. 
 And at times he would talk aloud to every one who came in 
 his way. 
 
 " Ye may weel lairn, frae the scenes afore you, maist 
 beloved youth," cried he, after a long silence, and raising 
 himself in his saddle," " what ony truly patriotic and en 
 terprising man may du for his kintry. Only enlichten the 
 people only enlichten them ; just show them what's what 
 ; be disinterested, honest, and undaunted ; and ony man, 
 it disna require a Wallace, God bless his memory, ony 
 ordinary man shall deliver his kintry frae ony foeman. 
 To be free, a kintry only needs to wull it: and it wulls it, 
 when it's enlightened. Knowledge is strength. An en 
 lightened people will burst through the strongest chains o' 
 slavery; ay, were they even forged by Sathan himsel." 
 And saying this, he reined his steed, plunged his rowels 
 into his flanks, and galloped to the south end of the Bridge. 
 
 For just as he uttered them with exultation, a distant roll 
 of the kettle-drum Avas heard. And the discharge of a gun, 
 from the advanced guard, announced that the Athole men 
 were within sight of the Gorballs. 
 
 A deep silence pervaded all ranks on the Bridge. Each 
 man stood firm at his post; and'sent an inquiring look on 
 the Bailey, and his youthful group of attendants, as they 
 returned slowly back to their former stations. The bag 
 pipe sent forth its martial music. The shrill note, and the 
 deep and monotonous boom of the bass, floated on the air. 
 Now it was slow and solemn : at another time, rapid and 
 harsh. The youthful aids of the Bailey were busily decid 
 ing on the peaceable, or the hostile air of the pibroch : 
 and divining from the piper's tune, the spirit which played 
 in the breasts of these half-savages. The conclusion was 
 what every stranger to the martial airs of the Highland 
 bag-pipe, would naturally adopt on hearing its music. It 
 sends forth proud defiance. It proclaims fierce and un 
 subdued impetuosity. The sweet note of peace finds no
 
 76 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 place in its loud screams, its tumultuous redoublings, and 
 the overwhelming booming of its never- varying bass. It 
 braces the mind to terrible deeds. It was not composed by 
 Lowland amateurs, nor among love-sick swains ; nor amid 
 polished courtiers, nor laughter-loving dames. It was com 
 posed by martial spirits, amid the terrible sublimity of their 
 mountain scenery, and the roar of conflicting hosts ! 
 
 " I think, Bailey," said young Annandale, with some 
 agitation, " that you had better order up your cannon in 
 front ; we must sweep the Bridge. That Heelan' music 
 gars a Lawlander's flesh a' grue. I'd sooner meet a le 
 gion o' deils than thae craters wha mak sic music!" 
 
 Burleigh and Mauchlin smiled. The Bailey cast a 
 
 k grave look on the youthful speaker, who evidently would 
 
 rather have been at close blows, than standing deliberately 
 
 at a distance, biding the pelting, and threatening of the 
 
 Heelan! Bag-pipes ! 
 
 " Ye kenna what speerit ye' re of, dear Annandale," cri 
 ed the Bailey, who could with difficulty keep his own teeth 
 from chattering in his head ; " Hech man ! I must tell 
 ye, as a magistrate, hem, hem, that thae men, hem, 
 hem, are no just at open, open, hem -war, as it were, 
 wi' us here. Nor hae we proclaimed war formally as it 
 were, against them," and he cast his eyes over his men, 
 and his military preparations. " Na, na, were that sae, ye 
 wadna find Bailey Wardlaw, a Glasgow magistrate, here- 
 awa', I tell you. The wicked half-savages are the tools o' 
 a misguided, and profligate Cooncil, whilk will be brocht 
 to its richt senses ere lang : or it will be broken lik a pots 
 herd, by a rod o' iron! I just tak thae Heelan' craters in 
 the light o' reivers, returnin' frae a successful spreagh ; 
 whilk their commanders canna control at a' ; nor indeed 
 are they willing, were they able. I tak them just in the 
 licht o' highwaymen chased oot o' the fields intil the toon ; 
 and we place, as it waur, a. line o' guards ; and shut up 
 ilka nook, and bore ; and then throw open the yetts o' the 
 Tolbooth and thence compel them, as it were, to rin intil 
 them ; for fien' hate o' a door, or winnoch else, is there for 
 the craters to rin intil."- 
 
 So saying, he shook Annandale heartily by the hand ; 
 and called on young Lord Kardross, one of his aids, to 
 take a file or two, and " ride up to meet the Heelan' men.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 77 
 
 Find yer way to their commander, and just tell him e'en a 1 
 ye see : and tell him mairover, that some o' the ceevil pow 
 ers ye ken what to tell him beg- leave to salute him at 
 the head o' his officers, on the centre arch o' the auld Brigg 
 o' Glasgow." 
 
 Lord Kardross rode up at full gallop and with hat in 
 hand, called out for the officer commanding. He speedily 
 presented himself in the person of a stately Highlander, of 
 a bronze complexion ; with heavy red-haired eye-brows, 
 and of a fierce aspect. He had on his head a graceful 
 bonnet, set on in an easy jaunting air, with an eagle feather 
 or two, forming his simple plume. He demanded in a 
 harsh voice " the wull o' the Duniwassel." 
 
 Kardross began with mock solemnity, " His illustrious 
 excellency, the commander-in-chicf, at the ither end o' the 
 auld Brigg, with the noble Lords, his right honourable 
 aid-de-camps, waits your presence, nolle Heelan' Sir Chief 
 tain ! to escort you through the liberties o' gude auld Glas 
 gow. For, my certie, he says ye mauna come intil his 
 city, nor walk a street o' it." 
 
 " Wha is he, speak?" cried the chieftain. 
 
 " He's ane o' the Toon Cooncil : and nae less than a 
 BAILEY ! Yer Heelan' Chiefs are naething to him. 
 Weighed in the scale wi' him, the biggest o' ye a', wad be 
 found wantin'," said Kardross with the gravest face ima 
 ginable. 
 
 " Has he a military company ?'.' 
 
 " Ye maun e'en come yer wa's up and see for yersel." 
 
 " How many ?" 
 
 " Why not exceeding sax thoosand five hunder, or 
 thereaboot. 
 
 The Highlander started, and clapt his hand on the hilt 
 of his Andro Ferrara, while he threw his eyes over his 
 own men. He then uttered some Gaelic words to his offi 
 cers, in a hurried manner, as they gathered round him. 
 
 " Sax thoosand five hunder" repeated our messenger 
 to him, with great sang-froid. " Besides his militia corps, 
 wha are comin' in to pay their respects; and whilk I see 
 already advancing on this side of the Clyde. And the 
 brave Cathcart men wull be in yer rear soon." 
 
 And as he said this, he pointed to the Rutherglen men 
 coming down the banks of the river, at quick march ; and 
 
 o*
 
 78 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 to the Govan men, pouring their strength up into the GOT- 
 balls. 
 
 " Go, call up the three sax pounders," cried the High 
 lander to an officer. "But stay a bit has the Bailey ony 
 cannon?" 
 
 " Only some thirty lang toms, includin' all the Quaker 
 guns" And he spake truly: for they were nearly all of 
 this class, non-resistance guns,* 
 
 Our student added after a pause, " We Sassanachs are a 
 kittle race o' people, when aince fairly roused up!" 
 
 " Mean ye, in blude earnest, to impede my course?" cried 
 the chieftan fiercely. 
 
 " Why yes no " replied Lord Kardross, hesitating, 
 and speaking with an air of mysteriousness, " that is to say, 
 it just depends on your putting yourselves on gude beha 
 viour. And let me just add by way of information," con 
 tinued our youth, as he cast his eyes, with some affectation 
 of contempt, over the divisions of the Highland Host, 
 " Aiblins, we can clap some four stout Sassenachs on the 
 back o' ilka ane o' yer Heelan' men, and may be sax o' them. 
 I hae delivered my message. We wait your approach." 
 And he rode off without waiting for his reply. 
 
 The commander looked after him for some time in silence, 
 He was evidently in some degree of confusion. He found 
 himself actually hemmed in. He formed his men into close 
 rank and file, six abreast, Avhich he had to reduce to four 
 as he approached the centre arch. " Screw your daggers on 
 your musquetoons," he called to his men, "and see that 
 your pieces be Aveel loaded, and in good order. We'll hae 
 hett wark o't. We hae been thus far tulzien' wi 1 auld 
 wives, and weans ; wi' priests, and herd callans. We're 
 like to meet wi' men noo, Seid suas, gillie /" added he, 
 raising his voice into a scream. " Blaw up the pibroch, 
 club yer airms, march warily, in close file ; preserve a deep 
 seelence : and be ready to fire." 
 
 He placed himself at their head, and his officers took 
 their position on each side of him. And he pranced along 
 on a gallant steed, which he had taken out of the stables of 
 the Earl of Cassilis, on the same terms as his father, and 
 
 * These, as in ships of later tiiaes, were literally so, being made of 
 vood.
 
 OE, THS LAST OF THB STTT1RT3. 79 
 
 himself took a cow, or a horse from the stable of the Sas 
 senach, who happened to refuse the tribute of Black Maifle. 
 The town's men and students looked on in deep silence, 
 upon the mass of nodding black plumes ; and the glittering 
 musquetoons, and the waving sheen tartan. And when 
 they arrived at the centre arch, the whole of them in mock 
 solemnity, uncovered for a moment, and lowered the point 
 of their swords and spears, before the host but in such a 
 manner as really to assume, awkwardly enough, a very 
 ambiguous posture, and doubtful kind of salutation. 
 
 At that moment a salute was fired from the rear of the 
 temporary fort in the middle of the Stockwell. And the 
 close column of men stationed in adA'ance of it, wheeled 
 suddenly to the right and left, and presented to view what 
 seemed to be the muzzles of a threatening battery of can 
 non ; and the gunners in their place, making a. wonderful 
 display of their lighted matches, and waving them round 
 their heads to have them in prime blazing order to fire off 
 their cannon. And in the distant perspective, squadrons 
 of horsemen were seen advancing, and defiling, in an im 
 posing manner. And the company of Carters backed their 
 tumbrils more into the street ; which they sported before 
 the astonished Highlanders, as mounted cannon, ready for 
 cross firing. 
 
 " Conduct the officers, and forty of their men, in advance" 
 cried the Bailey, as he gave a flourish with his SAVord, 
 someAvhat in the aAvkward style of a military noA'ice, and 
 made a IOAV boAv to the Highland chief, and his staff. They 
 moved on at a quick step. 
 
 " Hully hully a bit, you the rest" cried the Bailey 
 with a tone, and air of authority, after the forty men and 
 officers had passed on. Then raising his voice still louder, 
 he called out " Let the rest of the Heelan' Host halt, 
 instanter, unless ye want to be blaAvn a' intil the air, like 
 peelins o' ingens." He paused a moment, and added partly 
 to the Highlanders, and partly to his OAvn men, with a 
 laugh. ( 
 
 "My certes! only forty o' ye, my gallants, shall enter 
 the royal liberties o' GlasgoAv, at ae time-^-ay ! and no ae 
 soul mair at aince :"-^-Adding in a lower tone to his ass<H 
 ciates. " Divide, and conquer, eh ! as my duce auld fan 
 ther, the Barony Kirk-elder used to say.
 
 80 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 As the Bailey uttered his order, a line of his guards 
 threw themselves across the passage of the bridge. The 
 Highlanders halted. There was no officer near them to 
 give them orders. They looked on each other, and muttered 
 their astonishment and fears. 
 
 The Chieftain and his staff were meanwhile marched 
 on, in terrorem, towards the cannon's mouth:. then, sud 
 denly defiled to the right. And as they turned the corner 
 out of the Stockwell, they found, to their fresh astonish 
 ment, the street lined with stout threatening looking men 
 in arms. The Highlanders were crowded through a nar 
 row space where not more than a single man could go at 
 once. Thus by the simplest contrivance imaginable, they 
 were separated from each other : and thrown personally 
 into the power of strangers. 
 
 "My orders" cried the person commanding there (it 
 was Sir Robert Hamilton,) are to rid you of your cum 
 bersome baggage ; in short, to take away from you ilka 
 thing, whilk ye hae come by, without the tedious process 
 of buying, and paying for it. That's only fair, ye ken, my 
 gallants !" 
 
 One of his associates, a Highland student, repeated in 
 Gallic, this order of Sir Robert. They laughed in Sir 
 Robert's face. "That horse," added the commander of the 
 student's party, "w? a' manner o' humility permit me to say 
 it, belangs, I am just informed, to Lord Kennedy, dis 
 mount seize him guards "added he in a thundering 
 
 voice, as the chief was drawing out both his pistols from 
 the holsters, and uttering Gallic oaths, mingled in a gro 
 tesque manner, with the court oaths of Charles, in a voice 
 half choked with rage and vexation. The guards seized 
 him on each side, and he was dismounted in a trice. The 
 staff rushed in to the relief of their commander, with a kind 
 of howl which was gradually heightened into a shriek 
 and which sent the word "Claymore," loud on air. It was 
 a moment of frightful confusion. They threw themselves 
 on the guards. Fresh guards, consisting of students, poured 
 themselves in upon them. And in their turn the forty 
 men in the rear fell upon those. A fresh supply of towns 
 men and students rushed in on them. The swords clashed. 
 Poignards glanced in the air. They screamed : they cursed :
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 81 
 
 they fought. The women and children shrieked, and tumbled 
 down, in heaps ; while others ran pell mell upon them, as 
 they lay groaning, and sprachling, and banning those who 
 had broken their limbs, and peeled their shins. Meantime the 
 kettle-drum, in the rear, kept up a constant roll, which ef 
 fectually drowned the noise of the tumult : so that the main 
 body neither saw their officers, nor, for this reason, heard 
 them. 
 
 The result was, that they were all disarmed : and the 
 officers deprived of their horses. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 -Lochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day ! 
 
 For dark and despairing my sight I may seal : 
 
 But man cannot cover, what God would reveaL 
 
 * Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, 
 
 And coming events cast their shadows before ! CAMPBEIL. 
 
 Order being in some measure restored ; the students 
 threw themselves in a circle of three or four men deep, 
 around the marauders ; and commanded them to render up 
 every other article of plunder. 
 
 " Search us, and take what you shall find," said the 
 chief doggedly. 
 
 " No, verily," cried Sir Robert, "We are men of honour. 
 None of my men put their hands into other men's pockets. 
 That's the work o' highwaymen, and Heelan' Hosts ! My 
 orders are peremptory. And there is no time to' be spent 
 in parlying wi' sic reivers. Deliver up a' the gudes and 
 gear aboot ye ; on this lang table put them a' doon instanter. 
 Men ! make ready I wull blaw ye a' to the Heelan' hills, 
 in a giffy, if ye dinna, this instant, deliver up yer ill-gotten 
 gear, ye base loons, and reivers ! " 
 
 The countenance of the chief, and the rest of these Cater- 
 ans became suddenly changed. They put on looks the 
 most ruesome imaginable. At one time they cursed and 
 grumbled. They looked wofully around them on the mili 
 tary, and the laughing mob : then they crouched, and be-
 
 82 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 sought. And finally, they smote their thighs and hands, 
 and cried, out of pure indignation; and a sense of their utter 
 helplessness. They Avere now become quite chop-fallen. 
 And their long and lank countenances, and skinny jaws 
 were eked out to a hideous length like those of the quiver 
 ing criminal at the gibbet. Then with groanings, and half 
 suppressed oaths, and Gallic interjections ; and the most 
 ludicrous contortions, and fidgettings all of which scenes 
 the students enjoyed exquisitely they began to pull out, 
 and render up their plunder. One rummaged his portman 
 teau, another his sporran, another his pockets, and drew 
 out slowly, and with heavy sighs, piece by piece, what 
 they had stowed away in them with much economy of space. 
 The chief threw down a bunch of parchments, with their 
 broad red seal attached to them : and some papers : then 
 some linens, marked with the well-known devices and coats 
 of arms of the nobility and gentlemen of the South and 
 West: some gold buckles next made their appearance, 
 and some silver plate, with gold rings and jewels, 
 sparkling with gems torn from the ears and fingers of 
 beauty. 
 
 "What hae ye there in that bunchy sporran o' yours, 
 master chieftain," was clamorously repeated by several of 
 the younger students. "Come, oot wi' it ; else our steels 
 will scatter its fragments afore yer een." 
 
 The chief had with some anxiety kept this concealed under 
 the foldings of his tartan plaid. And as this demand was 
 so imperiously repealed, he groaned with vexation ; and big 
 drops of sweat broke over his brow. He dashed the bonnet 
 off his head, scratched his glossy red curls ; and replacing 
 it, he felt for his claymore : and looked furiously around 
 him, for his hainchman to bring him his arms. He talked 
 earnestly with an aged clansman, who stood near him, and 
 whose long white hairs streamed in the February wind. 
 A young Highland student explained to Sir Robert the con 
 versation of the parties, while the chieftain was pouring out 
 the contents of his sporran, there fell out a necklace of 
 elegant gems. It sparkled in the sunbeams as it fell on the 
 table. There followed, the figure of a coronet, made of 
 diamonds ; and some ornamented gold inlaid with rubies, 
 topazes, and garnets : then a gold chain of exquisitely deli 
 cate links, to which was appended a locket, containing a
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 83 
 
 figure, in miniature, of a bright face, and sweet laughing 
 blue eyes, of a little child, set round with brilliants ; and 
 under it the motto " Prosim." There fell out also some 
 ribbons, and a little girdle set with amethysts, and pink, and 
 yellow topazes, and a richly wrought cap, and several arti 
 cles of lace. 
 
 "A baby's cap, by Saunt Patrick," roared out a stout Hi 
 bernian, who had been eyeing him with a look of the most 
 fixed astonishment. "The lord Heelanman has been robbing 
 nurseries, as weel as castles, and kirks ?" " As I live by 
 bread," cried another, " if the cap binna stained by blude ! 
 The man's been murderin' wee babies !" 
 
 There was first a roar of laughter, but, instantly, as the 
 voice of the second speaker fell on the ears of the multi 
 tude, there was a deep silence ; and every countenance had 
 the picture of exquisite curiosity impressed on it, with anx 
 iety and rage strongly combined. A score of voices ex 
 claimed, " Speak out, ye Heelan' villain, is it sae, or is it no 
 sae'. Hae ye been killin' weans?" 
 
 The white-haired bard, all this time, continued his speech 
 with great earnestness, to the chieftain, with a voice choked 
 with grief, disappointment, and wrath, struggling with 
 shame and pride. " Did I not see it did I not speak it 
 oot to you ? Chief o' the bludy hand ? while the white 
 mist hung in lazy volumes, ower the blue loch : and the 
 sunbeams o' the east fell on the licht cloud on the moun 
 tain's brow o' Carrick ? Did I not SEE it ? The Heelan' 
 Host passed suddenly afore my auld een: and the vision 
 flitted ower my oppressed mind. Did I not see the infant 
 under the murderous steel when the purple blood follow 
 ed the claymore ; and the distracted mother stretched out 
 her imploring hands ; and her long raven locks streamed 
 ower her white shoulders? That unearthly shriek has 
 rung day and night in my ears. Give me back my wee 
 baby, Spare him Oh ! spare my wee Jamie ! and tak a 1 
 the gudes, and gear, and the castle too ! 
 
 " I SAW the purple cloud tinged we' blude ! And the Host 
 I saw walkin' red-wet-shod. Slow the demon o' vengeance 
 moved, at first, with his lame foot, slow but sure in his 
 vengeance ! The Host vanished ower Carrick's dark moun 
 tains. I wept ; and implored ; it was all in vain. Divine
 
 84 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND! 
 
 music, I said, will scatter the damps of this heavy darkness, 
 which the demon had poured over my soul. Malvina, my 
 daughter, was not nigh, with her clairshach. I touched the 
 chords o' my harp. The harp o' my fathers sent forth no 
 sweet music. There was blood on the strings, and the 
 dewy damp o ! death. A clash of jarring sounds rung 
 doubtfully in air I awoke from my vision in agony ! Arid 
 O, chief o' the bloody hand, I hae lived to see the race o' 
 my native hills melting awa' afore the demon wha chastises 
 the bludy, and the unjust. The dastard sons o' the Sas 
 senach will not grasp the sword o' blood. We shanna fa' 
 by the Lawlan' outlaws, which the Stuart chases frae his 
 protection- 1 the men o' the mountain psalm, and the moun 
 tain prayer. . They wull leave us to perish by the hand o' 
 the GREAT DIAH.* It was nae forray, nae creagh! We 
 "burnt the temples o' DIAH ! We violated matrons and 
 maidens. We dashed the \vee smilin' bairn on the point o' 
 the claymore. And syn that day o' crime, the sun has not 
 shone, in its loveliness, on our heads : the clouds hae rolled 
 darker, and the thunders hae roared louder. Son of the 
 mountain and flood ! the bricht day o' thy fame has passed 
 awa. Fallen art thou, and sunk in shame!" 
 
 The Bard uttered these words of his song in a loud 
 tone, which caused a deep silence : and covering his face 
 with his plaid, he wept. The chief bent his dark eyes in 
 silence on him, and groaned. But rage and pride overcame 
 the remains of humanity. With a look of immoveable as 
 surance, and with eyes flashing fire, he surveyed, with 
 hurried glances, the faces of the multitude around him. 
 And folding his arms over his sheen plaid, he frowned de 
 fiance on every soul of them. 
 
 " By the pure heevens ! Jeemoc," cried a voice in the 
 Ayrshire accent, " Dinna ye ken that man ? Its the very 
 chiel himsel." The voice came from a cluster of ruddy 
 youth in Kilmarnock bonnets. " It's the Heelan deevil, 
 himsel," added another, " wha along wi his caterans, broke 
 into oor lady's hoose, in the absence o' her lord, and wha 
 plundered the hoose o' a' the gudes and gear, gowd and 
 jewels ; wha dashed her ladyship's wee sweet baby frae 
 the cradle, and laid his murderous steel on it ; and the puir 
 
 * Hebrew Jah, or JEHOVAII.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 85 
 
 unprotected lady went distracted, and ne'er saw peace mair. 
 And she roves aye doon the streets, and ower the fields and 
 aye, as she met a stranger, she wad wring her white hauns, 
 and say, ' Did ye see my wee baby sau ye my puir wee 
 Jamie.' But God pitied her grief, and teuk her hame to his 
 ain heeven." " Hech ! man," cried another, " had I been 
 there to save her, my long kail gully should hae drunk the 
 vile cateran's blude." 
 
 This was spoken in a fierce tone, while he suited the ac 
 tion to the words. The bandit eyed the youth with unchang 
 ed countenance. His impudence overcame the lingering 
 remains of their patience. The young men threw them 
 selves upon him with the first weapons which they could 
 seize. He was dashed down in the mire, and literally 
 covered with the desperate youth, who were eager to take 
 vengeance on the military bandit. In vain he shieked 
 and groaned. In vain his men threw themselves in among 
 them to bring him aid. The students did not permit them 
 to interfere. 
 
 Sir Robert called a strong guard, and ordered them to 
 clear the way, and carry off the Highlanders to a place of 
 safety. After a severe struggle they succeeded in bringing 
 him off his dark belt, tartans, and plumage covered with 
 mire, and the blood, the meanwhile, falling in big drops 
 from his neck and face. 
 
 The infuriate youth would have despatched him on the 
 spot, in defiance of the guard of students, had not their at 
 tention been suddenly arrested by another voice calling out 
 the name of another commander of a pfarty, who had 
 plundered Kilmarnock; and of another who had plundered 
 Ayr, and the neighbourhood of Cassilis ; and of another 
 who had set all the kirks of Carrik on fire. " There," 
 cried one, " is meikle Dumbar o' the Grange, who robbed 
 his landlord, even auld Davy Muir, o' a' his gowd and sil 
 ler." " There," screamed another, " is the villanous leader 
 o 1 the nine, wha robbed Willie Dickie o' a stockin' fa' o' 
 siller, brak twa o' his ribs; and killed his puir feckless 
 wife and bairn." " There," roared out another, in still 
 louder note, " is the Heelan gillie who killed oor minister, 
 Maister Wedderburn, the indulged minister, wi' the butt 
 end o' his musquet, when he was intercedin' wi' them, bare 
 
 TOL. I. H.
 
 86 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 headed, that Kilmarnock micht not be given to be plunder 
 ed on the Sabbath day." 
 
 From words they proceeded to blows. And as the thun 
 dering strokes fell on the neck, and broad shoulders of the 
 Highlanders, they added, " tak that looner frae the laird o' 
 Kilbirnie." " Ye'll mind the toad cellar o' the Dean 
 hoose !" " Ye canna hae forgotten the bludy scenes o' 
 Ochiltree !" " Tak that for the black maille o' Kyle and 
 Cunningham." " Can ye forgett auld Quintin Dick o' Dal- 
 mellington?" " Or yer deeds at the Brigg o' Doone and 
 the Kirk o' Alloway? and Maybole? And the rapes o' 
 St. Quivox, and the bonny family o' the Bruces' ? And the 
 stab o' the cauld steel on the fields o' Colmonel ?,' " Tak 
 that for the shepherdess o' Distinckhorn;" "and the burning 
 oot o' the cotters o' Auchinleck :" " And the spulzie o' the 
 Laird o' Torfoot, and the burnings o' Glengeel and 
 Avendale. 
 
 By this time the tumult began to assume an appearance 
 truly terrific. Nothing but force opposed to force could 
 prevent a massacre. At length, after a rigorous and per 
 severing effort, Sir Robert succeeded in driving back the 
 youthful assailants ; and in conveying the Highland officers 
 to the Western Gate, and out of the city. 
 
 Meanwhile the Bailey was sending on another division 
 of forty , guarded by another escort. They passed on in 
 quick march. And the same scene of pride, rage, and con 
 fusion was re-enacted, before each soldier was constrained 
 to lay down his plunder. 
 
 Nothing escaped the eagle eyes of the students. They 
 stript them of every thing, except what was strictly High 
 land. The fiftieth escort at last came, and brought the last 
 of the two thousand Highland soldiers and the finale of 
 this unparalleled inquisition. 
 
 The Bailey and his aids followed up the rear, with a tu 
 multuous rolling of the drums, and "the ear-piercing fife," 
 and the occasional discharge of a heavy gun. 
 
 The place of general deposit exhibited an extraordinary 
 medley. From the knap-sacks were rolled out pots, pans, 
 kettles, shoes, boots, Kilmarnock blue bonnets, feckets, 
 doublets, hose, petticoats, gowns, plaids. Then followed 
 the baggage wagons which were made to disgorge a lit 
 tle mountain of linen, blankets, beds, raw hides, sheep skint \
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 87 
 
 all manner of household furniture materials sufficient for 
 furnishing the cottages of a Highland Strath. 
 
 The Bailey presented himself to each company, as he 
 passed along, and thanked them cordially for " their soldier 
 like conduct, and the effective service, this day rende red to 
 the country. You, the brave students, wi' whom this wark 
 originated I thank you, my bony gallants ! in the name o' 
 Glascow, and the sufferers. May God mak you and your 
 youthfu' associates o' the city, to stan' up in future times 
 the bricht ornaments, and pillars o' defence to AULD SCOT 
 LAND, oor dear native laun'. And you, Carters, I thank 
 cordially, for that demonstration got up to so good a purpose. 
 Ha ! ha ! ha ! I thank you for your wooden cannons, wi' 
 their black bausoned muzzles, which struck nae sma' terror 
 into the stoutest Heelan heart. And you, braw youth o' 
 the auld goodly city o' Glascow, wha reared the fort o'pine 
 boards, and mounted the long Toms, and howitzers, manu 
 factured out o' black oak, whilk sent sic a death-like lour 
 ower the Host , and threatened ilka moment to belch oot 
 frae their wooden entrails liquid fire and grape shot, to send 
 them, as thin ghosts, in the twinklin' o' an ee, to the airy 
 ha's o' their faithers! And you, brave coalheavers, and 
 carters who mounted on your nags, and equipt in armour, 
 o' the year ane, by moving in quick march, round and 
 round, in the back-ground, presented to the astonished Hee- 
 landers an interminable length of cavalry, pouring in on 
 both flanks, in sic a manner as to convince them that a' re 
 sistance was vain. We owe you, my braw hearties ! our 
 cordial thanks. And, in fine, though we kenna what may 
 be the upshot o' this day's wark, we shanna close this cam 
 paign of a day, till we hae it thoroughly dune. Hear then, 
 a" o' ye, what I hae further to advise. And in the first 
 place, we maun escort these Heelan caterans not only fair 
 ly oot o' the toon, but we maun show them a demonstra 
 tion o' oor numerical powers that we are sax to ane ; and, 
 hence, that for them to return in order to leuk after their 
 fleeced woo', wull be their certain destruction. Secondlie, 
 we maun lie on oor airms all night, and hae habile senti 
 nels planted. And you Burleigh and Torfoot, see ye this 
 executed. Thirdlie, a' this spulzie o' thae caterans, maun 
 be conveyed to the Custom-hoose, to be delivered up to the 
 respective owners o' the same, wha shall be advertised o 1
 
 88 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 it, by public outcry, at the market crosses o' the different 
 toons in the Wast and Sooth. And you, Sir William, and 
 Robert Hamilton, wull communicate wi' the sufferers, and 
 see this thing carried as far as practicable into execution. 
 And, lastly, your unworthy general invites you, ane and 
 a', wha have been in the regular service this day, to come, 
 afore we pairt, and partake o' some vivers. If a hearty 
 welcome and plenty o't can make a banquet, then shall we 
 hae a banquet on buns and yill, and a tass o' brandy wull 
 wash it down. I hae only this ae wush, my hearties ! that 
 I were but a prince for ae single day, I might then du some 
 thing towards liquidating the debt whilk auld Glascow owes 
 ye, my lads ! 
 
 The generous Annandale and Mauchlin, together wi' 
 Semple, and the twa Hamiltons, wull hae the pleasure o' at 
 tending to this, and see the vivers and crater comforts duly 
 and plentifully provided. For the needfu' to discharge a' 
 the debts ; I tak the supervision on mysel, and let nae man 
 insult me by contradictions and refusals." 
 
 The Bailey and his active committee saw every item of 
 this done. He escorted the Highland troops with all his 
 forces and saw them in full march on Campsie and Kil- 
 syth breathing vengeance, some way or another "on the 
 Glasgow bodies wha had befooled, and plundered them sae 
 outrageously. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Proh temporal proh mores!" TULLT. 
 
 On the morning of the second day, after the affair with 
 the Highland Host, the Bailey was seated at his usual ear 
 ly hour, by the breakfast table. There were smoking be 
 fore him, the substantial materials of the breakfast common 
 in those days of " the giants." But he was thoughtful and 
 melancholy. His daughter, his only child, was seated at 
 the head of the table, a young maiden, of twenty years, the 
 idol of her widowed father's heart.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 89 
 
 And she was worthy of his undivided affection. Helen 
 Wardlaw was a beautiful being : she was the pride of the 
 Trongate. In her figure, she was tall and majestic. Over 
 her face, which was of an oval shape, and formed on the 
 loveliest Grecian model, and lighted up with the purest 
 and most delicate tints, were there spread, withal, an inde 
 scribable sweetness and grace. She dressed after the manner 
 of her noble and accomplished Highland mother. And in 
 her tartan sheen, and silken plaid, at church, or on the pro 
 menade, leaning on her father's arm, and smiling in all the 
 witchery of her beauty, the beholders and passers by, look 
 ed upon her, and blessed "the beautiful Helen, the gude 
 Trongate Bailey's daughter." 
 
 Her accomplished mind possessed sufficient solidity and 
 good sense, to keep her equally from the extremes of affec 
 tation and haughtiness, on the one hand, and levity on the 
 other. There was just a sufficient tincture of pride about 
 her, to keep her from being vain. Kindness and unaffect 
 ed condescension to the poor, were, moreover, a beautiful 
 trait in her character. This her noble and gay young 
 friends called the romantic part of her character, but it min 
 istered a real pleasure, and happiness to her kind and be 
 nevolent heart. It was, also, in her view, a matter of duty : 
 and who could dissuade her from what was duty, and a plea 
 sure? Hence she was as often seen in the humble cottage 
 of the widow and orphan, and by the couch of the sick, as 
 in the halls of the gay. If she was the enchanting beauty, 
 admired and caressed in the halls of the noble, and the 
 withdrawing rooms of the fashionable dames of Caledonia ; 
 she was adored as an angel of mercy by the widows and 
 orphans of the sufferers, and the martyrs of Scotland. 
 
 Being of noble descent, by the mother's side, and an heir 
 ess to a rich estate, she had received the usual education of 
 damsels of noble rank in Scottish society. And her vigor 
 ous and amiable mind had availed itself of the favourable op 
 portunities of improvement, in whatever was useful, and or 
 namental. Her reading had been rather extensive in the 
 different departments of literature. She never wrote verses ; 
 but she had looked into the classics ; had examined the 
 French and Italian writers ; and was a good judge of Eng 
 lish and Scottish poets, and prose writers. She had been 
 thrown, at an early period, into intercourse with the suffer- 
 H*
 
 90 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 ' * - ***' 
 
 ers. These were no mean men, either as it regards birth 
 or accomplishments. Some of them were among Scotland's 
 foremost nobles and barons : and many of them clergy of 
 the best descent and education. From this circumstance it 
 happened, that her train of thought, as well as her course 
 of reading, was rather unusual for a maiden of her rank, 
 and blooming years. She might not, like the Lady Jane 
 Grey, prefer Plato and the other Greek masters in philoso 
 phy and eloquence, to the pleasures of the chase, or the with 
 drawing room. Yet certain it is, that Helen Wardlaw 
 would often steal away from the gay assembly, and the 
 company of countesses, and their fascinating daughters, to 
 listen to the conversation of patriots, and sufferers in their 
 country's cause : or to look into the Apologetical History 
 of the Bleeding Kirk; or the new "narrative of the last 
 Martyr" that had suffered. If these sent grief into her 
 young heart, and forced the tears into her eyes, it is nothing 
 more than what other young beauties must confess, they 
 have experienced over the idle page of romance. But, then, 
 there is this difference, Helen Wardlaw wept over the 
 real sorrows of gallant spirits, embarked in the achieving 
 of the deliverance of Scotland, and the liberty of her sons 
 and daughters. But the reader of romance wept over the 
 fictitious sorrows of fictitious characters whining under a 
 disappointment in some silly love affair ! or unsuccessful 
 ambition ! 
 
 But, there was another reason for this conduct on the 
 part of Helen Wardlaw. This beautiful being, beloved 
 almost to adoration, by the patriotic whigs, had been, three 
 years ago, elected chief protectress and treasurer of the 
 sufferers, and of the widows and orphans of the martyrs of 
 the west of Scotland. And when a martyr fell, she felt as 
 if she had lost a beloved member of her family, a brother 
 or a sister ! No wonder, then, that, on the arrival of an ex 
 press to her father, detailing some fresh act of cruelty on the 
 part of the council, and the fall of another martyred patrjot, 
 Helen Wardlaw would retire from the splendours of a 
 drawing-room, and a crowd of her admirers, to give audi 
 ence to the messenger, and hasten to mitigate the sorrows 
 of the widow and orphans of the fallen martyr. The gay 
 and thoughtless could never appreciate her sentimental, and 
 even enthusiastic devotion to the cause of the Scottish he-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 91 
 
 roes, and the champions of the Kirk. It was their calamity 
 that they could not mingle in sympathy with her; and they 
 had her pity, and that of the whigs of Scotland. If there 
 was romance in her character, it was the glorious romance 
 interwoven in the character of the illustrious patriots, to 
 whose labours and sufferings, sealed Avith their blood, Scot 
 land is mainly indebted for that liberty, and form of reli 
 gion, which she now enjoys. 
 
