THE JAMES D. PHELAN 
 CELTIC COLLECTION 
 

IxV t 
 
GILDEROY: 
 
 A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 
 
' Thie discharge was followed by a straggling fire of muskets 
 and pistols from above." P. 10?. 
 
GILDEROY: 
 
 THE HERO OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 EGBERT S. FITTIS. 
 
 GKlderoy was a bonny boy, 
 
 Had roses till his shoon ; 
 His stockings were of silken soy, 
 
 Wi* garters hanging doon. 
 It was, I ween, a comely sight 
 
 To see so trim a boy : 
 He was my joy and heart's delight, 
 
 My handsome Gilderoy. Old Ballad. 
 
 LONDON: 
 GEOEGE BOUTLEDGE & SONS, 
 
 THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. 
 NEW YORK : 416, BROOME STREET. 
 
TO 
 
 JAMES GRANT, ESQ. 
 
 Author of " The Romance of War," $c. 
 
 AN UNKNOWN ADMIRER OF HIS GENIUS, AND OP HIS TRUE 
 OLD SCOTTISH SPIRIT, 
 
 DEDICATES THIS BOOK. 
 
 829766 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Tale is the first attempt, so far as the author is 
 -*- aware, to embody in such a form the scattered histo- 
 rical and legendary memorials of one of the popular heroes 
 of Scotland the "Bonny Boy," whose name is familiar to 
 every Scotsman as a household word, because imperishably 
 embalmed in the ballad poetry of his country. The author 
 of Waverley enhanced the fame of Rob Eoy ; but hitherto 
 all our novelists have strangely neglected the daring exploits 
 and tragic fate of the earlier scion of the Gregalich the 
 " handsome Gilderoy " of the Scottish muse. 
 
 Although the most prominent of the actual incidents in 
 Gilderoy 's career have been retained in the Tale, yet some 
 liberty has been taken with the time of their occurrence. 
 Gilderoy perished in the summer of 1636, shortly before 
 Scotland became convulsed with the bloody troubles of the 
 Covenant. The time has been shifted twenty years later, 
 for the purpose of interweaving his adventures with the 
 history of the Protectorate in Scotland a period, by the 
 way, to which tradition, though erringly, ascribes some of 
 them. 
 
IV PSEFACE. 
 
 Fiction is generally allowed a license of this kind when 
 its object is avowedly to strengthen the vague, and reconcile 
 the often contradictory, details handed down by tradition 
 respecting popular heroes ; and surely the theme which 
 Campbell did not disdain to illustrate in one of his finest 
 lyrics offers a legitimate and promising field for the exercise 
 of the novelist's imagination. 
 
 May, 1866. 
 
GILDEEOY; 
 
 A SCOTTISH TKADITION. 
 CHAPTEB I. 
 
 I N T II O D U C T O K Y . 
 
 Come up amang the Highland hills, 
 
 Thou wee, \vee German lairdie, 
 And see how Charlie's lang-kail thrive, 
 
 That he dibbled in his yardie. 
 
 Jacobite Song. 
 
 rpHE suppression of the Scottish Cavalier revolt, in 1653-4, 
 JL confirmed the iron sway of Cromwell over Scotland, 
 whose independence, from the very beginning of the troubles 
 with the English Commonwealth, had been betrayed by 
 fanatical dissensions. The olden scheme of conquest which 
 cost the first two Edwards of England so much unavailing 
 blood and treasure, seemed realized at last, after the lapse 
 of more than three centuries ; and Scottish patriots had every 
 reason to dread that the sun of their country's liberty had 
 set for ever. True, the claymore still flashed forth defiance 
 from the fastnesses of the north-western Highlands, to which, 
 a remnant of the discomfited Royalists had betaken them- 
 selves, rejecting peace at the price of submission to the Lord 
 Protector, and stubbornly hopeful that by some fortuitous 
 turn of events, their exiled sovereign would yet " enjoy his 
 ain again." But defiance such as that was " the Usurper " 
 could safely despise, now that the nation generally had suc- 
 cumbed to his domination. 
 
 The rising in 1653, under William, ninth earl of Glen- 
 cairn, was a feeble attempt of the Scottish "Royalists to shake 
 off Cromwell's yoke, and it signally failed. The chiefs of 
 the party obviously miscalculated the resources at their 
 
 B 
 
GILDEEOY : 
 
 ^.achievements of Montrose, in the 
 wars of the Covenant, inspired them with the confidence 
 that very much the same game could again be played ; but 
 they did not, or would not, perceive how completely circunir 
 stances had altered, and how destitute they themselves were 
 of the main elements that ensure success. They had no 
 Montrose to direct their discordant councils and animate 
 their soldiers with his own dauntless spirit and fiery enthu- 
 siasm. The grisly head of the Great Marquis " that 
 Scotish oak and regal Buckler of fidelity and valour," as a 
 Restoration writer felicitously termed him was bleaching in 
 the sun and wind on the spike of Edinburgh Tolbooth ; 
 and of his best and bravest lieutenants, whose names were 
 " familiar as household words " in the straths and glens of 
 the faithful north, not one was left to uplift the banner 
 struck down in the rout of Corbiesdale. Still, despite all 
 disadvantages and discouragements, the cavaliers adventured 
 the perilous enterprise ; for, as misfortune never shook their 
 loyalty, it was equally incapable of damping their hopes. 
 They held, with the poetic maxim of Montrose, that 
 
 He either fears his fate too much, 
 
 Or his deserts are small, 
 Who dares not put it to the touch, 
 
 To gain or lose it all. 
 
 They put it to the touch, and they lost it. 
 
 At the same time it must be acknowledged that had the 
 expedition been conducted by a resolute and experienced 
 soldier, in all probability the Cromwellian Governor of Scot- 
 land, General Monk, would have had to encounter a ha- 
 rassing struggle, similar to what was waged so successfully 
 against the Edwards of England. But no captain of eminence 
 appeared. Glencairn, a nobleman of no great ability, was 
 joined by General Middleton, who had fought on the side of 
 the Covenant during Montrose's wars, but was now a staunch 
 Cavalier. The General's talents, at the best, were little to 
 boast of, and it was only a subordinate position which he 
 could have filled with credit to himself, or benefit to the 
 cause which he espoused. In short, the leaders who aspired 
 to follow in the footsteps of " the gallant Graham " never 
 gained the confidence of the Highland warriors whom their 
 summons called into the field. The consequence was that, 
 not long after the raising of the royal standard, portions of 
 the forces deserted it. For instance, Lorn, Ike son of 
 
A SCOTTISH TKADITION. 3 
 
 Argyle, brought 1,000 foot and 50 horse to the muster, but 
 decamped with his men in about a fortnight. The deserters 
 being pursued, the most of them were brought back, " but 
 within a fortnight thereafter," says a writer who calls him- 
 self an eye and ear witness to all that passed from first to 
 last, "neither officers nor soldiers of them were to be seen 
 with us ; and we heard no more of Lord Lorn, nor any of 
 his men, since that time." Things went from bad to worse, 
 and at length Glen cairn himself withdrew, taking the whole 
 of his followers with him, and wisely made his peace with 
 the Cromwellian Government. Middleton then succeeded 
 to the supreme command of as much of the army as still 
 held together ; but his campaign was brief and inglorious. 
 On the 26th of July, 1654, he was defeated at Lochgarry, 
 in upper Perthshire, and, his forces dispersing, he fled to the 
 Isle of Skye, and thence to Holland. " The fate of Middle- 
 ton's army," says Lord Hailes, "was such as might have 
 been expected, from the want of subordination and harmony 
 which prevailed in it. Five thousand men possessed of the 
 fastnesses of the Highlands of Scotland, might have main- 
 tained a long and honourable, if not a successful war ; yet 
 they melted away before the enemy." The Government 
 poured fresh troops into the Highlands, to trample out the 
 scattered embers of the insurrection. The most of the van- 
 quished chiefs submitted upon the lenient conditions ten- 
 dered by General Monk. Indeed, the only one of mark who 
 disdained submission was Cameron of Lochiel, who, for a 
 time, maintained a vigorous partizan warfare against the 
 invaders of his native wilds, baffling all their endeavours to 
 subdue him by force of arms, till they were glad to grant 
 him peace upon his own conditions. 
 
 Such was the issue of " Giencairn's Expedition." It but 
 confirmed, as we have said, the sway of Cromwell ; and he 
 maintained his conquest by an army of occupation, 8,000 
 strong, including the garrisons of the four new Forts or Cita- 
 dels, which he had caused to be erected at Leith, Perth, 
 Inverness, and Ayr. 
 
 Noth withstanding every fault inherent in the system of 
 government which Cromwell established in Scotland and 
 perhaps its greatest fault, in the eyes of the Scottish people, 
 consisted in its being the creation of a conqueror whose re- 
 gicidal proclivities and whose ecclesiastical tenets they ab- 
 horred it very considerably promoted the welfare of the 
 B 2 
 
4 GILDEEOY : 
 
 country. " Though harsh," says Guizot, " the yoke was 
 equitable ; it was rendered tolerable by regularity, and not 
 aggravated by violence." Bishop Burnet gives strong evi- 
 dence on the point : " There was good" justice done, and 
 vice was suppressed and punished, so that we always reckon 
 those eight years of usurpation a time of great peace and 
 prosperity." Justice had never been administered in the 
 Scottish courts of law since Scotland was a nation so honestly 
 and fearlessly as it was by the Cromwellian judges. No ties 
 of kindred or faction, no personal feelings whatsoever, in- 
 fluenced their awards. They purified the source of justice 
 they made the judgment-seat respectable by their unswerving 
 probitv they " poised high the steady scale," their hands 
 were innocent of " the guilty bribe," and they dealt 
 righteously between man and man. Says Sir Walter Scott: 
 "The peculiar aptitude of the men employed by Cromwell 
 being pointed out to a learned judge in the beginning of the 
 next century, his lordship composedly answered, * Devil 
 thank them for their impartiality ! a pack of kinless loons ! 
 For my part, I can never see a cousin or friend in the 
 wrong/ The shameful partiality in the Scottish courts of 
 law revived with the Restoration, when the judges were to 
 be gained, not only by the solicitations of private friends and 
 by the influence of kinsfolk, but by the influence of persons in 
 power and the application of downright bribery." Lauder- 
 dale's memorable remark " Show me the man, and I'll show 
 you the law " was the rule in Scottish jurisprudence for a 
 longer series of years after the [Restoration than we care to 
 count. "The country," says Robert Chambers, "was never 
 in a more prosperous, more peaceful, or more happy condi- 
 tion, than during these few years of bondage. Its manners 
 and manufactures were improved by the English soldiery ; 
 its wealth was increased by the large sums (about 140,000 
 annually) which were sent from England to pay the army ; 
 and the people found a degree of humane justice in the 
 English judges, and even in the military commanders, which 
 they had never experienced under their former feudal masters, 
 or under their tyrannical priesthood. It almost appeared 
 from this period of its history, that Scotland had never needed 
 anything to render it a happy country, but a government 
 sufficiently strong to repress the religious and political fac- 
 tions by which it was torn ; in other words, it only required 
 to be deprived of the power of injuring itself." Nothing, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 5 
 
 however, could sufficiently reconcile the bulk of the nation, 
 thoroughly monarchical at heart, to the rule of the great 
 English Republican. 
 
 Rumours of fresh plotting on the part of the Cavaliers 
 continued to annoy the Government. In the course of 1655 
 the Royal Exile projected an invasion of his lost dominions, 
 in which he was to be assisted by Spanish troops, and also 
 by certain of the English Republicans whose expectations 
 Cromwell had altogether disappointed, and who were, there- 
 fore, eager to compass his overthrow. One Colonel Sexby, 
 a keen Leveller, went over to the Continent, and entered 
 into communication with Charles. But the nogotiations, after 
 dragging their slow length through more than a year, even- 
 tually came to nothing. 
 
 The following story, founded on historical and traditionary 
 gleanings, opens in the summer of 1656, about two years 
 after the royal defeat at Lochgarry. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 In the deep and distant glen, 
 
 The Fiddach, wildly wailing, 
 Of foes upon its woody banks, 
 
 Of coming woe was telling. 
 
 Then faintly on the stormy blast 
 
 Was heard the voice of mourning, 
 And then appeared the bursting flames . 
 
 Auchindoun was burning. 
 
 Alex. Laing's " Wayside Flowers." 
 
 IN a deep, grim, desert pass of the Grampian mountains 
 fell a cataract that sent a brawling stream away down 
 through the braes of Angus. The pass was called Glen Con- 
 nachan the Glen of Weeping or of Lamentation a name 
 originating, doubtless, in some mournful but forgotten inci- 
 dent of Highland legendary lore. At some parts the grey 
 craggy walls on either side rose almost perpendicularly, with, 
 only here and there a few broad-leaved weeds flaunting from 
 crevices and narrow shelves of the naked rock ; while at 
 
6 GILDEKOY : 
 
 others the mountain slopes were bristly with whin and furze, 
 or thickly clad with heather. The path throughout was 
 much encumbered with blocks of stone, dislodged by the fury 
 of wintry tempests from the beetling heights. It was about 
 the middle of the pass where the cataract streamed down 
 with a voice of thunder. The torrent poured over the brow 
 of a cliff in one broad sheet, which, striking in mid career 
 upon a projecting ledge, separated, into two cascades that 
 dashed, in a succession of leaps, into a hollow at the bottom 
 of the precipice, whence a whirling spray-mist steamed up 
 as from an infernal cauldron, and, when struck by the sun- 
 beams, was spanned by a brilliant rainbow. The scenery 
 around the fall impressed on every beholder a profound 
 sense of dreary, gaunt, savage desolation. The stream from 
 the rocky basin flowed turbulently through a tortuous 
 channel, half-choked with boulders ; and the glen itself 
 was long and winding, with a gradual descent towards 
 Angus. 
 
 It was a dull hazy evening in early summer, when summer 
 had as yet scarce begun to shed her smiles ; for the spring 
 had been bleak to a degree that induced an important 
 Presbytery of the Kirk to ordain a public Fast for better 
 weather, which was kept throughout their bounds in the 
 beginning of " the merry month of May." Heavy showers 
 had fallen at intervals during the former part of the day, 
 swelling and embrowning the cataract, and filling the road- 
 way of the pass with muddy pools and runnels of rain-water. 
 The gloaming closed in apace. The broken red streaks in 
 the western sky, that served to indicate demarcation betwixt 
 Dearth and cloud-land, faded out, and sombre shadows began 
 to gather, like ghosts, in the glen, rendering its rugged wild- 
 ness all the more weird and fearsome. Birds of prey some- 
 times burst out from yawning clefts, and with shrill hungry 
 screams wheeled lazily around the peaks. Suddenly a wild 
 Highland horse, with its shaggy mane floating like a streamer, 
 gallopped down the pass, as 'if on its way to the fresh pas- 
 tures of Angus. The animals of this species were of small 
 size but graceful form, their colour being generally bay, 
 spotted with black, though some were occasionally found of 
 a pure white. At the period of our tale the Grampian re- 
 cesses were haunted by several wild quadrupeds, such as 
 the wolf, the horse, and the boar, besides, as was said, a 
 small misshapen creature (probably imaginary) called Famh, 
 
A SCOTTISH TKADITIOK. 7 
 
 somewhat larger than a mole, of brown colour, and believed 
 to exude a certain poisonous matter fatal to horses if they 
 happened to crop the grass on which it had fallen. The 
 wild horses were once numerous in the Highland wilder- 
 nesses, where they were caught with the lasso ; but, by the 
 end of the seventeenth century, they were much thinned in 
 numbers, and could be found only in the extreme northern 
 districts. Imperceptibly the plashing roar of the cataract 
 deepened, although night imposed no greater stillness than 
 what reigned by day. This curious fact relating to soun-ds 
 by night is noticed by Humboldt in his description of the 
 Falls of Orinoco, which were, he says, three times louder in 
 the night time than during the day, and he attributes the 
 phenomenon to the transparency and uniform density of the 
 night air. Thus the angry voice of Glen Connachan's 
 cataract grew louder as darkness descended. 
 