 Such was Helen Wardlaw, the sole heiress of the baro 
 net of Auchingowrie, so famed in the story of the whigs 
 during the dark days of their struggle, for her benevolence 
 and charities : and the beautiful being, moreover, whom 
 busy fame had assigned to the young heir apparent of the 
 barony of Akenhart, to wit, our hero Burleigh Stewart. 
 One thing is certain, no one bowed before our beauty, with 
 more impassioned adoration than he did. And, in justice 
 to him, it must be added, that, notwithstanding all preten 
 ces to the contrary, there was manifest evidence, that the 
 loveliest scenery of Auchingowrie, and all the beauties of 
 its stately castle, were very dull and insipid things to our 
 beauty, when Burleigh Stewart Avas absent. We return 
 to our narrative. 
 
 Helen perceived that the troubles of her father were, this 
 morning, increased tenfold. She did, indeed, affect not to 
 see them, as they sat at table. As often as the Bailey turn 
 ed his eyes in sorrow, on her, she seemed busily engaged 
 in training up, under her silken snood, some straggling 
 locks of her glossy raven hair, which had escaped, in their 
 luxuriance, and had fallen, in rich curls, on her white neck 
 and bosom. But her dark blue eyes, the \vhile, watched 
 her father in silent sorrow : and the big tear drops fell from 
 her long silken eye-lashes. For him, he ate not. He had 
 turned himself round, and in a deep reverie, his eyes rest 
 ed on the military gear, lately throAvn off by him, and now 
 lying in his vieAv, on a table in the alcove. 
 
 But there was a singular elasticity of soul in our good 
 Bailey, which soon restored itself to its proper tone of feel 
 ing ; and dispersed the gloom from his countenance. 
 
 "True it is, my Helen," cried he at length, "there 
 are seasons in which Ave mauna waste time, in parlying 
 wi' the foemen, and throw awa an opportunity in stopping 
 to gie reasons and explanations. We must lift the haun,
 
 02 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 and we must act. When the three Hebrew children in 
 Babylon, found themselves in the painful predicament, that, 
 in obedience to the urgency o' the king's decree they must 
 een be idolaters, or rebels against his tyranny, they did 
 na pause to gie reasons. ' We are not carefu', cried they, 
 "to answer thee, O king, in this matter!" It was na the 
 time for cold calculations, and expositions : they wadna 
 hae been listened to : they behoved to act on the instant : 
 and in acting, deny their God, or their king ! They hesi 
 tated ^ot; though the fiery furnace was afore their een, bla- 
 zin', aught times heated into fury ! 
 
 "And, my sweet Helen, we have dune richt in what we 
 hae dune," he added, as he turned himself round, and appli 
 ed himself to the solid vivers smoking before him ; and the 
 stoup of claret. " It was nae time for explanations and 
 apologies. True it is, its a bold step we hae ta'en. And it 
 was unco weel for a' parties that the Life Guards were k awa 
 frae their quarters on some forray, and deel's errand, up 
 Clyde side. Blude micht otherwise hae been shed. As it 
 was, ha ! ha ! ha ! we had it a' oor ain gaite ! But, there 
 wull be news o 1 this, wi' a' my daffin. And e'en already, 
 my sweet bairne, wha kens but the bludy hoonds e' 
 Claverse may be on the scent ! But, my bairne, when we 
 maun deny oor God, or oor king's power in thae things, 
 we mauna swither, were there een a blazing furnaoe 
 afore oor een, o' the king o' Babylon's heating !" 
 
 At this moment, two persons entered hastily by the door 
 which led in by the rear of the building. The eldest of the 
 two drew from him his grey cloak ; and threw himself 
 down on a seat, with a sigh. He was pale and breath 
 less, and faint. It was father Cargil, and his youthful 
 companion. 
 
 In an instant Helen was at his side. She took off his 
 broad-brimmed hat ; unbuttoned his coat ; gathered up 
 his straggling grey locks : and smoothed them down over 
 his temple and ears ; and then hastened to bring him a 
 cup of cool water. 
 
 " My dear good old father!" cried she, in sweet and sil 
 very tones, which poured out the sensibilities of her soul, 
 and spread over the desolate heart of the aged pastor, the 
 charm of the sweetest sympathy ; " You are ill, my vene 
 rable father ; what new calamity has befallen you ?
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STtTARTS. 93 
 
 Cargil raised her hand to his lips, and kissed it ; and 
 lifting a languid eye to her beautiful face, beaming with 
 sympathy and pity, he said, "Ask me not, lovely maiden, 
 what calamity has befallen me : the enemy is abroad. It 
 is the hour and power of darkness: short is my story: 
 we hae been pursued. Let me, I pray thee, be led to my 
 concealment." 
 
 The Bailey instantly arose, and led him to his secret 
 chamber. And not allowing any of his domestics to enter 
 it; or even to see who was there, he carried the contents 
 of the breakfast table, with a stoup of claret, into his 
 retreat, and urged him to keep himself in perfect compo 
 sure ; and to refresh himself with food and sleep. 
 
 When the Bailey returned, he learned from', Master 
 James, that the chief of the Highland Host had contrived 
 to send a message, by one of his crafty gillies, to the head 
 quarters of the Life Guards : and that an express had 
 been sent after the dragoons : and that, moreover, being at 
 no great distance, scouring the upper ward of Lanarkshire, 
 they had been hurried back, and were already in the 
 city. 
 
 "And noo, Bailey Wardlaw," cried Master James 
 " I entreat you instantly to take measures for your own 
 safety. The pursuit is hot, and who may escape ? Speed 
 you, for the sake of this angel of mercy, your daughter." 
 
 Father Cargil returned at this moment, and united his 
 earnest entreaties to those of Master James. 
 
 "lean," said he, "my sweet bairne, look wi' steady 
 een, on the coming hour, in the whilk I sail be offered 
 up, for His dear name, and haly cause's sake. But there's 
 ae cause o' pain and distress to me, my sweet Helen, I may 
 draw doon ruin on my friens, and on thee, and thy faither's 
 hoose especially, for* thy ministering to the persecute^ 
 members o' HIM, wha|rules abune, canna meiklelanger be 
 concealed. Could I out fa 1 alane, Helen Wardlaw, hoo 
 sweet wad death be to me !" 
 
 " Fear noucht for us, father Cargil, and you Master 
 James," cried Helen ; and she added after a long pause, 
 during which her eyes beamed with affection, and respect 
 on her father, the Bailey's face, as she waited his reply. 
 A nod from him made her proceed. " My father and I are 
 prepared for a' extremes. And we hae ta'enour measures.
 
 94 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 For me, I practise the lessons o' my saunted mother, in 
 heaven, wha inherited the romantic love of liberty frae the 
 gallant knight her father, wha was brocht up in the mili 
 tary school o' Gustavus, and was amang the stalwart lords 
 and knights that carried their persevering arms through 
 varied fortunes, until the fierce Montrose expiated on a 
 tree, his murder and treason. As the heiress of her estate, 
 which descended to her, the only child o' Sir George Gor 
 don I might take my place amang the nobles o' the land, 
 e'en where my noble mother moved in the better days o 1 
 oor Kintry. But my heart is not there, father Cargil : 
 and canna be there in the dark days o' oor nation's mourn 
 ing. Amid the glare o' honours and riches, I should find 
 myself among the ranks o' the licensed oppressors o' my 
 Kintry, and the haly cause o' liberty and religion. Let 
 them call it romance or cant. The thoughtless must hae 
 something to say in defence o' their treason against God 
 and their Kintry. For me, in the bloom and promise o' 
 sweet youth, I can say, give me liberty, or give me death ! 
 Since I was a little maiden so high" And she made a mo 
 tion with her white arm. " I have listened to the soldier's 
 tale, wha fought in the ranks o' Scottish patriots. And in 
 thae later years my faither's hoose has been the asylum o 1 
 the sufferers. I hae studied their characters, and their mo 
 tives ; not in the fair sunshine o' health and smiling hap 
 piness, when hypocrisy draws her vizard close over the 
 face, and when the rage of fashion is to assume the awk 
 ward garb o' sanctity. I hae studied them in dungeons, 
 and in caves, under the weicht of crushing sorrows. I 
 hae witnessed, and the daughter o' the Gordons blushes 
 not to say, that I hae participated in their enthusiasm for 
 the liberties o' Scotland, and the emancipation o' the kirk, 
 frae the thraldom o' the Stuarts. And I speak not without 
 knowledge o' the character and motives o' those o' the other 
 side, in the great national question." 
 
 As Helen spoke this, she turned her animated eyes, and 
 beautiful face on Master James, whom she suspected of wa 
 vering between the Whigs, and the Tories ; under the in 
 fluence of the family of Perth: and whom she anxiously 
 wished to gain over. 
 
 " I hae mingled wi' the wives and daughters of both the 
 nobles and the bishops," continued she, "and, Master
 
 OR, THK LAST OF THE STUARTS. 95 
 
 James, it cost me nae great effort, young and inexperienced 
 though I was, to appreciate the distinctive character and mo 
 tives o'thae oppressors o' Scotland. As my fat her has told you, 
 and he kens mair of this part o' their character than I could 
 hae opportunity to learn, dissipation has not only per 
 vaded a' ranks, it has bowed their lofty spirits down, and 
 enslaved them. If I am correct in comparing the narra 
 tives o' my honoured mother, with mine own personal ob 
 servations, even our fair sex has not altogether escaped the 
 moral pestilence. Where meet we wi' the Scottish and 
 English dames who were famed in story for having elevat 
 ed the female character to that commanding rank, which 
 it had long sustained among the nations o' continental 
 Europe, for its high-toned moral worth, and angelic 
 moral beauty. Our days present to view as much beauty 
 as ever, but the charms of their bright virtues have faded. 
 I speak what I do see ; and what you see, Master James. 
 
 " The ears of the Scottish fair have been poisoned by the 
 disgusting conversation, and writings o' men o' wit ; long 
 rendered fashionable frae the throne, doon to the humble 
 squire ; and, noo, sae common are they, that they seem not 
 conscious of any error. 
 
 At what their mothers blushed, they only smile. What 
 their mothers condemned in principle, they do more than 
 half approve. They ridicule religious scruples : they in 
 dulge their dull wit at moral feelings : they laugh to scorn 
 the pastor, the bible, and the holy day o' the Most High. 
 They sneer at the canting psalm-singer, but they blush not 
 at the poesy and ballads of the age, to the characteristics of 
 which, I cannot permit myself even to allude. The whig, 
 another name with them, for rustic and clown, is the butt of 
 the vulgar laugh, and of drollery even in the withdrawing 
 room of beauty and nobility. Our country women, oh ! 
 such is the shocking effects of the horrid barbarity of our 
 times, can even talk of gibbets, and boots, and thumb 
 screws, and the axe, without shuddering ! And the grand 
 daughters of those high-minded, and moral nobles, wha exe 
 crated inquisitors, and put down, by their moral influence, 
 the Catholic persecutors, even they can roll their eyes with 
 an easy jaunting air, over the mangled limbs, and the 
 bleached skulls o' the martyrs ; wi' which oh ! horrible, 
 oor prison walls are garnished ! In the higher circle*
 
 06 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 (I speak not, Master James, frae hearsay) they hae baptized 
 religion, and morals, with the odious name of cant and fa 
 naticism! And under thae names they persecute them 
 with deadlie feud ! The name, and thing itself, o' piety, is 
 not known in these circles, nor even alluded to, without 
 raillery. The sacred hymn, and the psalm sung by the pret 
 ty lips of their mothers, are displaced by the pitiful ballad, 
 the ribald song, and the shameless epigram. I hae seen all 
 this I hae studied all this, for six years. Liberty, and her 
 sweet sister, Religion, hae fallen by the hands o' the 
 Stuart, and his degenerate nobles. And wo be to those 
 who come not to their help. Perish they can never ! The 
 Holy Ruler o' the world has sent them, as angels o' mercy, 
 into oor earth, out o' pity to his children. Strong and in 
 vincible is the arm that will preserve them alive : and 
 blessed, and honoured will he be, who has the happiness o' 
 coming up to their help against the foemen ! 
 
 " But pardon me, my mother's daughter is not loquacious 
 in her own affairs. I could not thus hae permitted myself 
 to speak in my own private griefs. The heart o' a Gordon 
 beats for his Kintry. I bethought me that in the national 
 danger, when all is at stake, which man, and woman too, 
 count dear, our mother Scotland calls upon ilka ane o' us 
 to du oor duty. And as ilka body counts ane, I was 
 anxious, not only to show mysel ane, but to win over 
 anither here, to the holy interests o' his Kintry ! 
 
 " My fair protectress !" cried Master James, as he awa 
 kened from the deep reverie into which he had fallen, as he 
 listened to the words of Helen Wardlaw :-" I have seen ower 
 Meikle at the Grass-market, at the Gallow see, and in the 
 Heelan Host, with the young Drummond, ever to let 
 myself retrace the steps to the ranks o' tyranny." 
 
 " All that may be very true but the feelings do not 
 place you beyond the reach o' danger, frae the influence 
 o' Perth, your years are not so many as mine by three at 
 least; and I hae seen twenty winters. And besides six 
 years spent amang our nobles, now in office, have brought 
 me six years' experience which is aiblins worthy o' a young 
 man's sober notice, after a'." 
 
 Cargil and the Bailey fixed their eyes on the beautiful 
 and blooming maiden as she uttered this, and smiled : 
 while a delicious tear stole down the cheeks of Cargil.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 97 
 
 " I hae observed" continued the persevering Helen, 
 and her eyes sparkled with uncommon vivacity : " I should 
 hae said, I hae learned frae experience, Master James, 
 that the mind is not always apt to look merely at the force, 
 or the beauty of an argument : or at bare truth, in its 
 loveliness : or its power. The mind of the best disci 
 plined o' us will stagger at the plainest facts, and at the 
 proof, strong as haly writ, when it chanceth, that a denial 
 o' them, or a sneer at them cometh frae the lips o' beau 
 ty and nobility. Such is the supremacy o' certain small 
 extraneous things over the most vigorous intellect. The 
 glitter o' a star, resting over a very silly heart ; or the 
 splendour of purple; or the ribbon glaring on the 
 breast of a babblin fool . or the head geer sparkling 
 wi' the diamond pearlins on an empty pretty head, hae 
 aften deranged the well-digested argument o' a learned 
 divine, and o' e'en a weel fee'd lawyer. And heark ye, 
 further, Master James, the pretty face o' the Countess, or 
 her splendid daughters, laughing on you, wad make 
 you despise, then ridicule, then loath the " canting whig." 
 The Earl's eloquence, and verily it is nane o' the bricht- 
 est, by the aid o' his star, and coronet, his pomposity, 
 and glare o' ilka thing around him, will make ye believe 
 that the essence o' whiggism, is treason, and fanaticism \ 
 Nay I hae seen the presence o' beauty and nobility absorb 
 every thing like sympathy, and pity over the tale o' woe ! 
 I hae seen the glow of piety cool down into frigid and 
 even irreligious indifference, before beauty and nobility, 
 I hae seen the mitred bishop, and even the devout pastor 
 whisper out this minced graces, fearfully, and wi' compli 
 mentary apologies for venturing to utter their religious 
 sentiments to their God, in sic a presence ! I hae witnessed 
 the force o' the exclamation o' " nasty rude creatures" frae 
 the lips o' beauty and nobility, sending as by enchantment, 
 a chilling frost over the sensibilities of a polished circle, 
 when they were ready to mek into sympathy and even 
 tears at the tale of the Scottish Whigs. And it was no 
 common tale of woe. For instance, some one was re 
 lating, as an occurrence, in the news o' the day, that that 
 coldblooded and heartless being Claverhouse, had caused 
 burning matches to be put between the fingers of a female, 
 a devoted wife, to compel he* to discover the retreat of hr 
 VOL. i. L
 
 98 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND; 
 
 husband ; and between the fingers of a little boy, to force 
 him to discover his father. And by his orders, the soldiers 
 blew furiously on the lighted matches until, Oh ! horrible, 
 one of the fingers of the miserable sufferer, a woman, 
 had actually dropped off! A thrill of horror went over 
 our spirits. But the sudden exclamation came frae an 
 elegant and witty Countess, that, " they are only whigs, 
 after a, 1 puir vulgar creatures, a' beneath the notice 6 1 us, 
 or oor pity" and, I dare say the active and enterprising 
 servants o' his Majesty, only did their duty.'' 
 
 Instantly, and as if by a wizard's rod, every emotion of 
 pity, and sympathy was laid to rest. And the half-formed 
 exclamation of pain, and regret died away on our tongues. 
 For me, I would not have lifted up my pleading voice for 
 the MARTYRS for a thousand worlds ! I was ashamed to 
 name even the whigs: It was perfectly vulgar: I was 
 almost driven forward, with the rest of the worshippers o' 
 the Countess, to applaud the military butcher, Colonel 
 Graham of Claverhouse, as an active, and enterprising 
 officer of his Majesty" 1 s government. Yes ! and, Master 
 James, I fear for thee, thou art only in soft and yielding 
 seventeen. Look thou on thy reverend father, there, and 
 on mine : and say, canst thou, wilt thou stand up by their 
 side ; and own, with the decision o' a true Scot, the cause 
 of God, and thy Kintry? I know thou wilt. Helen 
 Wardlaw will, this day, be able to add thy name to the 
 long list o' noble and pious youth, whose hearts beat leal 
 to their Kintry, and the gude auld cause!" 
 
 Master James threw himself at her feet, and seizing her 
 hand, kissed it with enthusiasm, as he exclaimed: 
 
 "Helen Wardlaw, thou hast fixed my resolution for ever! 
 The God o' my father, and my mother, who is the God o' 
 oor fathers and oor deeply injured kintry, I wull ne'er for 
 sake! So help me God! And, father Cargil, may High 
 Heaven, this day, record my oath in the register o' eternity, 
 I sail ne'er return frae followin' after you. Whither you 
 go, I wull go : your people shall be my people : and your 
 God, my God !" 
 
 "Amen!" cried the beautiful maiden, as the clear tear 
 drops of joy, pure as angel's joy, rolled over her cheeks, 
 and fell sparkling among the rows of pearlins and diamonds 
 on her white bosom.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 99 
 
 " My child !" cried father Cargil, " thy words hae sent 
 ower my soul, the sweetest joys I hae tasted in the days o' 
 my sorrow!" He paused for a moment in deep silence: a 
 dark cloud passed over his spirit : tears gushed from his 
 eyes, and dropt from his long white beard upon his lap : hut 
 the cloud soon vanished away. 
 
 " Yes !" he added in a low whisper, " I see the coming 
 event : it is the hour, and power o' darkness : short, but 
 sharp ! And be HIS haly wull dune. In the day o' my fall, 
 and when the standard-bearers shall faint, thy young arm, 
 my bonny son, wull bear up the fallen ensign ! And my 
 God wull be thy God in that hoor ; and my people, sad 
 and melancholy though the remnant be, wull be tuy people. 
 In the blossom o' thy early days, thou shalt sleep by my 
 side : oor bairns' bairns wull visit oor graves, and they 
 wull name oor names, and bless oor memory! And in 
 yon bright warld, the while, where nae man o' blude and 
 treason embrues his hauns in the blude o' the martyred 
 saunts, or mangles wi' his greedy steel, their pitiable re 
 mains, there, Master James, I sail welcome thee to the 
 croon o' martyrdom ! and at a far remoter period shall 
 we welcome to her croon, and her sister seraphs, oor bon 
 ny Helen Wardlaw, after she has lang ministered to the 
 patriots, and seen Scotland's bricht day o' salvation. But 
 noo hear me" 
 
 Before Cargil had finished his sentence, the front-door 
 of the Bailey's house was suddenly burst open, and a num 
 ber of his friends rushed in. Among them were the two 
 Hamiltons, Burleigh Stewart, the young lords Kardross, 
 Semple, Mauchlin, and Annandale driving up the rear.
 
 100 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 '0 
 
 Leather awa'wi' yer oak stick, 
 Leather awa'wi' yer oak stick ; 
 Down wi' the Tory, and up wi' the "Whig, 
 Up wi' the Whig, and down wi' the Tory ; 
 Leather awa' wi' yer oak stick ! 
 
 OLD BALLAD OF AVEXDALC. 
 
 "Are you here," father Cargil ? " exclaimed Burleigh, 
 and Sir Robert Hamilton at once, '-save him, save him, 
 fair Helen ! We are pursued : the Life Guards are on our 
 track ; and like rampaging lions, they wull pounce on their 
 prey ! To horse ! To horse ! and away !" 
 
 In an instant all was confusion. Some cried one thing, 
 and some another. The Bailey and Cargil alone stood 
 unmoved, in the middle of the fioqf, like other old men, 
 whose blood is cool : and who wait the issue, with feelings 
 very different from those of the young and fiery. Helen's 
 whole anxiety was about her father and Cargil : and they, 
 on the contrary, were concerned only for Helen, and their 
 beloved young friends, brought into such peril for their 
 sakes. 
 
 Master James reconnoitred. He perceived that a crowd 
 of people had thrown themselves in front of the guards, 
 and were impeding their march on the Bailey's house ; 
 while fierce and threatening voices gave the military notice, 
 " that if they dared to harm their gude auld Bailey, or his 
 angel daughter, they would tear them into spawls, and 
 scatter them lik peelins o' in gens ! " He perceived, there 
 fore, that they could not reach the house for some time. 
 He instantly called Burleigh Stewart and Helen, and stated 
 to them his plan : Helen immediately summoned her man 
 Sanders Elshender, and assured James that he might put 
 perfect confidence in him. 
 
 "Sanders," cried he, "You can save your honoured 
 master, and the fair Helen, if you will do as I bid you, in- 
 stanter. Make the best o' yer way through that crowd, 
 they're all friens to the Bailey, and through thae Life 
 Guards. Hie thee, to the sign o' the Hart, or if 
 not there, to the Bull's head; find oot young Drum-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THB STTTARTS. 101 
 
 mond, tell him in ae word, Sanders, that bonny Helen 
 Wardlaw, and his dutiful Tutor, are in distress, and 
 wad be unco glad o' his presence, a few brief moments !" 
 
 Master James having despatched Sanders, mingled in 
 the crowd, and besought the leading men to contrive to 
 keep the guards in play, for a few moments ; then hurried 
 back into the house. 
 
 The military approached with drawn swords ; and when 
 they reached the front cf the house, they halted amid the 
 populace, and formed in close line, in the middle of the 
 street. And as the bugle sounded the note of assault, they 
 forced their way through the crowd, with sword in hand. 
 The multitude, headed by some desperate men, threw them 
 selves, in a dense column, before them, threatening to 
 effect by numbers, what the lack of arms prevented them 
 from easily doing in an instant. The soldiers were or 
 dered to clear their way: and they began to slap the 
 cheeks, and shoulders of the rustic heaps, which impeded 
 their march : and now and then they gave a cut and 
 prick with their shabbies. This was more than Glasgow 
 Scotsmen could endure. They returned, with more cour 
 age than prudence, these military salutations ; and lent 
 some well-directed kicks with their huge steel-armed shoes ; 
 as they cried, "tak that belly-fu', ye Southron pock- 
 puddins !" 
 
 From less to more, they came, one and all of them, to 
 heavy blows. The butcher lads, and green aproned men 
 tumbled down, more frightened than hurt, under the blauds 
 of the long swordsj while the vigorous party of the Life 
 Guards dashed the populace aside. Such was the terror also 
 of the naked gleaming swords, that none ventured to offer 
 any serious resistance. And the soldiers, at last, marched, 
 two and two abreast, into the Bailey's house. 
 
 The Bailey presented himself in front of them ; while 
 our gallant young men threw themselves around Helen 
 and Cargil, each with his hand on the hilt of his sword, 
 
 " What want you 1 whom seek you, in my hoose, sol 
 diers ? " cried the Bailey. 
 
 The officer minded not the question put to him, but cast 
 his eyes fiercely around the group, in front of him, as the 
 hawk does on the covey fresh sprung, while he muttered 
 thro' his teeth ;
 
 102 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 "'Ere we 'ave ha ole conventicle, by St. George! ha* 
 hever there was hin the Heast, hor West hend hof Hen- 
 gland!" 
 
 "Whom seek ye, Sir Caitiff! I hae been speerin' at 
 ye," repeated the Bailey. " Knowest thou not, that thou 
 art in the house of a Glasgow Bailey, ane o' the four 
 Bailey's o' the Cooncil o' this gude and godly city? Hoo 
 daur ye assail people in their ain domicil ? Pit doon yer 
 bit shachlin spear, or I'll make it spin ower yer head in a 
 gifTy ! Hae ye a warrant, duly signed, and delivered by 
 the hauns o' some beadle, or some heigher power, that ye 
 daur tak on ye, at this gaite? Ken ye no a man's richts 
 in his ain hoosehold, whilk, if ye war'na a puir ignorant 
 Southron, a Londoner, I hear, for ye canna speak yer 
 ain vernacular tu ony decent purpose, ye micht hae ken 
 ned, was a man's kingdom, sacred, by law, frae a' intru 
 sions, butt permission, asked and gi'en, to hae ingress, and 
 egress, and regress. ' I s * oo- " 
 
 "Soldiers!" cried the officer, "the loons hare before 
 you: seize the two hold men, and hall ike bothers, saving 
 the lady honly." 
 
 "Hark ye, Sir Cateran! if ye stir anither foot, by way 
 o' violent ingress, I sail convene ye, and ilka soul o' ye 
 soldiers, in ane action o' trespass and damages ; and ye 
 sail be clapt by the heels in bilbow, as reivers, and tres 
 pass maukers!" 
 
 The soldiers now made a desperate rush to execute 
 their orders ; but not before the more rapid movement of 
 our young gallants ; who hurried the Bailey by the side 
 of Helen and Cargil, into their rear ; and showed their 
 battle blades. The soldiers made a momentary pause at 
 this unexpected movement : for they had conjectured that 
 they were already terrified into a surrender : and the Bai- 
 lev's harangue, \vhich they could not comprehend, had 
 strengthened them in the supposition. 
 
 " Stand firm, my gallants !" cried Sir Robert Hamilton: 
 and they immediately closed with the soldiers : and 
 Helen and the aged pastor shuddered at the clashing 
 of the swords, ancl the obstreperous tumult that fol 
 lowed. 
 
 At this crisis, young Drummond with his attendants 
 arrived. He leapt through the crowd, into the middle of
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. '103 
 
 the soldiers, as he cried out, "A truce, my gallants ! who 
 commands here?" 
 
 The soldiers paused ; and the young English Officer 
 turned on him a look of bitter contempt. 
 
 'Drummond commands you, Sir, to retire!" 
 
 "And what Drummond deigns to issue the horder, 
 most igh and mighty Sir Knight?''' demanded the South 
 ron scornfully. 
 
 ,' Drummond o' Perth, the son o' my father, commands 
 you, Sir. At your peril assault this honest and peaceable 
 family. And you, ye loons ! and brawling gillies, to dis 
 turb at this gaite the peace and sanctity o' oor honour 
 able Glasgow Bailey's fire-side; are ye drunk, or mad, 
 a'o'ye?" 
 
 "I don't know ye, Sir Gascon! seize them hall, sol 
 diers !" added the intrepid soldier, who reflected on no 
 thing, and judged of nothing ; but simply, as a mechanical 
 agent, moved fearlessly on, according to the strict letter of 
 his instructions. 
 
 In the fray, amid the clashing of swords, young Drum 
 mond pushed forward, overthrowing with violence, one or 
 two of the soldiers, who happened to have their backs to 
 him, and made his way to the presence of Helen, and the 
 Bailey. He hurried them, together, with Cargil, out into 
 the back court, as he whispered to Helen with a low obei 
 sance " My sweet lady ! what a scene for your presence P' 
 Then hastening back into the room, he eagerly sought 
 about for some weapon, for, in the hurry of the moment, be 
 had forgot to gird on his sword. Most happily he clapt his 
 eyes on the poker, and it was one of no small dimensions, 
 which the Bailey had been using to raise up the coals, 
 and peats in the grate, in the cold winter morning, and 
 which he had > left, with the point thrust into the centre of 
 the fire, and the handle resting on the hearth. Our young 
 nobleman, who was large for his years, and unusually 
 athletic, and who'se Scottish spirit was, moreover, inflamed 
 to a towering fury grasped exultingly the massy poker, 
 most opportunely- it was red hot, at the far extremity, and 
 he rushed, pell mell, in among the soldiers, exclaiming 
 " Now hon you noblest Henglish ! whose blood is fetched 
 from fathers of war-proof." " Wish not one man more from 
 Hengland," continued he, imitating the uncouth dialect of
 
 104 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 our young officer, whose eye had watched him, and who 
 now made directly at him. With that he smashed in among 
 the soldiers, and laid around him with his iron mace. And 
 at each dash, you might have seen, and heard the red hot 
 iron smoking and hissing, as it came into contact with 
 the bluffy cheeks of the soldiers, and their thrapples, and 
 bellies. And none of them that were struck, waited for 
 another visitation of the kind. They puffed, and blew, and 
 sputtered, and bellowed, and jumped, and screamed, and 
 ran pell mell out of doors. Some, more venturous, aimed a 
 blow at young Drummond, but he dexterously evaded the 
 stroke or received it on his poker. And in his turn he 
 pushed it into his antagonist. Some threw themselves on 
 him, and grasped the terrible weapon. But no sooner did 
 they touch it, than the skin came off in blisters, the whole 
 interior of their palms being excoriated. And slapping their 
 hands, and shrieking like Indians, they retreated tum 
 bling heels over head, and scrambling on all fours out of 
 the street door, into the midst of the shouting multitude. 
 In a space shorter than I have taken to describe it, the 
 house was cleared, amid the peals of laughter from Perth, 
 and his brave associates, which was vigorously encored by 
 the mob without ! Drummond planted himself in the midst 
 of his allies, in the Bailey's door, and shook his iron mace 
 at the captain's head, amid the loud huzzas and peals of 
 laughter, of the Trongate citizens. And his keen eye hav 
 ing caught that officer slyly drawing out a pistolet, he sal 
 lied out, and threw himself upon him, from the top of the 
 door steps, and with one well-directed blow, struck him to 
 the ground ; then seizing him by the cue, and the profusion 
 of his red bushy curls, while his gallant associates Burleigh 
 and the Hamiltons took care that no one should interrupt 
 the fair play, he applied the massy poker, (still hot enough) 
 to the cue, and singed it off in a giffy. And as the cock 
 ney tumbled and screamed lustily, he continued his process 
 of castigation, and applied his hot iron to the broad round 
 curls, which were formidably marshalled on each side of 
 the soldier's head, before and behind his ears, stiffened and 
 matted with pomatum these he singed off also and then 
 threw the terror-stricken soldier from him, all smaistered, 
 and coomy, and seared about the head and chouks, like any 
 singed sheep's head. At last, getting upon his knees, in a
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 105 
 
 bending posture, and looking around him, with the most 
 rueful face imaginable, the soldier began to comb down 
 with his fingers, the sad remnants of his curls, and hold 
 up, most piteously, before his eyes, their singed and crisp 
 ed fragments ! 
 
 This was irresistible! The populace roared outright, 
 and shouted and hallooed, over the disarmed military, as 
 they drove them, at a dog trot, down the street toward the 
 cross ; writhing with pain, and waddling like a flock of 
 tame geese, and keeping up, the while, their flagging cour 
 age, with half-smothered oaths, and breathings of vengeance 
 even nothing short of absolute annihilation, as soon as 
 they could muster their auxiliaries! 
 
 As soon as the coasts were clear, young Drummond has 
 tened into the house, and with much gravity, delivered up 
 his novel weapon of war to the Bailey, as he w r aggishly re 
 peated out of the poet : 
 
 " Scilicet ut ventres lamna candente nepotum 
 " Eh Bailey. 
 
 " Diceret urendos, correctus ?" 
 
 Then having received the attentions of Helen Wardlaw, 
 in getting a few cuts and scratches, which he had received 
 in the stramash, bound up, he kissed her hand, and bade 
 her adieu. And calling to Master James, who accompani 
 ed him to the door, he added in a half serious mood, " I 
 must hie me off, and so must you, incontinent. This af 
 fair can be metamorphosed into a frightful piece of treason : 
 and it will soon reach the ears of my honoured father Perth, 
 I must travel ahead of the rumour, or I am a ruined man. 
 Verily, Master James, ;> he added in allusion to the device 
 on the coat of arms of the old Earls of Perth, " I am lik 
 to be on a green hill, seme, of galtraps: and I seethe scroll 
 afore my waukin een, GANG WARILY," yes! James, GANG 
 WARILY ! I set oot this instant, and if you cannot accom 
 pany us, consult your safety, and hasten to join us, in two 
 days, at the extremity." 
 
 He departed with the regrets of all our young gallants. 
 "What a pity!" exclaimed each of them, "that such a 
 brave and generous youth should not be gained over to the 
 gude auld cause!"
 
 106 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 " Yes !" replied Cargil, " Nae ane regrets it mair than 
 I do. But the wush is a hopeless ane. It is wi' him as 
 wi' the rest o' oor noble youth, throughout the laun. Gene 
 rous, high minded, lovers o' liberty and independence 
 themsels, and brave even to a fault, they need naething but 
 the sicht o' oor cruel oppressions and sufferings, to rouse 
 their gallant Scottish souls, into a haly indignation ! But, 
 alas! sirs, the training and discipline o' their paternal 
 domicils, keep them far oot o' the sicht, and hearing o' Scot 
 land's iron-rod oppression : and, then, their irreligion, and 
 vice, and ribaldry whilk they daily witness, and in whilk 
 they daily mingle, send a palsy ower their feelings and con 
 sciences. Sae is it een, wi' Drummond. Scotland's groans 
 reach not Perth's Halls : or reach them, to be treated wi 1 
 cruel mockery. Oor next meeting wi' this gallant spirit, 
 may be in the ranks o' the foeman pitted against us, in the 
 hoor o 1 oor deadlie conflict ! But, sirs, this is not the place 
 for sic melancholy discussions. Let us hence, my gallant 
 associates!" *' 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 " Full many a stoic eye, and aspect stern, 
 
 Mask hearts where grief hath little left to learn ; 
 
 And many a withering thought lies hid not lost, 
 
 In smiles that least befit, who wear them most." BTROW." 
 
 i Cargil and his youthful guide had not proceeded far, 
 when their attention was arrested by a sudden burst of mar 
 tial music from the direction where the life guards lay 
 encamped. The protracted roll of the kettle-drum, and the 
 fierce clangor of the bugle, which sounded, " to arms, to 
 arms," fell on their ear- It was now evident that the de 
 tachment, which had suffered a defeat at the Bailey's, had 
 reached their quarters, and had given the alarm : and that 
 the whole troop was now hastening to spread themselves, 
 in detached parties, over the streets, and main roads lead 
 ing out of the city, while others would scour the city and 
 beat up every lurking place of the Whigs.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 107 
 
 Master James could not conceal the anxiety which strug 
 gled in his soul. He took the arm of the aged pastor, and 
 quickened his step in deep silence. And as he raised his 
 eyes toward the place, whence the military summons float 
 ed on air, he ejaculated " He'll be massacred afore my 
 very een." He was awakened from his reverie by the 
 sound of his own words, which he had unconsciously 
 uttered. 
 