 A strange appearance now made itself manifest in the 
 eastern horizon along the summits of the cliffs. It might 
 have been the rising moon struggling through the vapour ; 
 but, whatever it was, a red shifting glimmer gradually 
 brightened the sullen sky into a fiery glow. It wavered, 
 but still grew more and more intense. No ; it could not be 
 the moon, and it resembled nothing so much as the glare 
 reflected on the night heaven by a great conflagration. Soon 
 it expanded to the zenith, receded like a receding wave, burst 
 forth again red as blood, and flashed like successive sheets 
 of summer lightning, sharply defining against the sky every 
 pinnacle and crest of the crags down the glen. The mys- 
 terious glare continued with fluctuating intensity until after 
 midnight, when it quickly died away, and was seen no more. 
 About that hour, " between the dark and light," a moving 
 flame began to flicker far down the pass, and then another 
 and another shone out like stars through the gloom. These 
 lights kept gliding to and fro, sometimes hidden as if among 
 trees, and sometimes mingling in a cluster. On they came 
 towards the cataract. 
 
 It was a party of armed men marching through the glen 
 by torchlight. They seemed nearly all Highlanders, and 
 numbered rather more than a score, several of whom carried 
 burning pine branches, which shed a smoky glare around, 
 and gleamed fitfully back from dripping rock and foaming 
 torrent, while a few others were laden with unwieldy bundles, 
 apparently containing household plunder. The most of the 
 
8 GILDEROY : 
 
 men were clad in tartan, and well armed with dirks, clay- 
 mores, and pole-axes, and at their backs hung round targets 
 of hardwood, covered with bull's hide nailed on with big 
 polished iron studs, arranged in circles and triangles, Few 
 of them wore shoes or brogues, the majority going bare- 
 legged and barefooted, as well as bareheaded and barearmed. 
 Two or three were even more squalid in their attire than 
 any of their comrades, having no other garment around the 
 naked body than a long coat of coarse, grey, homespun cloth, 
 without sleeves, reaching to the knee. This coat was closed 
 down the front with thin thongs of leather or clumsy metal 
 buttons, and confined about the middle by a leathern belt, or 
 a thick rope, sustaining the claymore and the dirk. Of those 
 who had head-covering, some wore Highland bonnets and 
 others battered helmets, ancient-looking enough to have 
 figured in the wars of the Fingalians. But, as we have in- 
 dicated, all the party were not Celts. One of the foremost 
 was a Lowlander a tall, light-haired young fellow, in a buff 
 coat, and back and breast plates, and with an iron morion on 
 his head, furnished with a nasal, or perpendicular bar of iron, 
 to defend the warrior's face from the stroke of a sword. He 
 was armed with a heavy, double-edged blade, which hung at 
 his side, and a musket, which he carried on his shoulder in 
 military fashion. He was muscular and somewhat handsome 
 in figure, and his sun-burnt countenance was open and free 
 in its expression, and lighted up by two clear blue eyes. 
 He wore his light hair in the Cavalier style, streaming 
 abundantly over his broad shoulders from beneath his head- 
 piece ; and one of those wicked love-locks, against the un- 
 loveliness and sinfulness of which William Prynne vented 
 his bitterest diatribes, curled down his left temple and 
 cheek. This Lowlander, however, was not the leader of the 
 band. 
 
 The personage who seemed to claim the distinction of 
 leader was a stately youth, dressed with uncommon taste in 
 a hybrid habit between that of a Lowland Cavalier and that 
 of a Highland chieftain. He was arrayed in a blue silk 
 doublet, slashed with white and orange ; tartan pantaloons, 
 or trews, as they are called in the Gaelic vernacular ; and a 
 pair of close-fitting brogues of tanned leather tied at the in- 
 step with thongs. A steel casque, from which some knightly 
 crest had been hewn by a hostile brand, defended his head ; 
 and his locks, of a darkish red colour (the colour which 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 
 
 Michael Scott, the wizard, in his book of Physiogonomy, held 
 to indicate a person " envious, venomous, deceitful, proud, 
 and evil-speaking"), were abundant and flowing, like those of 
 the Lowland soldier. A tartan plaid, striped red and black 
 in the distinguishing check of the Gregalich, or Clan Mac- 
 gregor, was thrown around his shoulders, with a fringed end 
 hanging gracefully down his back. He also wore a red silk 
 scarf, which was much spotted with dark stains, and crum- 
 pled here and there as though it had been repeatedly and 
 tenaciously clutched in the hand. A belt around his waist 
 sustained a claymore, and also a pair of steel pistols, of the 
 kind then manufactured at Doune, in western Perthshire, and 
 much used among the Highlanders. According to an ancient 
 Highland custom, his left hand only was cased in an iron 
 gauntlet ; the other one, being bare, looked as small and 
 white and delicate as that of a lady. He had no target. His 
 features were regular, and even somewhat finely moulded, 
 but there was a haughty, passionate, supercilious air about 
 them ; and his hazel eyes were troubled and bloodshot, 
 lending a sinister effect to a visage which otherwise would 
 have been counted prepossessing. He spoke to no one, but 
 strode on, apparently immersed in his own thoughts, and now 
 and then his small right hand clenched itself with in- 
 voluntary rigidity. Scarce twenty summers seemed to have 
 passed over his head. 
 
 The band passed the cataract, and continued their march 
 up the glen till they had turned an angle of the path, where 
 the distance and the intervening crags deadened the roar of 
 waters. The red-haired youth now called out something in 
 Gaelic, upon which a general halt took place, the men with 
 the bundles relieving themselves of their oppressive loads, 
 and sitting down to rest on the masses of stone that lay 
 scattered about. It now appeared that there were other two 
 remarkable persons in the company namely, a female, and 
 a grey-haired man in the plain garb of a Presbyterian 
 clergyman. The former, at least, was evidently a prisoner. 
 Judging from the superior quality of her attire, she seemed 
 of some rank ; but she was so closely shrouded in a silken 
 plaid that her face was invisible. She was in great agitation, 
 and wept in a low monotonous tone. 
 
 Aloof from all, the red-haired youth was standing gazing 
 vacantly up the gloomy pass, and the lady and the clergy- 
 man now advanced towards him. 
 
10 GILDEROY : 
 
 The " day-spring " was mottling the sky, and as the cool 
 breeze slowly rolled away the clouds, some stars were seen, 
 fading in the morning beam. The sweet carol of birds 
 began to ring through the air, heralding the return of the 
 sun. The Highlanders extinguished their flambeaux, and 
 the grey twilight seemed to take away that savagery in 
 the men's appearance which the glare of torches had made 
 so frightsome. 
 
 As the lady advanced with her companion to where the 
 red-haired youth was standing with his back turned towards 
 them, she drew back the silken plaid from her face for an 
 instant, and darted a furtive, terrified glance around her, 
 and then, shuddering violently, she replaced the covering, 
 and sobbed as though her heart would break. The minister 
 composedly touched the youth on the arm. " Macgregor," 
 he said " James, James! the hour o' passion and revenge 
 is past ; and winna you now listen to the voice o' reason and 
 humanity?" 
 
 Macgregor turned round, put back the minister's hand, 
 which had continued to rest upon his arm, and stared at 
 him, but uttered not a word. 
 
 " I carena for mysel, James," resumed the minister. " I 
 am in the hand o' Ane higher and mightier in power than 
 the highest and mightiest on earth ; and, trusting in His 
 kind protection, I can fearlessly meet the fiercest gusts o' 
 man's wrath. But this young lady " 
 
 " Shall come by no harm, Mr. Gilchrist, take a Highland- 
 man's word for it," answered Macgregor, in a stern voice, 
 and speaking the English tongue with scarcely a Highland 
 accent. " Not a hand shall be lifted to do her wrong ; not a 
 hair of her head shall be touched. Let my solemn pledge 
 suffice you ; for I pledge you by the honour of my father." 
 
 " But you ha'e deprived her o' her best friend on earth 
 her lawfu' guardian," returned the minister, " and you are 
 dragging awa' the puir thing to a dreadfu' captivity, in your 
 ain fastnesses, and among your ain wild clan. What ill can 
 you wyte upon her, man ? I needna address you in my 
 capacity as an unworthy minister o' God's evangel although 
 you haena forgotten, James, that it was thae twa auld hands 
 that sprinkled the baptismal water upon your infant face, 
 when you were brought to the kirk yon drifty Sabbath 
 morning, rowed up in your faither's plaid, and a' body 
 thinking you wadna lived mony days, you were sae dwyning 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 11 
 
 but I wad crack to you, my jo, in the name o' humanity, 
 and beseech you to release the lady and let her gang back to 
 her ain place in peace. The fearfu' trial o 5 yestreen will 
 stick to her a' her days, puir lass, and prove a sair enough 
 heartbreak without mair troubles at your hand." 
 
 " Mr. Simon," said the youth, sullenly, " I am not to be 
 driven from my purpose by the strongest appeal. You must 
 return, to your manse; but the lady accompanies me to 
 Ilannoch. My determination is fixed like fate." 
 
 "And mine, too, is fixed," cried the minister, with a show 
 of equal firmness. " Do what you will, Gilderoy ; but I tell 
 you that Annabel Rutherford and mysel' shanna be parted. 
 I winna leave her as a bird in the snare o' the fowler. If 
 you tak' her, you tak' us baith. I winna leave her." 
 
 Gilderoy smiled. " You have followed us thus far by no 
 compulsion of mine," he said ; " and now you must return 
 without more parley. Believe me, Mr. Simon, the vassals 
 cf Dunavaig stand in urgent need of your consolation this 
 day." 
 
 "Consolation!" echoed the minister, sadly. "Alas, alas ! 
 my jo, there will be sma' consolation at Dunavaig either the 
 day or the morn. But," he added, in an altered tone, while 
 his eye kindled, " dinna you think that the bluid o' the mur- 
 dered cries frae the very ground, and will be heard and 
 answered ? Mony a heart wrung, wild-spoken prayer will 
 gang up to heaven this morning for justice and righteous 
 retribution. Mony a malison will be pronounced against 
 you. Trembling hands will be lifted heavenwards to draw 
 down swift and unerring vengeance upon your head. What 
 ha'e you done ? You ha'e come frae your moors and woods, 
 and slaughtered your ain kinsman at his ain door, and pro- 
 claimed your fearfu' crime to the haill country by the blaze 
 o' your slaughtered kinsman's house. Dinna you think, 
 Gilderoy, that the crime will steel every heart and nerve 
 every hand against you ? There will but ae word gang frae 
 mouth to mouth, and that ae word will be ' Vengeance !' 
 and you will be branded as a second Cain, and counted as a 
 wild beast that maun be hunted doon and destroyed, to let 
 the land ha'e peace." 
 
 This bold outburst had no apparent effect upon him to 
 whom it was addressed ; but it evoked rage and fury among 
 the Celts, most of whom understood the greater part of it. 
 Before the minister concluded, his voice was nearly drowned 
 
12 GILDEEOY: 
 
 in growls and the rattle of weapons, and the savages seemed 
 looking for a signal from their leader that they might rush 
 in and cut his traducer to pieces. Bat Gilderoy gave no such 
 signal ; on the contrary, he commanded them to be silent 
 and still. 
 
 " Your head, Mr. Gilchrist, was never in greater jeopardy 
 than it was a moment syne/' said the Lowland soldier, gravely. 
 "You should bear in mind, sir, that you are no in your am 
 poopit enoo, reproving your ain parishioners for sins and lack 
 o' duty." 
 
 "I ken my danger and my duty baith, Dobbie Hackston," 
 responded Mr. Gilchrist. " Thae lads can do nae mair than 
 what my great Master permits ; and He can open or shut the 
 lions' mouths according to His ain gude pleasure. I am 
 content. But it's the truth I've spoken. It's my bounden 
 duty to speak the truth in ony presence and in ony jeopardy. 
 I'm in the place, as worthy John Knox said, whaur I'm 
 commanded o' conscience to speak the truth, and the truth 
 I'll speak, impugn it whoso lists. I maun lift up my voice 
 would that it were mair powerfu' and persuasive ! I maun lift 
 it up in warning and reproof, without respect o' persons. It's 
 to this misguided callant that I maun speak ; for he has 
 made himsel' an astonishment, a terror, and a hissing unto a* 
 that hear his name." 
 
 " Mr. Gilchrist," cried Gilderoy, with an impatient gesture, 
 " you know all the provocation which made me my kinsman's 
 enemy. The provocation justifies everything I have done. 
 It would justify more." 
 
 "Oh, James!" interrupted the minister, "you crack as 
 though this load o' guilt lay lichtly upon you as though the 
 foul stain o' murder could be as easily washed frae your soul 
 and conscience as thae splashes o' gore from your white richt 
 hand." 
 
 Macgregor held up his bare hand, and perceived, apparently 
 for the first time, that it was streaked with barkened blood. 
 He replied sternly, "You say well, sir. That guilt if 
 guilt you call it does, indeed, lie light on my conscience. 
 A mere feather's weight. Did no oppression, no suffering, 
 no wrong, drive me to revenge ? You know better. You 
 know the provocation." 
 
 " Your brother's death " 
 
 "Ay," said Gilderoy, with a fierce smile, as a sudden emo- 
 tion burned on his cheek and flashed from his eye ; " you 
 
A SCOTTISH TEABITION. 13 
 
 can recount the provocation well. My brother my only 
 brother was marked out for slaughter. They tracked and 
 hunted him as we track and hunt the ravening wolf. Traitors 
 sold him to the enemy ; and the blood-money the price of 
 his head was earned and worn by By whom was it won? 
 You can answer. By that sordid, faithless caitiff whom you 
 style my kinsman. He received the bribe in full tale. Yes 
 Connal of Dunavaig, my father's second cousin, plotted 
 and perpetrated the destruction of my father's eldest son. 
 Patrick was lured away by fiendish guile, and seized in an 
 unguarded moment ; bound, like a cattle-beast, and driven 
 to the shambles of St. Johnstoun, where they hung him 
 upon one of the gibbets which, as in my boyish days I heard 
 the burghers tell, were set up at the four ports of the town 
 to hang the Macgregors, pursuant to statutes of Parliament. 
 And you you were with Patrick when he died." 
 
 " I travelled a' the road frae Dunavaig to the burgh town, 
 and heard his trial in the Tolbooth ; yea, and I attended 
 him in prison after sentence was passed, and likewise to the 
 gallows." 
 
 " And he died like a son of Clan-Alpin like a scion of the 
 royal race of Macgregor. His cheek never blanched, save, 
 perchance, when the thought crossed him that I, too, might 
 fall a victim to traitors' wiles ere I had avenged his doom." 
 
 " He died as he had lived," said the minister, " heart- 
 hardened to the last. He wad pay nae heed to the things 
 that concerned his everlasting peace ; the word o' salvation 
 had far less effect upon him than a doited sennachie's story ; 
 and even he declared that in place o' my earnest prayers, he 
 wad rather hear the pibroch o' Clan-Gregor summoning to 
 foray or feast. I've been sair grieved for Patrick." 
 
 " And you know that, with his latest breath, my brother 
 accused Dunavaig." 
 
 " But Dunavaig constantly maintained his utter inno- 
 cence," said Mr. Gilchrist. " Lady Annabel there can tell 
 you." 
 
 " It will not deny," said Gilderoy. " No, no, it will not 
 deny. My brother's death lay at Connal's door. All the 
 world said so ; and what all men say must be true. It was 
 my duty to avenge my brother, and I have avenged him ; I 
 have written my vengeance in characters of blood and fire, 
 that all our enemies may read it and tremble at the name of 
 GilderOy." 
 
14 GILDEROY: 
 
 " Vengeance is the Lord's," said the minister ; " and what 
 is man that he should usurp the prerogative o' Heaven P " 
 
 " Heaven's vengeance has slumbered long," returned Mac- 
 gregor, with a sneer. " For two long centuries has the race 
 of Macgregor been oppressed ; and when were Heaven's bolts 
 of wrath ever hurled against our implacable spoilers ? Our 
 wrongs are numberless as the leaves of the forest, as the 
 purple bells of the heather, as the drops of yonder cataract. 
 And may we not, forsooth, turn on our oppressors and rend 
 them? Even the trampled worm will turn. You know 
 what sufferings I have endured ; my father slain my brother 
 dragged to a death of shame myself outlawed and proscribed. 
 And now that the claymores of the Gregalich start from 
 their sheaths and smite my inveterate foes now that I am 
 struggling to hold my own now that I am snatching the 
 justice that was so long denied me, you call me a second 
 Cain!" 
 
 " Ou, my jo, you may mak' a fashion to justify yoursel' in 
 your ain e'en," said the minister ; " but a' thae braw bauld 
 words will avail but little, unco little, I fear, at anither 
 tribunal," 
 
 " What tribunal?" exclaimed Gilderoy. 
 
 " The heavenly tribunal," responded Mr. Gilchrist. " I 
 wish you may never stand before an earthly ane. I entreat 
 you, ance mair, James, to mak' what amends you can for 
 yon dreadfu' deed at Dunavaig, by letting this young lass gang 
 free. It's but a puir favour I'm begging o' you, man." 
 