 " No, Master James," said Cargil, as he took his hand 
 into his, " My time is not yet come. But, yet, it is almost 
 a kind o' tempting o' Divine Providence to be on the street, 
 in thae habiliments o' mine. Thae velvets, and the shape 
 o' the haile, is sae strongly presbyterian, that they mak a 
 wanderer, as ken-speckle to the dragoons and Southrons ; 
 as the man o' their ain military claith and cut, is to his ain 
 comrades. But there is an overruling HAND, and I should 
 violate my ain feelins, did I doubt HIS special care o' his 
 puir auld servant. A' my weary Avanderins are chalked 
 oot by his sovereignty : a' my sufferins are numbered : a' 
 my ' tears are put intil his bottle :' and all my sorrows re- 
 gistered in his beuk! To him I owe my hair breadth 
 escapes. Thae seventeen years, I hae served him, ilka 
 day, at the peril o' my life ; and that is the last thing, noo, 
 they can tak awa frae auld Donald Cargil. Through sim 
 mer's burnin' days, and winter's cauld and howlin storms, 
 I hae wandered ower mountain and dale, over kintry and 
 toon. And I hae ceased not, in the midst o' a' my weak 
 ness, "to preach CHRIST JESUS, and him crucified," and to 
 du my best to rouse up my slumbering kintry, and the 
 ministry o' the Kirk. HE kens a' my tears and waes, I 
 pour them oot into His bosom. HE kens a' my joys. In 
 a' my warslins up the steep and rugged paths o' duty, in 
 a' my afflictions, and God has filled my cup up to the brim, 
 I hae neer rued the .uptakin' o 1 His cress ! I hae aften 
 been sair forefouchton, and wearied in his service. But 
 
 ne'er hae Ibeen wearied of it And noo" continued he, as 
 
 they turned into a more retired street, keeping up the tone 
 of his voice, and gestures, as if talking to his young guide, 
 so that a straggling passenger could not have perceived the 
 import of his words, And, noo Oh, my God, Creator, 
 Preserver, I am sore beset. The enemy are abroad, and 
 thy puir servant is ready to faint. Cast the lap o 1 thy
 
 . 
 
 108 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 cloak ower his a,ttld grey hairs : and preserve him, and thy 
 young servant, this aince, and we shall record it to thy 
 glory when, in the bright day o' thy Kirk's salvation, we 
 sail rehearse the memorials o ! oor deliverances." 
 
 There was no fear in Cargil's soul; nor paleness on his 
 cheek. His manner rather indicated unusual cheerfulness. 
 He urged forward with a firm step. '"Seek we Bell's 
 Wynd," said he. ''There dwells ane o' my worthy pa 
 rishioners, whose roof has, mair than aince, sheltered his 
 auld Pastor when pursued by the foemen." 
 
 In a brief space he was in the house ; and held in the 
 warm embraces of the family. But they could not conceal 
 their distress to see him. . They knew that the military 
 was abroad, that a great price was set on his head : that 
 this had drawn out a host of spies and informers ; and that 
 the indiscreet affection of some of his old parishioners had 
 let too many into the secret of his concealments; and they 
 had now become known. 
 
 The good man of the house had scarcely returned from 
 the upper chamber, in which he had left Cargil, when the 
 military, and a multitude of townsmen were crowding into 
 Bell's Wynd from the High-street ; and some of the ad 
 vanced guard were already nigh the door. In the first 
 confusion his host hurried up to apprize him of the state of 
 matters, and to bewail his impending fate. 
 
 "Ye canna escape, beloved pastor : the loons hae beset 
 my house: and they hae taen possession o' the lower 
 apartments. Had we but got a moment's warning o' yer 
 comin', I could hae summoned a wheen stalwart lads, who 
 wi' their shoemaker and butcher's gullies, and their smith's 
 forehammers, micht hae cleared the Wynd o 1 them. But 
 waes me for you ! my gude faither ; I am single haun'd. 
 And what can Saunders Zeul du against a haile host o' 
 airmed men !" 
 
 " Bide a wee bittock !" replied Cargil, as he continued 
 hastily to put on the last of his new suit of disguisement ; 
 and stowed away his black velvets into a corner "I canna 
 gae oot, say ye, Sauners, by the common way o' egress ? 
 Then I canna flee awa' frae the garret winnock. Aiblins 
 I might escape by the roof: but yer steep sklate roofs win- 
 na du for safe footin' for an auld man, to leap frae roof to 
 roof, or dive into some attic dormitory winnock. And sae,
 
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THB STUARTS. 109 
 
 I mauft een gang out the way I came in. And harkee, 
 Sauners ! bide ye here a brief space : ye sail hear o' me. 
 There is to be a grand Conventicle in the woods o' Carls- 
 ness, May neist. See that ye meet me there. The heads 
 o' the sufferers will be wi' us." 
 
 He added as he held his broad blue bonnet in his hand, 
 "And noo, haly Providence ! keep this gude man, and 
 his, frae a' skaith. And reward him for the cup o' com 
 forts and the shelter he has gien to thy servant. May_ he 
 and his ne'er want, and may they ne'er suffer for oor 
 sake ! Farewell, Sauners: may the gude wull o' him wha 
 dwelt in the bush, be wi' you and yours. Thae dogs win- 
 na wag their tongues at me. Be you still and keep 
 close." 
 
 He instantly proceeded down the turnpike, as the Scotch 
 call the stair way, with his braid bonnet on and in his 
 suit o' grays, and he mingled among the crowd who filled 
 the house, and looked on while the soldiers were searching 
 the cellar and closets. He passed, unmoved, through the 
 bustling soldiers and crowd of men and callans, and was 
 taken, by them, for the gude man of the house. Some of 
 the mob were threatening the soldiers if they daured to 
 touch a hair 0' gude Donald Cargil's beard: others, in 
 half serious, half jesting way, were recounting "the braw 
 bludy deeds 11 o' the Life Guard's men, while the merry 
 troopers received the plaudits, and backed the praise with 
 the new framed oaths of the Court : some, more ventur 
 ous, were contrasting the zeal of the King's servants 
 against the solemn league and covenants, with the King's 
 own zeal in behalf of the said covenants, when on his 
 bended knees, in the palace of Scoon, he voluntarily swore 
 the oath of the national covenant. 
 
 "Ay, ay! right voluntarily he did it too, gin we may 
 tak the word o' a king, ye ken" cried another burgess, as 
 he held the sergeant and a few of the life guard's men 
 about him. "And may be, my braw lads ye dinna ken 
 ony better. When the deputation frae Scotland arrived at 
 Breda, worthy Mr. John Livingston was amang the num 
 ber. He sune saw through him, and a' his hollow disguis 
 es, and sae did he, as ony ither worthy Scotchman, o' 
 ony gumpshon at a', micht haedune for e'en while they 
 were ripening the conditions o' his hame comin' they 
 VOL. i. K.
 
 110 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 found him oot plottin treason against his ain kingdom ; 
 for, my certie ! a king can plot treason as \veel as less 
 men. He was plotting an invasion o' his kintry through 
 the flanks o' the Heelans, by the instrumentality o' that 
 vile graceless crater, the Marquis o' Montrose. Weel, ye 
 see, when they got him hame, for he was unco easy aboot 
 the conditions, when he had secret intelligence that the 
 crater Montrose was grupped, after a total failzie, haein' 
 failed to tak the kintry and the croon by force o' airms, 
 he, "Charles, becaum as tame as a lamb, he set out wi' the 
 deputation, whilk by nae means kenned as meikle as he 
 kenned aboot things, he submitted to a' terms, agreed 
 to the halsome restrictions under whilk the croon was 
 tendered to him, and swore the great aith of the cove 
 nants," 
 
 " Do ye presume to say to my ain face, ye leein' rascal, that 
 the king took the aith of the covenants ?" cried the officer 
 whose zeal here burst out beyond bounds. 
 
 "Say it? Du I say it?" replied the Burges, "Yes; 
 and' the hail nation kens he teuk the great oath on his 
 knees, and swore on the pain o' damnation to his soul, 
 that he wad keep that aith o' the national covenant. Why, 
 man, ye ten unco little o' Scottish history. But I bethink 
 me," added he as the officer retreated under the laughter 
 of the citizens, " a soldier ne'er reads, nor thinks ; well, 
 my braw lads!" continued he to the dragoons, "Patrick 
 Gillespie, wha was Principal o' oor College, Saunders 
 Zeull, ye well remember him," he added with a wink 
 and a nod to Cargil, as the supposed gude man of 
 the house, "Weel, Patrick Gillespie says to his Majes 
 ty, we disavow a' compulsions o ; the conscience : and we 
 entreat yer Majesty, in God's name, not to take this great 
 aith o' the covenant if yer Majesty has any doubts or scru 
 ples on yer conscience. And what think ye, Wattie Hep 
 burn, was his Sacred Majesty's answer," said the Burgess 
 with an expressive look and pause. 
 
 "Why," says Wattie, "he wad order the covenants to be 
 burnt by the hauns o' the pyoty coated men, and yer 
 knaves Livingston, Gillespie, and Douglass to be flung, 
 by Auld Nick, into the bottomless pit, for their pains." 
 
 " Toot, toot ! ye profane crater, stop ye there. But 
 I'm weel served for speerin' sic a question, at a soldado !
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. Ill 
 
 Na, na!" continued the Burgess, turning him round to 
 the other soldiers, "King Charles, at Scoon, teuk the aith 
 o' the covenants. 
 
 "And noo, soldiers, ye are a pack o' gowks, thus to be 
 imposed on ; and driven on at this gaite to persecute the 
 men wha hae dune nae mair than yer royal maister, oor gra 
 cious sovereign has dune. Hark ye, soldiers ! you are, 
 noo-a-days, the only ministers o' public justice : Ye ocht 
 to gang yer ways straight to Embro' and throw into Bil 
 bo auld perjured Rothes, and bloody McKenzie and the 
 remanent members o' the Cooncil, fause loons ! and also 
 a' the Criminal Lords, (as wi' gude sense and justice they 
 ca' them,) and, I'm thinkin' ye ocht to set up a Coort o' 
 the wisest o' the Whigs, and bring to condign punishment 
 the traitors against the covenant, whilk the king, oor 
 Lord teuk, on his knees, at Scoon ! Depend on it, my 
 lads ! yer officers are imposing in a rascally mainer on ye. 
 Ye'll a' be hanged by the king, some day, when he'll tak it 
 intil his head to remember his aith ! and I am tauld he 
 has already got some qualms o' conscience ; and the day 
 wull come when nettles wull grow in the court yard o' 
 Roseneath, and yer Claverse wull fa' in battle and tumble 
 the crane oot ower the craig, like a pair o' auld boots ! as 
 sure's my name's Tammus Tweedie !" 
 
 While this dialogue was going on among the guards 
 stationed beneath, and while things were coming to a cri 
 sis, which must soon end in blows the other officers hav 
 ing finished their search below, proceeded up stairs. 
 
 Father Cargil stood, all this time, wedged up, in such a 
 manner, that he could not move towards the door. And 
 had he shown any unusual impatience to extricate himself, 
 he would have caused suspicions immediately to fall upon 
 him. He stood still, and with calmness waited the result. 
 And, upon the rush of the soldiers up-stairs, he moved 
 gradually towards the door, slyly pulled Master James 
 by the sleeve, who, not having perceived him in the crowd, 
 but believing him to be up-stairs, was leaning against the 
 wall in great distress : and slyly giving him a wink from 
 beneath his broad blue bonnet, he walked out with measured 
 steps, like one in no especial hurry. 
 
 " Let the hounds noo seek the prey," said he, " the 
 lair is empty. The red deer has the wind o' the hunts-
 
 112 THE WHIGS or SCOTLAND: 
 
 man." And taking master James' arm he hurried up the 
 High-street. 
 
 Every thing indicated a hot search. It was the design 
 of the arch-bishop and his military aids, to sweep Glas 
 gow, that day, as with a drag net ; in order to take our 
 party who were justly considered the leaders of the whigs, 
 in the West. 
 
 Cargil and James pursued their way up the Deanside- 
 Brae, and down the Rotten Row. And hurrying from one 
 obscure lane to another, they urged forward their retreat, 
 until they reached another of Cargil's hiding-places. 
 
 When they advanced, they found the doors and win 
 dows shut, Cargil knocked loudly. Upon this, they could 
 hear a bustling, and rushing within. In a few moments, 
 the door opened slowly on Cargil : while a dark eye, with 
 a searching look, fell on his youthful companion ; as it 
 measured him from head to foot ; and glanced, in con 
 temptuous scorn over his scarlet, and lace. 
 
 " Come in, come in, father Cargil." And though the 
 words were addressed to Cargil, the eyes of the speaker, 
 rested wholly on Master James. 
 
 "Ye're not a prisoner, I hope in mercy!" added the 
 Argus, after a painful suspense, and as he could contain 
 himself no longer. 
 
 Cargil whispered a sentence into his ear : and the stern 
 features of the Covenanter instantly relaxed into a smile : 
 and carefully shutting the door, and bolting it, he embraced 
 both of them very affectionately, and with tears in his 
 eyes. 
 
 He led Cargil eagerly forward, and presented him to his 
 family, and to the meeting. It was a group of his parish- 
 oners assembled for social worship. 
 
 "Beloved pastor!" cried a venerable old man, one of 
 the elders of the Landward parish, whose hair, as white 
 as the snow wreath on the top of Darngavel, fell in a 
 profusion of curls on his shoulders and bosom, "oor 
 souls within us praise and bless HIS name, that we aince 
 mair see ye alive ! we had just heard a doleful tale ; and 
 man, woman, and tairne lifted up their voices and wept, 
 when it was tauld that Donald Cargil was taken : and that 
 yer bludy baptism had been nearly consummated. Oor 
 hearts sank within us : and thae auld een, whilk had wept.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 113 
 
 until I thought that there were nae mair tears in them, 
 wept bitter tears for you, our unco dear auld pastor ! and 
 we had just-assembled here, wi' ane accord, after the ex 
 ample o' oor Maister's disciples in the case o' Peter, to 
 mak instant and earnest prayer for you, that ye micht get 
 deliverance frae the enemy's power : or grace to finish yer 
 course wi' joy ! and lauded be his name, he has given you 
 to oor vows; and we see ye alive !" 
 
 The old pastor lifted up his eyes, and looked around 
 him: and beheld the leading members, and the elders, 
 even all of them who had survived the bitter storm of 
 persecution, thus far, who like so many Aarons and Hurs, 
 had, in the former sunny days of his ministry, borne up 
 his hands. He sat down in the midst of them ; covered 
 his face with his hands, and wept : they looked on him, 
 and wept also : there was not a dry eye in the whole 
 group. 
 
 In a short space his mind was composed. He rose up; 
 and as if the events of the day had gone from his memory, 
 like the dream of a summer's morning, he proceeded in 
 his official duties. In those passing meetings, when Provi 
 dence threw an opportunity in their way, the pastors of 
 those days, seized the few moments allowed them. Every 
 one felt the urgent necessity laid on them. Time was of 
 inestimable worth : they had none to throw away. The 
 next hour might see them dispersed; or in the hands of 
 the foemen. Cargil offered up, first, a solemn prayer : 
 and then he addressed them, as he used to do, in the pulpit 
 of the Landward kirk. 
 
 It was a specimen of the simple, pathetic, and sublime; 
 which the Scottish pastor occasionally displays, as well in 
 the matter, as in the manner, of his messages ; when look 
 ing forward, over the brief space of time, and the still 
 more brief span of human existence, into the deeply 
 solemn, and awful realities of eternity : or when looking 
 on the inestimable worth of immortal souls; or when 
 conceiving of the approaching scenes of death, judgment, 
 and eternity: or when urging the duty of instantly 
 making the necessary preparations to meet these scene*, 
 and the presence of the Judge of all ; he pours forth his 
 arguments, and expostulations, and entreaties, in im 
 passioned language; and implores his beloved flock, by 
 
 K*
 
 114 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 all that they hold dear in life ; by the holy God ; by the 
 death and atonement of Him who hung upon the cross ; 
 by the expectations and anxieties of a dying hour, when all 
 human hopes perish : by the immortal glory of Heaven ; 
 and by the fearful doom of eternity ! 
 
 Such was the present exhibition of Cargil. He always 
 possessed the overpowering animation of the Scottish 
 pastor : in the pulpit he was more dignified : in the con 
 venticle, more familiar. There was something unusually 
 interesting in his countenance ; there was that in it which 
 struck awe into the beholder, and at the same time, some 
 thing so lovely and sweet, that it gained the affections of all. 
 Nothing could excel his fine face, when lighted up by the 
 excitement of the pulpit exercise. His deep-toned and 
 musical voice, was in perfect unison with his grave and 
 placid countenance ; and lent force to the dignity of the 
 speaker. His singular pathos, which revealed the vehe 
 ment sensibilities of his soul, as it put forth its powerful 
 energies over the heart of his audience, produced extra 
 ordinary effects ! He did not terrify : he did not strike 
 the mind dumb with amazement. The audience became 
 oppressed with sorrow as he spoke : and their labouring 
 hearts gave vent to their feelings in floods of tears ! 
 
 He was approaching the close of his touching appeal, 
 and giving utterance to these words of Jesus Christ, 
 what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, 
 and lose his own soul : or what shall a man give in ex 
 change for his soul ? when the sudden alarm given, by 
 their sentinel, that the enemy was approaching, con 
 strained him to break off. He raised his eyes towards 
 heaven, and breathed this short prayer, " Into thy hands, 
 O, oor God ! we commit oorsels : and that cause whilk is 
 thine ain /" 
 
 In an instant while the people disappeared in the lane, 
 in the rear of the house, and over the garden wall, the most 
 active of the young men had Cargil and Master James 
 conveyed up stairs. And their ingenuity suggested, in the 
 twinkling of an eye, a scheme of concealment. They 
 hastened to conceal them in a deep recess; and then 
 placed a shelf containing a pile of books, in the front 
 of it. 
 
 The soldiers had received certain information from a
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 115 
 
 spy, that Cargil, and another Whig had been seen going 
 into that house. The. officer stationed a soldier at each 
 door and window in the inside, and proceeded to institute 
 a diligent search. They overturned all the beds ; and 
 thrust their swords through them, to make sure work. 
 They rummaged every corner, and closet, and hole, be 
 ginning at the cellar. They searched even behind the ceil 
 ing : they ascended into the attic story, and examined every 
 recess and opening. In the eagerness of the search, the 
 zeal of the officer out-stripping his prudence : he had 
 reached forward to look into a dark place, immediately 
 under the high slanting roof; and, losing his centre of 
 gravity, he tumbled into a part of the garret floor, which, 
 through the careful economy of the landlord, had not been 
 laid with planks : but which had only been lathed and 
 plastered below. He fell headlong through the cieling; 
 and like a hero of Homer, on the battle ground, he was 
 prostrated at his huge length, on the floor below, enveloped 
 in fragments of lath ; and broken plaister : and a suffocating 
 cloud of dust. 
 
 Just at the moment of this catastrophe, a soldier had 
 been eying the books, in the room, below the garret floor. 
 And he was suspecting, that it was not for nothing that 
 these books were rather out of their way, and so nicely 
 crammed into the wall press, there. And he actually had 
 his hand on one of them, in order to pull it out, to get 
 a peep into the recess ; to ascertain how deep it might 
 possibly be, and what it might, happily contain besides books ; 
 when the faithful Meg Munro, who had, with keen eyes, 
 been watching the movements of this soldier : and had 
 been very clamorous in expressing her fears, ' that he was 
 gaun to steal her Master's beuks and other gear,' scream 
 ed out, "see till him, noo, the thievish loon, he's begun to 
 steal oor beuks !" 
 
 These words reached the ears of the prostrate officer, a 
 moment after he had fallen ; and as he was beginning to 
 gather up his huge bulk ; and Avas examining, with most 
 rueful looks, his head, and ribs, and hinderlands. And the 
 next moment, with a grotesque mixture of ejaculations, and 
 curses, he metamorphosed his crying wry face into a terri 
 ble frown upon the soldier, and commanded him to refrain, 
 and let the books alone.
 
 116 THE WHIGS or SCOTLAND: 
 
 "Books! knave!" continued he, as his face was lighted 
 up with a bitter and sarcastic smile. " Books ! verily, a 
 soldier steal books ! A life guards man take it into his 
 head to read ! By the everlasting Sathan, then ye're not 
 going to live long, if ye be seized with that kind of fit of 
 madness!" 
 
 He now summoned his party together ; and writhing and 
 groaning with pain, he succeeded in telling them that 
 " the Whig priest was certainly seen to henter this ere ouse ; 
 hand now hall hof them ad hocular demonstration ! ay, 
 faith, hand I ave ad more than hocular demonstration ho ! 
 my poor shivered bones ! that e his not hin this ouse, nor 
 habout hit, from the roof tree, down to the cellar." And he 
 added with an oath not to be recorded " Hold Mahoon, hor 
 the hauld deel, as the Scotch call im, must ave habsolutely 
 elped im hof, being one hof is hown servants scudding hit 
 hon ha broomstick, through some crack, hor cranny, hin 
 the door, hor the windur : hand as borne im through the 
 hair ! Hand, so, my gallants, baiting my loss hof the three 
 thousand silver merks ho ! my crushed limbs ! they be 
 hall poundered intur a jelly r so hit will be hall to the 
 same heffeck ; has the colonel, hor the council could only 
 ave sent im that same way, to Beelzebub's dominions, by ha 
 good empen rope, eh? ho my cracked ribs, hand my 
 haching ead ! I ham habsolutely pounded to ha jellyr ! 
 Elp me to my quarters, soldiers ! I leave my death hon the 
 Whiggamores ! Ho ! curses hon the Whigs ! Good 
 eavens ! if there be hany eavens, save my soul, hif I ave a 
 soul ! when I die, hif I must die ! Ho ! ho ! there's been 
 murder ere, this very day, by the Whigs, I trow ! For 
 ward, march !" 
 
 While the soldiers, with difficulty suppressing their 
 laughter, were supporting him down the street, Cargil and 
 Master James lost no time in effecting their speedy retreat 
 from the rear of the building.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 117 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 " Give me, Heaven ! a gude Scotch tongue, and a wee bairne's 
 simplicity !" AN OLD PROVERB. 
 
 Scarcely had they reached a friend's house in the Rot 
 ten Row, and drunk a cup o' cauld water, and eaten a cake 
 o' oaten meal, when another file o' soldiers on foot, was 
 seen, by his watchful host Robert Bruce, of that ilk, march 
 ing slyly up in the steps o' a spy and informer. The 
 neighbours, a few o' his faithful and affectionate parishion 
 ers, procured his escape. They raised a scuffle . laid t\va 
 three weel applied looners to the chouks and hurdies o' the 
 spy, and his coadjutors. Cargil, in the confusion, losing 
 sight of Master James, had thrown himself over the garden 
 wa' f in the rear o' the hoose, into a narrow lane, and dis 
 appeared. In pursuin' his way frae the Deanside Brae 
 into the High-street, he met full in the face two dragoons. 
 No wonder ! Ilka street was teemin' wi' them. He walk 
 ed up wi' admirable presence o' mind, and hummed a tune.. 
 One o' them asked him 'pray, sir, what o'clock is it?' ' It 
 is past six,' said Cargil. The other started, " That is the 
 man we seek," cried he, " I ken his voice weel." 
 
 That moment Cargil plunged into an obscure close, and 
 ran forward until he turned a corner. All this was effect 
 ed before the soldier could convince his comrade that this 
 man, walking so much at his ease, was Cargil. They set 
 out in full trot, and directing their course down the High- 
 street, they kept a strict look-out on the lanes, and rows of 
 cottages, at that time, opposite the college,* and the ruins 
 of the Grey Friars, in hopes that the Conventicle man 
 might make his appearance again. Cargil had directed 
 his retreat on the college grounds. He, therefore, did make 
 his appearance in the High-street, nearly opposite the col 
 lege gate, from a lane between a few cottages. But he had 
 not reached the middle of the street, when his ear caught 
 the dragoons' shout which they raised at the discovery. 
 He directed his course to the spot where the Grey Friar's 
 church had stood, and which had been thrown down by a 
 
 * How different, in those days, was the High-street, from what it now 
 is, opposite the College !
 
 
 118 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 violent storm some thirteen years before this. But perceiv 
 ing no prospect of a hiding-place among the ruins, or in 
 the vicinity, he turned suddenly down the college garden 
 wynd, and in through Sucky Langthrapple's Close, and 
 threw himself on the mercy of the inmates of the first door 
 he found open. " Donald Cargil is pursued by the enemy," 
 cried he, out of breath, " and he throws himself on your 
 honour and mercy ; wha eer ye be, ye'fl no betray him." 
 
 To his utter astonishment he discovered that he had ac 
 tually entered the house of one of the soldiers of the gallant 
 Scottish dragoons. A tall female arose and met him. She 
 was dressed in a plain dress, and coarse, but with that taste 
 and neatness which characterizes a Scottish soldier's w T ife, 
 who had received a Scottish education, and had probably 
 seen better days. 
 
 ' I am a soldier's wife," cried she, but a smile on her 
 fine countenance chased away his fears. " You have ap> 
 pealed to oor honour, and the honour o' a soldier's wife has 
 ne'er been appealed to, in vain. Come in, you sha'nna be 
 betrayed by me." 
 
 He had not been secreted many minutes by the soldier's 
 wife, when a soldier walked in. It was her husband. " I 
 hae had a heat to nae purpose, Avifie ! after that thin lank 
 Whig. My certie! though an auld man, he rins glegly. 
 His aiild pow, let me see noo, wad hae been worth three 
 thoosand gude siller merks ! That wad hae placed you 
 and I, wifie! on a pretty wee farm, and a bonny cottage, wi' 
 a bit green, and a ripplin' burnie rinnin' by, and murmur- 
 in' through the copse wood, and lang yellow broom ! And, 
 then, I could hae retired, and left aft' the " killin' trade" as 
 the Whigs ca' it. And may be, dinna misca' it, after a' !" 
 
 " And my braw Bauldy," replied his pretty wife, with a 
 smile, "could you, noo, hae enjoyed yoursel, and the com 
 pany o' yer wee anes prattlin' on yer knee, had ye made 
 three thoosan' merks oot o' human blood and butchery ? 
 Could ye hae kneeled aside me, yer ain wife, and thanked 
 kind Heaven for a' yer comforts, when thae comforts were 
 boucht by blude and crime ?" 
 
 " What for no, woman !" cried the soldier, " It's no the 
 blude o' a nobleman, or o' ane honest liege, but the vile pud 
 dle that creeps in the veins o' a Whiggamore fanatic ! A 
 base rebel loon wha assembles the lieges at his canting Con-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. H9 
 
 venticles, ' thae rendevouzes o' rebellion,' as his maist sa 
 cred Majesty, and his Cooncil ca's them." 
 
 " Na, na, Bauldy, I ken yer feelings better, my braw 
 callan. Ye' re no speaking as ye think, this time, I hae 
 heard ye, and seen ye shudder at the monsters, Claverse and 
 Dalziel, and Kennoway; and at the deeds of thae swash 
 bucklers, the life guards. The dragoons o' yer Scottish 
 regiment, thank God, are no the life guards. It was poor- 
 tith and cruel injustice that drove ye into the military life, 
 at a time when the gallant soldier nae longer fights the 
 battles o' his kintry, but turns his weapons on its bowels ! 
 I speak what ye weel ken, Bauldy!" 
 
 " What, woman ! think ye, I wad na hae ta'en aff that 
 Whig's head ? Think ye, I wad na hae whanged it aif 
 like the stalk o' an ingen. Three thousand merks o 1 siller 
 are no to be sneezed at, by ane honest Scottish soldier ! And 
 yespecially when he can come honestly at it, ye ken, by 
 justifying a Whig, and slicing up Whiggery! But e'en 
 tak it yer ain way, my sweet wifie," added he in a soothing 
 tone, and asked "ifitwasna' near brose time yet, for he 
 was unco sharp set." 
 
 As he spoke this he began to unbuckle the belt of his 
 long sword : and laying his steel cap beaming on the floor, 
 he took up his little prattler, in his arms, a pretty boy 
 with yellow curly locks, and laughing blue een. 
 
 " Come, wee Davy ! what hae ye been aboot a' day ? 
 Bonny laddie, Heelan' laddie!" 
 
 After a few minutes' prattling, and tickling, and worry 
 ing, the wee laddie looked him earnestly in the face and 
 said " Daddy, de ye ken wha's in the hcose ?" 
 
 His mother from behind the soldier knit her brows, in a 
 terrible frown ; and shook her fist at him slyly. 
 
 Davie did na ken the meaning of all this. His kind 
 little heart and soul had no idea of his father's employ 
 ment. He did not know yet, that one man sold himself, 
 for silver, to do any thing which an unprincipled com 
 mander might order him to do. He had not yet found out 
 by experience that there were men, that his own father 
 was one of them, who made it his trade to kill his bro 
 ther man, at the word o' another ; because that brother 
 did not think and believe as he, and his commanders think 
 on religious matters! Wee Davie had not felt the influence
 
 120 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 of this knowledge on this unspoiled kind heart. Like 
 other sweet children, he knew no guile. He, therefore, 
 repeated the question in the perfect simplicity of his heart, 
 thinking it would give pleasure to his father. 
 
 "Dee ye ken, Daddy! wha's in the hoose? Guess." 
 "In the hoose, my wee man: why, wha should be in the 
 hoose, but yer ain dear ma, and yer ain wee brithers and 
 ulsters." 
 
 Davie laughed merrily, and clapt his little hands, and 
 crowed because 'he kenned mair,' he said, than his father." 
 "Why, Daddy, gude auld Donald Cargil' s in the hoose! 
 He cam bickering and running in, a bittock ago, a' oot 
 o* breath, and said 'auld Donald Cargil,' said he, that's 
 the way, Daddy, that we kenned his name auld Donald 
 Cargil,' says he, 'comes in to tak shelter wi' ye ye'll no 
 put him oot, the enemy is pressing hard on me' ; thae 
 vile bodies, wha can they be, Daddy, that wad be sae 
 naughty as to chase auld Donald Cargil ? I can think o 1 
 nane wha wud du it, unless they I read of, in my carrat- 
 ches, 'the deevil and his angels.' Speak, daddy, what for 
 look ye sae wild and staring at me. Oh ! Daddy, auld 
 Donald is a bonny auld man His hair is sae white ; 
 and it's divided sae nicely down the front this gate," and 
 Davie, parted his curly locks in like manner in front ; and 
 it fa's doon in lang bushy curls on his neck and shoulders. 
 I do love auld Donald Cargil. Dinna ye love him, daddy? 
 I hae been wonnerin' whaur he bides : mither put him into 
 the meikle press ben in the spence there; and steeket the 
 door on him ; just a wee while afore ye came in, at the 
 street door." 
 
 As Davie thus ran thoughtlessly on ; the soldier looked, 
 in speechless amazement, first at his bairn ; then at his 
 wife ; who threw herself on her knees, clasping wi' ae 
 arm, her wee Davie, as he sat on his father's knee ; and 
 with the other arm, she embraced her gallant soldier's 
 neck. And before his words could find utterance, Donald 
 Cargil presented himself before the dragoon. 
 
 ' There he is, daddy I tauld ye sae, Is na Donald an 
 unco bonny auld man ? ' And Davie threw himself down 
 off his faither's knee, and ran to the old pastor, exclaim 
 ing ' Ye' re no gaun awa' already, afore ye speak to 
 feither!'
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 121 
 
 Cargil took Davie up in his arms, and kissed him; 
 and laying him in his bosom, supported by the one hand 
 he raised the other toward heaven, and offered up a prayer : 
 * May the Almighty God bless thee, my sweet wee bairne, 
 wi' a' purchased and special blessings ! ' and his tears, in 
 large drops, fell on the face of the lovely child. Davie 
 looked amazed, first at Cargil : then at his mother ; and 
 then at his father ; and wondered why they all cried, and 
 then he cried too ; and kissed Cargil's cheek ; and fondled 
 with his fingers, in his long beard, while he looked on his 
 parents and sobbed. 
 
 The soldier rose, stept to the window, and dashed a tear 
 from his eyes ; then turning him round, he took his little 
 boy out of the bosom o' Cargil, and pressed him to his own 
 bosom. 
 
 " Father Cargil for I maun e'en ca' ye sae, did we ken 
 each ither better, and did we come together wi' the sim 
 plicity, and guileless heart o' my wee Davie, I think the 
 murderous wark o' thae dulefu' times wad speedily be 
 brocht to an end!" 
 
 His wife came hastily up as he uttered these words, 
 and laying her white arm round her soldier's neck, 
 she kissed his cheek, with fondness, while the clear 
 tear drops rolled down the red cloth on the soldier's 
 arm. 
 
 " I knew it, my Bauldy ! I knew it weel. And, Oh 1 
 it needs only the meetin' o' Scotchmen, wi' a Scotchman ; 
 and the opening o' a Scotchman's heart to the sympathies 
 o' a Scotchman's heart, to put an end effectually to this 
 bludy butcherin' wark." 
 
 " Yes !" cried the soldier, " I think if wee Davie. here, 
 had introduced auld Donald Cargil to Claverse, or e'en to 
 Sharp himsel' wi' this simplicity, and innocence o' child 
 hood, he might move baith the ane and the ither. But 
 come, venerable man, continued the soldier to Cargil, > 
 I am ane under authority, and no my ain master." He 
 cast an expressive glance at his wife, as he uttered this, 
 "And at this instant, ye are no safe under this roof," 
 added he, my comrades wull soon be here: follow ms." 
 
 Cargil hastily wrote a. few lines, which he put into the 
 hands of the -soldier's wifej with instructions that wee 
 YOL. i. i.
 
 , 
 122 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 Davie should, in person, present them to Helen Wardlaw, 
 
 He then took up the child once more, in his arms, and 
 pronounced a solemn benediction on him, and kissed him. 
 'We shall hear o' thee, some day, my bonny wee sweet 
 Davie. May the benison o' the Almichty be on thee, and 
 on thy kind-hearted mither, and thy faither !" 
 
 The bairne wept, and sobbed as he held out his ruby lips 
 to be kissed : and leaning him against the door-cheek, his 
 weeping eyes followed Cargil, and his father, up the street 
 Until they disappeared. 
 
 The soldier led Cargil up the High-street : and thence up 
 the hill side toward the ruins of the bishop's castle, which, 
 at that time, extended over the spot, which is now the site 
 of the Glasgow hospital. And having conducted him into 
 the midst of the ruins, he shook him heartily by the hand, 
 and instantly disappeared. 
 
 Father Cargil seated himself on the fragment of a pillar, 
 in an obscure corner of the ruins, and sunk into a reverie. 
 These ruins of massy columns, and architraves, and sculp 
 tured pediments recalled the idea of the former grandeur 
 of the men of olden times. He thought of the inmates of 
 this episcopal palace, the warlike bishops of this cas 
 tellated house. He thought of priests who had here mut 
 tered their morning prayers ; and their orisons at toll of 
 the curfew -who had fasted and lacerated their flesh, and 
 counted their beads before men ; and rioted in intemperance 
 and crimes, when no mortal eye saw them. He thought 
 of priests converted, here, into soldiers and led by the 
 bishop, mounted the bastions, and sounded the warder's 
 bugle, and flung the lance, and handled the shield, the sons 
 of war and of peace, as it suited the taste of their proud 
 mitred lord ; who mingled in politics, and mumbled masses 
 who dictated to the willing consciences of king and 
 nobles ; who granted absolution to living knaves ; and ex 
 treme unction, and a passport to dying sinners ; who reaped 
 golden harvests from masses over the uncomplaining dead ; 
 and drew rich bequests from the dying ruffian. There 
 passed before his mind the image of bishops who had 
 reigned here; Lauder, and Campbell, and Morton, and 
 Blackadder; and above all, arch-bishop Beaton, the voice 
 of whose revelry, in these halls, rivalled that of any Scottish
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 123 
 
 duke or lord, when with the neighbouring chiefs he drank 
 deep potations. 
 
 "There was mirth in the hall; 
 And beards wagged all." 
 
 But the Reformation came. The voice of John Knox 
 was heard: and the voice of the lords of the congrega 
 tion, and the voice of the Scottish nobility. It came upon 
 arch-bishop Beaton like a thunderstorm from heaven. It 
 fell on his strength, his glory, and his profligacy. He 
 escaped to France it is true. But he had the character 
 istic wisdom and forecast of his fellows. He fled not 
 until he had secured the rich plunder of this castle-palace, 
 and the plunder of all the valuables of the Cathedral ad 
 joining this, now called the Heigh Kirk. "And the rooks 
 hae a nest here nae mair. So neither hae I," continued 
 Cargil gathering up his grey cloak around him " Neither 
 hae I, intil whase weak and unworthy hands, for ane, the 
 rod o' the shepherd o' thae same sheep, has fa'en. We 
 drove the Romanists frae their palaces. The Erastians 
 and Malignants, in their turn,, hae driven us frae our hum 
 ble sheelins ! Beaton, wha had studied temporals, wi' nae 
 sma' attention, trusting naught to French hospitality, and 
 conscious that e'en the Pope wad gie him mair credit for 
 his spiritual disinterestedness, in proportion as he had ta'en 
 the means to place himself independent o' his Holiness' 
 bounty, took especial care, in his saving knowledge, to 
 provide himself wi' the materials o' a splendid home. I 
 wha aince fed the saum flock, here, hae na, this night, 
 whare to lay my head ; savin' it be amid the Prelate's 
 fragments." The old man wrapt his cloak closer around him 
 and laughed aloud at the idea/while he repeated it " saving 
 it be here amid the 'bishops' fragments." And he laid 
 himself down ; and stretched out his limbs on the ruins of 
 a massy pillar ; arid laid his head on the chapiter work, 
 for a pillow; with perhaps, as much real enjoyment; as 
 the ancient bishop had stretched himself out, probably, in 
 this same spot, after a luxurious banquet, on his bed of 
 canach, or sea-fowl down ! 
 
 " No, indeed!" cried Master James, coming up to him 
 with some concern, " E'en this is denied you a' the imps 
 o* hades seem, this day, to hae broken loose. And the
 
 124 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND '. 
 
 bishop's ghaist frowns on ye, father, for this liberty ye hae 
 ta'en wi' his fragments ! Arise ; some persons approach, 
 not soldiers, but strangers they seem, who wish to look, 
 also, at thae monuments o' sacerdotal pride, and sacerdotal 
 downfa !" 
 
 " I bethink me, noo, Master James," said Cargil raising 
 himself up, with great indifference, and a singular elasti 
 city of spirits, so common to the sufferers, as dangers 
 thickened around them ; " I bethink me ; in that humble 
 street o' thatched houses, near bye, dwells my auld Bedrel, 
 wha has served me faithfully for mony a year bygane. 
 This way James ! Let us descend through this shafted win 
 dow. Let us, soldier like, retire so as to hae the auld ruins 
 o' this sacerdotal bigging, to cover oor retreat. This way, 
 Master James ! You are as thin as I am. Thanks to 
 our moderate larder. Had I been an English bishop 
 noo, to whom a huge corporation seems as essential as 
 canonicals, I could na hae effected my escape by any means. 
 I must hae been grupped by the foemen. What a beauti 
 ful and appropriate fitness there is in things ! There noo ! 
 how easily oor slim bodies slip through the shafts o' the 
 ruined window !" 
 
 They were soon at the fire-side of the Bedrel of the 
 Barony Kirk, and their welcome w r as a substantial one. 
 The old man, without one unnecessary question, or unbe 
 fitting remark, rose up from his humble table ; led Cargil 
 and Master James into the spense, presumed that this 
 maun be his young frien seeing that he had brocht him 
 alang wi' him : told him that he had heard, this day, unco 
 meikle aboot his dear Minister, that had alarmed him 
 right sairly. " Noo," continued he, " ye canna lodge here, 
 nor rest e'en ae hoor ! The enemy hae been here 
 this very day, mair than aince, and well I jaloose, they'll 
 be here again, ere long. I do believe, father, they hae, at 
 last, found oot ilka ane o' yer lurking places in the haille 
 city and parish. For the three thoosan' siller marks, set 
 On yer dear auld grey head, hae sent oot mony a pack o* 
 bludy villains after ye : God help ye ! Noo, dinna say ae 
 word. Come ben and tak each o' ye a retreating mess,, 
 and then run. Noo, Lucky ! " continued the Bedrel, turn 
 ing his eyes on his kind help-mate, who was wiping away a 
 tear with the corner of her white apron, while she held die
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 125 
 
 hand of her minister with the other, " bring ben the meikle 
 pot o' barley kail, and the residue o' the haggis, and the 
 kebbuck, I'm grieved that we hae nae yitt meal cakes, - 
 the grand staff o' Scotland's life. But we hae a gude sub 
 stitute : we hae plenty o 7 mashlum bannocks, and scadded 
 scones. And thir kittle times afford us nae time to think 
 o' a nice and delicate gab !" 
 
 By this time they were seated, and father Cargil lifted 
 his hands and pronounced a brief benediction over "the 
 gude viands so unexpectedly provided by the kind hand o 1 
 Providence ; and noo ! O gude Lord," continued he, 
 thou art ay mindfu' o' thy p'uir wanderin' servants : we 
 hae ne'er wanted for ocht. Bless thae crater comforts; 
 and endue us wi' thy heavenly grace : and let our souls 
 be nourished to the day o' rest and glory. And the mair 
 especially as thy puir auld servant knaws not whaur he 
 may eat his neist meal ; nor how sune he may be called 
 to glorify thee in the last extremity o' his sufferings." 
 
 " I hae nae claret, to wash down the viands," cried the 
 Bedrel, as he bustled about to serve them. "But I hae 
 the best o' gude yill," continued he, as from the large pew 
 ter pint stoup he filled the two clean little bickers brim 
 ming full, and drank to their health, and craved Heaven's 
 benison on them. 
 
 As he hurried them through their frugal meal, and fre 
 quently went to the door to reconnoitre, the anxious Be 
 drel discovered, or conceived that he had discovered, a 
 straggling party advancing towards his humble dwelling. 
 Without ceremony he hastened Cargil and Master James, 
 out of the back door, and over the garden wall into the 
 next lane. " Noo, ye'll gang doon intil the howe o' the 
 Burn, and then, father, ye'll tak upwards, and find yer 
 way intil the Kirk yard. The sun is, by my reckonin', 
 twa hoors heigh yet : I'll tak my canny way to be wi' ye : 
 and I sail meet ye in the Kirk yard wi' the keys, and in 
 troduce ye intil yer retreat. God bless ye baith, haud 
 that way, and hasten on. :) As he uttered this, he directed 
 them down to the hollow, on the east, and then left them 
 to shift for themselves. 
 
 Cargil led James down the lane into the channel of the 
 Molindinar Burn ; and they pushed their retreat up the 
 bank of that small stream, which, at that time, had no mill 
 dam. L*
 
 126 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLANr/r 
 
 They gained the east wall of the Kirk-yafd ; and push 
 ed onward, until they reached the north-east corner of this 
 vas* repository of the dead ; and, then, with little difficulty, 
 they found their way into the interior of the yard. 
 
 This was a new scene to Master James. It was a clear 
 afternoon of February; and the sun shone bright. His 
 slanting beams fell on the Kirk yard, which was covered, 
 as it would seem, at the first glance, with monumental flat 
 stones, and ten thousand memorials of the dead. He rais 
 ed his eye to the west, and to the south, and to the north, 
 and there was one uninterrupted display of these mourn 
 ful mementos of the dead. Over the vast field, of several 
 acres, there appeared scarcely one solitary inch which was 
 not covered by some melancholy memento. Men, and 
 women, and bairns, a little world below ! Here are the 
 families, and the neighbourhood of fathers and mothers, 
 and blooming young men and young women the genera 
 tions of eight centuries or more ! Each individual histo 
 ry may be big with affecting and momentous incidents. 
 
 " When I enter this ground, Master James," said the 
 old Pastor, " I feel as if I entered with all my insignifi 
 cance, into a vast assembly of our forebears, who need 
 only the awakening, from the Omnipotent Power, to be 
 roused up again into the activities of life. And, verily, 
 were the morning of the great day come, and were you 
 and I here at the rising, we should sink into insignifi 
 cance, and feel lost amid the countless throng Now," 
 
 continued he, as he was advancing toward the centre of 
 that vast repository of the dead, " here remain we, till oor 
 frien the Bedrel, come at his ain canny leisure wi' the 
 keys." And he wandered from stone to stone, and was 
 soon Avrapt up in profound thought, reading the memori 
 als of the dead and listening, as it were, respectfully to the 
 idle pleadings and calls, to the heedless passenger, in 
 homely prose and verse, " Halt, passenger, a word wi' 
 thee or twa." " Here lies the blooming youth." But he 
 was particularly struck with the following, over the grave 
 of a young maiden. 
 
 " Here lyeth bonnie Bessie Bell, 
 In lovely seventeen, wha fell 
 In cauld death.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STTTARTS. 127 
 
 The bonniest maiden o' ye a', 
 Lik my sweet Bessie, sune maun fa, 
 In cauld death !" <>. ^ 
 
 " And she was a bonnie ane,".said Cargil, " and a gude 
 ane. I kenned her weel. And here lyeth the Laird Je 
 hu, o' Tumblecrane, wha died by a fa' frae his gallant grey. 
 What's this we hae got here ? 
 
 " Atween the saddle and the grund. 
 I mercy asked, and mercy fund." 
 
 " It might hae happened, that saum thing," ejaculated 
 Cargil, " For His grace has the speed, as weel as the 
 might o' His ain lightning. But, I wadna gie a groset for 
 the wild Laird chance." 
 
 The kind-hearted Pastor next came upon a cluster of his 
 parishioners and intimate friends. He read their epitaphs 
 again and again and called their names in a soft whis 
 per and as the image of their living persons, and the inci 
 dents in their lives rose upon his busy memory, he leaned 
 on this staff, and yielded himself up to a flood of sorrow ! 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 
 Go visit it by the pale moon light ; 
 When the broken arches are black in night, 
 And each shafted oriel glimmers white ;" 
 
 Sm WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 Master James, meantime, had placed himself opposite 
 the middle tower of the Heigh Kirk, and stood wrapt up in 
 wonder and delight, as his eyes wandered over the vene 
 rable and magnificent pile. He had not, hitherto, had an 
 opportunity of examining it. And he yielded himself up 
 to his youthful enthusiasm. By an instinct natural to a 
 delicate, and a cultivated mind, when an object grand and 
 sublime is presented to it, he raised his hands in silence, 
 and remained fixed, and immoveable in the place which he
 
 128 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 had first occupied. An exclamation of amazement and 
 delight, uttered after a long silence, brought Cargil to his 
 side. 
 
 " Yes, Master James, ye may weel admire ! It's a mag 
 nificent buildin', and a venerable. There's nocht to match 
 it about a' Embro. It's the only entire Gothic biggin noo 
 standin' on the continent o' Scotlan'. There's just ane 
 ither sic like, somewhere in the isles o' Scotland. As Ho 
 mer delights to linger ower the persons and deeds o' olden 
 times ; and then sings ye how weak and puny the best o' 
 modern persons and men are, compared wi' them o' aun- 
 cient days, whase bodies were sae huge ; and their souls 
 sae magnanimous ; e'en sae, my braw callant, are the men, 
 and the ecclesiastical biggins o' modern times, to the men 
 and the biggins o' KING DAVID o' Scotland's times. There 
 stauns afore yer eyes, the Cathedral ; whilk was built by 
 the munificence o' KING DAVID, under the canny care o 1 
 
 bishop John Achaius: and whilk was dedicated a piece 
 
 o' haveril nonsense ! to St. Kentigern, whilk is to say 
 St. Mungo. I'm no going to justify the extortions o' the 
 Romanists, wha made the people worship them to sic an 
 extent, that they suffered the priests to pick oot their gowd 
 and siller frae their purses, and their very een oot o' their 
 heads, to get wherewith to mak magnificent displays. It's 
 nae maxim o' mine that the gude end sanctifieth the means 
 to compass it. But had the Pope and his shavelins laid 
 oot their ill-gotten gear at a' times, on sic biggins as that 
 ilk afore us : and not upon their wicked lusts, and revelry, 
 their extortions wad hae been o' less damnatory a kind. 
 But the meikle endo' the proceeds o' their spiritual rapine, 
 and plunder o' the nations, was laid oot in sumptuous ban 
 quets ; and the loons the while were at great pains, wi' their 
 hair claith, and obstinate fastings to mak their gomeril pa 
 rishioners believe that thae round faced, rosy cheeked, braid 
 shouldered priests lived on dry pease and collar water ! 
 
 "And, James, let me whisper ye a truth. I wish weel 
 that oor godly Reformers had possessed a wee bit o' the 
 Papist's warmly policy. They micht hae herried the 
 rook's nest, and dressed it up their ain gate, and no hae 
 brunt it, stump and rump. Had they appropriated the 
 rook's nest to their ain purpose, whilk een the gowk kens 
 to du, in regard to the aest o' anither, hoo commodious
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 129 
 
 and befittin', had been oor kirks this day! Instead o' that, 
 we see miserable biggins, mere kennels, theeket wi' straw 
 or rushes, or heather, or e'en green divets, in deevers cor 
 ners o' the laun. Och ! puir kirk o' Scotland ! In the 
 struggle o' the Reformation, the nobles in their excessive 
 zeal lest she might be corrupted by riches, carried off her 
 revenues. " Nocht " cried they could be mair dangerous 
 to the kirk than makin her ower rich, therefore they re 
 duced her to poortith : nocht can be mair unsafe in a health- 
 fu' body than getting ower fat, therefore they starved her 
 to skin and bone, on bread and water ! And their argu 
 ments were in their own view absolutely irresistible, 
 for they, in power, were to share in what the kirk did 
 na need! 
 
 " Then cam there anither toozlin', to her, frae her ain 
 best and fastest friens, the haly Reformers. Instead o' 
 cleansinsr the h doses o' Papish filth, and their altars, and 
 crosses, and bits o' stane and timmer idols, they set the 
 stately biggins a' in a bleeze ! 
 
 "And, noo, we're biding a waur toozle than a', in thae 
 mournfu' days. The loss o' oor livings and oor biggins, 
 whilk we may as weel hae had as no, we can endure. 
 But the arch foe, the auld evil ane 'has come doon in 
 great wrath,' and set up his power in the land. He has 
 shot oot his left cloven foot, and has given the ministry a 
 kick, maist distressin' ; and he is defacing the carved wark 
 o' the sanctuary. Alack ! puir kirk o' Scotland ! But 
 it's a' come in Scottish style, Scotchman like, wha's ay 
 wise behind the haun ! They pulled doon the magnifi 
 cent wark o' Gothic structure, as if the faults aud errors 
 o' the Roman beastie had been mixed up wi' the stanes and 
 materials o' the very biggins ! 
 
 " I revere the memory o' thae tradesmen, wha wi' the 
 maist worthy Dean o' Guild, Master James Rabart, at the 
 head o' them, drew up their hale strength, when the barmy 
 headed zealots frae Glasgow, and the neebour paroches, 
 poured in their strength, wi' their sledge hammers, and 
 massy raipes, to whammle this stately edifice afore ye. 
 
 " They took a graite aith, that, if ony o' thae toon or 
 kintry bodies wad daur to lay their rascallion, and heaven 
 daurin' hauns on ae single arch, or pillar, they wad plaist- 
 er the cauld grave-stanes wi' their streamin' blude, and
 
 130 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 reekin' hairns ! And there it stauns, Master James ! a 
 prood memorial o' olden times : and o' the gude sense and 
 piety o' the tradesmen o' Glasgow !" 
 
 As the Bedral had not yet made his appearance, he 
 proceeded to point out, in a reply to a question from Mas 
 ter James, the structure, the strength, and grandeur of this 
 noble Gothic building. 
 
 " You see, there, in that vast pile, a truly chaste eccle 
 siastical edifice of the early pairt o' the twelfth century.* 
 It is supported by ane hundred and forty-seven pillars ; 
 and it is lighted by ane hundred and fifty-seven windows o' 
 nae sma' dimensions. Ye see the succession o' the lancet, 
 or sharp-arched windows of equal dimension. But, then, 
 turn yer eyes, Master James, on those in the south transept, 
 directly under the great tower, whare the usual order of 
 the lancet windows, on the right and left, is interrupted. 
 These windows, in the transept, under the great tower, are 
 forty feet high, and twenty wide. And the slender shafts, 
 themullions, and the tracery wark, on the top o' the shafts, 
 and immediately under the lancet arches, are a' stane, maist 
 exquisitely shaped, and chiselled. 
 
 "And ye see, there, the ootor wa' is divided. Aboonthe 
 first tier o' windows, the outer wall terminates in a battle 
 ment. And frae this part, in the interior, springs the arch 
 o' the lower, or first roof. This arch extends entirely 
 across the body of the building, and is supported by massy 
 pillars, and groined arches o' singular and exquisite work 
 manship. And a' thae arches and pillars, frae side to 
 side, are o' solid hewn stane ; there's no ae inch o' timber 
 about it. 
 
 " Weel, frae the first battlement, the wall, now by some feet 
 thinner than at the base, proceeds in a perpendicular line, 
 till it reach the second row o' battlements, aboon the last 
 tier o' lancet arched windows. From the , interior wall 
 opposite the second battlements, spring the arches, frae side 
 to side, which sustain the outer roof; in whilk, as I said 
 there is no timmer, a' is o' solid hewn stone. And the 
 haille o' the arched roof is covered wi' massy plates o' 
 lead ; without ae leakin' or decayed spot in it. And touch- 
 in' the drappin aisle, ye'll see it, Master James, on the 
 
 * It was founded in A.D. 1123,
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 131 
 
 North side o' the biggin, as ye look into the gloomy 
 donjon-like cell, near the basement. Noo that perpetual 
 dropping o' chrystal drops is not owin' to ony leak or de 
 fect in the roof, but the caller water frae the massy wa' is 
 attracted, and oozes frae them, drop by drop; as frae a 
 huge rock on the eastern cliffs o' Loudon Hill, or the lofty 
 Tintoc. 
 
 " Mairover, in the centre o' the transept, or where that 
 pairt o' the cross, runnin' frae North to Sooth, passes 
 across the Choir and Nave, which extend frae East to 
 West, there rises the grand tower. Its base rests on four 
 massy pillars, ilka ane o' them being thirty feet in circum 
 ference, and they stand in the centre o' the transept. The 
 said tower is carried up thirty feet aboon the leaden roof 
 o' the biggin. And frae this tower, with its arcades, on 
 ilka side ; and pinnacles at it's corners there rises the 
 lofty spire, which is of an octagpnal shape ; and tapers to 
 a point ; and is surmounted by a ball and vane. From 
 the base to the top, its entire height is 232 feet. And it's 
 no made o' timmer lik many ither painted fairlies. It is 
 solid mason-work chisseled to the top. Then turn yer eye 
 to the West end, there is the second tower, whilk rises to 
 the level o' the pinnacled battlement o' the ither tower. But 
 it has nae spire. It ends in a pyramid roof o' lead. The 
 groined arches whilk sustain the floor o' this tower ; and 
 also the hanging stairs leading up to the centre of it, and 
 to the great bell, are curiosities worthy the attention o' a 
 connoisseur in architecture. The haile biggin is 330 feet 
 in length, by 70 in breadth. 
 
 " In times o' Papistrie this magnificent edifice was divided 
 into the choir, the nave, and the cemetry. But in better 
 times, after the purifying o' the "Rook's nest," it was di 
 vided, by oor canny and economical forebears, into three 
 spacious apartments; each o' whilk was converted into a 
 commodious church. The Choir on the West end, is 
 the outer heigh kirk: the nave on the East o' the great 
 tower is the inner heigh kirk : and the cemetry, whilk is 
 under the nave, is the barony, or Landward Kirk, whaur 
 for many a year I spent the sweetest sabbaths o' my life, 
 amang my dutiful and affectionate flock Alas ! mine 
 nae mair 1" 
 
 In answer to a question from James, he continued,
 
 132 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 " In ae word, the North end of the transept, or cross, is 
 noo appropriated to private lairs of the dead: and its 
 upper chambers are public ha's for business. The South 
 transept, whilk, for reasons that I hae na been able to 
 discover, has been carried nae higher than the first tier o 1 
 arches, is noo made the depository o' the earthly remains 
 o' the ministers o' the city of Glasgow." 
 
 Master James stood in silent contemplation: and his 
 mind was bewildered and lost in a pleasant maze of admi 
 ration and wonder ; as his eyes wandered over the lancet 
 arches, and shafted windows, and their mullions, and 
 transoms, and tracery work; and the arcades and pinnacles 
 of the grand Tower: and the niches; and the massy 
 buttresses, and embrazures, and perforations, the battle 
 ments, and tiers of pinnacles, on the lofty spire, the ball, and 
 vane floating far in air, in the blue dazzling sky. And 
 the thought of the pastaru3hed on his mind , the men of 
 other times, their taste, meir bold conceptions, and plans 
 their daring, and persevering enterprises: their proud 
 monuments of art and science. 
 
 While Master James was yielding himself up to this 
 pleasing reverie, Cargil had wandered up to the Western 
 Wall of the kirk yard. He had come up to two fresh 
 graves, with their brighter stones, and new epitaphs. 
 
 " Hie jacet quicquid mortale fuit." He read on, and 
 
 uttered a deep groan as he read the names of two of his 
 beloved lambs two young men brothers whom his 
 hands had sprinkled with the holy water of baptism ; and 
 who had grown up under his eye, from sabbath to sabbath. 
 They had both perished, in the bloom of manhood, by the 
 cruel steel of the ruffian soldiery, against whom they had 
 been defending the grey hairs of a father, and the honour 
 of their only sister a beautiful young maiden of the 
 Barony Parish. 
 
 " So then its ower true ; the bruit whilk I heard, 
 anent you, when far awa, was ower true. Ye sleep in 
 peace, my ain sweet bairns ! yer father too, there lie his 
 mortal remains. He survived the shock, some short week 
 or two : and the beautiful and innocent lamb, yer sister, 
 Mary Kennedy, is a maniac wanderer, far frae her 
 hame ! Perhaps, ere this, she also, sleeps in death. 
 Sweetly ye a' sleep; and puir auld Donald Cargil, yer
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 133 
 
 once loved Pastor, is still a weary wanderer, and the blast 
 is sweeping ower the plain : I hear its wild sooch. It 
 tells me that nicht is settin' in, the lang nicht when I sail 
 lay my auld grey hairs doon, and sleep in dust. Oh ! in 
 yonder world, in yonder bright flood o' light, on the moun 
 tain o' glory, I shall bask me in the beams o' HIS counte 
 nance, \vhare nae foemen come, and nae murderous steel 
 can reach ! 
 
 " Ye maun come yer ways noo, faither Cargil," whis 
 pered the Bedrel, Avho had come close up to him : " No 
 ane o' thae raging creaturs has heard a sooch o' ye : nor 
 has ane o' them an inkling o' this awsome place o' conceal 
 ment : sae, arise, and tak possession." 
 
 He led the way, bearing the keys in the one hand, and 
 in the other some substantial proofs of his ' gude auld 
 lucky 's,' remembrance of the bodily wants of her good 
 pastor. 
 
 The massy door being thrown open, they found them 
 selves among the long slender Gothic pillars ; and under 
 the groined arches, which towered high above their heads; 
 "and which," as Master James remarked, 'seem to hae 
 been suggested to the mind o' the architect, by the arches 
 formed by the green boughs thrown over a pathway through 
 the stately forest." 
 
 Cargil led the youth to the spacious door of the outer 
 kirk, " look thou West," said he, " into that venerable 
 place !" 
 
 James cast his eyes over the magnificent scene. The 
 sun, now near his setting, was pouring, from his broad 
 disk, his yellow wintry rays, through the lofty Gothic 
 windows : and they fell on the massy pillars, and arches, 
 and the groined cieling, with its ribs, and tracery work : 
 and they sent on his eyes, and into his soul, a picture which 
 no human language can paint. 
 
 " Magnificent scene ! " exclaimed he, " what a befitting 
 place to worship the Almighty, the founder and architect 
 of the great world!" 
 
 ' Yes !" cried Cargil, " and here many a solemn 
 prayer has ascended from the humble and broken heart, to the 
 High and Holy Ane, who sits on the throne o' eternity ! and, 
 here, many a song o' praise has rung along that lofty vaulted 
 ceiling, and died away in reverberating echoes, amang thae 
 
 VOL. I. M.
 
 134 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 : pillars and arches, while the spirits o' the men wha breath 
 ed them, rose in haly aspirations to the throne o' the 
 Eternal ! Hoo mainy o' my sainted faithers and brithren 
 hae, in that venerable place, won souls frae the errors o' 
 their ways, to the Father o' Mercies, through Him wha 
 hung on the cross for us ! In that hallowed spot did my 
 youthfu' frien', and maist beloved brither in Christ, sound 
 the sweetest and most melting tones; It was there the 
 maist haly and humble o' ministers poured the enchant 
 ment o' his message, in rapturous eloquence, ower the 
 chained spirits o' his audience ! yes, there ANDREW GREY 
 prayed, and preached, and wept. Beloved friend o 1 my 
 youth, dear in the unfading remembrance o' my heart, 
 thoo didst pass away frae oor weeping eyes, and sink into 
 the grave, ripe in thy glory, in thy twenty-second 
 year! 
 
 " And here, in like manner," continued Cargil, weep 
 ing all the while, as he led his young associate with a 
 hurried pace, to the steps leading to the screen of the Nave, 
 and the eastern place of worship, into which the en 
 trance, at that time, led by small side doors, " Here it 
 was, in this magnificent place o' worship, that the quondam 
 laird o' East Powrie, whase noble dignity o' soul trampled 
 on riches and earthly honours, did serve his Master faith 
 fully in the gospel. A man he was o' singular attainments, 
 and undaunted courage. He preached Christ Jesus, and him 
 crucified, in the court o' king Charles I., and in this spot to a 
 high born and splendid audience ; withoot fear, and without 
 flattery ! Here did the immortal JAMES DUR HAM pour his mild 
 and impressive eloquence ; and the heart-melting pathos of his 
 heavenly prayers ! My father ! my father, the chariots o' 
 Israel, and the horsemen thereof, I see thee nae mair! 
 Nor thee, much loved Ramsay, nor your companions, and 
 forebears, thae men o' God who, fulfilled their ministry 
 according to the wull o' God, syn the times o' the Refor 
 mation. I am, lingering here, the last of my race! This 
 way, come this gaite, Master James," he continued, after 
 a pause, and taking him by the arm, " descend we, by thae 
 steps, doon this way among thae arches. Noo, here it was 
 that godly ZACHARIAS BOYD held forth his namely spoken 
 message, and quoted occasionally the interminable length 
 o* ius ain poetic lines ; and his ill timed mints at holy- 

 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 135 
 
 jokes, wi' the best o' intentions in the world, I freely admit, 
 but wi' mistaken views o' the best way o' spreading the 
 knowledge o' God's word amang plain people. He could 
 na be persuaded that it was mair befittin' to elevate the 
 people to the dignity o' truth, than to degrade her to their 
 grovelling minds : to purify and raise them to the dignity 
 of communion with her in her ain palace ; than to throw 
 tattered garments ower her, and send her to their hovels ! 
 Weel ! here it was that honest Zacharias ministered. Him 
 it was my lot to succeed. This is the Barony, or Landward 
 Kirk. It is as capacious, you see, as the place abune it ; 
 and its ceiling, o' hewn stane, is sustained by sixty-five 
 massive columns, whose chapters and groined arches are 
 finished wi' exquisite handicraft. Ye see the thriftiness of 
 the Reformation. Here the Romanists interred their 
 princely and sacerdotal dead. But we hae converted it 
 into a Kirk, for the spiritual furtherance o' the living.* 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Wit. " Black spirits, and white : red spirits, and grey : 
 Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may. 
 
 Macb. How now, ye secret, black, and midnight hags, 
 What is't you do?" SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 As Cargil conducted Master James, and the Bedrel up 
 stairs, and towards the grand southern entrance, and shook 
 each of them by the hand, the former observed that noth 
 ing should induce him to leave him, in that place un 
 attended. 
 
 " Ye sail gang yer ways, Master James," said Cargil, 
 " Nay not ae word o' remonstrance wull I listen to. Re 
 turn, incontinent, to yer lodgings, and wi 1 to-morrow's sun 
 hie theeoffto Embro : and to Perth's mansion : tak ver ain 
 measures ; keep close : be faithfu' to yer trust : and withoot 
 failzie, meet us at Carlsness, on the appointed day. In the 
 
 * Of late this place has been restored to its primitive use, the re 
 pository of the dead : and a neat and substantial edifice has been reared 
 for the Barony Kirk, hard by.
 
 136 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 meantime, I shall betake mysel to Wallace's Cave^ and to 
 my trusty men o' the West, and Sooth. The services o' 
 auld Donald Cargil, are, for the present, closed here: and 
 aiblins they'll no be withoot their fruits, e'en in ceevils. 
 We hae sent ae barbed arrow beneath the hawk's wing !" 
 
 Having uttered these words he embraced him affection 
 ately in his arms, and kissed him, as he added ; 
 
 " Noo, fare thee weel, Master James, my son : the 
 presence o' HIM wha dwelt in the bush, be wi' thy spirit." 
 And wrapping himself up in his long grey cloak, he de 
 scended into the aisle of the Barony Kirk. 
 
 " Hully, faither Cargil, bide a wee bit," cried the Bedrel, 
 recollecting himself, and bustling down after him, with his 
 commission from his " Auld Luckie," as he called his wife, 
 " Here, maist worthy pastor, are materials o' a couch on 
 whilk to rest yer weary banes." And he trundled the 
 blankets down the steps, and producing a green wallet, he 
 went on with emphatic nodding and smiles : here, my cer- 
 tie! are plenty o' gude veevers. They're baith mae, and 
 unco better than what my girnell and humble aumbry e'er 
 afforded. I'm no gaun to boast whence they caum. But, 
 he's a canny haun, that saum auld man, the favourite flonkey 
 o' bonnie Helen Waidlaw, the Bailey's dochter that is. And 
 here's a pint stoup o' the best o' claret." And the old Be 
 drel raised it up and clanked the lid of the pewter stoup tri 
 umphantly. " No the \>\\.pint stoup o' the Southrons, wha, 
 puir ignorant Craters ! are content to tak a mutchkin for a 
 pint. Na ! na ! look ye there, it's a walley Scotch pint. 
 Commend me to the honest SCOTCH for gude measure I An 
 Englisher's pint ! ha! ha! ha! I pity the scrimpit cra 
 ters. "Noo," continued the Bedrel, as he arranged the vi- 
 vers in due array, and placed the silver flagon by the gau- 
 sy pint stoup, " ye' 11 no affront Helen, by refusin' her beni- 
 son." And he filled up a bumper, and urged it on Cargil. 
 " Ye ken weel, reverend faither, that e'en the prophets o' 
 the Lord slackened their drouth, and moistened their clay 
 wi' wine, and the best o't, yespecially when they waur gaun 
 to seek dealin's wi' invisibles, and haly communications frae 
 heigh Heaven. They had the mense eneugh thus to raise 
 their spirits up to a pitch o' dealin' wi' pure spirits. And, weel 
 I wat, my maist reverend master," and he shrugged up his 
 shoulders and looked fearfully around him, as the last beam of
 
 OR, T HE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 137 
 
 the setting sun was spending its feeble yellow ray on the 
 grey arches and columns, "this is the very place for sic 
 gruesome scenes, and sic eldritch voices, and sic unyerdly 
 converse. It is the very mooth o' the sepulchre, whaur 
 their mools are crumblin. I hae, my ain sel, heard eerie 
 voices, and hollow granes issuing frae thae dreary dwallin's 
 o' the dead ! But, fare ye well, yer young frien' wull be 
 eeriesome waitin' up by there. And hear ye," he added, 
 putting his head down and calling out, " My gude auld min 
 ister, I sail be in this spat at the grey mornin', to see ye, 
 as the king o' Babylon, as it were, cam to visit Daniel, 
 whilk is to say, to see gif ye binna devoured by the lion. 
 I'm no gaun to say, just noo, by whilk lion !" 
 
 "Ah! Bauldy, Bauldy," cried Cargil smiling at him, 
 " ye 1 re the same daft auld man ye aye waur, I see, notwith- 
 standin' a' my cautions and admonitions. Ye leeve ower 
 near the Kirk yard, and the dead, to think meikle aboot 
 deein'. But, Bauldy, at the age o' sixty and aught it's 
 time to be serious ! Betake thysel to thy prayers, I charge 
 thee, and remember me in them; as a' my faithfu' and af 
 fectionate parishioners, wull du this nicht. Gang thy ways, 
 Bauldy, and learn to be wise and serious." 
 
 As the sound of this admonition fell on the ear of the Be* 
 drel, a new excitement was given to his mind for a moment. 
 He was advancing to unlock the outer door ; but presently 
 the current of his own thoughts returned, and he renewed 
 his address to father Cargil, under an increasing anxiety 
 about him, from the agency of the invisible world. He re 
 turned, unconsciously, to the door of the Landward Kirk, 
 calling out. 
 
 " Serious ! My master, said ye 1 De ye suspect my seri 
 ousness, maist reverend faither? Had I begun to daur hea 
 ven by ca'ing in question, the existence o' sprites, witches, 
 warlocks, and deels, ye micht weel hae suspected my seri 
 ousness. But when I speak to ye in the pure orthodoxy o' 
 Scotland's brawest days, when the king and the nobles, the 
 priest and the people, a' believed doucely and soberly in 
 thae beings, suspect ye my soberness ? And nane o' us a' 
 eer heard o' any exception ; unless, allenarly, it be ae kind 
 o' a crater cauld a Deyest. That, I think is the word, for 
 the thing itsel, I canna describe it to ye, no ha'ing e'er seen 
 it. But ye' 11 remember ye, o-' thae wild sweerin blasphem- 
 
 M*
 
 138 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 ing deevils, the soldadoes wha' had been pushin' their for 
 tune abroad, in France, and the Lowlands, striving to mak 
 a leeving by cutting ither men's thrapples : and wha cam in 
 amang us o' late, syn the troubles began in Scotland, thae 
 craters waur ca'd deyests. They waur weel named, I hae 
 heard my betters say, frae the Scotch word daised, whilk 
 means, to be doited, bamboozled, as it were, oot d 1 a' the 
 wee wits they e'er had, and even doon atheists, as it respects 
 the things o' God !" 
 
 As the Bedrel thus ran on, Cargil laughed ; and Master 
 James shouted, "Bravo ! Bauldy, ower meikle learnin' 
 maks thee mad !" The persevering Bauldy went on : 
 
 " Noo, it's no canny to tempt Providence. A man may 
 throw himsel ower the auld Brigg intil the Clyde. Wull 
 his calling on his MAKER, eer keep him frae falling intil 
 the water ? Noo, ye ken well eneugh what tricks, auld 
 Nick played aff on Master James Durham, when the ill 
 faured Icon teuk on him the shape and appearance o' his 
 betters, and weel I wat, nae waur wad serve him than that 
 o' the godly personage o' Maister Durham. And he tried 
 to mak the godly toon o' Glasgow believe that the minister 
 was in communion wi' some ill-faured hizzies, up by yon- 
 ner, amang the firs, on the knoll ayont the Molindinar 
 Burn : when the minister, a' this time, was sick and in his 
 bed! 
 