 All the time of this animated colloquy the lady stood 
 covered with her plaid ; but now she suddenly dropped it 
 from her face, and turned her full gaze on Giideroy. The 
 falling of the plaid disclosed to the greedy eyes of the band 
 a vision of the most bewitching beauty. The lady was in 
 her early womanhood, and possessed a rich endowment of 
 personal charms a sweet pensive countenance, eyes dark 
 and languishing, silky tresses of the glossiest black, and a 
 slender form instinct with every grace. She was attired in 
 a light satin habit, with a necklace of Scots pearls about her 
 swan-like ivory neck. She had conquered her emotion for 
 the moment ; the fountain of her tears had dried up ; and 
 she addressed Macgregor in clear accents that went thrilling 
 through every ear they reached. 
 
 "I am in your power," she said, motioning with her right 
 hand as she spoke ; " but I warn you that I am not destitute 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 15 
 
 of friends to take up arms in my cause. It is not so very 
 difficult to divine your secret purpose in thus carrying me 
 away as your prisoner ; for I am well assured that you are 
 in close league and compact with the Knight of Spierhaughs. 
 But you may rely that if you undertook this murderous en- 
 terprise at the instigation of Sir John Spiers, to promote the 
 crafty designs which he has so long cherished, you will yet 
 find that you never served a master so utterly false and 
 ungrateful." 
 
 " I have no such league with Sir John Spiers," answered 
 Gilderoy. " I own that I rank him as one of the few friends 
 whom evil fortune has still left me ; but there was no paction 
 betwixt us about last night's work. It was the sense of deep 
 wrong that alone prompted me to attack Dunavaig." 
 
 " And you struck down the innocent," said the lady. 
 " My poor guardian was altogether guiltless of your brother's 
 death. When your men were dragging him out when he 
 grasped you by the scarf again and again, speechless with 
 horror I cried to you that he was innocent, and could show 
 proofs ; but the assassins' hands would not be stayed." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " cried Gilderoy. " I am not to be deluded." 
 
 "Whether he was guilty or not," said the lady, "you 
 cannot imagine that his death will pass unpunished. Yester- 
 day, a wandering pedlar spoke of intelligence that a strong 
 detachment of General Monk's soldiers are advancing into 
 the Highlands of Perthshire, under the command, too, of 
 Colonel Edward Campion, reputed as one of the sternest and 
 most fanatical of the Commonwealth officers. The tale of 
 murder and outrage at Dunavaig will send them upon your 
 track ; and you will best consult your own safety by setting 
 me at liberty. Even Sir John Spiers himself could not pro- 
 tect you against the wrath of the Government ; and if you 
 lean upon him you lean upon a broken reed." 
 
 " I lean upon my own good sword," retorted Gilderoy, 
 disdainfully. " Why do you taunt me with Sir John Spiers ? 
 I need none of his protection. I have ever been able to 
 make my own hand protect my own head. Let the Hound- 
 heads come ! It is no new thing for a Macgregor to find 
 himself front to front with the bloodhounds of a tyrannical 
 Government." 
 
 He called out a few words in Gaelic to his followers, 
 and there was an instant bustle amongst them. Seeing this, 
 the minister renewed his entreaties j but Gilderoy impera- 
 
16 GILDEROY: 
 
 tively commanded him to withdraw a command which the 
 lady, fearing for her good old friend's personal safety, felt it 
 necessary to second. "You will best serve me, Mr. Gil- 
 christ, by returning to Dunavaig," she said. " I am resigned 
 to my fate, trusting in the protection of Heaven, which will 
 not be denied to the forlorn ; and I shall meet danger and 
 suffering with a firm heart, because I am persuaded that the 
 purposes of this man, dark, crafty, and vindictive as he is, 
 will be frustrated. He stands in greater peril than his 
 captive/' 
 
 A severe and perplexing struggle took place in the minis- 
 ter's mind ; but he found himself absolutely compelled to 
 succumb to the power of circumstances. Addressing Gilde- 
 roy, he said, " I ha'e been your friend, James, and I was the 
 friend o 5 your faith er before you ; and often, often, ha'e I 
 gane to my knees, in my ain closet, and prayed for your true 
 welfare. But now you ha'e done rnair than enough to gar ilka 
 Christian man pray without ceasing for your utter overthrow 
 and destruction. Ay, though you were dead the morn, man," 
 and he involuntarily slapped Macgregor on the breast, 
 " I wadna add a stain to your cairn, and me a Highland-man." 
 
 Gilderoy visibly trembled with indignation ; but quickly 
 suppressing all sign of it, he forced a smile, and responded, 
 " What says the old proverb, Mr. Gilchrit ? " Am fear nach 
 meudaich an earn, g'a meudaich e chroisch ! "* But it is 
 more a curse than a simple proverb, my honest friend ; and, 
 in sooth, for all your hard biting speeches I lack the heart 
 to curse you outright. Rest yourself satisfied, since I have 
 pledged my honour, that the lady shall suffer no wrong. But 
 she must go with me, though it were only as a hostage for 
 the good behaviour of her friends, with whose resentment she 
 threatens me so boldly." 
 
 The minister did not trust himself to say another word 
 to Gilderoy ; but, taking a tender farewell of the lady, he 
 gave her his blessing, and, tearing himself away, -with tears 
 standing in his eyes, hastened down the glen. 
 
 " Now, madam, we hie us to Hannoch," said Gilderoy. 
 " At some distance we will procure a horse for your con- 
 venience* Be under no apprehensions about your safety." 
 
 The fair captive said nothing, but muffled herself anew in 
 her plaid. 
 
 * The man who will not increase the cairn may he augment the gallows. 
 
A. SCOTTISH TEADITION. 17 
 
 In a short time the band resumed their march Gilderoy 
 and the Lowland soldier walking together a little in advance, 
 so that their conversation might not be overheard. 
 
 "The minister," began Hackston, " said true enough that 
 the blaze o' Dunavaig wad raise the country ; and I wish we 
 were weel on our way to the Moor and the Black Wood 
 o' Eannoch ; though the tacksmen and pendiclers o' Dunavaig 
 hae na power o' themsells to pursue us." 
 
 " The deed will daunt some of our enemies but infuriate 
 others," answered Macgregor. "He who fancied that the 
 hand of Gilderoy was weak as a withered rush beyond the 
 Moor of Rannoch, now lies stark and stiff at his own door. 
 When I saw them slay him, I felt as little compunction and 
 as little dread of the consequences as though they had killed 
 a deer at the stalk. Vengeance was a duty which I owed to 
 my clan, and to the memory of my murdered brother. There- 
 fore, come what may fresh proscription new letters of fire 
 and sword I have flung down my gage in mortal defiance, 
 and this right hand, baptized in a traitor's blood, shall be my 
 triumphant vindicator." 
 
 After pausing for a moment, during which he glanced at 
 his hand, on which the red murder-streaks were still ap- 
 parent, he went on " Hark you, trusty comrade Gilderoy 's 
 fortunes will not be dashed. Long years ago, when I was 
 but a boy, my triumph was foretold. I was standing on the 
 fair North Inch of St. Johnstoun, viewing a football play be- 
 tween the burghers and the men of Scone, when a tall, keen- 
 eyed stranger a man with an eye so bright and piercing 
 that all eyes quailed before its burning glance a man, I 
 say, with thin grey locks, and covered with a sober mantle 
 came suddenly to my side, and seizing my shoulder with one 
 hand, parted the thick curls on my brow with the other, and 
 fixed his mysterious gaze upon me. I lost all power of 
 speech or action. I could only look into the far bright depths 
 of his eye. A wan smile came to his lips, as he said, with a 
 tongue that must have known the Gaelic 'Boy, thou 
 wearest the garb of the Sassenach, but the blood of Clan- 
 Gregor flows in thy veins ; and I am commanded to announce 
 to thee that thy head shall yet be lifted higher than ever was 
 head of Macgregor ! ' And with these words he left me, and 
 became lost in the surrounding crowd." 
 
 " And you never met that stranger again ? " 
 
 " Kever. But I treasured up his prophecy ; and, hidden 
 c 
 
18 GILDEEOY: 
 
 in my heart of hearts, it has proved to me a spell of power, 
 the spring of courage and hope. I feel that I am destined to 
 exalt the honour of the Gregalich." 
 
 Silence ensued for a few minutes, and then Hackston said, 
 " But the lady how will yellow-haired Marion o' the Moor 
 like to see sae bonnie a bird brought hame ? " 
 
 Gilderoy reddened, frowned, and smiled. " What makes 
 you fancy that Marion would not like to have such a bonnie 
 bird under her charge, Dobbie ? " 
 
 " By reason that this dame has a bonnie face, amaist as 
 bonnie as Marion's ain ; and the bit lassie may tak' jealous 
 thoughts in her head that somebody's heart may be won by 
 the Lowland lady and the Lowland lady an heiress." 
 
 "Neither you nor I, Dobbie, will ever be guilty of folly so 
 stark as to sue for the hand of Annabel Rutherford, heiress 
 of Glenbirkie," said Gilderoy. " But the lady has a rich 
 suitor who would pay a heavy ransom into my hands did I 
 surrender her to him. I have counted her worth in the 
 yellow gold." 
 
 " I mak' nae doubt that she's weel worth her ain weight in 
 gold," said Dobbie ; " but I sair mislippen an' we binna 
 putten to our mettle to keep the grip o' her. Women-folk 
 are unco slippery gear at a' times ; and siccan a braw flower 
 winna be lang allowed to adorn the wilds o' Rannoch, an 
 bauld hearts and steel blades can help it. There will be a 
 fierce fray about her look you for that. You never ga'e 
 your enemies, great and sma', sae muckle cause to seek your 
 destruction as you hae gi'en them now." 
 
 " True, Dobbie, true. And will you venture with me still, 
 instead of taking service under Lord Cranstoun, who, as 
 tidings go, is now beating his drums to gather recruits for the 
 King of Poland's arrny ? " 
 
 " I'll tak' pat-luck wi' you to the end," replied the soldier, 
 promptly. " Unless you had gi'en me shelter after the fray 
 o' Lochgarry, my banes wad, lang ere now, ha'e been picked 
 bare by the Highland eagles, and lying whitening amang the 
 heather, and the wild cats snuffing and snooking about them ; 
 or, aiblins, they wad been clattering and rattling in gibbet- 
 irons, frichtening the wanderer as he cam' slipping in by 
 some burgh-town late at e'en, wi' the wind and sleet blatter- 
 ing in his teeth. I'm your ain man, Gilderoy, in weal or in 
 woe. And," added he, " I will say that I dinna doubt you'll 
 be able to keep a' your enemies at the staff-end." 
 
A SCOTTISH TBAJHTION. 19 
 
 " I have ever done so," said Gilderoy ; " and I see little to 
 fear from those Eoundhead troops who are said to be 
 advancing." 
 
 " 1 think I see the Roundheads, guided by fause Highland- 
 men wha ken the roads, warsling ower the weary hills in 
 search o' us," said Hackston. "Atween ilka verse o' the 
 psalm they're singing, they vow a' vengeance upon that 
 desperate malignant, Gilderoy. They march on, ram-stara, 
 foment whaur we're lying in ambuscade, on the breast o' a 
 brae, wi' the lang fern waving ower our heads, and the bum- 
 bees bumming their ain canny psalm tune in the heather- 
 bells. The whisper runs through our band that the moment 
 has come. Then a whistle, sharp and lang, pierces the air, 
 and a line o' fire blazes up on the height, and a blue wreath 
 o' smoke rises wi' a lazy curl. The eagle sailing far aboon in 
 the sunny lift starts at the rattle o' the shots, and soars 
 higher wi' a shrill, angry scream. The volley has drownea 
 the Roundheads' psalm for ever. In place o' the psalm we 
 hear the hurried beat o' the drum, and the tout o' the trum- 
 pet, and the officers, in great bewilderment, crying the word 
 o' command : ' Poise your firelocks Cock your firelocks 
 Present Give fire ! ' They fire, and we fire back again 
 our bullets and arrows fleeing like a hail-storm. Yonder's 
 the enemy's foremost rank a' in gaps, like the slaps o' a dyke. 
 Death 's busy, busy yonder. Doon the brae, and through the 
 choking reek, we rush like wild cats, our slogan sounding 
 like thunder, and our claymores gleaming in the sun. There's 
 a dreadfu' clash o' steel ; and the Roundhead lines are 
 broken. The battle's done. It's maybe Dobbie Hackston 
 that has riven the Roundhead standard frae the death-grip o' 
 the ensign that he shot through the head ; and Dobbie, 
 honest chield, waves that standard, a' riddled wi' bullets, 
 triumphantly in the air, as the beacon o' victory. The 
 maist feck o' the sodgers are lying as they fell, like swathes o' 
 girss ahint the scytheman. Here and there twa o' them 
 stand, with their backs to ane anither, surrounded by whirl- 
 ing broadswords that dazzle their e'en, and syne come cleaving 
 like lichtning down through their harns ; and vender's a 
 wheen o' the lave flinging a' frae them musket, pike, head- 
 piece, bandoliers, and a' and scouring aff like stour ; but 
 few, few escaping to tell the tale." 
 
 Gilderoy smiled, and slapped his imaginative ally on the 
 shoulder. 
 
 c 2 
 
GILDEKOY : 
 
 " I'm nae prophet," added Dobbie ; " I'm no presuming to 
 compare mysel', for clear-sightedness, wi' Donach o' the Den, 
 or ony ither famed Highland seer ; but I ken that naething 
 can withstand the rush o' the claymores wielded by faithfu' 
 Highland hands." 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 Hoot, hoot, the auld man s slain outright ! 
 
 Lay him now wi' his face down ; he's a sorrowful sight. 
 
 Border Ballad, 
 
 A P11EY to the most harassing reflections, the Rev. Simon 
 >*- Gilchrist retraced his way down the glen, and after a 
 considerable journey emerged from its gloomy gorge, within 
 full view of the burned house of Dunavaig. 
 
 The troubled torrent on issuing from Glen Connachan 
 into the clear light of day suddenly abated in its turbulence, 
 and pursued a free and quiet course among the green braes 
 rising in the foreground of a wide scene, which, bounded by 
 heights, some of which were grassy to the summits, and 
 others inclosed with straggling belts of young planting, was 
 peculiarly pastoral in its cast. The morning sun, enshrined 
 in a tabernacle of snowy clouds, smiled on a green landscape, 
 such as poetic fancy might people with peaceful flocks, gentle 
 shepherdesses, and love-sick swains. The eye, as it followed 
 the wayward course of the stream, naturally rested at last 
 upon a considerable eminence, on the slope of which stood 
 the house of Dunavaig a strong, half-castellated sort of 
 mansion, with iron-stanchioned windows, high crow-stepped 
 gables, and roof flagged with grey stone (according to the old 
 and very substantial Scots fashion of " theiking wi' stane "), 
 and surrounded by an outer wall which had an embattled 
 portal. The old house, however, was now a dismal mass of 
 ruin, blackened by fire and still emitting puffs of smoke, 
 A portion of the heavy roof had fallen in, and every window 
 and shot-hole had been licked by the all-devouring flames. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBAD1TION. 21 
 
 The outhouses or barns in the court or " close " were en- 
 tirely burned to the ground, and the ascent to the house was 
 strewed with broken furniture and other household " plen- 
 ishing," which the marauders had torn out, but lacked the 
 means of carrying off. A few countrymen were gathered in 
 a group without the gate, poring over something which lay 
 on the ground in their midst. 
 
 The minister quickened his pace, and soon reached the foot 
 of the eminence. None of the party assembled at the gate 
 observed his approach, and he was close on them when one 
 man, casually lifting his eyes, started aside, exclaiming 
 " Mercy be wi' us! there's the minister's ghaist!" This 
 cry threw the group into momentary consternation, and, as 
 they separated, Mr. Gilchrist discovered that what they had 
 been poring over was the dead body of an aged man, in a 
 dress above the common sort, lying on its back, and the long 
 white locks dabbled with blood. 
 
 "I am in the body, brethren I am safe," cried the 
 minister, stretching out his hands. " The reivers were not 
 permitted to touch so much as a hair of my head, for 
 which I render laud and thanks to Him whose mercy pro- 
 tected me, even as He protected the prophet of old in the 
 den of lions." 
 
 " And where's Lady Annabel ?" demanded several voices. 
 " Have they murdered her as they murdered the laird 
 there?" 
 
 " They didna wrong her so long as I was with them," re- 
 plied the minister, shuddering as he glanced again at the cold 
 corpse. " I followed the reivers in order to try and prevail 
 with Gilderoy to let her go ; for I thought that if anybody 
 could prevail with him it would be myself, considering my 
 long acquaintance with his father, and the many services 
 I've done to one and all of them. But no ; he was like un- 
 righteous Pharaoh, his heart was hardened, and he would not 
 let her go, and I was compelled to come away and leave her 
 in his hands." 
 
 " And what will they make o' the lassie ? " inquired one of 
 the bystanders. This was a short, squat, broad-shouldered 
 man, with a dark complexion, small keen grey eyes, and a 
 harsh, dogged look. He wore a suit of homespun cloth, a 
 blue bonnet drawn well down over his massive wrinkled brow, 
 and a belt around his middle, from which hung a basket- 
 hilted broadsword. "Will they take her life, think you?" 
 
22 GILDEBOY: 
 
 "I canna bring myself to think that Macgregor means to 
 do the lass any bodily harm," responded the minister. " He 
 looks for a ransom, I conjecture. Indeed, Gideon, the mis- 
 guided lad, can ha'e no other object in carrying her aff." 
 
 " Humph ! humph ! misguided lad ! " uttered Gideon, 
 turning away, with his hand on the hilt of his sword, but 
 still looking at the minister, and with a stern and reproachful 
 eye too. " Is that the way you speak o' an emissary o' 
 Satan, a firebrand o' hell, a wild boar o' the wood, that 
 comes down frae his norland muirs, wi' a band o' his bare- 
 legged gillies at his back ; and when we gang at nicht to our 
 beds in peace and quietness, we waken up at the skreigh o' 
 day to see the roofs aboon our heads blazing like bonfires ? 
 I say again is that the way you speak o' sic a singing 
 deevil?" 
 
 " Tak' patience, Gideon Beaton, tak' patience," said Mr. 
 Gilchrist, soothingly. 
 
 " Patience ! " echoed Gideon. " Them that hae come to 
 nae skaith may tak' patience ; but didna I get my ain fauld 
 toomed the other morning ? and wha but the Macgregors 
 were at the tooming o' it ? And still you ca' Gilderoy a 
 misguided lad, and crack about patience. Look at the good 
 milk kine lying half-roasten among the ruins o' their byres ; 
 look at that cauld crop among our feet ; look at thae auld 
 wa's spawing out the reek ; look at a* the desolation around 
 us ; and then tell me if Gilderoy is not ten hundred times 
 waur nor misguided. I say" and here he lifted his clenched 
 right hand " I say that himself and his following must be 
 swept from the face of the land with the besom of destruc- 
 tion, and the curse of Jericho pronounced upon his 
 dwelling ! " 
 
 A kind of angry cheer from his peasant companions fol- 
 lowed this energetic speech. The minister, bending over 
 the dead body, perused with melancholy interest the pallid 
 sunken countenance. Death had been caused by several 
 stabs and shots. 
 
 " And mair nor Dunavaig slain," resumed Gideon. " Twa 
 o' the serving men lying dead in the ha' ; and the other four 
 and the maids would hae been murdered too had they no 
 leapt a window and escaped in the dark." 
 
 "And where are they P " asked Mr. Simon. 
 
 "The lassies are down at the Grange, and- the men are 
 raising the country," said Gideon. " I wish we had the 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. . 23 
 
 country raised, that we might carry fire and sword through 
 all the wilds o' Rannoch." 
 
 " What needs you speak, Gideon Beaton, about carrying 
 fire and sword through the wilds o' Rannoch, when you ken 
 that though we had a' the parish mustered, we would not hae 
 sufficient power to do ony such thing, and that therefore we 
 must petition the law to take dealings with the offenders ? " 
 returned Mr. Gilchrist. 
 
 " Law ! " echoed Beaton. " Have you forgotten, Mr. 
 Simon, that our nation lies under bondage to an usurper? 
 and can justice be gotten when the very fountain head is 
 polluted by sectarian tyranny ? I'll never acknowledge that 
 tyrannical governor, Monk, or any of his instruments, by 
 laying my petition before him or them. How could I ac- 
 knowledge a man that tramps his heel upon the dear-bought 
 liberties and privileges of Scotland's Kirk, by declaring our 
 General Assembly an illegal convocation, and sending parties 
 of pikemen and musketeers to disperse it should it venture 
 to meet? Were na you a member yourself, Mr. Simon, of 
 the Assembly of '53, when it was broken in upon and dis- 
 annulled by Monk's troops ? And would I appeal to the 
 like o' him ? " 
 
 " Even the great Apostle o' the Gentiles did na scruple to 
 appeal unto Csesar," said Mr. Gilchrist, in a quiet way. 
 
 " But I'll ne'er sin my soul by bringing an appeal before 
 General Monk," cried Beaton. " Look ye, neighbours, ye a' 
 ken that I signed my name, wi' my ain blood, on the great 
 parchment o' the Covenant, when it was spread out on a 
 grave-stane in the Grey Friars' kirkyard in Edinburgh, 
 I hae been a Tacksrnan on the lands o' Dunavaig for lang 
 and mony a day ; and ye a' ken that between the laird and 
 mysel' there was a dour plea anent the march-dykes and 
 certain other just claims o' mine which he wrongfully 
 resisted, so that for the last four year and seven month a 
 friendly word never passed between us. But when I find him 
 lying dead at his own door, slain by savages from the moun- 
 tains the heathen, papist, prelatic crew that followed and 
 fought for that bloody excommunicate traitor and murderer, 
 James Graham, some time Marquis of Montrose, what signi- 
 fies to me a' the pleas that ever broke out between us ? He 
 was my Laird, and I hae ta'en a vow upon my head to 
 avenge his death." 
 
 " You must be calm, Gideon," said the minister, " and not 
 let your anger overcome you." 
 
24 GILDEEOY: 
 
 " I may say with Jonali, the prophet, that I do well to be 
 angry," retorted Beaton. " I signed my name in blood to 
 my promise before, and I'm ready to shed my blood for my 
 promise again';" and he struck the hilt of his broadsword, so 
 that the weapon rattled loudly in its sheath. 
 
 "You've said it, Gideon, you've said it, just as I would say 
 it mysel'," cried another of the party, a young ploughman. 
 " I'm as willing as you are to forgi'e the dead a' my wrangs, 
 and to seek speedy vengeance for his murder. My wrangs 
 werena licht, and ye a' ken about them. I mind, and you 
 mind, and so will the minister, that when I was a bit wean 
 in my mother's oxter, my puir faither, that's dead and gane, 
 fell ahint ae term wi' the rent o' the pendicle. It was a 
 weet raw summer, and an unco weet hairst, and the most o' 
 our crop was lost. But Dunavaig would hear o' naething 
 but his rent, and his rent was not to gie, and so we were 
 rouped to the door." 
 
 "A' body said that the guilt o' sae cruel an action wad 
 cling to him, and wad be seen upon him before he left the 
 earth," remarked one of the bystanders. 
 
 " We keepit up nae ill-will, and I've nane to this day," 
 resumed the young hind; "for immediately on the back o' 
 our misfortune, Lady Carnegie took pity on our hard lot, and 
 ga'e us ane o' her best pendicles ; and things prospered wi' 
 us in a while. But a' that weary end o' the year the tear 
 was never out o' my mither's e'e ; and she wad sit down, sae 
 thieveless-like, at the ingle-side, and aye dicht awa' the ither 
 drap wi' the end of her apron ; and when I wad spier, in my 
 ain bairnly way, what mammie was greeting for, she wad 
 smile for a moment a sorrowful smile and grip me to her 
 bosom and and dog on't ! when I mind o' that deevil 
 ane o' me will lift hand or foot in his quarrel. No, no ! Let 
 him go ; he's weel awa', the auld Judas. I'll never forgi'e 
 him forgi'e him that likes. I'm nane o' his servants God 
 be thanked ! I dinna belong to his land. I'll to my ain 
 wark." 
 
 So saying, the speaker, whose face was now burning with 
 passionfcast on the corpse a fierce, contemptuous glance, and 
 hurried down the brae, whistling a march. 
 
 " Geordie Allan has ta'en a droll tidd," quoth one of the 
 party. " But I must allow that his folk were ill-used by the 
 laird, and that's aye sticking in his thrapple yet, and winna 
 gae down." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 25 
 
 " It's my opinion, friends," said an old patriarch, bending 
 over his staff', " that we must just act according to our 
 minister's advice : it's the best we can get." 
 
 " Indeed ? " said Beaton. " We had better just submit to 
 the Clan Gregor at ance, and let them do with our lives and 
 our goods and chattels what pleases them. How lang is it 
 since t\va score of ewes and three fat nowte were lifted afF 
 ray land ? and I maun seek nae amends for that loss ? I 
 would raise the strength o' the country round and round, 
 and pursue the caterans, and root them out, even as the 
 Canaanite, the Jebusite, and the Hivite were ordered to be 
 rooted out o' the Land o' Promise. Mair by token, Mr. 
 Simon, there's both law and Gospel against the Clan Gregor ; 
 for how many Acts o' our ain Scots Parliament have been 
 passed for their destruction ? " 
 
 " I beseech you, Gideon, cast awa' wild thoughts," said the 
 minister. " The law must vindicate its insulted majesty. 
 We can do nothing of ourselves ; we haena power to tak' 
 the field against Gilderoy. I hear that Monk's troops are 
 marching this way." 
 
 " Mention not that sectarian tyrant's name," interrupted 
 Beaton. 
 
 " I hear that General Monk's troops are marching this 
 way," repeated Mr. Gilchrist ; " and we can mak' our com- 
 plaint to them. I'll warrant they'll be blythe to get occasion 
 for an onslaught on Hannoch. In the mean time we must get 
 the body carried to the nearest house, for it cannot lie here 
 as a spectacle ; and syne we'll take sober counsel together as 
 to what's best to be done in this great strait." 
 
 "I wash my hands o' the whole business," cried Gideon 
 Beaton, angrily. " Do as you like, Mr. Simon ; but I'se 
 hame to my ain house." And without another word, he 
 followed the example of the unforgiving ploughman by 
 striding down the hill. 
 
20 GILDEROY: 
 
 CHAPTEB IV. 
 
 He's carried her ower yon hich, hich hill, 
 
 Intil a Highland glen, 
 And there he met his brother John, 
 
 Wi' twenty armed men. 
 
 And there were cows, and there were ewes, 
 
 And there were kids sae fair ; 
 But ad and wae was bonnie Baby, 
 
 Her heart was full o' care. 
 
 Ballad of "Bonnie Baby Livingstone'* 
 
 THE Moor of Kannoch is perhaps the dreariest wilderness 
 in Scotland. This immense plain, lying on a great alti- 
 tude above the level of the sea, presents one broad expanse 
 of heath and moss-hags, with scarcely a single tree to enliven 
 or break its dark sullen monotony. The traveller, pausing in 
 the middle of the moor to look around him, perceives that 
 the desert is bounded on all sides by mountain chains, but 
 at such a distance that their low wavy outlines seem merely 
 to indent the circle of the horizon. There are no beaten 
 tracks among the interminable moss-hags, small lochs, and 
 water-runnels which intersect the moor. In the summer 
 season noxious exhalations arise thickly from the marshy 
 steppe. A more cheerless and forbidding scene, even under 
 the sun of summer, can scarcely be conceived. Its bleak 
 uniformity oppresses both the eye and the mind. Near the 
 centre, between barren banks, lies a long black lake, present- 
 ing the aspect of a miniature Dead Sea. The desert is aban- 
 doned to beast and bird. The hawk wheels in the air over- 
 head ; the wild cat starts from behind a mossy stone, glares 
 at the traveller for a moment, as if intending to dispute his 
 passage, and then skulks out of sight ; the deer tilts over the 
 hillocks in the distance ; and the adder, nerved and en- 
 venomed by the summer heat, coils up in the way, darting 
 forth its sting-like tongue in defiance. When, however, the 
 traveller approaches the upper extremity of the moor, he 
 finds the character of the scenery rapidly improving, and 
 Highland beauty and grandeur beginning to challenge his 
 admiration. In one direction he will be repaid for all his 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 27 
 
 toils by the view of Loch Rannoch, a fine sheet of water, 
 surrounded by the most varied and romantic scenery. He 
 will pass from the moor into deep sequestered glens, teeming 
 with natural beauties, and vocal with the sweet voices of 
 woods and waters. Rannoch was long famous as a nest of 
 caterans. Down almost to the period of the last rebellion 
 in 1745, " this district," says Heron, " was in an uncivilized 
 state. The inhabitants were thieves and robbers, who ac- 
 knowledged no law, paid no debts, and laid all the neigh- 
 bouring country from Stirling to Coupar of Angus under 
 contribution;" and "as they all bore arms, it was hardly 
 possible to bring to justice a thief who belonged to their 
 number." 
 
 The sun was setting on the evening of the fourth or fifth 
 day after the burning of Dunavaig House, when Gilderoy 
 and his followers were wending their way homewards through 
 the great moor. It was in this quarter that they had their 
 haunt, to which they were now carrying the captive lady and 
 the spoils of Dunavaig. 
 
 The country of Eannoch formed part of the original pos- 
 sessions of the Clan Gregor, and was acquired by a bloody 
 onslaught upon a tribe remembered in Highland tradition 
 by the title of Clan-ic-Ian-Bkui, or " the grand-children of 
 Yellow John," whom the Macgregors succeeded in extermi- 
 nating, and in whose domains, comprehending a very exten- 
 sive but wild district, they established themselves, fixing 
 there their chief seat. This conquest is said to have occurred 
 at a very remote period of Scottish history. The Macgregors, 
 or Gregalich, subsequently became one of the most powerful 
 septs in the Highlands. They styled themselves "The Royal 
 Clan," asserting their direct descent from Alpin and Gregory, 
 father and son, two of the Scottish monarchs, who are stated 
 to have reigned some time in the ninth century ; hence the 
 patronymics of Clan Alpine and Clan Gregor which the clan 
 adopted. Their ancient heraldic device favoured their proud 
 assumption, being a lion crowned, with the motto, Sriogal mo 
 dhream "My race is royal." Their more modern cogni- 
 zance was a fir-tree torn up by the root, crossed by a sword 
 with a crown on the point of it, the motto being, " E'en do 
 and spare not." To this latter device the Slack Book of 
 Taymouth contains a sarcastic allusion in the following 
 rhymes : 
 
28 GILDEEOY: 
 
 "OFF THE M C GREGOUKIS AEMES. 
 
 The sword and fir tree croceit beneath ane croun, 
 
 Are fatall signs appropriate to this race, 
 By some foreseing fellow well set down, 
 
 Meet for such lymmars spoitzeing everie place. 
 The croun presents the Kingis most royall Grace, 
 
 Ane rychteous judge with skill wha does decree 
 That they, and all such cut-throats, should embrace 
 
 His severe censure for their villanie : 
 To wit, gif ony frae his sworde goes free 
 
 On execute, continuing in the wrang, 
 He will erect ane gallows of that trie, 
 
 And thereupon them in ane wuddie hang. 
 " Sae far's my wits can serve, I can nocht ken 
 
 Ane better badge for such a sort of men.'* 
 
 POSTSCRIPTUM. 
 
 " One thing yet rests that should their armes befit, 
 If with Sanct Johnston's ribbons* they were knit." 
 
 Of course, this diatribe, written by an adherent of the Clan 
 Campbell, owed its inspiration to the fierce and unquenchable 
 feud between that sept and the Macgregors, from which the 
 latter reaped so many bitter fruits. The antiquity of the 
 Gregalich is commemorated in one of their own rhymes, 
 which says 
 
 "Hills, and waters, and Alpines, 
 The oldest three in Albin," 
 
 And their claim to Eoyal descent in another 
 
 " The royal hereditary family, 
 Who lived down at Cunstaffnage, 
 To whom at first the crown of Albin belonged, 
 And who have still an hereditary claim to it." 
 