 Noo, gude my Master, ye're rinnin', wi' baith een open, 
 into the mooth o' the serpent's den. I redd ye tak tent, and 
 come oot, and gang yer wa's some ither gate; or I'm sure, 
 that in the morning, as in the case o' Doctor Faust, I'll get 
 nae mair o' ye left than the skin, hair, and banes 1" 
 
 " And prithee, wise man o' auncient lair, what micht tak 
 me aff at that gate ?" said Cargil with affected gravity. 
 
 " Why some ghaist, or some deevil," said the Bedrel, wi' 
 awfu' solemnity. " Hae ye no seen SATHAN'S INVISIBLE 
 WARLD DISCOVERED?" We hae a' heard o' the Border 
 fairlies, and deevilrie. But oor Glasgow professor's true 
 and veritable narratives o' " SATHAN'S INVISIBLE WARLD 
 DISCOVERED," beats them, and Michael Scott's douce tra 
 velling Deevil, a' hollow ! Why, Michael's deevils waur na 
 fit to haud the candle to oor professor's rampagin Galloway 
 deevils! They waur o' a different species!" 
 
 " Bauldy," cried Cargil, " wull ye no hae dune with this
 
 \ * y 
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 139 
 
 unedifyin', and bleatherin nonsense? As it respects the 
 moral philosophy professor's beuk,* whilk ye hae named, 
 I houp he'll get repentance afore he dee, if he be yet leevin', 
 for raikin' up sic aff-gatherins o' the infernals. And I wush 
 him nae waur than e'en some sanctified skelpins frae some 
 o' his ain invisible drummers, to chastise his misapplied 
 talents, for a brief season. But, let that pass. Hear me, 
 Bauldy, and if ye hae grace, fructify under some halsome 
 instructions o' plain reason, and haly scripture. I tell ye, 
 Bauldy, there can be nae sic thing as a real ghaist ! 
 
 As he spoke this sentiment, the Bedrel uttered a kind of 
 scream, while he looked into Master James' face, and breath 
 ed through his teeth, "Losh keep me ! de ye hear him?" 
 Cargil went on. 
 
 " As for the spirit o' a Christian man, Bauldy, it is gane 
 to heaven, ye ken, and is mingling in the communion ol 
 bliss, within the circles o' the saints and angels : he canna, 
 and he wunna wander doon here awas. Do ye think, noo, 
 Bauldy, that if ye were yoursel, in heaven, that ye wad 
 really be sae daft as to tak it intil yer head to leave sic com 
 pany, for the purpose o' wanderin' back .intil this warld 
 again, and frequenting Kirk yards, and sepulchral vaults 
 to fricht folks?" 
 
 Bauldy preserved an obstinate silence at this appeal, by 
 way of an argumentum ad hominem. 
 
 " And as it regards the ghaist o' a bad man, his Satan 
 ic majesty, my certie! wunna let him wander back to his 
 former lairs. I wonder, Bauldy, hoo it could Jiae entered 
 intil the noddles o' you ghost-venders to gie Sathan credit 
 for being sae very accommodating ! Gif ye gang thither, 
 my man, ye'll aiblins find the treuth o' what I'm saying!" 
 
 " Why, father Cargil, hae ye forgotten the case o' Samu 
 el's ghaist, raised by the witch o' Endor ?" Cried the Bedrel. 
 
 "That, I tak it," said Cargil, "was nae real ghaist, it 
 was een flesh and blude in living state some familiar o' 
 the witch a' Endor a pawky kimmer, trained tQ enact her 
 pairt, and personify Samuel. I defy the witch o' Endor, 
 and a' ithers whilk hae lived, before her, or since, wi' a' their 
 
 * Sir Walter Scott has quoted from this book, on Demonology, &c. p. 
 259. The author has read thia ancient and most extraordinary work 
 of Sinclair's.
 
 140 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 kimmers and imps to the bargain, "to disturb SamuePsrest," 
 as that puir crater, ower-shooting the mark, maist stupidly 
 asserted, or to bring his body frae the grave, or his haly 
 saul frae heaven, on her cursed errand ! Nae created 
 power could do this. And wad the Almichty, think ye, 
 at a witch's bidding raise Samuel frae the dead, or send his 
 pure soul frae heaven, on sic an errand? Wad the Almich 
 ty and Haly God answer Saul, by a message, delivered 
 through deevilry, when he had refused to answer him by 
 the usual sanctified gaite? Na, na, the Samuel o' the 
 witch o' Endor's making was a leein' limmer. The battle 
 could na hae been foucht on " the morrow," as it said; and 
 Saul could na hae been back frae Endor, in time to fight 
 it, on " the morrow ;" add to this that Saul and his sons 
 were not wi' him on "the morrow," besides "Saul and his 
 sons" didna a' fa' in battle, as this form o' speech usually 
 imports. Thae lees mixed wi' grains o' treuth, to mak them 
 palatable, betray their true faither. 
 
 "But oor deevils, oor rampaging deevils, gang yer 
 wa's on noo, and just annihilate them too, wi 1 yer philoso 
 phical light, n said Bauldy, scarcely able to maintain his 
 respect for his old pastor, such was the fierceness of his 
 zeal against the doctrine, which had filled him with utter 
 amazement. 
 
 " Yes, Bauldy," continued Cargil gravely, " thae evil 
 beings hae been, they are, and they wull be : and I am by 
 nae means denying their existence, or their influence. I 
 am for reforming the doctrine, Bauldy, not for annihilat 
 ing it. That's the ither extreme : and it would puzzle a 
 Christian man, to determine whilk o' the twa is the maist 
 irrational and impious. In oor day, we are lik to be dri 
 ven upon the left haun extreme. In auld lang syne, when 
 men were pagans, and through the mirky ages o' anti 
 christ, when men were baptised pagans, the deel made 
 ower free wi' people's minds ; and didna e'en try to con 
 ceal his satannic agency, or his palpable existence. They 
 e'en did gie him credit for mae works, and tricks, than he 
 e'er bethought himself o' duin'. But, now, he has turned 
 the tables against us : he has driven the human mind into 
 the opposite extreme. He has succeeded in persuading 
 multitudes o' brainless craters, that there's nae deel, nor 
 evil spirit, in a' God's world. And wi' the maist pugna-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 141 
 
 cious zeal, by word o' mooth, and grey goose quill, they 
 contend that e'en he wha's aiblins their ain master, and 
 their saul-stirring associates hae nae existence at a' : that 
 they are mere phantoms, mere noucht ava !" 
 
 " Na, na," cried Bauldy, " naething wunna persuade me, 
 but that there are yer violent and raging deevils, and 
 ghaists, ganging aboot, and haunting dead men's lairs, and 
 sic eerisome places as thae dark caves and crannies alang 
 the wall there, behind thae grey arches ; and when they 
 get men intil their power, wi' their lang claws and teeth, 
 like ten-pennie nails, they harl their een oot o' their heads, 
 and pick the flesh off their banes as easily as a gos-hawk 
 wad claw a bonny patrick, or as a tod-lourie wad spaw ye a 
 maulkin !" 
 
 As he uttered these words Master James clapped his 
 hands and burst into a loud fit of laughter, " Weel rea 
 soned, Bauldy, ha, ha, ha ! a fule, a Me, I met a fule i' 
 the forest." 
 
 Cargil cast a grave and reproving look upon James, who 
 seemed to him more disposed to exercise wit and drollery 
 than an argument on this matter ; but he himself could 
 not help laughing outright at Bauldy's most rueful coun 
 tenance. And he was about to alter the form of his ar 
 gument to suit the Bedrel's conceptions, when he was in 
 terrupted by a heavy groan, which came indistinctly on 
 their ears from one cf the crypts, on the dark side of the 
 Kirk. 
 
 Master James was composed into a grave mood in a 
 moment ; and came close up to Cargil' s side. Bauldy 
 threw himself on his knees behind them, and grasped a leg 
 of each of them, fast in his arms, while his breast heav 
 ed, and he breathed through his nose, after the manner of 
 the heaving and blowing of a pair of bellows. 
 
 After a silence maintained for some time, Cargil went 
 on in reply to the Bedrel ; as he cast, occasionally, his 
 eye on the dark place whence the sound came, or had 
 seemed to come. 
 
 " But to the point, Bauldy," said Cargil, as if recovering 
 himself from a train of thoughts, which he conceived to be 
 as much a digression, as if he had given utterance to them, 
 " the lion o' hell, I tell thee, Bauldy, is chained," -
 
 142 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 " I wish he may e'en be sae," ejaculated Bauldy with 
 great fervency. 
 
 " And when he is let loose," 
 
 " The gride Lord forbid it," added the Bedrel. 
 
 " When he's let loose, he has ower meikle wit, to show 
 his cloven foot, or his sweeping tail, whilk the amateurs hae 
 assigned to his orthodox shape. Sic appearances, on his 
 part, wad ruin his ain cause. Du ye no see it, Bauldy ? 
 If the evil ane stept in among his ain men servants, and 
 maid servants, in his visible coat and frightfu' conforma 
 tion o' head, he wad put them clean outricht hors-du-com- 
 bat, unfit for his service, in the common cause o' the dark 
 kingdom. Na, na, he's ower cunning to mak himsel visi 
 ble. And, mairover, Sir, his plan o' ruin pursued against 
 the human family, is ower graite, and vast, and sweeping, 
 to allow him, or any o' his under-strappers to turn fule and 
 mountebank to frighten auld women and weans ! He em 
 ploys visible men, Bauldy, as his agents. His infernal 
 machinery is on a grand and extensive scale o' deevilish 
 exactness : and while he sits girnin', and pulling the wires 
 behind the arras, he takes ane especial care to hae his cloots, 
 claws and horns concealed frae a* mortal vision ! 
 
 " But gravely, Bauldy, it is becoming Christian men to re 
 ject the folly and superstition o' olden times ; and the equal 
 ly absurd atheism o' later times, touching this subject. And 
 be the malignity and capacity o' evil spirits for mischief 
 what it may, there's ANE whose nod sets bounds to their 
 infernal agency, and maks the fiercest o' their legions minis 
 ter at the wheels o' his haly Providence. 
 
 " For me, therefore, I fear na the utmost wrath o' the Evil 
 Ane. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth ! Place me 
 on the bleak summit o' Benlomond, surrounded by a' the 
 evils o' pining want and burning thirst, place me in the 
 deepest ravine o' the Alps, laved by its dark and roaring 
 flood, place me in the solitary bark, on the mountain's 
 wave, or the loud sweeping torrent, place me in the win 
 try blasts which rush ower the cauld Caledonia forests o 1 
 the north, place me in the gloomiest cavern, whare the 
 broken waves o' grey ocean send their eerisome moan on 
 the ear o' the shipwrecked mariner, where eldritch voices 
 issue from its secret chambers, and phantoms flit, in mys 
 tic seelence, before his een, place me under the fiend-like
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 143 
 
 flash o ] the inhuman Cla verse's een,or the demoniac counte 
 nance o' the white bearded Chieftain, place me on the table 
 o' the Cooncil, wi' the the bootikins on ilka shattered leg, 
 and the thumbkins, on each disjointed thumb, place me 
 in the last extremity o' mortal agony on the gibbet or at 
 the stake, place me near a legion o' demons lashed into 
 fury by their satannic chief, yet wull I rejoice in the 
 Lord, I wull be joyful in the God o' my salvation ! They 
 might torment me, they might mangle thae limbs, they 
 might kill auld Donald Cargil, but they canna hurt him. 
 For naething can separate me frae the love o' God ! Nae- 
 thing can separate his love frae me !" he added in an im 
 passioned tone, as he threw back his cloak, and raised his 
 hands and eyes to heaven, " ' For I am persuaded that 
 neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
 powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate 
 us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our 
 Lord!'" 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 " Who gives any thing t 
 hath led through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool 
 over bog and quagmire, who hath laid knives under his pillow and 
 halters in his pew !" SHAKSPE ARE'S LEAR. 
 
 He had finished these admonitions, and was enforcing 
 them by some personal and affectionate cautions, delivered 
 in a low whisper, as he slowly followed Master James and 
 the Bedrel up the steps, when a second groan issued from 
 the crypts or vaults of the dead, on their left hand, and 
 louder than the first. 
 
 The Bedrel uttered a wild halloo, and sprung with one 
 bound to the top of the steps, bearing James before him, 
 and overturning father Cargil, who rolled to the bottom of 
 the steps. 
 
 " There, noo !" he panted out, as soon as he could col 
 lect, his scattered senses while he threw his arms about
 
 144 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 James, and held him as tightly grasped as a smith's vice, 
 "There, noo ! They're gaun to tak him at his word! 
 It'll be seen what wull become o' a' his vapourin' aboot 
 brustlin and fighting against a haile legion o' deevils, losh 
 keep us a', and lashed intil fury by Sathan, he also said," 
 Bauldy was stopt short in his comment, by another groan, 
 which gradually rose, note by note, higher and higher, 
 until it ended in a quavering scream. And then followed 
 on their astounded ears an eldritch grane and laugh. 
 
 Bauldy leaped and hallooed, and tore his hair, and made 
 diligent search for the keys in each of the huge pockets of 
 his doublet, in order to make his escape. Master James 
 returned to the bottom of the steps to help up Cargil, 
 while he was expressing his astonishment at the possibili 
 ty of any impudent varlet getting in there to play the fool 
 at their expense. " It is certain," replied Cargil, " that the 
 door at which we entered was bolted, and sae were the 
 rest, and not even a tod-lowry could creep in through ony 
 o' the Gothic windows." 
 
 They looked earnestly on the spot whence the sound 
 had issued, i3ut nothing was visible. Meantime Bauldy, 
 not being certain of safety above, and conceiving it possi 
 ble that the goblin might assail him where he was single- 
 handed, threw himself down the steps and hurried near to 
 Cargil and James : while his frame shook like an aspen 
 leaf, and his teeth chattered like a pair of castanets. And 
 he seized upon them as by a death's grasp ; his eyes, the 
 while, staring wide, and flashing fire from beneath his hair, 
 which stood up on end, like hogs bristles. And the more 
 they strove to shake him off, the greater he conceived the 
 danger to be, and he clenched his hold the tighter, as he 
 ejaculated broken fragments of prayers. 
 
 " There it is at last," he screamed out, as he retreated 
 behind Cargil, " Du ye not see it noo? There! I see its 
 horns. It's auld Nick, see, see ! O Lud, Lud ! I wush I 
 were sittin 'a-straddle, on the neb o' the Heigh Kirk steeple 
 weather-cock ! Oich! we're berried and ruined a' o' us 
 outricht, soul and body and a' !" And he fell down and 
 groaned in despair. 
 
 Cargil and Master James watched the motions of the 
 being, which had emerged from the obscurity behind one 
 of the groined pillars. The gloamin threw a faint beam
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 145 
 i 
 
 on it. Its stature might be of the height of four feet. It 
 was a square, firm built figure. Its two shoulders rose 
 high ; its face was unusually large ; its forehead high and 
 bald ; while its bushy and grizzly locks, on each side of its 
 head, were brought forward and upward, in thick bunches 
 and might have been taken, as Bauldy did take them, for 
 horns. Its chin, which projected downward and forward 
 on its breast, was surmounted with a grey beard : and its 
 large eyes flashed fire from the obscurity of its lurking- 
 place. It hobbled from pillar to pillar, as it chattered, and 
 moaned, and held earnest discourse with itself. 
 
 " The auld mools rattle -in the coffin, 
 
 Dead men are abroad this night : 
 
 The nicht wind is whistling 
 The dogs howl, and race it up the Molindinar. 
 The howlet, frae the fir-top, hoots it frae the brae side. 
 It's a' dreadfu'." 
 
 Then opening its long, stiffened jaws it poured out 
 sounds, in wild imitation of those ominous beings he had 
 named. And then it hobbled along, muttering strange 
 words through its chattering teeth. 
 
 Master James shuddered, and placing his hand on Car- 
 gil's shoulder, he made a motion to go up the stairs. For 
 Bauldy, he screamed louder still ; and rolling on the 
 floor, he pressed a thumb into each of his ears, and hid his 
 face with his hands. 
 
 As Bauldy screamed, the creature turned suddenly 
 round and half hid behind a pillar, it fixed its keen eyes 
 on them which glanced with dark fire and raising its 
 little grey mantle, it shook its fist, " How daur ye invade 
 
 me ? I teuk possession o' thae premises amang the 
 
 dead, after Maister Cargil was banished by the powers ; 
 here I haunt .... hame hae I nane!" 
 
 Bauldy started up, and glowered wildly at the unearthly 
 figure. But he felt his courage revive at the sound 'o' 
 gude braid Scotch.' " May it please you," he cried, after 
 some efforts, " I mean Maister Deevil ! or whom may I 
 ca' ye I mean you, Sir, Sathan please ye, this saum 
 man here is Maister Cargil, and it please ye to give up to 
 him again the peaceable possession!" 
 
 " Donald Cargil ! Eh ?" and it approached a few steps 
 
 VOL. i. N.
 
 146 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 nearer as it muttered to itself, Donald Cargil ! ha, ha, ha ' 
 I ken ye better. Na, na, his grey pow was bagged off 
 And his bleached skull is heigh in air on Embro's wa's - 
 Hu, hu, hu! I see it, I ken the date o' the bludy deed- 
 My puir mither was slauchtered aboot the same time. 
 Donald Cargil, na, na ! Daft gomeril, dinna deceive me!" 
 
 " Wha art thoo ?" cried Cargil " Wha am I ? Ha, 
 
 ha, ha ! That's a question for ye, to be sure. Wha am 
 I ? I was, aince, a man. Noo, I'm naebody, nae- 
 thing ava. I am a wee pickle .o' dry dust, meer stoor 
 and my saul in a roaring low, settin' a' in a bleeze. Ha, 
 ha, ha! wha am I," 
 
 Then clearing his throat, and bringing from below his 
 doublet what was almost the fragment of an old violin, he 
 .ng in a harsh and broken voice. 
 
 "Bludy McKenzie cum oot an' ye daur 
 Heard ye that grane ? It was my MITHER. 
 
 Lauderdale loud is the wild sooch o' war 
 Heard ye that grane ? It was my MITHER !" 
 
 "As I live by bread," cried Bauldy, with surprise, 
 and no small sense of shame at his own cowardice, "that 
 budy is nane else than DAFT RABB, hear him." 
 
 " Hech ! Sirs ; that was aince the bonny butt end o' a 
 dainty auld sang. The chorus, in olden times, was in this 
 gaite, 
 
 " We bonny braw three ; 
 
 Jf under the greenwold, greenwold tree." 
 
 But noo, Sirs, it's "Heard ye that grane ? It was MY MI 
 THER." I did change it back to its ain auld gaite, aiblins 
 half a score of times. But, wow me ! The strings o' my 
 fiddle wad soond nocht ava, but ay this, 
 
 " Heard ye that grane 1 It was MT MITHER." 
 
 And 1 was na able to contradict the only freed that 
 stuck to me in ' my sorrows ! And wat ye the reason why 
 my faithful strings ay sound nocht but this? I could 
 laugh you it, and I could cry you it oot. It soond it ay
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 147 
 
 m my heart's core. My puir cracked heart strings soond 
 nocht but that ilka day 
 
 " Chver the brush, and ower the brake ; 
 Ower the stream, and ower the lake ; 
 And ower the muir among the heather." 
 
 But stop me ..... that's no it. That's a wee swatch o'the 
 profane." He made a pause, passed his long skinny 
 hand across his. brow, and tuning his voice, he sung with 
 a slow melting air while he flung the end o' his tartan 
 plaid and the folds of his little grey mantle over his left 
 shoulder ; placed a hand on each haunch, and stood firm 
 on each foot. 
 
 " Got spake the gude wife ayont the fire ; 
 Clnverhouse glowered, and sae did his men. 
 
 I care'na for you ; nor yet for a higher ; 
 The King an' a' his coort may cum ben. 
 
 Whaur lurks my Jeemie ye ne'er sail ken: 
 I bide by the truth And Mause canna swither. 
 
 Claverse he fired and sae did his men. 
 Heard ye that grane ? It was my Mither." 
 
 He then raised the old violin to his neck, and played a slow, 
 solemn Scotch tune, while he sobbed and cried like a 
 very child. 
 
 " My certie ! ye're a canny ghaist, my frien' Rab," cried 
 the Bedrel, as he advanced on our spectre with a great 
 fraise, while he cast his eyes back with a knowing look on 
 Cargil, and whispered, " It's wee Daft Rabb o' Balornock ! 
 de ye think I dinna ken him?" 
 
 Bauldy added as he perceived Cargil earnestly examin 
 ing the face of the maniac, " Gude honest Mause o' the cot 
 tage on the Knowe near Balornock ye kenned her weel. 
 But puir Rab is waefully changed since the cauld bluded 
 murder of his mither. He tint his senses sune after. My 
 gude freen' Rab, hoo got ye intil the Kirk when I had the 
 keys ? but cum, nae mair anent this cum and speak to 
 yer honest mither's minister, Donald Cargil." 
 
 The poor maniac stretched out his hand to the Bedrel, 
 and laughed. Then fixing a stern look on Cargil, he let 
 go the Bedrel's hand and started back. 
 
 Cargil remembered that pious Kirk-going Mause, her
 
 148 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND . 
 
 once peaceful cottage, and her once active and affectionate 
 Rob and he wept as he thought of them. 
 
 The maniac gazed in his face. The early impression 
 of the report on his mind that Cargil had fallen, seemed 
 to be stronger on his heart, than even that made by his pre 
 sence before him now that his mind was crazed, and he 
 broke out, ' Maist worthy Pastor, waur ye no hanged and 
 quartered? I'm sure ye waur. I did hear it truly 
 
 affirmed sune after puir Mither was shot by , but I 
 
 daur na name him. His name blisters my lips, and sets 
 my soul in a lowe. Had he shot Rab that's me, I 
 shoudna hae cared: I should hae forgiven him: But to 
 
 shoot Mither ! But I remember me puir Mither 
 
 spak thae last words, just as the guns went aff wi' a fear- 
 fu' crack, "Lord forgie them,! for they kenna what 
 they're aboot." Sae, my masters, I forgie them. And I 
 sail let ye see the prufe o't, worthy pastor. My mither 
 used to kneel doon, as it were, in that end o' the cottage, 
 fast by the wee aumbry, and sing, and then read the Word, 
 and, neist, pray. I hae kept up the gude custom, sae do I. 
 I kneel me doon and pray there : but I am ay like to choke ; 
 something ay comes up in my throat : and I get sae wae, 
 that I canna get utterance ; and the saut tears rin ower 
 my puir wuzzoned cheeks. Besides, sirs, it's unco cauld 
 there in the cottage. Mither is not there, and the fire's oot ; 
 and the roof is a' blawn aff, and the hearth stane is cauld 
 and wat. Weel ! I name him in my prayers, I mean 
 the man wha shot puir mither ! And Hk as mither tauld 
 me, I ay render gude for evil to ilka an o' them. I there 
 by heap coals o' fire upon their head, to burn their hairns 
 oot !" 
 
 He now stood for a few moments, staring at Cargil, 
 with upraised hands, then approaching him he touched 
 his hands. " Noo, I'm sure ye're leevin' after a' !" cried 
 he : and he threw himself on the floor, and held the old 
 Pastor by the knees, and kissed his hands, and wept like a 
 child. As soon as he could articulate, he stammered out, 
 " Hech ! sir, my puir mither wull ne'er mair sit at yer feet, 
 and hear the Word!" Then he looked up in Cargil's 
 face and laughed : and then he wept. " But she's gaun 
 hame !" he cried ; " she's now gaun hame ! And I'm go- 
 mg hame too ! I'm on the way. They ca' me puir daft
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 149 
 
 Rab. And sae I am e'en puir daft Rab ! But the Re 
 deemer, the merciful ANE redeems puir daft folks, as weel- 
 as you, wha are wise ! Weel, as to mither ; She was an 
 unco gude mither to me. She nourishsd me kindly after 
 faither's death. She was a gude woman, and we lived 
 unco happy togither. But a body they ca' Claverse, the 
 deel, they say, brought him lately ower frae France; this 
 Claverse wages war wi' feckless widows, and silly weans ; 
 he cam on us ! It was a sair morning to me, sirs ! They 
 ca' him a deevil: but I weel wat that's no true. He's a hu 
 man being to my knowledge, for when he shot mither, 
 no kennin' unco weel what I was doin', I ran on him ; 
 I teuk him by the lug ; I kept my haud o't, and pu'd it 
 amaist clean aff: He ran yelloching, lik a deevil incar 
 nate ! I'm no swearin', sirs ! I'm only stating facts the 
 blude spouted ower his brown curls, and ower his bit skan- 
 cin' thing on his shoulder. Weel ! they only felled daft 
 Rab doon they didna shoot him. But let that pass. 
 God wull right his ain, I ken weel. He wha redeems 
 puir daft Rab, wull ne'er leave him, nor forsake him! And 
 in the bricht mornin' o' eternity, it wull be seen whether 
 Charles and Claverse were daft, or puir heverel Rab, af 
 ter a'." 
 
 During this simple and touching expression of senti 
 ment, Cargil and Master James were bathed in tears. Car- 
 gil took him by the hand, and pronounced his benediction 
 on the humble natural, in an affecting and paternal tone ; 
 and then added : " Fear nocht, my puir Rab ! God wha 
 taks care o' his ain, wull tak care o' thee And we sail a' 
 meet in heaven: there the wicked cease, frae troubling and 
 there the weary are at rest ! " 
 
 Rab grasped his hand and kissed it again and again, and 
 bathed it with his tears. 
 
 " Faither and mither wull be there too," cried he; and 
 he laughed, and then he wept, alternately. 
 
 The Bedrel now led him away to his house ; and by the 
 instructions of Cargil he never permitted him to leave his 
 humble dwelling, until he got him placed under the care of 
 the sweet angel of charity, Helen Wardlaw.
 
 150 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAITIK 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 " Their lips hymn'd praise, their right hands on their hilw, 
 Who in defence of conscience, freedom, law, 
 Looked stern, with unaverted eyes, on death, 
 In ev'ry form of horror." GRAHAME. 
 
 The sufferers never failed to hold their public meetings, 
 from time to time, throughout the land. This was a part 
 of their sound policy. They were well aware, that, if they 
 once yielded so far to the storm of persecution, as to aban 
 don these meetings, they must soon be divided, and conquer 
 ed. Our brave and pious ancestors had a twofold object 
 in view in these meetings, or CONVENTICLES. The peo 
 ple were instructed in Christian principles, and thence ex 
 cited to piety. This was > one great object. They were 
 thus prepared, as immortal beings, for the mansions of glo- ' 
 ry. This was not all : the people were thereby, as citizens, 
 kept in a state of preparedness to receive, and enjoy the boon 
 of civil liberty. Every tyrant knows that a people, in or 
 der to be made slaves, must be kept in ignorance and irre- 
 ligion. And every lover of liberty knows that knowledge 
 and religion are inseparably connected with a noble inde 
 pendence of mind, and ardent love of liberty. Hence ty 
 rants are enemies to knowledge and the pure gospel of 
 Christ.. To fan the fire of liberty was the second object 
 which they had in view, in the CONVENTICLES. Nor were 
 they disappointed. From every one of these meetings did 
 the people depart with an increasing ardour in the holy 
 cause, and with a more deeply fixed resolution to persevere 
 till the tyrant should be hurled from his seat, or relinquish 
 his tyranny! 
 
 A general union was also kept up. There seldom fail 
 ed to be messengers present from the remotest counties, and 
 also from Holland, to communicate with the main body, 
 and to give and receive instructions, mutually. 
 
 The fruits of these Conventicles became daily more and 
 more apparent. The suffering patriots cheered each other 
 with the assurance that the dark night was passing away, 
 and the morning watch approaching. At every Conven 
 ticle new friends were gained over, and efficient measures
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STtiRTS. 151 
 
 taken to spread light, and to inspire a deep-rooted abhor 
 rence of tyranny over all the land ; and trusty men, who 
 witnessed these scenes, were, from time to time, sent over 
 the land, and into Holland, " to consult with the numerous 
 exiles, and to importune the gallant and pious PRINCE, to 
 commiserate them, and to send relief, or come himself to do 
 both." 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the tyrant and 
 his minions employed every means to fix a deep stigma on 
 these meetings, which they called the 'rendevouses of rebel 
 lion. 1 And hence they were watched with the utmost anx 
 iety, and punished with sanguinary violence. 
 A D The great Conventicle, took place this spring, in 
 ;i67S. the woods of Carlsness, and passed off, with an in 
 creasing and cheering degree of excitement 
 
 The young noblemen, particularly Perth and Annandale, 
 had been anxious to witness a Conventicle. They had 
 promised themselves much amusement, and a fruitful source 
 of anecdote and merriment for a year to come. And as 
 every speaker arose, their countenances and risible powers 
 indicated the note of preparation for a burst of laughter 
 suppressed and concealed, by bonnet, plume, and kerchief. 
 
 They had anticipated a motly group, of incurable barba 
 rism in manners, and shocking rudeness in speech. They 
 looked out for harangues in which the most monstrous 
 figures and illusions should be blended with folly and trea 
 son. They expected to hear quotations made from the 
 Apocrypha, and from Romish divines, by mistake, instead 
 of the hallowed pages of the Bible.* They expected whin 
 ing and canting, and nasal twangs, and " pulpit blaudins, 
 and figures o' speech, which not even a saunt could resist." 
 
 They were quite disappointed. Annandale and the rest 
 of them gradually calmed down, and even looked grave, 
 while some of them whispered to Burleigh, " if this was 
 
 THE GENUINE CONVENTICLE." 
 
 "Unquestionably," whispered Burleigh, "this is a Con- 
 renticle of the usual way. I see, however, that you have 
 been deceived. The rustic and ludicrous species of Con- 
 renticles, is not after this son. If you want to see one o' 
 
 *As one writer, I mean Sir Walter Scott in his Old Mortality, ha 
 actually, in our times, represented them as doing.
 
 152 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 these, you must find out the "weekly exercises" whilk are 
 held in divers places, ower the laun, whaur nane o' the pas 
 tors usually preside, nor e'en attend, whaur illiterate men 
 do not content themselves with praying, but do pour out 
 their effusions by way of exhortations. Thae wull come 
 up to the full measure of the ludicrous. I hae seen e'en 
 Sir Robert there, and Torfoot, and e'en the graver sort o' 
 the elders, run oot frae beneath the clud o' peat reek, to 
 laugh thar laugh oot, ahint the peat stack. By the spirit 
 of Demosthenes ! neither the Greek nor the Roman lads 
 waur equal to the shoonless, huggered orators at thae con 
 venticles of laymen. Sic roaring, sic quotations, sic meta 
 phors, and sic like figures ! Thay wad strike ye dumb all 
 yer Cicefos and Demosthenes, and a' modern man o' migh 
 ty declamation. Not e'en father Cargil there, could staun 
 their figures o' speech. Ane o' thae blades was, the ither 
 evening, praying in the meeting and wushing to offer up a 
 petition for oor pastors and elders ; o' the latter, some few 
 were present; and minting to quote frae Jeremy, the words 
 "anent their goin' forth as he-goats afore the flock," he 
 besought heaven that " thae elder's mieht be a 1 turned intil 
 he-goats" And that was na a' ; ane o' the elders, Rab 
 Finlay, he whae haes but ae ee, roored oot, no by way o' 
 say in Amen, as yer bits o' white sarked clerks du in cha 
 pels, but he bawled oot, -Dinna mean me there, Jeemoc, I 
 wad rather be a ram, or e'en a gimmer, than ane o' yer he- 
 goats !" 
 
 " On the contrair, my hearties," continued Burleigh, whis 
 pering to his companions, who sat behind a stately oak, 
 amid the dense foliage of underwood and brackens, " ye see 
 afore ye, men of gude Scottish education, college-bred pas 
 tors, men o' honest descent, and mainy o' them hae associ 
 ated wi' oor noblemen and gentry. And they speak oor 
 national language wi' great exactness, beauty, and elo 
 quence. Ye mistake the sufferers, my gallants, totally. 
 Yer feckless brained chaps, and yer unprincipled lads hae 
 a' abandoned them. They hae gone ower to that side o 1 
 the noose, wha hae the loaves and the fishes to serve oot, 
 and wha hae put them into leevins, whilk is to say, gude quar 
 ters, plenty o' veevers, and easy spiritual services. Noo, 
 it bespeaks ye men o' some nerve, and patriotism, wha staun 
 not. Take yer second view o' thae five suffering auld min-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 153 
 
 isters ower the way, wha hae been speakin'. The enemy 
 hae failed to buy them. Mony o' their associates and the 
 lower order hae had their prices. But thae men, whilk the 
 apostates, and Tories affect to despise wi' the maist scorn- 
 fu' een, they canna, naitheless, command gowd enough to 
 buy them ! They count a' things but loss lor Scotland, for 
 Scotland's freedom, and her haly religion ! Wad they yet 
 tak the enemy's bribes, and gang their wa's ower quietly 
 to the rank o' them wha aince upheld Scotland's law and 
 religion ; they might soon staun wi' as prood looks as ony 
 ane o' the licenced oppressors o' the laun j ay !' and might 
 sune sport their mitre and crazier !." 
 
 " Mairover, cast yer eyes ower the Conventicle. They 
 are not o' the lower rabble by any means. The low and 
 unprincipled rabble are ower easy bought, to be found here : 
 they are, generally speaking, on the ither side: they are 
 the hungry spies, and informers against the sufferers, wha 
 are usually o' the better sort. Look ye, my Lord Mauch- 
 lin, and my Lord Annandale, ye canna see ane there, in the 
 wide circle, but has come trig, and braw, and neatly dress 
 ed, frae the bushy silken rose o' the shoon, up to the decent 
 and cleanly shining head dress, and purple, or scarlet hood. 
 And e'en the auld wives o' a lower order, there, they hae 
 their scarlet, and their blue mantles, and their decent black 
 hoods." 
 
 " And, besides, my gallants, look ye on the rjcht side o' 
 the pastors, on that double row o' cushioned benches, whaur 
 the grassy sod is strewed wi' green rushes and sprits, there 
 sit ye a row, by nae means contemptible, o' Scotland's nobles 
 and gentry, few but precious, and dear to ilka lover o' his 
 kintry. Noo, note me, gude my young lords, and I shall 
 name ye their names. And, Annandale, I need na tell you 
 that there are eyes as bright, and cheeks as fair, as eer Je 
 saw in courtly ground, or in sparklin' ball. I see ye hlRjp 
 been duing devotion to mair than ae beautiful lady, and in 
 sae duin' to my knowledge, ye hae spoiled the devotion o' 
 ane, at least, ower beneath that pretty ash tree. That is 
 the fair daughter of old Lord Kardross, who sits beside him, 
 and his lady, her mother. Noo, follow me, I shall name 
 them in the order in which they sit. That is Sir Patriqk 
 Hume o 1 Palwart.* He looks ye like a richt Stalwart 
 
 * Afterwards the Earl of Marchmont, in King William's reign.
 
 154 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 Knight. There is Bailey o' Jerviswood, and Lady Jervis- 
 wood. Douglas o ! Cavers sits next, by the side o' his 
 beautiful and accomplished lady. The next are Drummond 
 o' Meggins, and Lady Drummond. That stately and noble 
 lookin' man, who stauns wi' eyes eagerly bent on father 
 Cargil, dressed in rich apparel, and leaning on his sword, 
 is Hay o' Balhousie.* On that other row sit the Gordons 
 o' Gallowvvay '. Dame Stewart, Lady Castlestuart, and her 
 attendants. That is Stuart o' Ravenstown, and by his side 
 is his charming lady. There, look ye, that is Sir Andrew 
 Kennedy o' Clowburn, and the Laird o' Douchal is at his 
 left hand. On that row o' benches are seated Sir John Kirk- 
 ady o 1 Grange : Pitcairn o' Pitlour ; Scott o' Pitlochie, 
 and the Laird o' Reddie. There, under that beautiful oak, 
 whilk shades them wi' his young leaves, sits a row of Scot 
 tish dames, whose house, I mean ilka ane o' them, is dear 
 to Scottish hearts. There is Lady Torvvoodlee, Lady Ga- 
 lashiels, and the Ladies Onthank, Halhill, Colvil, Colerny 
 Balcanquel. And there's the gausy Knight o' Cathcart, 
 Sir Boyse Semple, and his bright eened daughter, by the 
 side o' bonny Helen Wardlaw, wha wad adorn, my certie! 
 any ane o' yer coronets ! That portly bald-headed man is 
 the Laird o' Ashestiel, and T>y his side sits Lady Fernylie. 
 And beyond him sitsrKer o' Kersland, one of the best o' Scot 
 tish Lairds, and near him are Caldwell o' that ilk, Lady 
 Caldwell, and their gallant son, and bonny daughter. On 
 the left there are seated Sir William Fleming o' Ferm, and 
 his elegant and accomplished dame. You will perceive that 
 she is unco like Mary, Queen o' Scots, ye'll mind ye o' her 
 likeness in Halyrood hoose. And mark ye, Lady Flem 
 ing prides hersel in nae sma' degree on this, and she has 
 imitated the head gear o' Scotland's royal beauty, Whig or 
 no Whig, as she is>" 
 
 Lord Mauchlin pointed to an elegant man with his 
 doublet buttoned to his chin ; with ruff of no small dimen 
 sions; and a fine high forehead, and glossy curled locks. 
 " That," whispered Burleigh, " is Lord Cranston. It has 
 been understood that our party should adopt some mea 
 sures o' mair importance than mere concealment : or even 
 bold self-defence. Hence there's a fuller meeting this day 
 
 * Afterwards the Earl of Kinnoul.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 156 
 
 than usual. And close in the rear o' Cranston, are Sir 
 Adam Whitford, and Dalswinton ; and Sir William Scott 
 o 1 Harden. And, finally, that Giant man, in grey, with 
 belt and sword, with the fine Roman nose, and long jet 
 curls falling doon on his shoulders, is Sir Walter Riddle, 
 of that ilk, near Glasgow." 
 
 Religious services being closed, with the holy benedic 
 tion pronounced by Cargil, several of the knights addressed 
 the meeting. All were of the opinion that something ought 
 to be done. But there was a lamentable want of harmo 
 ny as to the manner in which that something might be 
 done. They all resolved that the minions of tyranny, and 
 the evil counsellors, around the throne, should be over 
 thrown and dispersed. But, each speaker had his opinion 
 as to the most effective way of reaching this object. Every 
 one bewailed the state o' Scotland, and the Kirk o' God. 
 All was at stake. But there was a want of union among 
 the efficient leaders ; and a fatal apathy among the nobility. 
 But, by multiplying these conventicles, and coming to them 
 armed, they did indulge the hope of rousing even the no 
 bles to a sense of the danger of their Kintry before her lib 
 erty, and the Reformed religion should be finally extin 
 guished. " Yes," cried Lord Kardross, " we claim no 
 higher titles than lovers o' oor Kintry and defenders o' that 
 faith intrusted to us by oor brave and pious ancestors. 
 Let these conventicles, these meetings of a people deter 
 mined to be free, be multiplied ower the laun. They are 
 terrible to tyranny, and atheism. Let them ca' them as 
 the minions and base loons about the council, du ca' them, 
 the rendezvouses of rebellion. For me, I pledge mysel, 
 and my estate, and sacred honour, to wage war against 
 thae miscreants, wha poison the ears o' his Majesty." " And 
 I," cried Lord Cranston, laying his hand on the hilt of 
 his sword " do, before high heaven, pledge thee to stand 
 by thy side." 
 
 Here the bustle and noise which had begun during the 
 elder Lord Kardross' speech, was increasing into a tumult. 
 And one of their sentinels rushing into the midst of the peo 
 ple, cried out, " a party of dragoons is approaching, at full 
 gallop ; and they have every appearance of the life-guards 
 men, and the furious riding of the commander, is like 
 the riding of Graham of Claverhouse, the Jehu o' the 
 Tories !"
 
 156 THE WHIOS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 JAMES GRAHAM, usually called Claverhouse, or Claverse, 
 was a remote branch of the house of Graham, Marquis of 
 Montrose. And his very name and relationship called 
 up only painful associations in the mind of every Scottish 
 patriot. 
 
 He had been abroad in the French wars. He arrived 
 in Scotland in the year 1677. He might be about thirty or 
 thirty-five years of age. There was nothing prepossessing 
 in his personal appearance. He was in tature, rather 
 small ; but was possessed of great muscular strength. His 
 form could not be pronounced handsome. His arms were 
 too long in proportion to his lower extremites. His ser 
 vice and exposures abroad, had rendered his complexion 
 extremely dark and swarthy. His face was an index of 
 his mind: cautious, cunning, and distrustful, he viewed 
 those about him, as enemies, until he found them friends. 
 Conscious of being hated by the multitude, as well on ac 
 count of the name and memory of Montrose ; as on account 
 of his own early indications of unamiable traits of charac 
 ter, he was suspicious of those who approached him; and 
 restless and unhappy when alone. In his manners he was 
 harsh, impatient, revengeful. In politics, so far as his 
 manner of life had allowed him to look into that science, 
 he was a thorough disciple of Machiavelism. Individual 
 rights, and the privileges of the subject, he utterly contemn 
 ed. Pleas for liberty he laughed to scorn, as the cantings 
 of unsuccessful hypocrites. Measuring other men by his 
 own feelings, he considered patriotism, as a word invented 
 to impose on fools. Self-interest and love of glory, (to 
 which he was passionately devoted,) were judged by him 
 the only motives which guided every man's actions. Long 
 accustomed to desperate enterprises, in foreign service, 
 and habituated to deeds of cruelty, and cold-blooded murders 
 in the fields of Scotland, there was a wildness and ferocity 
 in his looks. The hand of God which writes legible cha 
 racters on the faces of remarkable knaves and villains, had 
 denied to his features every line of beauty and regularity, 
 either male or female. Nay, it had set down the prominent 
 marks of what was, every way, the reverse. And, his 
 course of life had improved the wrong way, on the natural 
 deformity of his face, to a fearful degree. The strong and 
 uniform exercises of his vigorous mind had made his face
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 167 
 
 a tolerably exact index of it. There was no lighting up of 
 sprightliness therein. He was an entire stranger to that 
 delicacy and refinement of soul, which can light up the 
 face with the charms of moral beauty. He had the iron 
 soul of the soldado. His countenance was naturally 
 gloomy and down-cast. And when his soul was kindled into 
 fury, his countenance darted terror into the hearts of even 
 his own military executioners. His face was rather long 
 than oval, by reason of his cheeks being straight and 
 lank. His eye-brows were heavy, and of a singular 
 shape. They were thrown up at their outer extremities, 
 and drawn downward at their junction, where they were 
 gathered into a kind of knot. His eyes were grey, small, 
 hollow, and restless. They had not the fire of vivacity ; 
 nor yet the lustre of genius, as some have fabulously sung. 
 His nose was straight, raised in the middle though not 
 romari, and not deformed. His chin was long : and it 
 was surmounted by a mouth of an extraordinary shape. 
 It was large, from the circumstance of its extreme angles 
 being drawn downward and backward, precisely as we see 
 on certain faces of men who have long been in the habit 
 of intense application to deeds, cruel, and revolting to hu 
 man nature. His teeth were large and irregular. His 
 upper lip was short, and gently curved: and his upper 
 teeth projected over his under lip. As if he had made 
 Julian Apostate his model, he had, in someway, wrought 
 his mouth and features into the shape and configuration 
 of that emperor's striking face, as seen on ancient coins. 
 
 His manners, as may well be conceived, were by no 
 means, those of an accomplished gentleman. He had never 
 had the opportunity of mingling with the noble and the 
 gay ; or the learned and polished. In the French service 
 his rank was not high enough to entitle him to this privi 
 lege. His comrades and associates were, in fact, those 
 foreign adventurers ; those soldados from various nations, 
 who sell themselves to the best bidder ; that is to say, 
 of the highest wages, and the best rations : desperate men; 
 living literally by their swords : ready for any enterprise, 
 or desperate daring ; without consciences ; moving me 
 chanically in the execution of the laudable, or damning 
 orders of their masters and hirers : and who gravely try 
 to kill as many of the species as they can reach, who ne- 
 
 VOL. i. o.
 
 158 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 ver did them the least injury ; and who kill the individuals 
 brought within their range, merely because their hirers 
 call them enemies ; and pay them to kill them! Wine, 
 and loose company occupy their hours, spared from kill 
 ing; or from learning the art of killing men. And the 
 anticipations of battles, and of plunder, engross the chief 
 part of their barbarous communion and conversation with 
 each other. 
 
 Hence, it was not true, and it was not possible, in the 
 nature of things, to be true that Claverse could have these 
 accomplishments of mind, or these polished manners, with 
 which he has been glorified in romance. It sets all para 
 doxes and absurdities at defiance, when they hold up this 
 butcher of the unarmed peasantry, this ferocious foreign 
 trained soldado, as an amiable and pretty lady's man, 
 Heaven save the mark ! Every lady's heart, of Scotland, 
 revolts at this imputation : and pronounces it false and 
 libellous on nature! And the public mind of Scotland, 
 shrewd in forming an estimate on matters of this kind ; and 
 accurate, and faithful in transmitting it, has long been 
 plainly told and is still plainly told of Claverse. It can 
 not be mistaken by us in its sentence. And the national 
 sentence is not wrong. All the efforts of her poets, and 
 some of her historians, and the magic influence of her en 
 chanting romancers notwithstanding, Scotland has lifted 
 her awful voice, and has pronounced his memory damned 
 to everlasting infamy : and all the water of her blue lakes, 
 and all the salt floods which flow around her shores, can 
 not wash away the guilt of Claverse and the persecutors, 
 who shed the blood of her Christian patriots ! 
 
 And it is well known that the descendants of the suffer 
 ers, not to mention many of the more enlightened class of 
 the Tories, have exalted Claverse to the rank of companion 
 ship, and high rivalship with a personage of no ordinary 
 class. There is a well known proverb current over 
 Scotland, among the children of the Martyrs, and their 
 associates, who bless their sweet memory ; and deck their 
 sepulchral monuments. This proverb records this unenvi- 
 ed honour, from one generation to another. When Scot 
 land speaks of some awful and gruesome being some 
 terrible mischief-making agent, she exclaims " IT MAUX 
 
 BE THE HEEL, OR CLAVERSE !
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 159 
 
 It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the name, and 
 the approach of Cla verse struck terror into this meeting. 
 Through the overspreading boughs of the trees, under 
 which they sat, they preceived, at a distance, the military 
 party approaching. It was an affecting contrast to every 
 thing around them, on which the eye suddenly glanced, 
 and on which the soul spent a thought as rapidly as the 
 lightning's wing. There were on the one side the lovely 
 scenes of spring, the green meadow, and its yellow 
 gowans ; the green trees, the unmoved and merry song 
 sters which carolled it on the branches, and poured their 
 wild music through the groves ; the beautiful and in 
 teresting group of human beings ; the love and harmony 
 of the assembly of Covenanters; the solemn worship of 
 God, the deliberations on the salvation of their Country. 
 On the other side, in the distant perspective, there was the 
 military display, the brilliant colours, the waving plumes, 
 the glancing armour, the furious horse, and his still more 
 furious rider, urging on to the deeds of destruction. 
 
 The first concern of the men, and the gallant youth, was 
 to secure the safety of the females ; and next of the Pas 
 tors. Amid the tumult and shrieking which arose on all 
 sides, when the bugle note rung through the forest, as the 
 party perceived the Conventicle, the ladies stood calm 
 and collected for a moment. But, when the name of 
 Claverse passed from sentinel to sentinel, and sounded on 
 their ears, they shuddered, and pressed their daughters 
 to their bosoms. The revolting deeds of violence, with 
 which Galloway and Clydesdale rung, had damned 
 Claverse in the opinion of every virtuous female. 
 
 The business of retreat was accomplished with great 
 promptitude, and success. The dense underwood along 
 the braes facilitated the escape of the great body of the 
 people. They had marvellously disappeared in a few 
 moments. Claverse halted at the outer skirt of the wood, 
 and sent a few of his men to reconnoitre. He also detached 
 a small party round, in the course into which he perceived 
 a multitude of the people retreating. In the confusion 
 which this created, it unfortunately happened that his 
 dragoons seized a few of the most respectable people ; and 
 carried them off", notwithstanding every effort to rescue 
 them. Among these were Lady Torwoodlee, Lady
 
 160 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 Galashiels ; Lady Newton ; also Laird Ashiestiel and his 
 lady ; Lady Fernylie, and the Honourable Mrs. Pringle, 
 (a relation of Torwoodlee) and her beautiful daughter Miss 
 Pringle.* 
 
 But the objects of peculiar attraction, on the part of ouf 
 gallant youth, were Helen Wardlaw, Mary Stewart, Anna 
 Burleign Stewart ; and especially James Stewart, the heir 
 of Sir James Stewart, and his bride, Euphemia Maxwell, 
 the beautiful daughter of the Knight of Netherpolloch, 
 who had, this morning, been united in marriage, in the 
 midst of the happy family circle of Carlsness, after a long 
 and painful absence, on the part of Sir James, in Holland, 
 into which the persecution had driven him. Around these, 
 the choice of the youth crowded, Annandale, Semple, 
 Mauchlin, and the gallant youth Kardross collected all 
 their dependants, and servants on the spot, and presented a 
 firm phalanx to the rapidly approaching enemy. 
 
 They succeeded in conducting the Ladies in safety into 
 the Castle. A band of the most resolute young men Avere 
 drawn up in front of the house ; and good marksmen were 
 stationed at each of the windows below and above. Claverse 
 made an attack on them, again and again, both in front 
 and in rear of the Castle. But he was repulsed with loss, 
 by the well-directed fire from the windows, and from the 
 guard in front. 
 
 While Claverse was thus employed in attempting to, 
 carry the Baronet's house, Sir James Stewart, the younger, 
 made an attempt to escape with his bride. 
 
 He had succeeded in reaching a clump of young trees 
 in the rear of the Castle, and there, with a few trusty 
 servants, he had got his bride mounted on a gallant grey 
 charger, and himself mounted by her side, they set out 
 at full speed down the lawn, towards the woods which 
 skirted the meadows. Unfortunately Claverse perceived 
 them, and gave instant chase with a select party of his 
 life guards. The loud bugle note rang back from the 
 greenwood, while each party with whip and rowel urged 
 their gallant steeds into furious chase. Never was the red! 
 deer so hotly chased along the Highland mountain, or the 
 
 * This is no fiction : it belongs to the history of this period.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 161 
 
 Lowland vale, as was the party of bonny Phemy Maxwell 
 on her wedding day ! 
 
 But Sir James Stewart had formed his plans in the best 
 style. It is no easy task to out-general an Embro law 
 yer, especially when he has so much at stake as our hero 
 had. Just as Claverse gave the signal to pursue the wed 
 ding party, Sir Robert Hamilton, and Master James with a 
 few young Countrymen, well mounted on the one side : 
 and the young noblemen on the other, set out from the 
 right and left of the Castle, and directed their force on the 
 right and left of Claverse. 
 
 The party of life guards led by Claverse, was fast ap-. 
 preaching Sir James and his bride. Their escape seemed 
 hopeless. A bullet from the brass pistol of Claverse, struck 
 the grey steed which carried the bride. The gallant beast 
 pranced, and wheeled round, the bride kept her saddle with 
 the greatest presence of mind, and good horsemanship. 
 But the horse reeled, and fell with her. Sir James threw 
 himself from his horse, and sprang to her relief. Heedless 
 of his own danger, he had raised his bride from the horse's 
 feet, and was pressing her to his heart, while he cast a 
 look of despair on her, not knowing whether the bullet 
 of Claverse, had struck her. In a moment his sweetest 
 hopes began to vanish. And that courage, which in his 
 own individual case, would have risen up in despair, and 
 have hurried him like a lion into the midst of the combat, 
 was dissipated in a moment, as he turned his eye of des 
 pair on his fallen bride ; and the enemy already upon him. 
 A look, and a smile from his bride, in that awful moment 
 soon told him that she was not wounded. He threw him 
 self in a bending position over her, to receive the death 
 stroke ; and shield his beloved ; being content if he could 
 only purchase her life, at the expense of his own ! 
 
 At this critical moment, like their guardian angels 
 Sir Robert with the laird of Torfoot, and Master James, on 
 the one side, and the young noblemen, with their friends 
 on the other, reached the party of Claverse ; and made a 
 furious dash at them, from opposite sides. Several troops of 
 Claverse were prostrated in his rear ; and tumbled head 
 long from their saddles. Sir Robert rushed forward upon 
 Claverse himself. A well-aimed blow at the proud neck of 
 his gallant horse disabled him : He fell ; and Claverse was 
 o *
 
 162 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 thrown to the ground. And had he been the object of Sir 
 Robert's attention, at this moment, the world might never 
 have been pained and disgusted with the bloody raids, in 
 flicted afterwards on Clydesdale and Galloway. But the 
 soul of our hero was absorbed with the danger and the de 
 liverance of Sir James and his blooming bride. Indeed, so 
 completely was his mind engrossed with the rescue of the 
 wedded pair, that he was scarcely conscious of the condition, 
 or even the presence of Claverse. 
 
 The associates of Sir Robert rushed, pell mell, on the 
 military chieftain. Some of them, unhorsed like himself, 
 met him face to face, and sword in hand. But his gallant 
 troopers fell on them with an irresistible force, and suc 
 ceeded in extricating their colonel from the hands of Sem- 
 ple and Annandale. The gallant youth fought, for a brief 
 space, with great courage. But superior numbers, as well 
 as military skill, drove them back. 
 
 It was during the interval of this close conflict, that Sir 
 Robert had, in a lucky moment, drawn off Sir James Stew 
 art and his beautiful bride, into the adjacent thicket, and had 
 mounted them on his own black steed. And he saw, with 
 delight, the noble animal, with the fleetness of an arrow, 
 bear his double charge, across the meadow, and over the 
 plain, along the banks of the Clyde, into the high-way. 
 Then, as if conscious of his own strength, as he felt his 
 hoofs on the well-beaten pathway, the gallant St. Andrew, 
 redoubled his speed, and bore the happy pair in triumph 
 far beyond the reach of danger. 
 
 Sir Robert now hurried back from the thicket whence 
 he had despatched his interesting charge, and rallied his re 
 treating friends with a loud cheering shout. And throw 
 ing himself on the stray horse of Sir James Stewart, which 
 one of his attendants had secured for him, he rushed for 
 ward upon Claverse's party. Several of the dragoons fell 
 beneath the sword of his associates, but Claverse, mounted 
 on a fresh horse, retreated; and summoned his party to 
 fell back on the main body of his troops. They lost no 
 time in pursuing him. But they reached the house only 
 in time to see the whole party march off, with their pri 
 soners. They found none of their associates in sufficient 
 strength to attempt a rescue. It was to no purpose they 
 summoned aid from the castle ; the bugle note, in vain,
 
 OR, THK LAST OF THE STUARTS. 163 
 
 sounded loudly to arms, through the adjacent woods. Their 
 friends had all been dispersed. And those within the cas* 
 tie were well satisfied, with having succeeded in saving the 
 castle, and the inmates thereof. 
 
 Claverse, mistaking those notes for the signal to a fresh 
 rencountre, moved off in quick march, and in good order, 
 being content with the trophies, which he had secured, of 
 a dear-bought victory. 
 
 The family of Carlsness and their friends having been 
 put into a state of security, Burleigh and Torfoot escorted 
 Bailey Wardlaw and the fair Helen Wardlaw safely to 
 Glasgow. And Sir Robert Hamilton with the Lords Mauch- 
 lin, Semple, and Annandale, set out on the footsteps of Sir 
 James Stewart, anxious to learn the fate of the gallant young 
 knight and his bonny bride. They traced them through 
 Hamilton and the neighbouring villages, to Netherpollock. 
 There they found them in the bosom of their friends, and. 
 were in good season to share the nuptial entertainment, en 
 hanced by the presence and hospitable welcome of the good 
 old knight and his lady. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 "Bleed, bleed, poor country ! 
 Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure ; 
 For goodness dares not check thee ! Wear thou thy wrongs. 
 Thy title is affeered ! Fare thee well, lord, 
 I would not be the villian that thou think'st 
 For the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp, 
 And the rich East to boot !" SHAKESPEARE'S MACBETH. 
 
 We return now to Claverse and his prisoners. That 
 military chieftain, looking frequently behind him, like one 
 apprehensive of a pursuit, and a rescue, urged forward his 
 prisoners with unremitting activity. 
 
 " Look, soldiers, to your carabines," cried he, " see that 
 ye have them in prime order. And, hear me, fellows, for 
 by the soul of Montrose, I swear it shall be done, if the 
 whiggamores come to a rescue, your first business shall be, 
 hark ye, to hew dpon ilka soul, and mither's son o' the pri-
 
 164 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 soners, man and woman, by Hades. And ye'll reserve yer 
 fire for the fanatics who may assail us." 
 
 The females shrieked and looked around them. And 
 an involuntary exclamation of horror burst from a young 
 man, who rode near Claverse, muffled up in a large cloak, 
 with a slouched hat and plume. 
 
 " What gear hae we got here," cried Col. Graham as 
 he bent on the youth his keen eyes, " Parbleu ! Ha ! Mor- 
 bleu ! Il-y-est, par St. Louis ! No. It cannct be, though 
 I must be deceived. The deevil cannot be turned precisian." 
 He added, in a low mutter, to himself. 
 
 " I believe you know me, Colonel Graham," said the 
 youth with perfect sang-froid, as he turned his face on the 
 officer of the guards. " On a visit to Sir James he has a 
 fine daughter caught in your sweeping net. Ouis, ouis, 
 Colonel, that's all." And he began to hum the butt end of 
 an old Scotch song. 
 
 " So, so, hum, parbleu ! by the beard of St. Nicholas ! In 
 the name o' the deel is this you, young Perth? 
 
 " Even so, Colonel, the son of my father, who greets you 
 richt weel, Colonel Graham." 
 
 " And so, sir, que le diable ! parbleu ! sir, is it befitting, 
 sir, the son o' yer noble faither, to be found, sir, at a daum- 
 ed conventicle!" 
 
 "Sir, I am a free-born Scotchman, and so, sir, let me e'en 
 whisper in yer lug a halsam secret. The blood o' the aun- 
 cient nobles o' Scotland is in my young veins. And I win- 
 na be catechised by men o' steel and burl! I was where I 
 was, wi' the gude leave o' Perth, I and my youthful tutor 
 here. I am bound for Embro, Colonel. Pleasureth it yer 
 high mightiness to travel in my company? Your prisoner ! 
 Do not tak on at that rate, Colonel, or I shall hae ye report 
 ed afore the Cooncil, as one wha has run red wud mad. 
 Yer actions, colonel, wull unjiauld the belief. There is 
 mae than I, or they o' my retinue," added the youth as he 
 looked over the party of prisoners," wha fairly believe ye 
 mair fit for bedlam than for runnin' loose ower Scotland, 
 haggin' and hashin' doon honest folks, mair decent and un 
 speakably better behaved than yersel. Ae word mair and 
 then, I sail let ye till't, for I see ye' re lik to burst. No ae 
 lady shall be insulted afore my een. The blood o' a Drum- 
 mond beats in my arteries. And, by heaven ! ye ken- what 
 that says, colonel.
 
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 165 
 
 Col. Graham's face at first burnt with indignation. The 
 blood which mounted up sent a red hue over his dark fea 
 tures, and it seemed for a few moments like the copper co 
 lour of an Indian. His eyes shot fire and wrath. He bit 
 his lip, and his right hand was already on the hilt of his 
 sword. But he restrained his feelings and was silent. He 
 was evidently measuring his reply. For he feared, as in 
 deed, he had reason to fear, old Perth, the father. 
 
 Drummond observed his confusion, and went on " And 
 so, worthy Colonel, we here, that is to say, Lady Torwood- 
 lee here, and Lady Galashiels, and Lady Newton, and Lady 
 Ashiestiel, and her caro sposa, and Lady Fernylie, and 
 the honourable Mrs. Pringle and her beautiful daughter, and 
 I, the son of my father, and Master James there, are a' to 
 be slaughtered, by the gallant Colonel Graham, and his 
 douce lambs there, if the vvhiggamores should happen to 
 tauk it intil their noddles to show themsels in strength, on 
 the moors, a thing by nae means unfeasible. 
 
 " I beg pardon, Lady Torvvoodlee, Lady Galashiels, I 
 present the gallant Colonel Graham to you." 
 
 The ladies nodded to him from their palfreys. And 
 Claverse raising himself upon his huge military saddle, 
 made a haughty nod of recognition, as he touched his hat 
 with his bufT gauntlet, spotted with recent blood, 
 
 " I hae had the honour o' meetin' the gentleman, mair 
 than aince, I believe," said Lady Torwoodlee. And she 
 threw on him her dark eyes, flashing irrepressible indigna 
 tion. Lady Galashiels smiled, Claverse bit his lip, and co 
 loured. 
 
 After a pause of a few moments, Claverse replied, and 
 not so much to her words, as to her looks of reproach. 
 
 " It's the wull o' his maist sacred majesty that this wark 
 be dune. And unworthy as I am, while I hae the honour 
 o' bearin, a commission, I must e'en sacrifice my feelings 
 to the duty whilk I owe my maist gracious sovereign. Nay, 
 smile not. Par le diable ! I'm as serious, as I am ortho 
 dox. What hae thae deels o' bodies, the subjects, whilk 
 is to say the slaves of his maist sacred majesty, to do but to 
 receive on their knees, his maist gracious majesty's dicta- 
 tings on a' points, temporal and spiritual ? They owe him 
 eternal gratitude that he should spare sae meikle time, frae 
 his horses and hounds, as t6 prescribe a form o' religion to
 
 166 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND! 
 
 them, or the like o' them ! due le diable ! What rieht hae 
 they to think for themsels ? 
 
 "Why, madam!" continued he in reply to the lady's 
 look of unutterable contempt, " Parbleu ! are their souls 
 mair precious than the soul o' his maist sacred majesty, or 
 mine? Pu ! hu! if we hae any souls at a', their's areas 
 meikle inferior to oor's, as the vile moss hagg puddle o' 
 blude that creeps through their veins, is inferior to the blude 
 o' majesty and nobility ! Has na his maist sacred majesty, 
 wat ye, by virtue o' his divine ricTit, a' power to dictate to 
 the souls o' sic dogs, e'en as I hae a richt to dictate to my 
 blackguards there, or to the dogs o' my kennel ?" 
 
 " Praise be blessed !" cried Lady Torwoodlee, "for the 
 wonderful improvement in the mode o' governing that has 
 come in wi' the Stuart family, heaven bless them ! The 
 cares o 1 State are a mere trifle to his maist sacred Majesty, 
 and sae are military cares to our adored and gallant sol 
 diers. They can spare us time to tak the cure o' oor souls. 
 The King and Col. Graham are, mairover, become sic 
 sagacious casuists,, and sae condescending in their apostoli 
 cal piety, that they spare nae paius and nae means, military 
 and prelatic, to bring us back frae a 1 oor wanderings, and to 
 wyseus, in by thae meek and gentle guides, to wit Colonel 
 Graham and his military ruling elders : they reclaim us 
 frae oor wilfu' errors, and wyse us, puir wandering sheep, 
 by the haly slap* o' prelatism, into the true fauld ! And 
 praise be blessed ; sae effectually earnest is the royal and 
 military care ower sic wilfu' craters, that they graciously 
 compel us by cauld steel ! Blessings on their bowels o' 
 mercy and compassion ! Should we yet still be wilfu' and 
 wander by the puddled waters o' presbytery, they break 
 oor necks and hang us up. For surely it is better to kill 
 us, than to leave us to wander frae the green faulds o' di 
 vine prelatism ! Lang life, and a wally share o' grace to 
 them whae are sae zealous for oor saul's safety. And, hech, 
 sirs, if the spiritually -minded Charles II., and his apostolic 
 worthy of his host, to wit, Col. Graham, should gang 
 aff untimeously, by some wicked wing's bullet, in grace's 
 name wha wad bestow on us sic spiritual and military 
 labours to guide us to the gate o' prelatism, the only safe 
 way to heaven ? 
 
 *Anglice, the gate, or wide entrance into the sheep-fold.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 167 
 
 Claverse looked earnestly on Lady Torwoodlee, but she 
 was too grave to betray herself under this burst of satire. 
 
 " Parbleu, ma chere Madame ! Mon Dieu ! Lady," cried 
 he, " ye tak on ower seriously ! Ye utterly mistake me," 
 he added, as he could perceive no trace of a smile of ridi 
 cule on her countenance, " the King, my maist gracious 
 sovereign, while he exercises his absolute authority and su 
 premacy by divine rickt, derived frae King Henry VIII, 
 o' blessed memory, ower the bodies, souls, and consciences 
 o' his subjects, disna place the value o' a hilt tassel on yer 
 souls and their salvation. He disna compel ye intil heav 
 en ! Ha, ha, ha ! Why, cod's fish ! the anointed o' the 
 Lord disna compel himsel or me ; nor does he wyse ye 
 that airt, Lard pity ye'r weakness ! Why he simply 
 wants the power and supremacy, in a' things. Noo, La 
 dy, if yer Whiggery will let you open yer ears to coort or 
 thodoxy, here it is, only confess my maist gracious sove 
 reign king and head o' the church, and sole lord o' yer 
 conscience ; and he'll let you stand neutral as it regards 
 a' invisible powers, and the contendin' parties o' heaven 
 and hell ; neutral ye may remain, as it were, atween 
 Christ and the deevil ! Only if there be ony wee diffe 
 rence o' inclination, its the safer doctrine, by oor courtly 
 standard, just to incline a wee bit to the latter ! For by the 
 soul o' Montrose, we hae ay found the men who inclined 
 to Christ and his cause, to be Whigs, just as sure as a gun ! 
 And it is just aboot as impossible to mak yer Whig Chris 
 tian leal to oor maist gracious sovereign, as it wad be to 
 mak the lord paramount o' the bottomless pit a douce and 
 quiet citizen ! But them we find gude and leal subjects, 
 wha swear and bouse, and ban the covenants^ even 
 though they also send the priest, curates, church and a', to 
 Sathan, ten times a day ! Noo, hear me a bit mair, for 
 laird, it's maist practical doctrine, because if ye be converted 
 to oor way o' thinking it may save you, from being 
 hanged. 
 
 " If ye tak up ony religion at a' its true ye can be just 
 as weel without it, as my maist gracious sovereign tells us 
 in a roar o' merriment, ower his cups, ilka day, but if ye 
 tak up ony ane, ye maun ken that he wull let you be 
 saved, only through the yett o' prelacy. That's the only 
 gentlemanly way o' being religious. Not that I wad
 
 168 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND I 
 
 insinuate that this is the better, or the best. But simply, 
 my lady, because the King, my maist sacred and gracious 
 master, has, by his divine richt and supremacy, deigned 
 to proclaim it to be the only way o' salvation, to ilka soul 
 and mither's son o' ye, and a' his subjects !" 
 
 "Blessings on ye, oor spiritual and military reformer!" 
 cried Lady Torwoodlee, " Ye hae been drinkin' deeply in 
 at the sacred fountain o' ghostly lair : ye maun hae been 
 fructifying maist edifyingly under the dew and droppings o' 
 gude and godly James Sharp, the holy primate o' a 1 Scot 
 land. Yer spiritual conceivings and godly talk are as like 
 ane anither's, as twa peas ! 
 
 " And, pray," continued the lady, " should oor maist sa 
 cred majesty by virtue o' his supremacy, pronounce papis- 
 trie to be the orthodox religion, wad it no be yer duty to 
 draw oot yer apostolical and military powers and yer black, 
 guards there, yer ruling elders, to compel us into heaven by 
 the only divine yett o' papistrie ?" 
 
 " Unquestionably, Madam, parbleu ! if my maist gracious 
 sovereign says it, it's eneugh for me !" cried Claverse. 
 
 " Most devoted footman ! admirable slave !" whispered 
 Lady Galashiels to young Drummond. 
 
 " Yes," replied he, " this is the fanatic Graham of Cla- 
 verhouse. The Whigs cant and are enthusiasts their way. 
 Claverse, who by the' way is a mere echo o' the priest rid 
 den Cooncil o' State, does cant Ms way, is a fanatic, 
 enthusiastic worshipper o' tyranny ! The whigs avowedly 
 and fearlessly place the crown o 1 supremacy in religious 
 matters, on the head o' Ane wha can wear it, even the 
 LORD JESUS CHRIST. Claverse, with equal and martial zeal, 
 places it on the head o' ane in whom they wha are nearest 
 him, canna, wi' e'en the help o' magnifying glasses, discern 
 ae genuine virtue, or the semblance o' decent morals ! 
 Unco little ken I on thae affairs, but a child may here dis 
 cern the disgusting cant, and the bathos, set down side by 
 side, with the beautiful and the sublime ! These are the men 
 and their sentiments which James Arch-bishop Sharp calls 
 fanatics!" 
 
 " Yes," cried the lady, " and the sentiments which that 
 parasite o' tyranny, has just noo re-echoed, cuckoo-like, 
 frae the priest-ridden court o' Charles II., canna exist in 
 the society o' Whigs. The spirit o' Sharpe, and of Cla-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 169 
 
 Terse couldna breathe, nor exist in a Conventicle o' Whigs ! 
 It's not to be wondered at that they hate and curse the 
 " Conventicle," as Sathan hates and curses a meeting o' the 
 angels o 1 free and haly heaven !" 
 
 " Yes, yes," cried young Drummond, " I hae heard yer 
 conventicle, and I daily hear the communings and dis- 
 coursings o' Sharpe, Rothes, and Lauderdale, at my fa 
 ther's table. And believe ana who can speak impartially, 
 o' a' the cantings that hae e'er been canted on a hill side, 
 or in a moss-hagg Conventicle, by the maist illiterate pea 
 sants o' the land, this canting o' the lordly priests, and oor 
 nobles is the maist degrading and disgusting ! They cant 
 o' the di tine richt o' kings ! and the divine richt o' diocesan 
 bishops ! and absolute submission ! and passive obedience ! 
 Heaven, save the mark ! But, in the very nature of things, 
 the very sublimity and beauty o' the Whig ideas, pure, 
 beautiful, sublime religion, the exaltation o' their Maker, 
 the exaltation o' Jesus Christ over all tyrants, and over 
 all creatures, 4hen there are man's unalienable rights of 
 liberty, and freedom of conscience, in the very nature of 
 things their sentiments are as high above those of the 
 Tories, as are the heavens over the dirty earth ! But let us 
 hear Lady Torvvoodlee, who has taken up Cla verse on ano 
 ther point. 
 
 " But in yer spiritual vocation, Col. Graham, o' compel 
 ling the lambs, and sheep o' Scotland's mountains, into the 
 haly faulds o' prelatism, micht ye not use some sma' grains 
 o' mercy ? There's naething like illustrations frae living 
 and recorded actions, Colonel. And yer ain gallant deeds 
 wull afford the materials." 
 