 In the palmy days of the clan, " the country of the Mac- 
 gregors " extended over considerable portions of the shires 
 of Perth, Argyle, Dumbarton, and Stirling. The Gregalich 
 were foremost among the adherents of Robert Bruce, during 
 his protracted struggle for Scottish independence, and con- 
 tributed in no small degree to the glorious result of Ban- 
 nockburn. But in little more than a century afterwards they 
 were overtaken by a succession of misfortunes without a 
 parallel in Highland annals. The melancholy narrative of 
 their downfall needs no recapitulation here. Doubtless they 
 were turbulent, and paid little regard to the principle of 
 
 * St, Johnstoun's ribbons Halters. 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 29 
 
 mcum and tuum t; but in such respects they were no worse 
 than their neighbours ; and, so far as can be ascertained, they 
 were guilty of no such atrocious crimes as justified the savage 
 measures put in force against them. By the beginning of 
 the sixteenth century they were deprived of all their pos- 
 sessions in the north of Perthshire. Still, in times of civil 
 war, the Macgregors stood loyal to the throne, which it was 
 their pride to believe had once been filled by their remote 
 ancestors. They espoused the cause of Mary Queen of 
 Scots, and in consequence provoked the vengeful ire of the 
 Hegent Moray. But their darkest days followed the battle 
 of Glenfruin, in which they defeated the Colquhouns with 
 great slaughter. Their name was proscribed. [Rewards were 
 offered for the bringing in of their heads, as though they 
 were wild beasts. Four men of them durst not meet together 
 under the pain of death. Their wives were to be "marked 
 in the face with a key." Their children were to be taken 
 from them. And, strange to say, despite all this monstrous 
 persecution, they steadily supported the royal cause through- 
 out the wars of Montrose. 
 
 Of this unfortunate clan Gilderoy was a scion. A lineal 
 descendant of the chiefs of the main branch of the clan, a 
 remnant of which (little other than a horde of banditti) still 
 clung tenaciously to the wilds of Rannoch, Gilderoy was 
 acknowledged as head of that remnant after the death of 
 his elder and only brother. When quite young, the two 
 brothers had been sent to the Lowlands, in charge of a 
 faithful servant, and under an assumed name, with the view 
 of being kept out of the reach of danger, as their father was 
 struggling against many foes, and their mother was dead. 
 They remained there for a number of years, until the death 
 of their father, who was slain in some petty conflict, neces- 
 sitated their return home. The brothers one of whom had 
 scarcely turned nineteen, and the other was about a couple 
 of years his junior found themselves obliged to stand on 
 their own defence against implacable enemies, who, taking 
 advantage of old Macgregor's death, were endeavouring to 
 drive the clan out of Rannoch altogether. Their stronghold 
 was an ancient tower on the north-western confines of the 
 moor of Eannoch. Their adherents gradually grew nu- 
 merous, including " broken men " of all clans ; so that they 
 succeeded in keeping their ground. They joined in " Glen- 
 cairn's Expedition," and after Lochgarry, retired to their 
 
30 GILDEROY: 
 
 own fastnesses, where they kept close and were unmolested 
 by the victors. Bat speedily resuming their favourite prac- 
 tice of issuing forth to plunder along the nearest Lowland 
 border, they drew upon themselves the direst fulminations 
 of the law. They were proscribed, and high rewards were 
 offered for their apprehension, alive or dead. In the end of 
 1655, the elder brother, Patrick, was betrayed into the hands 
 of justice, and suffered death as a malefactor. Common 
 rumour attributed the act of treachery to a distant kinsman 
 of the family, Connal of Dunavaig, near whose house Patrick 
 was overpowered. The chieftainship, such as it was, devolved 
 on James, who was termed in the Gaelic Gillieroy, or Gil- 
 deroy (i.e. "the red-haired lad "), from the colour of his hair. 
 Actuated by a deep sense of his wrongs, Gilderoy very soon 
 (in Hehoboam's phrase) made his little finger thicker than 
 his brother's loins. But by far the most daring of his enter- 
 prises was the assault of Dunavaig, when he slew old Connal 
 in revenge for his unnatural treason. From his long residence 
 in the low country, Gilderoy had not only acquired the Low- 
 land tongue, but also a good deal . of Lowland culture. He 
 had a handsome figure, and he was very fond of dress and 
 finery. Indeed, he showed more of Saxon taste and habits 
 than was quite agreeable to most of his adherents. 
 
 The minister of Dunavaig parish, Mr. Gilchrist, had long 
 been on intimate terms with this family of Macgregors, having 
 been settled, at one time, in a Highland parish bordering on 
 Hannoch. That night Gilderoy attacked Dunavaig House 
 the minister was on a visit to a sick parishioner residing in 
 the vicinity, and when the alarm arose he hurried to the 
 scene of outrage, but arrived too late to save the old man, 
 who was dragged out to the gate by Gilderoy 's men, and 
 there barbarously murdered. 
 
 The lady, Annabel Rutherford, a young and rich heiress, 
 whose estate of Glenbirkie lay in the west of lower Perth- 
 shire, had been left by her deceased father under Connal's 
 guardianship till she should attain her eighteenth year. This 
 guardianship had for some time expired ; but as she was still 
 in the habit of frequently visiting at Dunavaig House, she 
 unluckily chanced to be there on the fatal occasion, when 
 the marauder seized her as a prize of no ordinary estimation. 
 
 It was at the close of a hot summer day the summer 
 weather having set in suddenly, as if in answer to the public 
 prayers that the Macgregors were returning through the 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 31 
 
 Moor of Rannoch. The slant beams of tlio setting sun, 
 bathing the western sky in a golden mist, streamed across 
 the dark expanse of wilderness, and glittered dazzlingly on 
 the pools and water-runnels. The caterans were now within 
 easy distance of their fastness. The fair captive was seated 
 on a rough Highland pony, the only creature of the party 
 that betrayed no signs of fatigue. The lady's face was 
 unmuffled, and she was gazing over the pathless solitude 
 with a vacant eye. The length and vicissitudes of the 
 journey, in which her conductors had taken unfrequented 
 and circuitous routes in order to avoid danger, had almost 
 overwhelmed her. Hackston led the hardy little horse by 
 the bridle, and ventured occasionally to address a word of 
 cheer to the drooping lady. 
 
 " Your friends in the low country, mistress, will soon 
 relieve you ; tak nae fear," he said. " Gilderoy will advise 
 them o' the ransom, and they'll send it to the hills, sae you 
 mayna hae to dwell lang a prisoner in Clan Gregor's 
 country." 
 
 " How comes it that you, a Lowlander, belong to Mac- 
 gregor's band?" inquired Annabel. 
 
 "By the fortune o' war, madam," replied the soldier, glad 
 and proud that she had spoken to him, for hitherto she had 
 scarcely deigned to hold the slightest conversation with any 
 of the party. " I first drew sword in the ranks o' Montrose ; 
 I focht baith at Dunbar and Worcester ; I was up wi' 
 Middleton ; and when Lochgarry blasted a' our hopes, I had 
 to tak shelter wi' the Macgregors, because I disdained, 
 simple soldier as I was, to accept o' General Monk's peace. 
 I'm just waiting to join the first man that raises the King's 
 standard again. It's lang since I had nae hame in the Low- 
 lands. The girss is growing ower my faither's hearthstane, 
 and ower his grave and my mither's." 
 
 The lady was interested in him. 
 
 "I entreat you," she said, "protect me from insult or 
 violence ; and when I regain my liberty your good service 
 shall not pass unrewarded." 
 
 "As to that," returned Dobbie, "you needna harbour a 
 fear. Nane o' the band will fash you ; they've ither thochts 
 in their heads." 
 
 The party drew to the upper verge of the moor, where 
 the mountains that bounded it were seen divided by deep- 
 foliaged ravines. Immediately in front was the woody gorge 
 
32 GILDEEOY: 
 
 of a pass, towards which the party were directing their steps. 
 Near by stood an ancient pillar or obelisk of whinstone, 
 covered with uncouth sculptures, gleaming red in the sun. 
 The lady passed it so closely that she was able to trace the 
 rude figures of men, beasts, and reptiles, which the chisel of 
 a barbarian artist had carved upon the monument that 
 probably marked the last resting-place of a mighty but 
 forgotten chieftain. 
 
 On entering the woody gorge of the pass, Annabel found 
 herself in the midst of the most picturesque scenery. 
 Several huts were observable on the sides of the heights, 
 and a clachan, or village, appeared at a distance straggling 
 across the bottom of the glen. The marauders now quick- 
 ened their weary, lagging pace, and speedily approached the 
 clachan, which poured forth a motley rabble of females, old 
 men, and half-naked urchins to welcome their arrival. 
 There was a good deal of uproarious congratulation, and 
 screams of vindictive triumph arose when the news of the 
 fire of Dunavaig was made known and the spoil seen. A 
 blind piper awoke a pibroch, shrill and stormy as a wintry 
 wind on a Highland heath, and several of the young women 
 and children fell to dancing. 
 
 The huts of the clachan were of the most wretched 
 description, being roughly composed of earth or clay, and 
 thatched with heather and broom. The doorways were so 
 low that a full-grown person could not enter without stoop- 
 ing considerably. A sickening squalor pervaded the whole 
 place. Some bestial were grazing on plats of scanty pasture 
 in the neighbourhood, and, according to all appearances, it 
 was the custom to house the cattle beneath the same roofs 
 with their owners. Everything smelt strongly of peat reek ; 
 the inhabitants were tan-skinned and blear-eyed with it. 
 Noisome jaw-holes and " middens " flanked every door. 
 
 The Lady Annabel, becoming the chief object of attention 
 to the crowd, was obliged to muffle herself in her plaid. 
 Gilderoy, seeing this, gave orders to the band to " march on 
 to the tower," and on they marched accordingly. The 
 tumult of the clachan soon subsided in the distance, and 
 when Annabel looked up again, she found that the scene had 
 become more rugged and majestic. The glen had greatly 
 expanded, and far onward, where it seemed shut in by 
 mountains whose bald summits the glow of evening was 
 empurpling, lay a broad sheet of water, placid as the sleep 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 33 
 
 of infancy, and reflecting the brilliant heaven above. At 
 some distance from the lake, on the right hand, stood a 
 square grey tower, with embattled roof, and surrounded by 
 a wall. This was the stronghold of Gilderoy. 
 
 That personage soon came forward to Hackston, and, 
 whispering in his ear, the soldier relinquished the lady's 
 bridle, and, stepping aside, fired his musket in the air. The 
 signal had scarcely died away in mimic peals among the hills 
 when a flash of fire broke from the battlements of the tower, 
 and an answering shot echoed far and wide. 
 
 " That was the matchlock of Evan Glas," said Macgregor ; 
 then addressing Annabel, he said, "Your long journey, 
 lady, is about ended. Yonder tower will be your abode for 
 some time ; but you need fear nothing, for you shall have 
 no reason to accuse me of cruelty towards a defenceless 
 woman." 
 
 " It was your own savage hand that made me defenceless," 
 she answered. " You have bereft me of my best friend, 
 whose grey hairs might have pled for him and arrested the 
 assassin's hands." 
 
 The marauder, with a blush and a frown, instantly left her 
 side. The party advanced quickly and soon reached their 
 destination. 
 
 The rugged old strength had borne its full share of the 
 rough vicissitudes of centuries. The small narrow windows 
 had probably never been filled with even the coarsest glass ; 
 they were quite empty, and seemed like great wild eyes 
 staring out upon the equally wild Highland scene around. 
 The roof was cracked in several places, and portions of the 
 battlement had fallen down. Altogether the building 
 presented a peculiarly grim and forbidding aspect, exciting 
 thoughts of fierce banditti, dungeons, and murders in the 
 dark. 
 
 The gate was flung open by a young Highlander, of much 
 about the age of Gilderoy, with a stalwart athletic figure, 
 and an iron-grey complexion. He stepped out a few paces, 
 and was followed by an old woman and a girl : while the 
 courtyard behind seemed thronged with armed clansmen, 
 eager to greet their chief and comrades. The old woman, 
 was bent with age. She had piercing coal-black eyes, in 
 which a dusky fire seemed to smoulder, and a sharp, sallow, 
 shrivelled visage, with something indescribably mysterious 
 and malevolent in its expression. Her dress was coarse and 
 D 
 
34 GILDEROY : 
 
 mean. Her head was covered by a dingy white linen coif, 
 from beneath which straggled some grey snaky elf-locks ; 
 and a tartan mantle was negligently flung around her 
 shoulders ; but her neck was encircled by a double string of 
 large and very beautiful Lammer or amber beads, which she 
 probably cherished as a charm against blindness, according 
 to a superstitious belief long prevalent in the Highlands. 
 As for the girl, her companion, she instantly awoke a deep 
 interest in Annabel's mind, for she was a fair and sylph- 
 like creature her cheek blooming like the newly-blown 
 rose ; her light blue eyes rivalling the hue of a clear 
 summer heaven ; and her long tresses of the softest gold. 
 She was probably eighteen, and rather under the middle 
 size. Her attire was a simple homely habit, with a tartan 
 scarf fastened across her bosom by a circular brooch of 
 silver set with sparkling stones ; and her rich locks were 
 modestly confined by a blue velvet snood or fillet. There 
 was an air of winning artlessness about her sweet young 
 face ; and she had come smiling to the gate ; but as soon 
 as her eyes fell on Annabel the smile vanished like a tran- 
 sient beam of sunshine, and starting back, as if struck 
 with alarm, she began to tremble, and the rose-tints faded 
 from her cheeks, leaving a death-like pallor. 
 
 " Welcome, Gilderoy," exclaimed the iron-grey High- 
 lander, offering his hand to the chief. "I rejoice that 
 fortune and glory have followed your steps." 
 
 " Not one clansman has fallen, and scarce a drop of our 
 blood has been shed," answered Gilderoy ; " but our enemy 
 has paid the forfeit of his fell treachery, and the cup of 
 our vengeance overflows. Hah ! my blooming Marion ! 
 Come hither, thou wild flower of the moor. This lady whom 
 I have brought you must wait upon dutifully. Why, you 
 look pale you tremble." He extended his right hand to 
 the agitated girl, who pressed it, but said not a word, casting 
 her eyes to the ground. " This lady," he continued, " will 
 be an inmate of the tower for a few days, and must be 
 treated with all respect and honour. But understand me, 
 Marion ; she is a prisoner, and you shall answer for her safe 
 keeping; and you, too, Evan Glas, must watch that this 
 bonny bird breaks not forth from the cage." 
 
 " Have you found a Lowland bride, James ? " cried the 
 old woman, who had been regarding Annabel with her 
 searching sinister eye. " Did you gang to woo and win 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 35 
 
 and bring Lame a lovesome lady instead o 5 to revenge your 
 brither's doom ? Aha ! That young face has a spell that 
 micht weel ensnare the proudest in the land." 
 
 "Nay, nay, Judith; dismiss your fears," returned Mac- 
 gregor, with a laugh. " I have but taken a captive, whom I 
 may hold to ransom, and 'tis nothing to me that she has a 
 winsome face." 
 
 " Confess rather," said Judith, " that she has ta'en 
 yoursel' a captive and bound you firm and fast in the chains 
 o' love." 
 
 Evan Glas now whispered the two females, both of whom 
 withdrew within the gateway, and the clansmen in the court- 
 yard pressed out to overwhelm their chief with their hearty 
 congratulations. Hackston assisted Annabel to dismount, 
 and conducted her into the tower. 
 
 Annabel was led shuddering into the hall of the strong- 
 hold, where she found Judith and Marion by themselves. 
 There was a wide fire-place in the hall, but no fire burning, 
 and an immense bloodhound lay supine on the cold hearth, 
 scarcely opening its sleepy eye to mark the entrance of a 
 stranger. The furniture was rude and scanty, and the 
 narrow deep-sunk windows admitted only a dim light. 
 Trophies of the chase, and weapons of war, hung around 
 the walls, woven together with spiders' webs, in which 
 entangled flies were buzzing and droning. 
 
 "I'm unco sorry, my lady, that we canna gie you sae 
 grand a reception as nae doubt you hae been accustomed to 
 in the country o' the Sassenach," said the old woman, with 
 a sneer. " But we little expected sic a braw guest, and " 
 
 " I pray, good woman," interrupted Annabel, with dig- 
 nity, " give yourself neither count nor care for me. I am 
 brought hither against my own will, as you were told, and 
 therefore I look for no ceremony on your part." 
 
 " But you ken, madam," said the girl Marion, with a 
 sarcastic smile, " you ken that mony lasses, baith gentle and 
 simple, prefer that their joes should rin awa wi' them, and 
 syne they haud oot, wi' fair faces and wily tongues, that it 
 was a' done against their ain consent. It's a common story, 
 baith in the Highlands and the Lowlands. A woman's 
 word, in a love affair, they say, maun aye be ta'en the clean 
 contrary way. Sae, madam, you needna fash yoursel' 
 putting on sic airs wi' us, for it '11 soon be the clash o' the 
 country, I suppose." 
 
 D 2 
 
00 GILDEKOY: 
 
 " You are right, girl," said Annabel. "Nay, I make little 
 doubt that the country is already ringing with the story of 
 my wrongs, and I fear that my presence here will be 
 attended with more danger to your friends than you or they 
 imagine." 
 