 Colonel Graham grinned: and Lady Torwoodlee went 
 on: 
 
 " Puir Jeany Dean, ye ken wha I mean, has lost her 
 twa fingers, by means o' the fiery matches, whilk the con 
 verting zeal o' Col. Graham, oor lady's accomplished man, 
 as the tories humorously ca' ye, did actually cause to be 
 applied to her hauns, and blawn into fury by the breath o' 
 yer soldiers. The fingers hae drapt aff!" 
 
 "Parbleu! sacre diable ! Madame, she got her deserv- 
 ings. She actually refused to test her loyalty by informing 
 against her rebel sons : or even by discovering the lurking 
 place o' her husband ! Was na that guilt eneugh ?" 
 VOL. i. P.
 
 170 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 Lady Torwoodlee went on without noticing this appropri* 
 ate barbarism of the cruel soldado. " Puir Jamie Elshender, 
 round whase skull Col. Graham twisted the cord, with his 
 pistolet, until the bone cracked, has, since that run stark mad ! 
 And the puir demented thing ran about Torwoodlee for 
 mony a day, howling pitifully. And ilka day as he heard 
 the tramp o' ony horse foot approaching, he wad cry oot, 
 ' Oh Lard, ifs Claverse ! ' But, noo, he rests in peace, for 
 God took him to himself. 
 
 "And only twadays by gane, Sir, as the inoffensive natu 
 ral puir Daft Rob, wha was sae cruelly robbed o' his 
 widow mother, by Colonel, ye ken wha, at Balernoch, 
 was coming doon the Lang Loan, on ane errand o' charity 
 frae his protectress, Helen Wardlaw : and as he was ma- 
 kin 1 bank and brae ring wi' his Avild note, and his favourite 
 cracked violin, in which he coupled his puir mither's name, 
 wi' ane execration on bludy McKenzie, and her murderers ; 
 Captain Arrol, there, yer meek ruling Elder, passed him 
 
 on horseback and dashed his brains oot wi' his fera- 
 
 ra. And he didna e'en turn him aboot to bestow a leuk 
 on his mangled victim ! Puir Rab ! thoo fellest bewailed 
 by mony a gude man, and by nane mair than bonny Helen 
 
 Wardlaw ! But there's a day coming !" 
 
 Claverse bit his lip, and cast a look on Captain Arrol, 
 who had heard every word, but was busying himself in 
 adjusting his plume, and pressing his steel cap down on his 
 brow. 
 
 "And this is naa'," continued the undaunted lady, and 
 she cast on Claverse a look of unutterable scorn and dis 
 gust. " The wife o 7 oor gude and trusty tenant, James 
 
 Hislop, - the ' polite and well-bred lady's man,' Col. 
 
 Graham, knows the deed of villainy, I allude to, she, 
 puir young thing, has died o' a broken heart, being torn 
 away frae her wee greetin' bairns and husband. She lies 
 noo, withering in the grave ! And the demented husband 
 cruelly widowed, by you, o' his bonny and faithfu' Jeanie, 
 sits wi' his puir mitherless bairns, on his knees and weeps, 
 and refuses to be comforted ! And, Sir, as there's justice 
 in heaven, thae tears wull be recorded in the book o' the 
 Almighty. My sons hae decked her grave : and thae hands 
 o' mine, Sir, planted the willow tree that throws its weep 
 ing branches ower her grave. The men o' Lothian
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 171 
 
 winna forget the deed sune. Your name is in their cups, 
 Sir ; and its nae ordinary a toast." 
 
 During this unmerciful scourging, the more severe, in 
 asmuch as every word told truth, Cla verse displayed the 
 utmost impatience and fury. At one time he would cast 
 his eyes around him, as if to convince himself that he was 
 not in the midst of an ambuscade of Whigs, seeing that 
 the lady went on so recklessly ; at another, he would pull 
 his steel half way out of its scabbard: then he would 
 plunge his rowels into the sides of the noble animal which 
 carried him ; while it replied to his cruelty by prancing 
 and kicking furiously. 
 
 But as the last part of the lady's speech fell on his hear 
 ing, presenting, first a scene of blackguardism, with 
 which, for the honour of human nature, scarcely even a 
 ruffian can bear to hear his name coupled : and, then, 
 throwing out something more than a hint of what his own 
 mind had often threatened, as the result of his bandit life, 
 he grasped the reins of the lady's horse, and exclaimed 
 " By the saucred heavens, Madam, and the red hot beard 
 of king Sathan" 
 
 " Poh ! poh ! Colonel," cried the Lady Torwoodlee, 
 laying her hand on his arm in the most provoking compo 
 sure, anda confiding air, " A gallant man never interrupts 
 a lady. Come, let me be the corypheus of your praise and 
 glory." She went on. 
 
 " And that widow's son, a bonny young lad, whom you 
 caused to be shot, as he ran bickering, and stumbling 
 frae his mither's cottage, was nae rebel, Sir ; but as braw 
 a dutiful son, and a loyal, as e'er tended sheep on Yarrow 
 or Teviot. He was simply terrified at your approach. E'en 
 his face could na reproach him wi' a crime. And if ilka 
 bonny lass, and braw lad wha shudders at the approach o* 
 the gallant Col. Graham be guilty o' heigh treason 
 then, my certie ! the king has a' oor virtuous youth against 
 him ! and red wud guilty o' heigh treason too are they 
 a'." 
 
 And let me refresh your memory a wee bit further I 
 pray thee, Colonel, why a 1 this impatience," continued 
 Lady T. with an air of condescending dignity. 
 
 "Thae three unarmed men," continued she, laying her 
 hand on his buff gauntlet, as she rode by his side, " on
 
 172 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND.' 
 
 whom Colonel Graham, and his passing troops made a 
 gallant charge, as they lay among the gowans on a green 
 brae side, ae sunny Sabbath morning, and fairly routed 
 and slew, \vaur na guilty o' ony overt act. They were 
 na e'en on yer list o' rebels. But they were drinking in 
 rebellion, howsomever frae a richt dangerous beuk, a 
 beuk that breathes death to tyranny, and the minions tf 
 tyranny. Ay ! Colonel ; They were reading their HALT 
 'BiBLE ! ! And that puir ninth part o' a man that tailor 
 lad, when gangin' peaceably to his honest wark, ae monday 
 morning you gallantly charged wi' yer cavalry, and shot 
 down in the field. And what, in the name o' a' that's 
 ,chivalrous could a silly tailor lad do against a host o' 
 ^rmed men ! You shot him, Colonel ; then you tried 
 him : and after he was dead you condemned him, because 
 he was guilty o' rinmn 1 frae ye and because he was, upon 
 earnest search, found guilty o' the treasonable deed o 5 
 having ane auld broken flint and a bit oi 1 lead in his 
 pocket ! I Yes, Colonel ; they wha witnessed the exploit, 
 said it was a gallant charge, in true military style, when 
 Col. Graham, the redoubted knight, and his troop bore 
 down w r ith sword and pistolet on the solitary tailor ! who 
 was armed with a bit o' lead and a broken flint ! ! They 
 say the rumour of the day noo is, in the courtly circle, 
 that some twa three sic exploits, achieved against the un 
 armed peasantry, prove you a gallant and enterprising 
 officer ; and wull infallibly raise ye to the peerage ! Ye' 11 
 be made a viscount, or a lord ! Lard help us ! for freeing 
 the nation frae deadly skaith, frae shepherd lads, tailor 
 bodies, and silly naturels !" 
 
 This touched Claverse in a sore part : his ambition ever 
 looked to promotion and nobility : and he was prepared to 
 walk over his prostrate country, if he could only attain 
 his ambitious views. His face coloured, and a glow of 
 gathering wrath passed over his iron countenance ; while 
 his eyes from their hollowed sockets glared a terrific threat. 
 His fresh meditation of vengeance was interrupted by 
 Lady Newton, who, at this moment, interfered ; and driv 
 ing up her gallant grey between Claverhouse, and Lady 
 Torwoodlee ; and bowing from her saddle, with one of the 
 prettiest smiles imaginable, entered into parlance with the 
 Colonel.
 
 OR, THE LAST OT THE STUARTS. 173- 
 
 11 May it pleasure the gallant Colonel to hear me. Be 
 Oor failings what they may, the heart o' oor sex has ne'er 
 been accused o' ingratitude. We canrta, then, be backward 
 in pleasuring the heart o' the gallant man wha has sae 
 generously, and in true cavalier style, condescended to 
 escort us, wi' sic a brilliant retinue, to the metropolis." 
 
 " There were, ye maun ken, Sir Cavalier, not far away, 
 twa bonny peasant maidens. They were the rose and the 
 lily o' the Lang Dale. And they had their flocks ; for they 
 were, shepherdesses. They had their bower on yander 
 brae : and it was theeket ower wi' rashes : the neighbour 
 shepherds did it : for they were rivals far and near, wha 
 should gain the smiles o' the bonny Avendale maidens. 
 Weel, thae twa bonny bairns were captured at a Conven 
 ticle. A certain Colonel, unco far famed ower a' Scotland, 
 dragged wi' unrelenting fury, the pretty maidens afore the 
 Council. He was aided in this cavalier and soldierlike 
 deed, by that military worthy, Dalziel o' Binns, the knight 
 o' the lang pale face, fiery een, and the grey fleece. La ! 
 what a huge lion's mane the Muscovegian savage hangs 
 out over his vile chouks, and adown to his girdle ! 
 
 " Weel, they were brocht afore the haly seat o' justice 
 whaur Rothes displays the bowels o' compassion ; and 
 whaur Geordie McKenzie, (wha used to be ' a lang-faced 
 douce flatterer below the salt, at my father's table,) neer 
 pleads awa' the lives o' the martyrs ! Not he, but has & 
 particular faculty in his ain way, o' saving the Justiciary,, 
 that is to say, the Criminal Lords, meikle trouble, by just 
 fixing first, on the mainer o' the pannel ; s execution ; and 
 then by putting the sentence into the doomster's lips, and 
 then, trying him. Here, in this pure Court, thae young 
 maidens were condemned purely for their religious opinions ! 
 Nae conspiracy, nae overt act was even alleged in the 
 ditty. Thy were condemned, because they wad na' talk 
 wicked nonsense : and pronounce on civil, and ecclesiasti 
 cal questions ; and whine and cant the Tory's cant about 
 absolute supremacy; and the divine richt of prelates, and of 
 truculent tyrants ! Avhase tender mercy is cruelty ! And', 
 oh ! haly heaven ! thae twa maidens were executed cruelly 
 executed, at the cross o' Embro ; ane o' them in the bloom 
 o' eighteen : the other twenty -two ! Oh ! Scotland ! Oh ! 
 chivalry, where lurked the eoward spirits o' thy craven 
 p*
 
 174 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAIttK 
 
 shepherd youth then ! Or in that horrid hour when my 
 bonny blooming Peggy was drowned, at a stake, in roaring 
 Sol way's tide, by bloody Grierson o' Lagg ! and oor gallant 
 Cavalier Graham here /" 
 
 The fury of Claverse may be more easily conceived, 
 than expressed, at this startling apostrophe. He was about 
 to take some summary mode of vengeance on the lady, 
 Avhen his attention was suddenly drawn away by the call 
 of his van guard, who announced a village in view. He 
 hurried to the front, and ordered the soldiers to close around 
 the prisoners, and to look well to their carabines ; and 
 guard against any attempt to rescue the prisoners. 
 
 Having passed the village, and the soldiers having again 
 spread themselves out, in an easy march, Lady Torwoodlee 
 once more placed herself close by Claverse, and began to 
 divert him with some badinage, about the scenes of mirth 
 and festivity at Torwoodlee, when her husband had entertain 
 ed Graham, and a party of his military associates. 
 
 " But come, Colonel, I will tell ye a parable, for this 
 long road, and yer scanty allowance of time for refresh 
 ments, require something intellectual to beguile ennui. 
 
 " Auld Elspeth, in the Cottage at our meadow foot, saw 
 a wonderfu' sicht t' other day. The very bairns hung on 
 the lap o' the auld heelan body ; and the neebours sat 
 them doon, and laying their ,hauns on their mouths, they 
 listened wi' reverence to her revealings. 
 
 " There lay, far stretched oot afore her auld een, a dark 
 heathery mountain's side. At the foot o't, there stood a 
 hamlet, a stane biggin, wi' its steep roof o' green divets. In 
 the distant perspective there was a deep gap in the adjoin 
 ing hill. The roaring mountain stream poured its muddy 
 flude ower the rock. Auld Elspeth screamed as she saw a 
 troop o' furious dragoons gallop doon through the red gap. 
 The heavy volume o' mist rolled ower the cottage and the 
 dark heathery mountain. The troopers galloped along, 
 and were speedily lost in the mist. A piteous wail issued 
 frae the mist. A comely peasant woman stood in front o' 
 the cottage w T i' a bonny smilin bairn in her arms, and twa, 
 three clung to her knees. She looked with eager and terri 
 fic een to the mountain side, and raised her hand to heaven. 
 Loud wailings mingled wi' peals o' wild laughter, issued 
 from the cloud of mist. It passed quickly off. The red-
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 176 
 
 coated troop drive afore them a venerable auld man. He 
 is bald headed. His beard hangs on his doublet. His bon 
 net is in his hand, He stands firm and unmoved, while the 
 military chief thrusts awa, \vi' lood oath and profane, the 
 weeping wee bairns clinging to their faither's knees. The 
 wife wi' frantic gesture implores the life o' her husband, the 
 faither o' her helpless bairns. She hands oot to the sol 
 dier the wee, sweet, blue eened smilin' babe. She Seeches, 
 and prays, she is on her knees. And she ay points to her 
 bairns and then to heaven. " O dinna mak me a widow, 
 and thae innocent weans orphans ! What has my Johnny 
 eer dune ? He neer wranged any,- grit or sma' !" The 
 fierce soldier pushed her from him. He gives five brief 
 minutes to the father to prepare for eternity. Precious 
 boon! Yet the chieftain breaks in on the sanctity o' thae 
 five minutes. He utters profanity ower the puir dying 
 Christian's prayer. He calls it preachin'. The dying 
 martyr turns him round, his white hairs float in the wind, 
 the tears are on his cheeks. He bends on the soldier his 
 eyes streaming wi' the last tears o' his agony, and in a sub 
 dued tone, like the tones o' the peaceful dying martyr, he 
 breathes the reproof o' that ignorance whilk disna ken pray- 
 in' frae preachin 1 . The military chief gravely bans the dy 
 ing martyr, and bids him gang on then. The young bairns 
 kneel doon by the side o' their prostrate parents. They 
 clasp their wee quiverin' hauns, and leuk wistfully intil 
 their mither's weepin een, and sob, and whisper oot, 
 What is the bad man gangin 1 to du to oor faither I Wi' 
 strugglin' effort, the martyr prays for the peace o' his ain 
 soul, whilk he was noo ready to offer up, and for all pur 
 chased blessings to his distracted wife, nae mair his wife, 
 but, noo, his widow; and his bairns, nae mair his bairns, 
 but helpless orphans. 
 
 ' Oh ! faither o' the faitherless Oh ! husband o' the 
 widow," cried he, " I leave my orphans wi' THEE and my 
 widow to hope in THEI:. Thou hast the bowels o' pity 
 and \nercy. O take them under the wings o' thy everlast 
 ing love. Men hae nae pity nor mercy !" Wi' the cauld 
 calculation of anasasssin, vvha counts the throbbings o' his 
 victim, and refines on his cruelty, the military chieftain 
 waves his sword, and bids the martyr rise, and kiss his wife, 
 and then his wee bairns t The little victims in their young
 
 178 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 grief, wept, and sobbed, they knew not why, they cast their 
 weepin' een frae soldier to soldier, and ay they weept mair, 
 and wondered what was to befa' them and their father ! 
 
 The martyr kissed his sweet wife, and his weans, and 
 wet their faces wi' his gushing tears. The military chief 
 tain covered his face with a napkin, ordered him to kneel 
 doon in the presence o' his wife and bairns. The word 
 was given; the soldiers fired; the martyr lay a mang 
 led corpse. Wi' lood wailin' the wee bairns ran and fell 
 on the body o' their bleeding faither. They raised their 
 hauns to heaven, the puir things did na ken what they were 
 duin'. But it was a touching appeal to the faither o' or 
 phans, and the avenger o' murder. ' Oh ! Jeemie,' shriek 
 ed oot ane o' them, 'thae men hae killed oor faither !' And 
 they hid their faces in the bosom o' their martyred parent, 
 and wailed most piteously. 
 
 The broken-hearted widow now wept for the first time. 
 She set doon her wee infant wean on the grass, and began 
 the distressing office of collecting and binding up the mang 
 led remains o' her John. Then covering his body with 
 her plaid, she sat doon over against them, and moaned, and 
 wept! 
 
 The politeness o' the gallant officer did na prevent him 
 frae intruding on this" awfu' moment o' grief. " Woman," 
 cried he, " what think ye o' yer husband noo ?" 
 
 " I ay thocht meikle o' him, and I think as meikle o' him 
 as e'er I did," said the new-made widow meekly, as she 
 leuked up to heaven, whither the pure spirit o' the martyr 
 had fled." 
 
 " Ye deserve to be laid aside him, ye bitch !" was the re 
 ply o' the humane and enterprising officer. 
 
 " I ken ye wad du it, and ye wad een murder thae ptiir 
 bairnies likewise, but God reigns abune, and restrains the 
 raging lion ! And hoo wull ye account for this morning's 
 wark, ken ye ?" 
 
 " Account for't woman," cried the bandit, " to my maist 
 gracious sovereign I can account for't, and for the Almich- 
 ty I wull tak him in my ain hand!" And as he uttered 
 these terrible words o' blasphemy, he whirled his gleaming 
 steel around his head, while some heavy blood drops fell 
 frae his blude-steeped buff gauntlets, upon the faces o' the 
 widow, and her bairns. And the bandit wha did a' this, 
 was the gallant Colonel Graham here !"
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 177 
 
 At these words an involuntary exclamation burst from 
 the whole party, and the ladies screamed, while Claverse, 
 roused more by the feelings of his prisoners, than the horrid 
 detail, clapt his hand on the hilt of his sword, and breathed 
 a tremendous execration through his chattering teeth. But, 
 when he perceived Perth, and all the ladies turning their 
 eyes on him with an involuntary shudder : and even some 
 of his own soldiers casting a look of anxious inquiry and 
 wonder at their colonel, his fury knew no bonds. His 
 dark sunken eyes glared with wrath, and his harsh fea 
 tures became livid. He plunged his rowels into the flanks 
 of his steed, and wheeling him round in front of the whole 
 party, he roared out, " Gag that infernal jade, forthwith, 
 Kennoway ! Gag her, I say, by the deevil ! Captain 
 Arrol !" 
 
 " Gag Lady Torwoodlee !" exclaimed the astonished and 
 awe-stricken soldier, who were willing to oblige their su 
 perior in any deed but this one in question, for the fact was., 
 they had some particular respect for Lady Torwoodlee, in 
 whose knightly hall, they had drained many a bumper, in 
 the days of the old knight. 
 
 "Gag a lady!" exclaimed Perth, and the rest of the 
 party. 
 
 " Yes, ye may gag me," exclaimed the persevering dame. 
 " In that case the stanes under yer feet wad cry oot to hea 
 ven on slumbering justice. And, what wad be mair mar 
 vellous than a' this the conscience o' Claverhouse wad cry 
 oot as ae day it wull cry oot blude ! BLUDE ! ELUDE !" 
 The fury of Claverse here became so ungovernable, that 
 he was actually raising the sword against the helpless lady, 
 when Perth interfered, by rushing up between them, while 
 he implored the dame to desist. 
 
 " My faither's dochter," cried Lady Torwoodlee, "has 
 in her the blude, whilk boils up under a sense o' the cruel 
 ty, injustice, and tyranny exercised on free born Scotch 
 men ! Poltroons only, and cowards can crouch beneath sic 
 tyranny ! My gallant sons are taught to wage eternal war 
 wi' tyrants ! And when they shall meet thee in the thick 
 ening combat, their steels shall not return frae the battle o 1 
 their Kintry's deliverance, till they hae drunk the blude o' 
 tyrants ay ! and o' murderers ! A day o' fearful reckon 
 ing is coming on thee, and the like o' thee, tyrant, slave !
 
 , 
 
 178 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 When our gallant nobles and our commons shall aince 
 mair arise in their might like Scottish unicorns !" 
 
 "This used to be the language o' oor Wallaces, and 
 Bruces, oor Douglases and Hamiltons, ay, and oor Camp 
 bells and Drummonds," cried Perth. 
 
 " And what for no, should it not yet be the language o 1 
 oor nobles and commons ?" exclaimed Master James. " My 
 soul is on fire while I witness the deeds o' this bludy vil 
 lain this murderer o' the peacable and unarmed peasantry. 
 And he passes with impunity ! Nay he, wha in the reign 
 o' justice end equity, wad hae been han'ged on a gallow's 
 tree, thirty feet heigh, like Graham c' Montrose, noo reaps 
 wealth and titles o' honour frae the hauns o' royalty for op 
 pressing his country !" 
 
 " Alas ! a besotted tyranny rides ower the land," cried 
 Lady Gallashiels. " And we want men o' might to rise up, 
 and tak the lead. There is yet nae man wha volunteers 
 to bell the cat ! The degenerate sons o' oor auncient no 
 bility tremble. Ilka ane fears mair for his ain worthless 
 self, than for his Kintry's wrangs. But if the present race 
 o' beardless men quail, and crouch to lick the tyrant's feet, 
 so may God do to us, and mair also, gin we wha are mo 
 thers, dinna inspire intil the young generation o' Scotland 
 the genuine spirit o' auncient unsubduable Scottish valour." 
 
 Claverse heard none of this discourse. He had left his 
 disagreeable company, whom he ordered his dragoons 
 strictly to guard, under penalty of life and limb ; and was 
 now in front of the van. As he often threw his angry 
 eye back on the enemy, like the worsted lion retreating 
 sideways, he perceived them in close confabulation. Ty 
 rants hate the freedom of the tongue as much as the free 
 dom of the press. Had he been escorting a crowd of 
 peasants he would not have hesitated at cutting them down 
 on the spot, for the freedom of their remarks. But, as it 
 was, the only revenge he took on our party, at this time, 
 was to order the martial music to strike up its ear-pierc 
 ing notes , and the kettle-drum its tumultuous doublings, 
 close along the flanks of the prisoners, till rock and thicket 
 rang. Conversation was, of course, at an end: and each 
 one was left to follow his own meditations. 
 
 They reached Edinburgh after a painful journey, for 
 Claverse was haunted with the fears of a rescue, and he
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 179 
 
 *rged his company forward to the metropolis, without de- 
 Jay. 
 
 They were all placed under guard, during night : and 
 next morning they were presented before the Council. 
 Praise and thanks were in the first place, decreed to Colonel 
 Graham, "for the active zeal and enterprise which he has 
 displayed in the service of his king and country." Drum- 
 mond and his Tutor were dismissed privately, with a ter 
 rible threatening whispered in their ear by Dalziel. The 
 ladies paid their heavy fines imposed on them for the sin 
 and scandal of visiting a Conventicle; and Claverse depart 
 ed, exulting in the liberal share of the plunder, which had 
 fallen to his lot, and humming the butt end of a French 
 glee, as he pushed himself through the scowling crowd, 
 who loaded him with their execrations. 
 
 In the scenes of dissipation which followed, he forgot, 
 for a season, the scourge of Lady Torwoodlee's reproaches. 
 And he was sober enough, in the course of a few days, to 
 creep from his den, and rush forward on another raid, on 
 the inhabitants of some other district of bleeding Scotland. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 " My LordCardinal, 
 
 \t r ou are meek and very huiuble mouthed : 
 Vou sign your place and calling, in full seeming, 
 With meekness and humility : but your heart 
 Is crammed with arrogancy, spleen, and pride !" 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 The situation of Master James was now become extreme 
 ly painful. Every occurrence in the house of bondage, 
 strongly reminded him of the gallant spirit of liberty 
 breathed, amid poverty and afflictions, among the Whigs. 
 Every sentiment and feeling of slavishness, displayed in 
 the conversation of his superiors ; and the rulers of the 
 nation, whom he had occasion to see daily in the house of 
 Perth, constrained him to contrast, with what he had heard 
 and seen the noble elevation of soul, the irrepressible love of
 
 180 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND 
 
 liberty, and of country, which were inspired into their fol 
 lowers, by the leading Whigs, 
 
 The dazzle of honour, the fascinations of wealth, the 
 gaiety and politeness of the licentious great, will give cur 
 rency, for a season, to any class of opinions in politics and 
 even religion. But reflection, and dear-bought experience, 
 will gradually detect the dazzle of the tinsel : and speedily 
 scatter the delusions of splendid ignorance and folly. 
 There is an inconsistency, and meanness in wilful igno^ 
 ranee, and bigotry, which neither the pomp of nobility, nor 
 the trappings of princely honours, can long conceal. And 
 Avhen they do begin to develope themselves before the 
 minds of those who are bent on the search of truth, the re 
 action of public feeling is most powerfully directed against 
 them : and they are swept away like a mound of sand, be 
 fore a full spring tide ! 
 
 A few days after the return of Claverse, with his pri 
 soners, Master James and young Perth, were busily en 
 gaged on the pages of some Greek author, in the library. 
 
 Bailey VVardlaw had been introduced by young Perth, 
 within the circle of his visitors, under a fictitious name : 
 and Burleigh Stewart, after the dispersion at Carlsness, had 
 ventured also, incog., to visit his noble friend. For, as the 
 Bailey had observed jocosely, yet with no small degree of 
 practical truth, " the safest way to escape the fangs o' the 
 wolf, Claverhouse' is just to jouk in near the lairs o' the men 
 o' the National Cooncil. Wha wad suspect treason amang 
 Charles' only friends ? As the auld codger Crawfurd o' 
 Powmill, cried to ane o' oor suffering friends, wha was in 
 the act o' rinnin' frae the foemen, and implored him for 
 God's sake, to gie him a shelter, ' Hide thee in my bed, lad 
 die ! ' cried he, ' they'll ne'er seok a saunt in hell !' And in 
 the affair of Carlsness, these two had not come into person 
 al contact with Claverse. Of course he did not know their 
 features. 
 
 They were lounging in the library during this conversa 
 tion. It happened to be the day on which Perth had pre 
 pared an entertainment for the members of Council, and 
 the most distinguished civil and military men of the day. 
 About noon the guests began to arrive. The first who ap 
 peared was Archbishop Sharp, accompanied by Bishop 
 Honeyman.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 181 
 
 There was nothing remarkable in the appearance of 
 Honeyman. His zeal for prelacy was rather ill-propor 
 tioned to his talents and education. He had one of those con> 
 mon-place figures, and every day faces in which we search 
 in vain for any index of greatness. And, indeed, it does 
 not deceive ; for there is nothing from within to be indi 
 cated. His fat bluff cheeks and the red mass which covered 
 his brow were the true indications of the man who has the 
 talent of sleeping, and eating, and drinking, and making 
 merry : and who offers up the most earnest petition which 
 
 he can discover in all the litany for a good living ! 
 
 He literally became all things to all men. He had been 
 a zealous Presbyterian, and Whig of the Covenant. He 
 had changed sides for the best reason in the world ac 
 cording to politicians, King Charles had changed sides ! 
 He had written a philippic against Presbyterianism. But, it 
 was a sad failure. Its ambiguity and obscurity, however, 
 might be turned to an advantageous account, should Pres 
 bytery happily ever gain an ascendency in his life time ! 
 
 The Primate Sharp was a striking contrast to Bishop 
 Honeyman. He was thin and meagre ; his features 
 were harsh and revolting ; his eyes were rather small 
 and dark. There was a slight cast in his left eye, 
 which approached in some degree, to skellying. The 
 upper part of his brow seemed to overhang the lower part, 
 which was sunken considerably at the juncture of his 
 eye brows. His nose was straight and formed an angle 
 with the line of his brow thereby removing it far from the 
 form of Grecian model. There was first a blue, then a pale 
 semi-circle beneath his eyes, indicating painful watching, 
 or a restlessness and anxiety which banish sweet and 
 balmy sleep. His chin was unusually long in proportion 
 to his nose. And this proceeded from a habit, which he 
 had contracted, of drawing up his thin lips into a constant 
 smile : such as we see in a man's face, who has found 
 himself, beyond his utmost expectations, thrown into company 
 far above his rank and station, arid from whose habit of 
 smiling and laughing in the pure parasitical style there 
 is a characteristic impression stamped on mouth and cheek*. 
 Moreover, in his lips and in eyes there lurked the leer of a 
 malignant and most sarcastic smile. 
 
 He wore a velvet cowl ; and his grey locks fell from be- 
 
 VOL. i. Q.
 
 182 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 neath it, in profusion over his ears and upon his shoulders. 
 And in front they were smoothed down over his brow, half 
 way to his eyes, with the nicest precision. Contrary to the 
 custom of his quondam Presbyterian associates, he wore 
 no beard, either on the chin or the upper lip. He was 
 dressed in a neat suit of black velvet, made in the very 
 height of the fashion of the day the coat being made 
 large ; the arms wide like bags, the cuffs garnished with 
 buttons, the skirts hanging in loose profusion around him ; 
 this doublet, buttoned from top to bottom, had flaps, parting 
 in front.and reaching to his knees, and they were surmounted 
 with huge pockets, with their peaked lids, buttons and 
 loops. His stockings were drawn up over his knees ; and 
 met his small-clothes somewhat below the middle of the 
 thigh, the outer side of which, on each thigh Avas garnish 
 ed with a gausy row of black horn buttons. His shoes 
 came up to his ankles : and in front they were decked off 
 with a babbing rose of black ribbons. 
 
 Such was the exterior of this famous man, who exhibit 
 ed in all the years, and in all the ranks of his active life, 
 an unbounded ghostly ambition. Having by treachery to 
 his associates, and an insinuating address, at which he was 
 a master, at last reached the summit of Primate of Scot 
 land, he actually aspired to enter the lists with the high 
 est nobles of the land, and contest with them, the honour 
 of Lord Chancellor of the kingdom. " Some hae named 
 myself, an' it please yer Majesty," said he with an affec 
 tation of sanctity, and devout humbleness before his sove 
 reign, " as the fittest, but, surely, I canna be supposed to 
 hae the ambition. The Church, howsomever, is in danger.* 
 And the man on whom yer Majesty's choice, falls should 
 be a churchman in heart if he has na the gown." And 
 lest his Majesty might not take up his hints, he engaged 
 the English Archbishop Sheldon, to move the king in 
 his behalf. And he actually had the seals entrusted into 
 his hands for a season ! 
 
 His talent at flattery, and his perseverance in accom 
 plishing an object, were equalled only by his dastardly 
 
 * The watchword of ambitious prelates, in all generations, even as 
 the claims of patriotism, have been that of office hunters in the politi 
 cal world !
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 183 
 
 meanness,' and a proneness to falsify. At the same 
 interview with Charles II., all these were strikingly 
 exemplified. He had made the most impudent pretensions ; 
 and urged the most beggarly requests, under the usual 
 cant and whining hypocrisy about the Church being 
 in danger. And in his zeal, he so far forgot himself as 
 to throw out malignant insinuations against some of the 
 courtiers for their want of zeal. Being followed home 
 to his chamber, by the Duke of Lauderdale through the 
 connivance of the King, who hoped to derive some mer 
 riment at the expense of the Primate of Scotland, he fell 
 a trembling and crying before the awful solemnity of Lau 
 derdale' s looks, and his terrific threats. And he actually 
 did eat back all his words and sayings, and gave himself 
 the lie before his' sovereign. 
 
 In the whole of his crafty policy, he betrayed a singu 
 lar ignorance of human nature, and most especially of the 
 genius of his own countrymen, in applying open force and 
 violence to bring men over to his religious opinions. His 
 whole deportment indicated a total want of respect for per 
 sonal piety, and his whole policy, an utter contempt for the 
 rights of conscience, and personal responsibility to the 
 Deity. The affair of the trial of Mitchell demonstrated 
 the painful fact, that he could stoop to the crime of perjury, 
 and subornation of perjury, to accomplish his object, and 
 take the life of one whom he hated.* And the imprison 
 ments, tortures, and executions, and the military murders 
 during nineteen years, to all of which he was accessary, as 
 the prime instigator, gave a painful demonstration to the 
 world, that to acquire riches and ghostly power he would 
 shrink from no deed, however atrocious ; and would ha 
 zard every peril, even to the overthrowing of the liberty 
 and the religion of his country. On the whole there was 
 in this prelate a combination of craft, treachery, hypocrisy, 
 cruelty, and cowardice, which have been rarely found in any 
 one individual. It has puzzled his flatterers and friends, 
 to discover any one notable and redeeming virtue in his 
 character. He was hated by the people. He was an ob 
 ject of ridicule, and even derision to Lauderdale, and Charles 
 II. ; and of disgust to the high-minded Scottish nobles. 
 
 * See the history of that period.
 
 184 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 His ambition was marked with a singular success; and 
 he met with a cruel and unjustifiable fall ! Had he died a 
 natural' death, all ranks would have soon forgotten him. 
 As it is, the horrible circumstances attending his death, have 
 caused his memory to descend to posterity, as a martyr to 
 prelacy !* 
 
 When the attendant ushered in the prelates into the li 
 brary, the primate approached young Perth and his tutor, 
 and introduced Honeyman to them. 
 
 " Ye'll excuse my Lord Orkney for takin' ye by his left 
 hand," said Sharp, with a leering smile. " The fanatic wha 
 fired his pistolet at me, disabled my lord's richt haun. But 
 the deevil had a spite at ye, my Lord ; it was the self saum 
 haun whilk wrote the effective wark against the fanatics. 
 But I owe thee, man, meikle gratitude, for had ye no been 
 my screen, gude my lord, I wad hae, this blessed day, been 
 singing hallelujahs in heaven, whilk, thank God, I'm no 
 duing. 
 
 But come, my young Lord, or what's yer title, my braw 
 youth ? Ye hae some learned freens here. May I be ho 
 noured wi' their acquaintance?" 
 
 Young Perth, in his quizzical way, either out of con 
 tempt for Bishop Sharp, or to tease the Bailey, proceeded 
 gravely to introduce each of them by their true names. 
 
 This, and may it pleasure yer grace, and you, my Lord 
 Bishop, is a distinguished Glasgow Magistrate, Bailey 
 Wardlaw, who has honoured me with a visit. This is 
 Burleigh Stewart, a true and loyal descendant o' the hoose 
 o' Scotland, God bless it. And such is his happy lot, 
 also a branch he is o' the family o' the immortal Burleigh 
 o' the council o' Queen Elizabeth, o' maist glorious memory." 
 
 " Bailey Wardlaw, Wardlaw!" ejaculated the primate. 
 " Wardlaw, humph ! Was na that the name of the leader 
 of the Glasgow students, wha lately" 
 
 " He is, sir, my maist especial friend, leal and true in the 
 gude cause." 
 
 The primate shook the Bailey's hand, but with a keen 
 inquisitorial glance, which the Bailey returned with such 
 dignity and firmness, that he speedily withdrew his eyes 
 from him. 
 
 * See Note F.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 185 
 
 "And Burleigh Stewart? No relation I hope, o' Sir 
 James Stewart o' the barony o' " 
 
 " Burleigh, I say," cried Perth, "he iso' royal and noble 
 blude ! He is a Stewart as weel, as oor adored sovereign." 
 
 " Immortal names ! I honour thee, youth, for thy name's 
 sake. I kiss the hand o' the maist distant sprig and scion 
 o' the family tree o' oor maist gracious, maist sacred, and 
 maist adored sovereign !" 
 
 This he uttered with unusual animation, for his zeal in 
 behalf of supremacy and divine right, being young, glowed, 
 as in every similar case, with an excessive ardour. And, 
 having placed himself at the table, where young Drum- 
 mond and his tutor had been pursuing their studies, he be 
 gan to examine the books which lay before him, and his 
 hand fell on a pocket Bible, belonging to Master James. 
 
 " A weel thumbed beuk, my certie !" said he, as he glanc 
 ed at the blank leaf to see the owner's name, doubting the 
 possibility of Perth, or any of his family giving such proofs 
 of biblical searchings. Having read Master James' name, 
 he ejaculated, " Humph ! I thocht sae. This is frae ane 
 o' oor kintry toons, James, hum ! This Jialy beuk" conti 
 nued he reading, " God gie him grace thereon to leuk,for 
 learning is better than houses or land. For houses decay} 1 
 Bah! that's the slang o' oor Scottish cottages. It's on ilka 
 Bible in a' the laun. There, my lord o' Orkney, ye may 
 see the birses o' the swinish herd o' the Lawlans. In merry 
 England ye may search frae the Tweed to the Lizard's 
 Point, afore ye can discover sic a weel thumbed Bible as 
 that! 1 ' 
 
 " Or aiblins a Bible at a', said the prelate with a leer. 
 " And hence the awfu' trouble o' managin' the Scottish 
 commoners. They're a hard-living, plodding, opinionative, 
 mischief-brewing race of men. We're a wee ower late, I 
 fear, wi' them. Had they been ta'en in hauns when there 
 was less knowledge amang them, they wad hae been mair 
 douce under the crozier and mitre. But this knowledge, 
 of this reading race of men, makes them terribly ticklish. 
 Their iron features," and here the bishop stroked down his 
 gausy purple cheeks, with his large palsy-looking hand ; 
 "their iron features tell ye as weel as ane index can tell, 
 that, will ye, nill ye, they'll think for themselves, in spite o' 
 the deel and the pape, as themsels e'en say. And what's 
 
 Q* 

 
 186 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 to me past a' comprehension," continued the bishop as he 
 stroked down his huge paunch, and then thrust a hand into 
 each deep pock of his doublet, " Nae delectables can bribe 
 thae commoners o' the rabble. Ye could not offer them a 
 sairer insult than to gie them hett-pies, and plum-pudding 
 on a Christmas, or a luxurious dinner on a " Lord's Day," 
 as they ca't. And that's no a', nor e'en the warst. Ower 
 their barley scons, and mashlum bannacks, and patfu' o' 
 sowens, they'll crack ye off their disquisitions against 
 " Erastianism," and "prelatism" and "the waefu! indul 
 gence" till yer puir loyalist leuks black and blue ! And, 
 then, their Scotch pride, whilk they ca' their love o' liberty 
 and independence, is a perfect abomination to us o' the higher 
 ranks," cried the lordly priest, the son o' a cooper in Fife ! 
 
 " Noo yer English commoners are a sleek -headed, rosy- 
 faced, fat-contented race o' craters, wha think little, and 
 read less. And, faith ! for the best reason i' the warld, they 
 canna read. And Avhat little they think aboot, my certie ! 
 is no aboot creeds, bibles, and laer ! And hence they are 
 douce as lambs, and easily trained. They wisely leave the 
 thinking aboot spiritual concerns to their spiritual guides. 
 Commend me to this portion o' his majesty's lieges to makno- 
 ble passive-obedience men, and fast believers in divine richts ! 
 * Laer is better than hooses or laun /' Ha! ha! ha! That's 
 ultra Scotch!" 
 
 And the bishop shook his vasty mountain of paunch, 
 most lustily, as he roared and laughed. " But, by St. Janu 
 ary and the gemini ! thae Presbyterian iron ages are fast 
 rollin' avva, praise be blessed!" 
 
 " But after a', my lord," cried Bailey Wardlaw, who could 
 scarcely restrain his indignation while Bishop Honeyman 
 ran on thus : " What's a' oor fine vivers and kickshaws, 
 when the deevil and his imps hae thrown pushion intil the 
 cookery ! What's a' yer reemin' yill, and divine claret, when 
 Sathan's head cook has been mixin' up his cursed drugs 
 and staff intil the browst ! Gude yer grace, I wad be unco 
 wae to understan' that there was e'en ae Scottish man, in a' 
 the land, wha could boast that he had mair guts than brains !" 
 And the eyes of the Bailey fell involuntarily on Honeyman, 
 as he uttered this. 
 
 The Primate bent his eyes on the Bailey with a terrible 
 frown, who paused, and turned him round to young Drum- 
 mond.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 187 
 
 11 For me," cried Master James, who broke in, mainly 
 with a view to bring relief to his ward, whom he saw al 
 most convulsed with laughter at this sally of the Bailey, and 
 thrusting his kerchief into his mouth to prevent its egress, 
 " Were I an Anglo-Scotchman, whilk, thank God, I am 
 not, I wad tak this saum forbearance in the matter o' Christ 
 mas pies, and gude vivers, in a very alarming light. Yer 
 cavaliers, and Southron commoners, wha carry their herns 
 beneath their girdles, affect to laugh to scorn the men o' 
 oor North Kintry. But were thae military reformers pos 
 sessed o' the wee bit gumption, I really thocht they had, 
 aince; they micht perceive, e'en in the trifles o' this kind, 
 a deep, settled, and immoveable resolution on the part o j yer 
 foemen, to be a free and independent Kirk, and Kintry ! 
 Wad the soul o' the patriot and Christian, gude yer grace, 
 indulge itself in ease and mirth, when his weeping eyes 
 see the Kirk o 1 God, and his Kintry smoulderin' in ruins ? 
 Du ye no see, in-this spurning frae him the Southron inno 
 vations, and a' communion wi' his oppressors, even to the 
 length o' puttin' awa frae afore his e'en the pleasantest things, 
 and sweetest veevers, the true spirit o' the SCOTTISH Uxi- 
 CORX roused up to fury ? He disdains yer courtesy, and 
 a' communion wi' ye, even in the common affairs o' eating 
 and drinking, until he again be free ! He'll stoop to nae 
 bribery, and nae compromise. Liberty to Scotland and 
 the Kirk 6* Scotland, or death ! Never did Roman patriot 
 pronounce, wi' mair enthusiasm than does the Scot, 'nzort 
 pro patria dulce et decorum estf Sae cries yer foemen, the 
 Whigs. And sae cry I, may it please you, my lord Drum- 
 mond," he added in a low tone, " Gie me the bleak hills o' 
 Scotland and liberty, and I will tak my cup o' caller water, 
 and my peas scons ! And the Tories may tak their splen 
 did robes, and gustive vivers, and their chains o' slavery, 
 a' ower the border !" 
 
 " And were I ane Anglo-Scotchman," cried Bailey 
 Wardlaw, " I wad feel mysel shakin' in my shoon, while I 
 was compelled to hear this saum testimony, whilk, my lord 
 bishop, ye hae borne, anent this Scottish forbearance in the 
 matters o' vivers. Yer l sleek faced, and rosy cheeked 
 Southren's will be riotous for the glorious toleration and 
 the divine indulgence, as lang as it means, in their voca 
 bulary, a toleration and indulgence in lumps o 1 puddin 1 pn
 
 188 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 yule or Christians; and wauly waughts o' brandy and 
 claret! But it's na to be concealed that thae hard-featured 
 Scotchman, pitted against ye, being glad simply and 
 allenarly to be kept frae starvin' by their scrimpit bick- 
 erfu' o' sovvens, or kail-brose, and a half o' a farle o' mash- 
 lum bannocks, think it nae hardship to be called to war 
 against the flesh, and deny themselves the yerthly bless o' 
 plum-puddin' and christmas pies whilk they canna get. 
 And when they're makin' nae sacrifice, ye see, wull ought 
 in the yerth, or hell either, mak them yield their souls, and 
 bodies to Southren politics, and religion ? No ! while 
 Benlomond rears his grey head i' the cluds ! No, never !" 
 
 As Master James, and the Bailey ran on thus, as if 
 reckless of consequences, 'Sharp fixed his frowning 
 eyes first on the one, and then on the other, with restless 
 anxiety, while he shot a side glance on young Drummond, 
 from his half averted face, as if to dive into his feelings; 
 then he nodded to Honeyman, and whispered occasionally, 
 while his eyes glared with livid fire ! 
 
 Young Drummond now interposed : he placed his chair 
 forward, within the circle ; and drew the conversation to 
 another topic. He entered into discourse with Burleigh 
 touching Glasgow, and its flourishing University : then 
 called the attention of the Primate, and the bishop, to the 
 comparative merits of the Universities of Glasgow and 
 Edinburgh. In the common-place observations which 
 occurred on that topic, the Archbishop seized on a trivial 
 incident; and resolved to extract out .of it, the evidence 
 of what he called the Glasgow conspiracy. 
 
 Bailey Wardlaw in his eulogium on the Glasgow uni 
 versity, had boasted, in his merriment, of the students there 
 "screedingye aff Latin Verses as glegly as yer Embro' 
 lads their dull English poetry ;" and he pointed to Burleigh 
 as a master at that exercise in the classics. 
 
 The prelate conceived that if he could procure from him 
 some specimens of poetry, they would no doubt be found to 
 contain the quintessence of Whiggish treason ; and the 
 blow which he levelled at that University, would be coun 
 tenanced by the heads of the nation. 
 
 " And, nae doot, ;! said he, drily, and as if no design 
 lurked under the question, "the braw young knight
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 189 
 
 Burleigh Stewart has aboot him some specimens of his 
 poetry ?" 
 
 Burleigh was replying to this badinage, when they were 
 summoned into the saloon. The members of the Council, 
 the judiciary, and chief officers of State were assembled ; 
 and our party hastened to pay their respects to Perth, and 
 to them. 
 
 The company sat down to dinner at one o'clock. The 
 most distinguished guests were Rothes and Lauderdale ; 
 Primate Sharpe, and bishops Honeyman, Galloway, and 
 Glasgow ; the lord Advocate Sir George McKenzie, who 
 was placed opposite to Rothes and Lauderdale ; and lord 
 Chief Justice Corrington, together with my lords Colling- 
 ton, Struthurd, Castlehill, Forret and Newton ; then there 
 followed a host of titled and untitled characters. There 
 was his grace the duke of Hirplehully ; lord Justice 
 Clerk Pawkyeen ; and the Advocates Raxsoul ; Supple- 
 tongue ; Ben Reckless ; Sir Judas McCalibre ; and Harry 
 Creeshmaloof; then there followed a squad of Writers to 
 the Signet, headed by Sweering Jeemie, and Tom Beef 
 mountain; and Mr. Sheriff Suppleheels, drove up the 
 rear. And, lastly, there followed a long train of another 
 untitled nameless race of beings, novi homines, poets, beef 
 eaters, parasites, and a few small proprietors. These took 
 their places far beneath the salt ; and looked up with awful 
 reverence to the gods and goddesses ; and lent the ready 
 chorus of a merry laugh, to every feckless mint at wit, 
 coming from them who were in high places ! 
 
 The dinner did not partake of the profusion, and rich 
 variety of an English dinner. But there was the gausy 
 sirloin, the choisest venison; the royal haggis, served up 
 in glorious style ; and the rich white meat of the bubbly- 
 duck ; and the rarest fish drawn from the Forth ; and 
 pasties which would not have disgraced the table of royal 
 ty itself. And the wines, of an ancient vintage, were the 
 choicest from the vault of Gaffer Hernless. 
 
 After the last dish of the feast, and the dessert had been 
 dispatched, and when the guests took their wine and fruits; 
 whilathey were engaged in an easy, pick-tooth, small talk 
 conversation, the Primate introduced the subject of the 
 Bailey's eulogium ; and begged the attention of Lauder 
 dale and the lord Advocate, to it.
 
 ISM) THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND T 
 
 " It wad be ill befittin' the present company, gude yer 
 grace," whispered the Bailey to him ; and he urged him 
 to dismiss the matter, " as a bagatelle introduced, before, in 
 mere daffin." He pressed this the more, inasmuch as he 
 was fully aware that Sharp had only one aim in all his 
 actions. He cared nothing about the comparative merits 
 of the Universities : the themes of students occupied no 
 thought or time of his. He was in search of Whiggery, 
 which, with him, was synomymous with treason, against his 
 divine rights. The fact is, he had long had his eye on both 
 Universities, and suspected them : and was only seeking 
 for a habile plea, for shutting them up. And he had sud 
 denly conceived the idea, that, if he could succeed in get 
 ting the leading men of the Council to hear, from the lips 
 of one of the most conspicuous students, some of their 
 treasonable terms brought forward, as if per accidens, he 
 could speedily bring them all over to the resolution of 
 dispersing these dangerous young spirits. 
 
 " Timeo Donaos, et dona ferentcs" said the Bailey to 
 Burleigh in a whisper. " What say you to the Primate's 
 proposal ? wull ye play off yer Latin poetry at the risk o' 
 yer neck 1 The inquisitor suspects us : but little kens he 
 wha we are. If you yield t to his request, I shall applaud 
 yer courage mair than yer prudence. 
 
 " There's nae boor better than the present, for ane 
 amusement o' this kind, cried Perth, who had been listen 
 ing some time to the whispers of Sharpe, and had come 
 over to his secret plans. 
 
 " Maist true, my Lord," responded Lauderdale, in his 
 easy jaunty way, as he filled up his flagon, from the lordly 
 stoup, " We're here a' at leisure, for any kind o' trifle. 
 By the lard ! we canna aye be saddled wi' the drudgery o' 
 purify in' the land, and sendin' Whigs to glory ! And 
 harkee, young man," added he, as he gave a side glance 
 and a nod over his left shoulder to Burleigh, " tak ane 
 advice frae ane auld courtier. Hae nae wull o' yer ain, 
 when afore the Powers. Ne'er read petitions, nor verses, 
 lard help ye, to ane hungry man ; or when his cup's toom. 
 Ye wull gratify us by proceeding, young man." 
 
 "Ready, ay ready!" whispered Burleigh who could 
 with no kind of grace disobey; and who, young as he 
 was, felt as if he could beard the lion in his den. " Ready
 
 fcR, THE LAST t>? THE STUARTS. 191 
 
 for a' extremities," he added modestly, but with some what 
 of an ambiguity, " I yield me in obedience, at the expense 
 o' my feelings." 
 
 " Faith ! that's soond doctrine," cried Rothes. " I hope 
 my lord Primate, ye jaloose the auld College, withoot 
 reason." 
 
 " I obey yer grace," said Burleigh to Lauderdale, " right 
 willingly : for I hae ay fund that gude claret washed 
 doon the warst o' poetry." 
 
 "Perfectly orthodox!" cried Lauderdale to Rothes, as 
 he swallowed down his bumper of claret, and set down his 
 massy silver flagon with a flourish. " Eh ! cods fish ; 
 claret is the great reformer ! It wull enlighten, and render 
 orthodox, and loyalize yer verriest Whig, that e'er canted 
 on a hill side. Wull Shakspeare was richt in ae particular, 
 and wrang in ane ither. ' The man who. has nae sweet 
 music in him,' let's see, what'st he saith, weel! its nae 
 odds : he's right as to the sentiment. But then there's a 
 wee misnomer: He should hae said, divine claret; the 
 man wha has nae divine claret jn him, nor taste for the 
 same, is fit for any mischief; a plotting Whig ; a sprig o' 
 the treason o' Beelzebub ! Eh, Rothes 1 But I am inter 
 rupting you, young man, proceed." 
 
 And he threw himself back in his chair, and fixed his 
 blood-shot eyes, glancing like two candles, on our young 
 hero. 
 
 Sir George McKenzie placed his head on the palm of 
 his two hands, and listened with a most quizzical look. 
 The Primate looked on with a proud surly air, while he 
 rested his brow on the palm of his right hand. The lords 
 sipped their claret, and threw an occasional glance at our 
 youth, without once turning their faces on him. Lauder 
 dale waved his hand : Burleigh went on, pronouncing with 
 a low, and distinct voice the following verses, as he glanced 
 occasionally at the paper in his hand. 
 
 "AFRI LAMENTATIO IN SERVITUTEM ABREPTI." 
 
 " Afri" whispered the Primate, " that means " Whig" 
 "or I ken nocht o' polictics:" and he nodded to Lauder 
 dale who only raised up his huge shaggy eye brows ; and 
 filled up his flagon to the brim. Burleigh proceeded.
 
 102 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND ; 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 JEquoreis tulerat campis sua lumina Phoebe, 
 
 Et facili cursu navis arabat iter. 
 Venti jam ponunt, sternunter jam sequoris undae, 
 
 Inque sinu noctis lenior aura peril. 
 Attamen Afri tempestas per pectora seevit, 
 
 duem subito rapuit vis inopina mali. 
 Insopitum, et forte levatum vmcula membris, 
 
 Exagitant stimulis, angor et ira suis : 
 Atque animum nunc hue celerem nunc diridit illuc, 
 
 In partes varias omnia perque rapit. 
 Dentibus infrendens, oculos per inane volutans 
 
 Sanguine suffuses, murmura moesta dedit. 
 " Demum, Europoei, diris commissa luetis" 
 
 The Lord Advocate, M'Kenzie, here fixed his eyes on 
 Burleigh, and they flashed fire ; he muttered " Infernal 
 Whiggism!" as he cast them next on the Primate. Bur 
 leigh went on 
 
 " Si scelerum vindex si DEUS ultor erit, 
 
 Q,uJS "* 
 
 Here the tumult hecame greatly increased. The Pri 
 mate groaned, and uttered a bitter execration. Rothes 
 knit his brows, and ordered him to sit down. Burleigh 
 bowed very respectfully, and his eyes fell on Lauderdale 
 as he moved them, in modesty around the circle, and added, 
 " It was nane o' my seeking, my Lord Duke ! I had nae 
 wull o' my ain afore the Powers." 
 
 Lauderdale looked with a quizzical eye on the young 
 man, and putting his flagon to his lips, he whispered, as 
 he nodded to him. " ' Honi soit qui mal y pense.' In 
 troth, laddie? ye' re richt. But M'Kenzie mistook ye, 
 his conscience is lowing wi' the fire o' Sathan's kingdom, 
 and he is ay on the look oot for libels and accusations. 
 And talk ye Arabic or Chinese to the auld hypocrite, I 
 mean Judas, there he'll swear ye're denouncing them, 
 wha betray trust and sell their Kirk for gold ! It's bonny 
 classic poetry, laddie, be yer meaning what it may." f 
 
 * See Note D . Appendix, 
 f Lauderdale was a distinguished classic scholar.
 
 OR, THfc LAST OF THE STUARTS. 193 
 
 The Primate, the while, was bending himself forward, 
 nd striving to catch the echo of Lauderdale's words. 
 The increasing noise of human voices, with the clanking 
 of silver stoups and flagons utterly defeated his wishes. 
 But suspecting from Lauderdale's forbearance, that all 
 was not right, he whispered across the Advocate's shoul 
 ders to Lauderdale and Rothe, " There's treason in that 
 saum piece frae end to end." 
 
 "Say ye so, friend Judas," cried Lauderdale, "and ye 
 heard only a dozen and two lines. When may it pleasure 
 Ver primacy, gat ye the gift o' the second sicht ?" And 
 ne shook his huge sides, and laughed, " Here's luck 
 Judas, to yer heresy seekin'." And he drained his bum 
 per to the bottom, set it down with a flourish and roared 
 out, "ha, ha, ha !" 
 
 Sharp turned himself to Burleigh, and observed with 
 an apparent air of indifference, though his whole frame 
 shook with wrath. " Yer auld University is rotten to the 
 heart's core. Ye're over-run wi' the filthy and obscene 
 weeds o' Whiggism. . . , . By the Eternal! I'll send ye a 
 deliverance. ' Quid domini facient, audent cum talia fa 
 res ?" What maun be the whiggery o' yer facility," 
 added the prelate, and filling up his flagon with the dark 
 liquor, he merely kissed the brim and set it down with 
 his trembling arm. " What maun the master deels be plot 
 ting when the wee deels daur gie utterance to sic treason ! 
 By the Haly Ane," added the infuriate priest, as he shook 
 his clenched fist, " I'll harl my drag-net ower ye a', and 
 fish ye ; and gut ye ; and brander ye, on the gridiron o' auld 
 Clootie! And ye'll skirl oot Bangor, or rout oot yer 
 Auld Martyrs mournfully, the niest time I send my douce 
 reformin' elders, the dragoons, amang ye ! I troth 
 there's nae body like Claverhouse, and oor Dalziel, to gie 
 ane upricht, orthodox faculty to the rotten-hearted Biggin 
 o' Glasgow. A bellyfu' o' cauld steel is a royal medicine 
 to purge overgrown jackasses frae the leprosy o 1 Whig 
 gism !" 
 
 This he uttered with great vehemence, and his eyes 
 flashed with the dark fire of his fury. 
 
 The rest were not sufficiently interested in the old pre 
 late or his personal feelings, to give him audience. They 
 
 VOL. i. R.
 
 194 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND: 
 
 were listening to a loud splore of M'Kenzie, who, with 
 many solemn nods and shakes of his load of supernumera 
 ry curls, and a solemn lengthened gravity of his lank yel 
 low jaws, was giving an account of the last scene, and 
 dying discoursings of one of the Martyrs, who had pre 
 dicted " BLUDY FA' AND A SPEEDY ANE, tae him w ha pled 
 awa' the lives d 1 the saunts for gowd!" 
 
 And the wretched lawyer mimicked the tears o' the 
 martyr's agony, when, in the last extremity, he called on 
 his Country, and his God, for justice ! 
 
 By the setting of the sun, the more sober had retired to 
 the withdrawing room. But these were a mere unit ; they 
 were not missed. And even their absence was rather con 
 strained than voluntary. The palsy and frigidity of old 
 age had forced the unwelcome virtue on them, when 
 the charms of strict temperance had spent its eloquence in 
 vain. Some of their graces, the bishops, had also retired. 
 But the Primate held out, but not for the pleasures of rev 
 elry he was temperate in this respect. An unbounded 
 ghostly ambition was his reigning passion. He had an 
 object to accomplish this day, which lay near his heart. 
 It was the securing of the passage of the ACT, which, 
 after his melancholy decease, was called by the nation 
 THE BISHOP'S LEGACY. I allude to the ACT which vested 
 in the military officers the power of trying and executing, 
 on the spot, all suspected person, or such as they deemed 
 suspicious. An ACT which placed the subjects, their lives, 
 and property at the disposal of military assassins, who- 
 were paid out of the confiscated property of those whom 
 they murdered according to Law ! This gained, he also 
 made a speedy retreat. For Rothes and Lauderdale, feel 
 ing the inspiring influence of their wine, began to throw 
 off the mask, and were speaking out in the sincerity of 
 their souls. They sent, with their most hearty wishes, all 
 Priests, Prelates, and Kirks to the deil. In such mo 
 ments of blackguardism and bacchannalian sincerity, the 
 State Officers manifested the same zeal towards Bishops, 
 as they did to the Whigs. 
 
 Rothes had been bantering Lauderdale for a specimen 
 of a " godly Conventicle sermon." Lauderdale raised his 
 huge corporation, by the help of two chairs, aud composing
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 195 
 
 his fiery face, which was a glowing circular surface of 
 nearly twelve inches, and opening the extremities of his 
 lips, and drawing down his under lip, so as to throw his 
 huge mouth into a form of a triangle with the base upper 
 most, he sung out in a tremendous nasal twang, " And, 
 noo, dearly beloved ! we come to the nineteenth head of 
 oor method !" and he drew up the waist-band of his un 
 mentionables: but a fit of coughing, and hiccupping pre 
 vented the egress of the remanent notes of the sermon. 
 Rothes, half blind, and stupid with claret, gave Lauder- 
 dale credit for the whole discourse not being apprized 
 that an embargo had been laid on his tongue at the very 
 port. He then went on, in his turn, as he winked and 
 nodded to Sharpe. 
 
 " And Habukkuk Meikleswiggum took up his parable 
 and said." "Balaam, ye mean, my Lord Rothes," cried a 
 quavering, piping voice. " Truth, an' ye' re the mair or 
 thodox o' the twa, yer grace o' Hirplehully," said Rothes, 
 "And Balaam Meikleswiggum took up his parable, and 
 said. And it caum tae pass that the piper o' Sneldoodrie 
 begat a son. And he ca'd his name James. And mony 
 and meikle waur the visions, whilk the godly had o' this 
 godly bairn. And ay the gossips and priests sighed, and 
 said, praise be blessed, but he'll be the salvation o' the 
 Church, and the doon-comin' o' the Kirk. Weel, and it 
 caum to pass, in process o' time, as the spirit o 1 mischief 
 began to meuve the youth, before he was in the camp o' 
 the circumceesed, that he felled doon no wi' the jaw bane 
 o' an ass, but wi' the neeve o' the piper's son, his fellow 
 regent at the College table. And it is written also in the 
 Chronicles o' Fife, that the piper's son had a wee ane. 
 And that wee ane was the films nullius patris ay ! Sir,_/??i- 
 us nullius, though the piper's son is somebody after a', 
 Eh, Geordie M'Kenzie ! And that wee son disappeared. 
 And a' the gossiping warld ay wondered whaur the wee 
 babie had gane till ! And sae nae budy could tell whaur 
 the wee bit babie gied till. But ;it caum to pass, in pro 
 cess o' time, that under Janet Lindsay's hearth stane, the 
 banes o' a wean were foond. But nae budy cood tell whase 
 wee babie these banes had been ! 
 
 In process o' time, mairover, beloved, the piper's sou
 
 196 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 James, by his sighin', and greetin', and granin' arrived at the 
 sauntship. And twice he sware the solemn League and Cov 
 enant, and he was half blin' wi' greetin', and hersh wi* 
 granin'. And so it caum till pass, that the piper's son, be 
 ing noo the holiest man in a' the laun, was sent up to Lun- 
 nin to get the interests o' Presbytery, and the Kirk richtet. 
 And they fed him weel, and clad him weel, and paid him 
 weel, a' the time he was in Lunnin. And mony an oath 
 he teuk, and mony ane imprecation he sccht frae heaven's 
 anger, if he was na a sincere and honest man. Twal 
 months he humbled himsel under the knave's cloak. And 
 at the end o' twal months he sold his friens, and the Kirk 
 o' Scotland for gowd ! And so, James, the piper's son, 
 wha wended his way to Lunnin, in his thread bare Gene-, 
 va, caum doon in his Canonicals o' rustlin silks, hech ! 
 Sirs, the Archbishop and Primate o' Scotland, wi' a lordly 
 pension o' fifty thoosan marks a year !" 
 
 And with these words Rothes gave a thump on the mas 
 sy oaken table and burst into a loud roar of laughter. 
 Then looking around him, as if inviting an encore of ap 
 plause; and missing the Primate, he inquired with seme 
 indignation, " Eh ? Has Judas Iscariot left the company? 
 A' weel, Lauderdale, it's a' in fit style. Sae e'en did his 
 worthy forbear o' that ilk. And aiblins he's gaun, ' Ex- 
 emplaria meliora sequens ' tae bring ilka ane o' us intil 
 the market neist, he'll be gaen to leuk oot the Scribes and 
 Pharisees neist, in the Coort o' Louis Le Grand' or o' 
 Pape Innocent XI., the present Papeo' Rume,* ha, ha, ha ! 
 Whan a man maks a gude bargain, be it in temporals, or 
 e'en in spirituals, naething wull haud nor bind him, but 
 he'll be tryin' tae mak a second and a better ane ! And 
 the man that begins wi' sellin' his friens, and the Kirk o' 
 his faithers, wull end wi' sellin' his wife and bairns, if he 
 can get a gude market for them. Eh? Sir Geordie I 
 dinna mean you. Ha, ha, ha ! Though, faith, man ! they 
 say the thief's reseller is aboot as bad as the thief himsel. 
 Eh ? Lauderdale ! Or are ye in too ! Ha, ha, ha ! Proh 
 tempora ! Proh mores !" 
 
 By this time the hard drinkers had been removed by 
 
 * Anno Domini 1678.
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 197 
 
 the help of their hainchmen, a class of attendants who " in 
 addition to the promise, at the time of giving and receiving 
 the eerl's penny fee, to perform all regular calls to duty, 
 made also the promise to act without regular orders, when 
 by the usual -process of the beastly debaucheries of these 
 days, the master had lost his reason by strong drink. They 
 were masters in rotation : that is, when the principals were 
 drunk, they ruled, and with a measure of arbitrary power, 
 and firmness did they rule. They would drag off these 
 cavaliers, who had sunk down in a fit of ' deadlie drunken 
 ness,' as the lusty Spanish vinter would stow away, in his 
 brawny arms, his bags full of new wine. 
 
 Meantime, a considerable number of the hopeful rulers 
 of the nation, were holding on in deep potation, and amid 
 vollies of oaths, and blasphemies, and broken fragments of 
 sense, and nonsense, with peals of laughter and yelling, 
 with grinnings, and solemn noddings, they were contriving 
 to hiccup out their half-fledged ideas. Their political zeal 
 was in a glorious state of combustion. Each fresh bumper 
 consigned the Whigs to old Nicholas, and was pledged as 
 deep in the deification of their most gracious and most sa 
 cred master Charles II. 
 
 Rothes and Claverhouse were now most conspicuous for 
 noise and blasphemy, amid these beastly revellings. Cla 
 verhouse, particularly, had been unusually obstreperous, to 
 the no small annoyance of Dalziel, who was, usually, re 
 markable for his silence, and his steadfast industry in steal 
 ing a march on time, on all such favourable occasions, so 
 that, as was befitting a good soldier, and a prudent one, he 
 might never be caught, by the enemy, without a sufficient 
 store of veevers in his capacious garrison ! He was, at least, 
 one bottle ahead, of Claverse, but he had talked a volume 
 less of nonsense and vain glorying. And he was now 
 sitting, his large face beaming like a moon, soaking in his 
 claret, and stroking down his enormous grizzly beard, like 
 a mane, adown which the rich dark nectar was streaming, 
 and falling in heavy drops on his buff belt. 
 
 At length, in the height of his impatience, he called aloud 
 for the attention of the company. And fixing his eyes, 
 glancing like the eyes of a wild cat, on Colonel Graham, 
 and knitting his terrible brows, like two waving Spanish
 
 198 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND! 
 
 mustachios, shooting far out over his eyes, while his lips- 
 were curled up, beneath a bunch of hair, into a most sarcas 
 tic leer, he croaked out, 
 
 " Colonel Graham, sir, if it binna ower late, sir, I wad 
 compliment you, sir, on yer hraw soldier-lik coup de main, 
 in that braw Conventicle, sir, t'ither day, when oot o' a 
 flock o' about some twenty score, ye cleeked, I am credi 
 tably informed, nae less than twa three gimmers, and some 
 sax auld ewes, and a bonny lamb, or twa ! And, by the 
 heevens ! sir, they say ye was fairly rooted, and uprooted, 
 stump and rump, Eh ? And had Hamilton followed up his 
 advantage, ye wad, tae my certain knowledge, hae been 
 singing psalms, this precious nicht in heaven ! But ye' re 
 spared by the tender mercies o' that saum godly youth. 
 Here's, praise be blessed for. the richsparin' mercy, dearly 
 beloved." And amid a roar of laughter, he raised his sil 
 ver flagon to his lips, with a mock solemnity, and quaffed 
 it off. " And mairover, Colonel, hech ! that's glorious 
 claret ! they say, sir, ye granted a toleration, sir, to a Con 
 venticle, whilk was held incontinent, and it continued a' the 
 way to Embro, on the king's highway, under the very nose 
 and een o' oor gallant colonel ! And a she-whig, mairover, 
 they say, preached a maist moovin' and edifyin' discoorse ! 
 And her gab ne'er stopt till ye reached auld Reeky. And 
 noo, sir, wi' a' yer laurels bloomin',and fresh on yer brow, 
 ye mak yer splore, as if we waur a' bairns, and no fit to 
 haud the candle till ye. Here's luck, Colonel Graham, 
 tae yer fresh blossomin' honours !" And he quaffed his se 
 cond flagon, and setting it doon wi' a flourish, he shook 
 his white mane, and groaned, and laughed ! 
 
 This was more than Graham o' Claverse could have 
 borne with, had he been out of his cups. To such a sol 
 dier, wha had twa bottles, and the maist feck o' his third, 
 under his belt, it was insufferable. He threw himsel across 
 the wide oaken table, at ae leap, overturning flagons, 
 glasses, decanters, and black jacks : and, drenched in stream 
 ing claret, he sprung upon Dalziel, who tumbled back over 
 his chair, and roared out most lustily. "I'll teach ye," 
 cried Graham, " how to use soldiers, and gentlemen, wha 
 hae seen foreign and domestic service, ye grizzly bearded 
 goat! By saunt Nicholas o' the brumstane throne ! I'll
 
 OR, THE LAST OF THE STUARTS. 199 
 
 shear off some o' that wool frae yer vile swinish chowks, 
 ye 'scape gallows, and rascallion!" And suiting the ac 
 tion to his words, he seized him by the beard ; and having 
 dragged him frae his chair, to whilk he clung wi' baith 
 haunds, and teeth, Claverse was actually proceeding to 
 saw off his shaggy beard, with the edge of his sword. 
 
 To Lauderdale, Rothes, and the remanent members o' the 
 bacchannalian carousal, who were half blind with drink, it 
 appeared as if the infuriate Colonel was really applying his 
 gleaming steel to the auld General's thrapple, and was 
 sawing it, in good earnest, asunder, as unceremoniously as 
 he used to do those of the Whigs. 
 
 " A shame on ye baith," croaked oot Landerdale, as he 
 rose, and was waddling towards them ; " Foul shame fa* 
 ye, ye menseless deels ! that ye canna tak yer sup o' claret, 
 (hiccup !) quietly lik decent Christian-like men, (hiccup,) 
 but ye maun quarrel and cut each ither's thrapples ! What 
 wad his maist sacred majesty say, did he but see his twa 
 foremost military chiefs, wha are entrusted wi' affairs o' 
 especial grace, and the settlin' o' the peace, and weel duin 1 
 o' the Kirk o 1 God, (hiccup,) in sic a villainous tulzie as 
 this ! He, God bless him, can rise up, weel balanced, (hie- 
 cup,} and can carry off his sax bottles o' the divine liquor, 
 under his royal girdle. And you, forsooth, foul fa' ye baith ! 
 wi' this sma' allowance maun shed blude o' loyal men ! 
 Haud ye ! by St George, I command ye baith. Haud ye, 
 Graham, is the auld deel no oot o' ye yet, haud ! or I'll 
 cleave ye to the brisket, instanter, if ye dinna pit up that 
 shabble, and keep the peace, this blessed moment !" 
 
 Rothes sprang forward to enforce the eloquence of Lau 
 derdale. But he was ntterly unable to back the exhorta 
 tion to keep the peace. They both staggered toward the 
 prostrate combatants, and tumbled headlong over them. 
 The weight of two such men fairly crushed the soldiers, 
 who both sung out for quarter, as lustily as if on a field of 
 disasterous battle. 
 
 This was the signal for the " dead drunk" attendants to 
 do their duty, as they were now, in the turn of affairs, mas 
 ters, pro-tempore. All hands were mustered, and with 
 as many shouts, and heave hoos, as are heard at the weigh 
 ing of the anchors of a seventy-four, they succeeded, at
 
 200 THE WHIGS OF SCOTLAND : 
 
 length, in getting the hopeful rulers of Scotland, and the 
 military reformers, charged with the spiritual care of the 
 Kirk, rolled, like so many sheep skin bags of new wine, 
 into their carriages, and trundled slowly home ! 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME, 


 

 
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