 " I doubtna, madam, I doubtna," cried Marion, with a 
 scornful toss of her pretty head, which threw her flowing 
 locks into confusion. " I'll warrant your folk will neither 
 be able to hand nor bind when they hear tell that you're 
 aff and awa wi' braw John Highlandman. There will be 
 naething but mounting steeds, and loosing o' the ban-dogs, 
 and crying for a rope to hang, or a fire to burn, your High- 
 land wooer." 
 
 *' What a jealous little gipsy !" exclaimed Hackston. 
 "Didna I foretell as muckle ? Bethink yoursel', woman. 
 Canna you look on a bonny face without dreading that it 
 has won the heart o' somebody?" 
 
 " I like nane o' your saucy jeers, Dobbie Hackston," re- 
 lorded Marion. " The lady is welcome enough, since it's 
 the chief's command ; and you may gang and tell him sac, 
 Dobbie, for there's little use o' you standing there like a 
 gowk deavin' folk wi' havers." 
 
 Dobbie laughed and retired. 
 
 The hall did not boast of a chair ; but there was an oaken 
 settle standing at the wall, upon which Annabel, without 
 being invited, was fain to sit down. 
 
 "How lang are you to stay here?" inquired Marion. 
 " This place is far oot o' the world, I wad think, for a lady 
 o' your degree. There's naebody here, I'm sure, but armed 
 men and black cattle ; and nae mair to be seen but a wheen 
 hills and heather on them." 
 
 " Gilderoy can tell," answered the lady. " Being a 
 prisoner, I cannot." 
 
 "I'll ne'er speir at him," cried Marion, disdainfully. 
 "You ken weel enough yoursel', but you're thinking to 
 mak' a great secret o't. I'll warrant, you canria tell whaur 
 you cam frae neither. Gilderoy wad need be speired aboot 
 that and a'/' 
 
 " I was brought from Dunavaig," replied Annabel, " where 
 Gilderoy murdered the laird, my guardian, and burned the 
 house to the ground." 
 
 '* That's the heiress o' Glenbirkie," said Judith, turning to 
 the girl, but pointing with her claw-like hand at Annabel. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION". 37 
 
 "There's baith wealth and beauty in the scale against you, 
 lassie. Better, woman," and she suddenly confronted 
 Annabel with a scathing glare, " better that you had 
 perished in the consuming blaze o' Dunavaig than come here ! " 
 
 At this juncture Gilderoy himself appeared, and spoke to 
 Judith and Marion apart and in a low voice, as if giving 
 them instructions. In a few minutes he retired, and passing 
 into the court-yard, which was thronged with his noisy fol- 
 lowers, he was tapped on the arm by a stripling, armed with 
 broadsword and target, who had just eutered the gate. 
 
 " Sad news, Gilderoy," he faltered, drawing the chief aside 
 out of the throng. " Alister Mhor is dead." 
 
 " Where and how did he die ? " 
 
 " At Spierhaughs, and by treachery," answered the gillie. 
 
 " Treachery and murder there ?" 
 
 " Alister was coming over the hill with Callum Dhu, 
 driving some four kyloes, when the men of Spierhaughs set 
 upon them. What was the feud I know not ; but the cattle 
 did not belong to Spierhaughs. Alister was taken, for his 
 claymore broke in his grasp. Callum Dhu, though sore 
 wounded, broke through them and escaped, and made to the 
 woods, where he lay down to die ; but a friendly herdsman 
 found him and carried him to his shieling, where he will be 
 faithfully tended. I came by chance to the shieling, and 
 was told the tale. Alister Mhor was dragged to the castle, 
 and the captain of the Sassenach soldiers who are quartered 
 there " 
 
 " lioundhead troops at Spierhaughs ?" exclaimed Gilderoy, 
 in astonishment. " Roundhead troops on the borders of 
 Athole?" 
 
 " Yes, and in good strength. The Saxon captain and his 
 head officers sat in judgment on Alister, and sentenced him 
 to be hung on the Dule tree before the castle gate. Yester- 
 morn I saw Alister hanging on the tree, as I stole through 
 the woods at sunrise, within sight of the castle." 
 
 Gilderoy stood staring on the ground, his lip trembling, 
 and his right hand clenched. "You have done well, Hamish, 
 and shall be remembered," he said at length. "Pass into 
 the tower and refresh yourself. I shall speak with you anon." 
 
 The gillie left him, and Gilderoy perceiving Evan Glas at 
 a little distance, beckoned him to his side, and then, taking 
 his arm, led him into the tower, and up to a small chamber 
 communicating with the ruinous battlement. 
 
38 GILDEKOY: 
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 Then out it spak' his brother John 
 
 " If I were in your place, 
 I'd send that lady hame again, 
 For a' her bonny face." 
 
 Bonnie Baby Livingston. 
 
 P ro think you, has Sir John Spiers given 
 me of his vaunted friendship?" said Gilderoy, as 
 he closed the door of the chamber. " He has put to death 
 Alister Mhor, who saved my life at Lochgarry. Hamish 
 Grant brought me the tidings just now;" and he reca- 
 pitulated the story. 
 
 " But you reposed little confidence in the fair-spoken 
 knight of Spierhaughs," answered Evan Glas. 
 
 " I mistrusted him ever," said Gilderoy ; " but I was 
 not prepared for an act so base as this. 1 can admit that 
 perchance circumstances pressed him to give some open as- 
 surance, in the presence of the Bxmndhead captain, of his 
 fealty to the usurper's government ; for though Sir John 
 was never an avowed cavalier, yet he was somewhat impli- 
 cated in certain of the late plots, and was all but delated as 
 a malcontent who should be punished. But why should he 
 have selected one of my foremost clansmen as the victim of 
 his craft and treachery? The cattle which Alister and 
 Callum were driving had not been lifted from Spierhaughs. 
 Evan, I cannot forgive it." 
 
 " Sir John's purpose in feigning friendship with you has 
 been fully served," said Evan ; " and now he casts away 
 with disdain an instrument which can no longer be useful. 
 It is for you to resent the insult. Some quiet night we will 
 sweep his lands, and leave nothing but blood and ashes 
 behind us." 
 
 "As at Dunavaig," said Gilderoy, thoughtfully. They 
 both mused for a brief space, and then Evan said " I fear 
 that this lady's capture will involve you in sore trouble ; 
 for her friends will move heaven and earth in her behalf.' 
 
 " But consider," said Macgregor ; " though the troops 
 now at Spierhaughs march against me, do you imagine they 
 will dare to push me to extremity so long as the lady's life is 
 in my power ? " 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITIOK. 39 
 
 ' "No, truly," said Evan, shaking his head. "But stormy 
 times are at hand, and unless your followers, Gilderoy, stand 
 firm and faithful, the blast may be too strong for us." 
 
 " What ? Firm and faithful ? " said Gilderoy. " Can the 
 men's fidelity be doubted P" 
 
 " I say not so," responded Evan. " But the elders of the 
 tribe were not consulted about the raid on Dunavaig, and 
 there have been murmurings already." 
 
 " Murmurings ? Can any man who boasts the lineage of 
 Clan Alpine blame me for striking down the traitor who sold 
 my brother to death ?" exclaimed Gilderoy. " Would they 
 keep me in leading-strings, and make my power a mockery ? 
 Am not I free to draw my own sword ? I am no longer a 
 boy. I am head of the clan, and no power on earth shall 
 ever make me a mere puppet." 
 
 "Certain of the elders desire peace, as you well know, 
 seeing that Glencairn's war is at an end," said Evan. 
 " Who can tell how they will act, if, as I fear, the usurper's 
 troops march to avenge the laird's death and to the rescue of 
 the lady?" 
 
 " If there were honour in Spierhaughs," said Gilderoy, 
 after a pause, " a path of safety would still be open to us. 
 He loves the lady, or rather he courts her inheritance, and 
 has frequently urged me to spirit her away from Dunavaig, 
 that she might be put into his power and forced to become 
 his bride ; for she scorns his love, and would never, of her 
 own free will, bestow her hand upon him. Would he turn 
 aside the threatened vengeance, or assist us to defy it, on a 
 pledge from me that Lady Annabel should be consigned 
 to him ? " 
 
 " Has she no other lover ? " inquired Evan Glas, who 
 seemed astonished by the last disclosure. 
 
 " Her favoured lover, I am assured, is Jasper Hollo, 
 Dunavaig's heir, who is now abroad." 
 
 " It would, I think, be a wise stroke of policy to inform 
 Spierhaughs that the lady is your prisoner," said Evan. 
 " He might lend us effectual aid at this pinch, for the sake 
 of building up his own fortunes. Perhaps, after all, the 
 danger that seems to threaten us will not prove so very 
 great, though I must confess that Donach of the Den has 
 startled me with a strange warning which appears to apply 
 to our present difficulty." 
 
 " What was the seer's warning ? " cried Gilderoy, anxiously. 
 
40 GILDEEOY: 
 
 " Hesitate not, Evan, if you love me. Disclose it, I charge 
 you. Not that I put much faith in the maunderings of a 
 dotard ; but I know the influence of superstition over our 
 kinsfolks. What was the warning ? " 
 
 " In the cool of yester-evening I strayed to the Den and 
 found the aged seer seated, as is his usual, at the cave's 
 mouth," said Evan. " He arose and greeted me cheerfully, 
 but we had not exchanged many words when the Tashita- 
 raugh* fell upon his spirit, and after a rapt interval he 
 faltered out that Gilderoy was in mortal peril from the white 
 hand of a woman." 
 
 " The white hand of a woman ? " repeated Gilderoy. 
 " What meant he ? what said he more ? " 
 
 " JSTo more. The seam vanished, and he tottered back 
 into his cavern* I followed, but he continued mute to all my 
 questions, and I withdrew, enjoining him to keep the vision 
 secret." 
 
 " A prudent injunction," said Gilderoy. " I shall visit him 
 in the morning. But you, who give full credence to such 
 fantasies should have verified the vision for yourself by 
 placing your hand on the seer's head, and looking over his 
 right shoulder." 
 
 " Would you have had me to entail that fearful power upon 
 myself for life, and be cursed in my moments of peace and 
 joy with sights of horror and death ? " said Evan, solemnly. 
 "I would not share the Tasliitaraugli for all the power of 
 the Highlands." 
 
 A pause followed, and Gilderoy paced moodily to and fro, 
 his sombre aspect indicating the cast of his meditations. He 
 started suddenly, and glancing around the chamber, said 
 " So dusky it grows. Let us step out upon the battlement, 
 where there is light." 
 
 They went out. The warm western sky suffused the silent 
 hills and the still bosom of the lake with a roseate glow, and 
 the gentle fanning zephyr breathed the soft fragrance of the 
 heather and the birch-trees. 
 
 " That evening sky has caught the hue of blood ! " said 
 Gilderoy, in a husky voice, as he waved his arm tremblingly 
 towards the empurpled west. 
 
 " It promises a bright morrow," was Evan's quiet rejoinder. 
 " On such a scene you have often gazed with delight. He- 
 member you how we used to watch the sunset's splendours 
 * The power of the second sight. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 4L 
 
 on the Grampian Hills, when we wandered with my grand- 
 mother and Marion on the North Inch of St. Johnstoun P " 
 
 " He was not so closely allied to my father's house," mut- 
 tered Gilderoy, as if thinking aloud. 
 
 " Of whom speak you ? " inquired Evan. 
 
 Gilderoy looked up in confusion, and appearing to recol- 
 lect himself replied " Of Connal. I said the tie of kindred 
 between us was but a slender one slender as a spider's 
 thread." 
 
 "And his treachery severed it," said Evan. "As soon 
 as the blood-money rattled in his hand, he became an alien 
 for ever." 
 
 "And so he perished," said Macgregor, stamping on the 
 battlement. " The blood of my brother was beneath his 
 nails, and my revenge was justice. By heaven ! had pity 
 for a traitor's grey hairs moved me to spare him, the whole 
 Highlands would have cried out upon me ! I fear not his 
 avengers. The glens, and rocks, and pathless wastes that 
 have long sheltered us will shelter us still, and the claymores 
 of Clan Gregor can strike as fatally as of yore. 0' ard 
 Choille ! " And he uttered the slogan of his clan (signifying 
 "From the woody height") with such, fervour that the 
 gillies in the courtyard heard it, and returned it with a shout. 
 
 " 'Twere well," said Evan Glas, " that a secret messenger 
 were despatched to Spierhaughs this very night or early to- 
 morrow morning, and also spies to watch the passes." 
 
 Gilderoy nodded assent, and then they both quitted the 
 battlement and the little chamber, and passing down the 
 stair, separated, after appointing another consultation that 
 night when the bustle in the tower should have subsided. 
 
 When Gilderoy entered the hall, he encountered Marion 
 sitting alone, who informed him that, according to his in- 
 structions, the Lady Annabel had been conducted by Judith 
 to " the painted chamber" which, we presume, was the only 
 chamber in the tower fit for a lady's accommodation. 
 
 " She's a bonnie woman," added Marion, " and a high-born 
 and a rich woman. What did you bring her here for ?" 
 
 " She's a captive a hostage," answered the chief, " and 
 you must keep her safely." 
 
 "And how lang is she to bide? " pursued Marion. 
 
 " Until her friends shall ransom her," said Macgregor. 
 " Why are you so curious about her ? I have told you all 
 this over and over." 
 
42 GILDEROY: 
 
 " Me curious ! " exclaimed Marion, with a hysterical laugh. 
 "Icarena though you should make her lady o' Eannoch ; 
 but I winna be her bond-slave." And she broke away from 
 him and left the hall. 
 
 The immense bloodhound that couched on the cold hearth 
 now rose lazily from its lair, stretched its limbs and its jaws, 
 and wagging its tail, crept towards the chief, and began to 
 fawn on him. He caressed it, and then seating himself on 
 the old oaken settle, leaned his head on his hand, heaved a 
 deep sigh, and resigned himself to the current of troubled 
 thoughts that filled his brain. The hound lay down at his 
 feet. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The desert gave him visions wild, 
 Such as might suit the spectre's child. 
 
 Thus the lone seer, from mankind hurled, 
 Shaped forth a disembodied world. 
 One lingering sympathy of mind 
 Still bound him to the mortal kind. 
 
 Lady of the Lake. 
 
 AT early morn Gilderoy stealthily quitted the tower to 
 seek an interview with the seer of the clan, Donach 
 of the Den. 
 
 The sun had just risen from his ocean bed, but a dense 
 mist swathed the earth like a grey pall, so that the broad 
 round disc of the orb of day, shorn of every beam, gleamed 
 as ruddy as a vapoury moon. The stifling mist closed around 
 the wayfarer like water, shutting out everything from his 
 view but the fiery sun. Not a sound was in the air ; neither 
 of wind, nor water, nor warbling birds. The silence and 
 the obscurity were oppressive to ear and eye. But when 
 Gilderoy had gained the mountains and had ascended some 
 little way, he suddenly emerged from the region of fog into 
 a pure bracing atmosphere. Engrossed in his own reflec- 
 tions, the transition startled him. He now saw the golden sun 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 43 
 
 shining across the sea of mist, which, stirred by a rising 
 breeze, was wreathing languidly and scattering. The moun- 
 tains rose into the clear sky like islands in a seething ocean. 
 The leaves rustled, the birds broke into song, and pearl-drops 
 fell glancing from every bough. The breeze freshened, and 
 the vapours were rolled together in mighty billows, broken, 
 blown about like spray, and finally dissipated. It was a 
 glorious morning, with beauty and joy beaming over heaven 
 and earth. 
 
 Gilderoy descended into a rocky hollow among the great 
 hills, in which stood a solitary lightning-riven tree a fit 
 emblem of his own desolate fortunes and approached a 
 darksome cleft in the side of a naked cliff. It was the 
 yawning mouth of a cavern which seemed 
 
 y wrought by wondrous art, 
 
 Deep, darke, uneasy, dolefull, comfortlesse. 
 
 The country of Hannoch boasts of many extensive caves, 
 which gave secure shelter, in times of necessity, to fugitive 
 heroes, but .some of which have never to this day been suffi- 
 ciently explored. " Sheltering beds," as the natives designate 
 hollows under the shade of rocks and on the sides of hills, in 
 which persons might lie in concealment without much fear of 
 discovery, also occur throughout the district, and are asso- 
 ciated with many spirit-stirring legends. 
 
 Peering within the gloomy, damp recess, Gilderoy cried, 
 " Donach ! Donach of the Den ! " 
 
 There was no response. He repeated the call, and then a 
 rustle was heard, and a hollow, broken voice, meet for the 
 dismal echoes of a sepulchre, issued forth " Who calls for 
 Donach the last of his race ? " 
 
 " The last of my father's house," replied the chief. 
 
 " Gilderoy," said the voice, " I hear and obey." 
 
 In another instant a singular figure glided into view at 
 the cavern's mouth. It was an aged man with a bald head 
 and a grisly matted beard that swept his breast. He was 
 clad partly in skins and partly in tartan. His head, arms, 
 and feet were bare. His doublet or coat, or by whatever 
 name the garment might be called, was of untanned goat-skin, 
 shaggy with the hair ; and he wore a pair of tartan trews, 
 barely descending past, the calf of his leg, and a plaid about 
 his shoulders. A staff of mountain ash supported his feeble, 
 flagging steps. His complexion was unnaturally pallid, 
 
41 GILDEHOY: 
 
 lending additional wildness to his large grey eyes. His fore- 
 head was full and rounded at the temples, and doubtless 
 at one period of life his aspect had been noble, but now it 
 was simply repulsive, for a distempered imagination had 
 stamped itself upon his every feature. He seemed to inhale 
 the breeze with sensations of pleasure, and his eye acquired 
 fresh animation and brilliancy from the lustre of the 
 morning. 
 
 Gilderoy drew back a pace when the wild tenant of the 
 rock came forth. " I regret to have disturbed your rest at 
 this early hour," he said, speaking in Gaelic ; " but the times 
 are pressing, and I seek counsel." 
 
 "I must needs confess that the morning sun no longer 
 arouses me from the couch of heath," said the seer, " to breast 
 the mountain's side, and scale yonder giddy peaks where 
 the burnished clouds gather their folds. The weight of many 
 years lies heavily upon rne, and I feel that the hour is fast 
 approaching when I shall be as the clods beneath my feet, 
 unconscibus that the grass waves and the wild flowers bloom 
 over my dust." 
 
 " May that hour be far distant ! " exclaimed Gilderoy, 
 fervidly. " But since last we met you have been visited with 
 baleful visions, as my foster-brother, Evan, relates." 
 
 " Gilderoy," said the old man, fixing his glittering eyes 
 upon the agitated youth, "you know how long and how 
 devotedly I served your father's house. Its misfortunes 
 were my misfortunes ; its hours of triumphant vengeance were 
 my hours of triumphant vengeance ; its black and bloody 
 days were my black and bloody days." 
 
 " A trustier adherent than Donach of the Den never 
 breathed," responded the chief. 
 
 " In my youth and manhood, "continued the seer, "this right 
 arm, now withered and shrunk to skin and bone, wielded the 
 claymore beneath the banner of Clan Alpine, wherever that 
 banner was spread." 
 
 "But the vision the vision," cried the impatient Mac- 
 gregor. 
 
 Donach drew a long breath. " The mystic power," he said, 
 "which has been an inheritance in our race since remote 
 generations, came upon me as I sat on yonder boulder, 
 making my moan to the fleeting shades of the desert. The 
 cloud fell heavily around me, and then the scam brightened, 
 and I beheld the tide of ruin roll over the land of the Gre- 
 
A SCOTTISH TKAD1TION. '15 
 
 gnlich. I saw a youthful figure, whose back was towards 
 me, bound as a helpless captive. I saw a tall gibbet, with 
 its dangling cord ; and methought a voice cried that the 
 white hand of a woman had wrought the doom of Gilderoy. 
 Darkness closed, and the vision passed from my sight, but 
 once again it returned when Evan Glas was with me. 
 Gilderoy, look warily to yourself. Beware of woman's wiles, of 
 woman's hatred, and of woman's love. Be warned be warned." 
 
 " If my doom be set," cried Gilderoy, " what need of 
 warning? I cannot avoid my fate. Destiny's fixed decree 
 may not be altered by mortal power. Already have I kindled 
 a fresh feud. I have slain the traitor Conual, and burned 
 his house, and made his fair ward my captive. And the 
 gallows must be my doom? No, never! Gilderoy shall 
 never perish in shame. You saw not the face of that bound 
 figure? There your vision juggles. When Gilderoy falls, 
 he shall fall sword in hand, and on the field of battle." 
 
 "^Release the captive lady," said the seer, " and perchance 
 the adverse tide may be arrested." 
 
 " I care not, though I should meet that tide's full force," 
 ejaculated Gilderoy, trembling with indignant emotions. 
 
 " Follow your own counsels, and may success attend you ! " 
 said the old man. " But listen to my parting words, and 
 ponder them well. If anything can be undone, undo it. 
 Whatever reparation can be made, make it. The flames 
 of fresh feud which you have kindled, exert yourself to 
 quench." 
 
 " Shame upon you, Donach ! " interrupted Gilderoy. " You 
 counsel abject submission. Your counsel would hurry me to 
 the gallows. I shall rather trust to the claymores of my 
 clansmen." 
 
 " May their claymores ever prevail!" said the calm and 
 imperturbed seer. " But, by the memory of your father 
 by the memory of your brother by the honour and faith 
 and hopes of the Gregalich I conjure you, once more, to 
 beware. Spurn not my counsels ; for counsels spurned be- 
 come as coals of fire upon our heads." 
 
 " What is done is done ! " cried the chief. " I shall stand 
 on my defence." 
 
 " Stand on your defence, and prosper ! "responded the seer. 
 " But remember the white hand of a woman." 
 
 With these last words on his lips, the solitary of the desert 
 tottered back into his dusky cavern. 
 
46 GILDEEOY: 
 
 Gilderoy watched the disappearance of the seer with a 
 furious look, and then forcing a scornful smile, hastened from 
 the Den, and was soon on the open hill-side, where the sun 
 poured his beams without a cloud to mar the glory. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Show me the horrid tenant of thy heart 
 Or wrath, or hatred, or revenge, is there. 
 
 Maturin's "Bertram." 
 
 THE morning found Marion in the glen gathering wild 
 flowers, obviously for the purpose of household deco- 
 ration. The fresh and balmy breeze had blown away all 
 traces of the mist, and the green glen basked in the sunshine. 
 The tinkling rills glistened brightly, and every spray shed 
 sparkling dew-drops," like pearls from Aurora's crown. The 
 Highland girl's cheeks, fanned by the healthful breath of 
 morn, bloomed again like briar-roses, and her flowing tresses 
 shone with " the dewy weet," which the gently rustling 
 branches sprinkled on her head as she glided underneath 
 their screen. After roaming hither and thither, and culling 
 a rich variety of the flowers, she sat down on a knoll to 
 arrange and bind up a posie, singing to herself meanwhile 
 an odd snatch or two of an olden Highland song. Thus 
 absorbed in her task, she was unconscious of the approach 
 of the Saxon soldier, Hackston, who now joined her. 
 
 "Flowers for the chief's chamber, my Highland queen?" 
 he exclaimed, touching her lightly on the bare neck, which 
 was white and smooth as ivory. " Gilderoy will think them 
 bonnier and sweeter when he kens they were pu'ed by your 
 ain wee hand." 
 
 " Preserve us ! Debbie Hackston sae early a riser !" cried 
 Marion, with a smile. " You hadna been lang at the quaich 
 yestreen, else you wadna been sae early astir." 
 
 "At the quaich?" repeated the soldier. "Atweel, lass, 
 instead o' a nicht o' mirth and ranting, after sic a foray and 
 sae muckle rich plunder brought hame no to speak o' the 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 47 
 
 lady whase worth we haena counted yet it was mair like a 
 nicht after a lost battle. The puirest latewake* that ever I 
 saw dang it a'thegither, and I've seen mony a ranting splore 
 at latewakes. I wish, wi' a' nay heart, it had been a late- 
 wake ; and nae doubt the quaichs and bickers wad been gaun 
 round till this gude hour." 
 
 " Wha spoilt your cheer, then?" inquired the girl, binding 
 up the flowers. " Neither meat nor drink was stinted. You 
 ken yoursel' how mony piggs o' the mountain-dew my grand- 
 mither set doon for the company. I thought some o' the 
 braw silver jugs and crystal glasses frae Dunavaig wad been 
 weel graced wi' Highland cheer? " 
 
 " Since the mirth was spoilt, it does not matter at this 
 time o' day wha spoilt it," said Dobbie. " But for ae thing 
 there was Gilderoy cam' in, wi' a frown on his brow like a 
 thundercloud, and no a single word to be gotten oot o' him. 
 You may ken what a dull nicht we had when I tell you that 
 ilka man left the table on his ain feet. How is the strange 
 lady this morning, do you ken? " 
 
 " Her? she'll no be stirring for hours yet," said Marion, 
 disdainfully. " Folk o' her quality ha'e nae pleasure in 
 smelling the caller morning air." 
 
 " True," returned the soldier ; " and if Annabel Rutherford 
 were lady o' the tower, Gilderoy's chamber o' presence wadna 
 be buskit ilka morning wi' fresh flowers gathered when ilka 
 ane's bosom had a dew-drap in it, glittering like a lammer- 
 bead." 
 
 " Hoot, Dobbie ! " said Marion, in a low tone ; " what wad 
 hinder the lady frae sending out her maids in the morning to 
 gather the flowers, though she herself would not let down 
 her dignity sae far as to pu' a blue-bell in the glen at the 
 sun-rising?" Marion had now become very pallid. The 
 flowers she was binding became so extremely difficult to 
 manage that she could not help the half of them slipping 
 through her trembling fingers, and scattering, in a variegated 
 shower, on the grass at her feet. " But, joking aside, Dobbie, 
 what can be Gilderoy's reason for bringing her sae far frae 
 hame? Tell me now, Dobbie and no joking. It's no a 
 thing to joke about, for wha kens what may come o' it yet ? " 
 
 " Come o' it?" echoed Dobbie. " Something will come o' 
 it. If the lady has friends and whatna lass wi' lands and 
 
 * Latewake or Lykewake the ceremony of watching a corpse over nigh t 
 previous to interment. 
 
48 GILDEEOY: 
 
 siller kasna routh o' friends to tak' her part in ony quarrel ? 
 there will be deadly feud about her. But nae doubt 
 Gilderoy seized her for the sake of her ransom, and he will 
 not let her go without sufficient consideration in the gude 
 red gowd. She has but to write doon in black and white 
 her orders to whaever has charge o' her siller, and as soon 
 as the siller clinks in Gilderoy 's hand she's a free woman, 
 and we'll convoy her doon to the Lowland border wi' mair 
 pleasure and better speed than we brought her to Rannoch." 
 
 The girl's eyes were riveted on the soldier's countenance 
 while he spoke, and she brightened up at once, as though a 
 new light had broken on her. " I'll tell her so this very day 
 yes, I'll tell her," she said. " Winna she rejoice that she 
 can mak' so easy a bargain, and get her freedom?" 
 
 " Were I in her place," said the soldier, " I ne'er wad weigh 
 a thousand marks against my liberty, though red-nosed Noll 
 himself were marching to my rescue at the head o' a' his 
 Ironsides." 
 
 "I wonder," said Marion, quietly, " I wonder if Gilderoy 
 has ony regard for her himself ony love, I mean, seeing that 
 she's sic a bonny woman, and sic a great heiress. You should 
 ken that, Dobbie." 
 
 "Me ken?" cried Hackston, laughing. "There's one 
 thing I ken fu' weel that a bonny lass, wi' gear and lands, 
 mak's lovers wherever she shows her sweet face ; and there's 
 another thing I ken that you're jealous o' the lady. I ken 
 nae mair." 
 
 A deep blush suffused Marion's cheeks. Hastily gathering 
 up her flowers in a fold of her plaid, she wished Dobbie 
 " Gude morning and mair sense," and tripped away in the 
 direction of the tower. 
 
 None but the sentinels on the battlements and at the gate 
 seemed astir when Marion returned to the stronghold. She 
 passed to her chamber, and placing the flowers in a jug of 
 water, sat down to think. 
 
 Her ruminations seemed of no pleasant kind, judging from 
 the incessant alternations of colour on her cheeks, and the oc- 
 sional tear that fell unheeded to the ground. 
 
 Nearly an hour had thus passed in silence, when the voices 
 of the female domestics of the tower recalled her to her- 
 self; and next moment old Judith, who had apparently 
 been stirring her handmaidens to their duties, made her 
 appearance. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 49 
 
 " Ha'e you seen the captive lady this morning, grand- 
 mither P" was the girl's first inquiry. 
 
 "Wherefore no?" returned Judith, with a scowl on her 
 forbidding visage. " She maun be seen to before better folk. 
 I'm but new come frae her chamber ; and she's greeting, and 
 wringing her hands, and tearing her hair like a demented 
 thing. She could mak' nae mair ado, as I told her, though 
 we were planning to buckle her to old Dougal Crotach o' 
 the clachan, wi' his hump back and his skleyt feet, and his 
 ringle e'e, and his scalled head, instead o' to a' braw, young, 
 swanking gallant like Gilderoy. But that made her worse, 
 so I came off and left her. Let her greet till she's tired. 
 What gude ever cam' o' fleeching wi' a wilfu' woman ? She 
 thinks, I suppose, that we should sit doon and mak' a great 
 moan for her. I wadna mak' a moan though I saw her streekit 
 upon the floor-head." 
 
 " But Gilderoy," said Marion, " has no thought of wedding 
 her. He only wants her ransom. That's what he says him- 
 sel', and sae does my brither, and sae does Dobbie Hackston." 
 
 " Hoot, lassie, they could gar you trow that your lug was 
 half a bannock," said Judith, contemptuously. " Do you 
 think Gilderoy sic a fool as to let her aff for a ransom, when 
 he can get hold of all her wealth and heritage by making 
 her his bride ? Will he fling awa the chance ? IN" a ; he 
 minds the proverb Am fear nacli gabh 'nuair a glieibli, 
 clia n fliaidli 'nuair is ail."* 
 
 Evidently much disturbed in mind, she paced about the 
 chamber at random, mumbling to herself, and then suddenly 
 grasping her trembling grand-daughter by the arm, she said 
 in a fierce hissing whisper " Marion, I know that your in- 
 nocent young heart is bound up in Gilderoy, and that were 
 you slighted your bit heart would break. And yet, where- 
 fore should it break, while there's power in my hand to 
 work in the dark ? I looked through the spenl-banef this 
 morning, wi' the first blink o' the sun, and what did I see ? 
 An ancient kirk, and a braw gallant and a bonnie dame 
 joining hands before a minister in his Geneva gown. But, 
 mark me, Marion, if there should be a bridal appointed here, 
 I tell you a burial will follow fast a burial will follow." 
 
 * This proverb has been rendered 
 
 " He who will not when he may, 
 
 When he will he shall have nay." 
 
 t The shoulder-blade of a sheep, formerly in use among the Highlanders to 
 disclose future events, 
 
 E 
 
50 GILDEROY: 
 
 "Who will be buried?" cried Marion, with a stare of 
 affright. 
 
 " Tak you nae heed of that/' responded Judith, nodding 
 her head emphatically. " Tak you no heed." 
 
 " I dinna understand you, grandmither," said Marion. 
 " You're terrifying me." 
 
 " Silly bairn ! terrifying you ?" exclaimed Judith, step- 
 ping back and raising her hands in the air. " You shall be a 
 chieftain's lady child of my only child ! Gilderoy shall be 
 the Fer'tdhie and yourself shall be the Perntdhie ; * or, by 
 the heaven above us, and the hell beneath ! there shall never 
 another woman wed with Gilderoy and and live !" 
 
 It all flashed on Marion's mind the hideous appalling 
 truth like a glare of lightning on a dark and troubled sea. 
 She uttered a feeble shriek, her brain swam, and she would 
 have fallen to the floor, had not the frail arm of her grand- 
 mother, tinieously interposed, sustained her from sinking. 
 
 " Daft old fool that I am ! " ejaculated Judith. " What 
 made me start the bairn ? Come, my bonny Marion, you 
 must not swarf for an auld wife's havers. What ails you ?" 
 
 Marion recovered from the faintness, but began to weep ; 
 seeing which her grandmother stroked down her tresses and 
 caressed her. Caresses, however, seemed to cause the tears 
 to flow all the faster, and the poor girl burst into a paroxysm 
 of grief, and sobbed as if her very heart would burst. 
 
 " I'll warrant you, Marion," went on the old woman, "Gil- 
 deroy will never take anither bride but yourself. They may 
 crack that likes o' their braw Lowland ladies, but Gilderoy 's 
 heart is set on his Highland lass, and Gilderoy 's heart is true 
 as steel. Never let a doubt of his truth and honour cross 
 your thoughts. Twenty Lowland ladies could not rob you of 
 his affection." 
 
 A passing footstep outside the room put an abrupt stop to 
 Marion's grief and Judith's solacements. Judith soon with- 
 drew, glad to escape from the quandary in which she had 
 unwittingly involved herself. Marion, drying her cheeks, 
 and putting on an air of cheerfulness, though her heart was 
 dull and heavy as lead, proceeded to gather up her flowers, 
 and compose a bouquet. 
 
 * The Gaelic names of the chief and his lady, signifying the gocdman and 
 good woman of the town. 
 
SCOTTISH TRADITION. 51 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 She fables not : I feel that I do fear 
 
 Her words set off by some superior power. 
 
 Milton's Comus. 
 
 IT was Marion herself who served the captive lady with 
 breakfast. 
 
 Lady Annabel's fit of sorrow was over, though its traces 
 were still visible on her fair countenance. She was sitting 
 by the casement, gazing forth disconsolately on the desert 
 scene over which the morning sun was shedding his ruddy 
 glory. She scarcely turned her head when the Highland 
 maiden entered and placed on the table a homely but 
 plentiful repast of oaten cakes, whey-cheese, milk, and wild 
 honey. The room was the " painted chamber " of the tower ; 
 but age and smoke had nearly obliterated the green 
 oil-colour with which the walls had once been adorned. 
 There was a well-spread couch at one end, and the rest of 
 the furniture consisted of a small round table of oak, a few 
 chairs, and a footstool covered with red velvet. 
 
 " A fair gude morning, madam ; and I hope your rest was 
 saft and sound," said Marion, kindly, but looking as if eager 
 to initiate conversation. 
 
 The lady glanced towards her, but remained silent. 
 
 " I am vexed, madam," continued Marion, blushing, being 
 abashed by the haughty indifference with which her advance 
 was received " I am unco vexed that I should have been 
 saucy to you when you came in your troubles yestreen j 
 but " ' 
 
 " My good girl," said Annabel, " if there is anything to 
 forgive, it is freely forgiven you. I bear you no malice for a 
 thoughtless word. Your face, I think, shows that your 
 tongue must belie your heart when your words are aught but 
 gentle." 
 
 Marion's eyes were instantly cast to the ground, and the 
 blush on her cheek grew deeper. 
 
 "You speak the Lowland tongue as though you were 
 Lowland born," L added the lady. "Do you belong to the 
 clan?" 
 
52 GILDEEOY: 
 
 "Ay, madam, we belong to the clan, though our name's 
 no Macgregor," replied Marion. " Our name 's Mackinnon. 
 My brither, Evan Glas Glas, you ken, means grey in 
 Gaelic, and they ca' him Glas because he has a grey-like 
 complexion like as my faith'er before him was ca'd Colin 
 Glas Mackinnon my brither, Evan, as I said, is Gilderoy's 
 foster-brither ; for my mither nursed the young chief ; but 
 she is dead now, and so is my faither, and there's just my 
 grandmither living (my mither's mither, with your leave, 
 madam), and Evan and me that's a' that's of us in 'this 
 world." \ 
 
 Annabel could not help smiling at so much unexpected 
 
 Earticularity. Marion smiled too, and then went on " My 
 lither, madam, was slain in the fray where Gilderoy's ain 
 faither fell. We had a name and power in the Highlands 
 langsyne; but we shared in the misfortune o' Clan Gregor, 
 of which we're a branch. It was thae weary wars of 
 Montrose that drave my faither from house and hall. My 
 faither was ane o' great Montrose's supporters ; but after 
 Montrose's men were a' scattered, the enemy came de- 
 stroying all before them, and seized my faither's lands, and 
 drave a' our kin to the hills.' 
 
 "The like unhappy fate has overtaken many a gallant 
 royalist," said Annabel. "Even Montrose himself, the 
 bravest and best of Scotland's cavaliers, paid for his loyalty 
 with his life." 
 
 " And for a' that's come and gone yet, madam," said 
 Marion, kindling with her theme, "were anither Montrose 
 to rise for the king, there's no a claymore in a' Rannoch but 
 wad be drawn at his bidding. I hope and pray that I may 
 live to see Cromwell, and Monk, and the Clan Campbell, 
 and a' our auld enemies trampled under foot !" 
 
 "And have you lived in the Highlands all your days?" 
 inquired Annabel. 
 
 " I'm coming to that, madam," said the maiden. " My 
 mither, as I said, was Gilderoy's nurse. Aweel, when 
 Gilderoy and his brither, Patrick, were but bairns, the auld 
 chief, their faither, thought it for their better safety to send 
 them down to the low country, seeing there was muckle 
 danger here, and the lady, their mither, dead. Accordingly 
 we a' went down to the Lowlands that is, my mither, my 
 grandmither (wha belanged to the South), and the two sons 
 of the Macgregor, and Evan, and myself. I was but an 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 53 
 
 infant at that time, and mind nothing about the journey. 
 "We went down to the burgh town o' bonny St. Johnstoun 
 that stands on the Tay, whaur my grandmither's second 
 cousin was ane o' the foremost burgesses and a trade's 
 bailie ; and there we a' dwelt, under the name o' Mac- 
 kinnon ; and ne'er ane o' the town's folk, except our ain 
 friend and his family, kent that the sons o' the Macgregor 
 were there. Wae's me, madam ! there was a heap o' us 
 then. But now there's nane left to care for me but my 
 grandmither, and Evan, and and Gilderoy." 
 
 " Does Gilderoy care for you ? Gilderoy, the leader of a 
 ruthless banditti P " 
 
 " Dinna blame him, madam," said the girl ; " it's no his 
 fault that he is what he is. You little know how muckle 
 oppression has been poured upon his head. There's no a 
 Lowland town within twenty miles o' the Highland line but 
 what has heads o' the Macgregors stuck up over the ports- 
 the withered sichtless faces turned to our ain north hills. 
 Gilderoy 's faither was foully slain ; Gilderoy 's brither was 
 betrayed and put to death ; there's been proclamation after 
 proclamation issued out against Gilderoy, declaring him a 
 traitor and an outlaw, and offering a price for his head ; and 
 the very name o' Macgregor makes the Southron bluid- 
 hounds grind their teeth. Is it for flesh and blood, madam, 
 to bear such wrangs, and no to resist them ? I trow not." 
 
 " But the Macgregors," responded Annabel, " have their 
 own lawless and barbarous deeds to thank for all they 
 suffer." 
 
 "With your leave, madam, there's lawless deeds com- 
 mitted ilka day and nicht benorth the Grampians that a 
 Macgregor has no hand in," said Marion. " Were you 
 Gilderoy yourself, madam, and standing in his shoon, I 
 doubt you would do little else than what he has done. But 
 as the proverb says * If you gi'e a dog an ill name, you 
 may hang him then.' That's where it lies." 
 
 " But," said Annabel, thoroughly interested in the girl 
 and in the argument, " I am utterly at a loss to understand 
 upon what grounds either you or Gilderoy can pretend to 
 justify the oppression which I am made to suffer. Gilderoy 
 may conceive that his attack on Dunavaig was justified by 
 the common suspicion which pointed out the old laird as 
 being accessory to his brother's death a suspicion, however, 
 most unfounded ; but what can he allege against me ?" 
 
54 GILDEROY: 
 
 " Nothing that I know of, madam," said the maiden. " If 
 he has anything, he's keeping it to himself." 
 
 " He has nothing nothing to lay to *my charge," cried 
 Annabel. " When vengeance overtakes him, he can have 
 no plea to urge in palliation of the outrage. Separate the 
 burning of Dunavaig and the murder of the laird from my 
 captivity, and consider what plea he can put forward to 
 avert the indignation of my friends. Thus, girl, you may 
 also consider whether in many other instances the crimes of 
 the Macgregors were not equally unprovoked." 
 
 After a thoughtful pause, Marion said, dubiously, 
 " Gilderoy has done you little wrong, madam. You are safe 
 enough here. There's no evil intended against you. It's 
 no that he took you awa, intending to mak you his" lady, and 
 get your gear " 
 
 The lady sprang to her feet, and gazing wildly on 
 Marion's face, demanded "Has Gilderoy ever hinted at 
 such a design ? Tell me truly, girl, as you shall answer 
 to your God." 
 
 " No, madam, no ; far frae sic a thing," replied Marion, 
 with a solemn earnestness in her tone and look. " As some 
 o' the men tell me, all that Gilderoy seeks and it's no 
 muckle after a* is just a ransom for your liberty. Prisoners 
 are aye ransomed, you ken. We read in the auld chronicles 
 that kings o' Scotland themselves had to pay ransoms when 
 they were ta'en captive by the Southron enemy. A ransom 's 
 nae new thing, madam.' 
 
 " A ransom for my liberty !" said Annabel, indignantly. 
 " And is not this the most villanous injustice P" 
 
 "Aweel, madam, you may think so," said Marion. 
 "But," continued she, with a smile, " there's an auld High- 
 land saying that tells us Feumaidh na fithich fein bhi beo 
 that is, ' Even the ravens themselves must live." A lady o' 
 your wealth and quality would ne'er ken the want o' the 
 siller ; and liberty is aye sweet to beast or body." 
 
 " Ah ! I see," exclaimed Annabel, almost with a sneer. 
 " Gilderoy cares so much for you that he has employed you 
 to sound me on the point. I understand your object now, 
 and I am sorry that so fair a face should conceal so much 
 craft." 
 
 A deep flush of indignant pride mantled on Marion's 
 countenance, and her blue eye kindled with a fire to which 
 it seemed habitually a stranger. " You do me a sair 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 55 
 
 wrang," she ejaculated. " Gilderoy never sent me to speak 
 to you about a ransom. But I thought I was doing you a 
 good turn by showing you how you micht escape. You are 
 come o' gentle bluid and high degree, madam, and you may 
 think little o' a Highland lass, whose kindred are the kin- 
 dred of Gilderoy. Still, I can tell you, that the kith and 
 kin of Marion Mackinnon set as high a worth upon their 
 forbears, and upon their ain name and honour, as any lord or 
 lady in the Lowlands. My forbears, madam, though they 
 wore the tartan plaid, had castles and clachans and clansmen 
 lang syne. They were sprung frae a royal stem ; and what 
 mair can the best in the land say ? And, hark you, I wad 
 sooner tear oot my tongue by the roots than come to you 
 wi' a false tale in my mouth to cheat you of your gear. You 
 may think on't, madam." 
 
 " 'Twas but a natural suspicion, my good girl," said 
 Annabel, " and I am glad you have convinced me it was a 
 false one." 
 
 " Ay, madam, you may well ca' it false," returned Marion, 
 " for I mean your gude, madam, and you'll bear wi' me 
 when I tell you ance mair that you'll be a wise woman to 
 give Gilderoy what he seeks, if he seeks a ransom and then 
 go home to your friends, and no more about it. Wadna it 
 be a fell thing for a lady like you to be keepit here, dear 
 kens how lang, amang a wheen Highlandmen ?" 
 
 " But though I should yield to Gilderoy's rapacity, would 
 the government be satisfied?" said Annabel. "General 
 Monk's soldiers are not far distant." 
 
 "Gilderoy needna value the Government a flee," said 
 Marion. " They've tried again and again to drive him oot 
 o' Eannoch, and doesna he bear rule and sway in Eannoch 
 to this day ?" 
 
 " Time will show," said the lady. " But I should like 
 to speak with Gilderoy, that I might learn from his own 
 lips what fate he designs for me. Will you carry my 
 message to him ? " 
 
 " Willingly, madam. What is your errand ? " 
 
 " Merely that I desire an interview with him half an hour 
 hence." 
 
 The maiden instantly left the room, securing it on the 
 outside with a bar, and after an absence of about ten 
 minutes returned, with glad looks, and informed Annabel 
 that Gilderoy would wait upon her punctually at the time 
 
56 GHLDEEOY: 
 
 appointed. Having thus discharged her commission, and 
 received the lady's thanks, Marion again withdrew. 
 
 Annabel sat down to her morning meal, but lingered sadly 
 over it, having little or no appetite. The repast was scarcely- 
 finished when Gilderoy entered the chamber. 
 
 The marauder was dressed with some scrupulousness ; 
 but he had not yet recovered from the agitation into which 
 he had been cast by the startling warning of Donach of the 
 Den, and the sight of the lady brought back on his mind the 
 full force of the seer's ominous revelation. His countenance, 
 constitutionally florid, wore a sickly paleness, and his eyes 
 were still blood-shot, and had a downward, wavering stare. 
 When he came in, and shut the door behind him, he placed 
 his back against it, as if fearing an attempt on the lady's 
 part to escape. He then stammered out some compliment, 
 which sounded in her ears as if conveyed half in English 
 and half in Gaelic. 
 
 Annabel, who had risen from her chair on his entrance, 
 mentioned that she had sent for him with the view of know- 
 ing his reasons for retaining her as a captive. 
 
 Gilderoy at first seemed at a loss for an answer, but at 
 length he assured her that she need entertain no apprehen- 
 sions for her personal safety, which would be guarded most 
 religiously, and that she should be in want of nothing which 
 the place afforded. " I am well aware, lady," he continued, 
 gathering confidence from the sound of his own voice, "that 
 here you will lack many comforts to which you have been 
 accustomed in the low country ; but, on the other hand, you 
 may rely on enjoying as much security as though you were 
 within the walls of your own castle of Glenbirkie." 
 
 " This is beside the question, Macgregor," said Annabel. 
 "For what end, what purpose, are you confining me 
 here? " 
 
 " The purpose, lady? I told you that I must retain you 
 as a hostage against the vengeance of Dunavaig's friends." 
 
 Annabel was somewhat taken aback by a declaration so 
 unexpected. 
 
 " Let Dunavaig's friends pledge themselves, and give me 
 firm assurance, that I shall be held free of his slaughter." 
 continued Macgregor, " and immediately you shall be es- 
 corted beyond the Highland line." 
 
 "It is to the law that you must give account," returned 
 Annabel; "and think you that the Government will stoop to 
 
A SCOTTISH: TBADITION. 57 
 
 an ignoble paction P Some of your people spoke to me about 
 a ransom." 
 
 " Why, lady, the love of gold is as strong among the chil- 
 dren of the hills as among the merchant burgesses and other 
 douce folk of the Lowland towns," said the outlaw. " But, 
 I tell you frankly, I have no covetous eye to your wealth. 
 I am proclaimed by sound of trumpet, for a common cateran, 
 an outlaw, and what not, guilty of every offence in the black 
 catalogue of the Saxon law ; but I never yet put forth a 
 hand to snatch the gear of the helpless. The poor, the 
 widow, and the orphan have nothing to fear from me. I 
 may have thought of a ransom when I seized you I may 
 think of it still ; but more important considerations force 
 themselves upon me. I must look to my own defence." 
 
 " Then prepare for it," said Annabel boldly. " The death 
 of my guardian will stir up vengeance that cannot be ap- 
 peased. It is folly to dream of the law being thwarted 
 because you hold a woman as a hostage. No, Macgregor, 
 your hostage cannot save you. The deed you committed 
 was doubly base, inasmuch as Connal was your kinsman, and 
 your accusation against him false." 
 
 "Can you prove the falsehood of that accusation?" de- 
 manded Gilderoy, with warmth. 
 
 " Had you given Dunavaig breathing time he would have 
 cleared himself triumphantly, and shown that instead of 
 betraying your brother, he used every effort in his power to 
 save him." 
 
 Gilderoy burst into a loud laugh of derision. 
 
 " You would not hear him speak when he offered to vin- 
 dicate himself," continued Annabel. " His feeble terror- 
 stricken voice was drowned in execrations and the clash of 
 swords. But what proof had you that he betrayed your 
 brother?" 
 
 " He received the blood-money." 
 
 " He never handled a plack of it." 
 
 " Pshaw ! It was the common report of the country. 
 Even Mr. Gilchrist could not deny the hateful fact." 
 
 " The minister never believed my guardian guilty," said 
 Annabel : " but he had seen no evidence whereby he could 
 have contradicted your assertion with effect. It was only on 
 the day before your attack that the laird obtained possession 
 of documents which fully established his innocence and testi- 
 licd to whom the blood-money, as you call it, was paid." 
 
58 GILDEKOY : 
 
 " And to whom was the money paid ? " 
 " To a Highlander named Ranald Vourigh." 
 " Ranald Vourigh ! the false Macpherson ! the hired 
 spy of the Roundheads ! he whom my father harried out of 
 Rannoch!- he !" 
 
 " The papers showed," said Annabel, " that this man, 
 moved by wrongs done him by your father, led the soldiers 
 who arrested your brother Patrick, after he had been de- 
 coyed on some pretence from the hills. The plot was of 
 Ranald Vourigh's own devising. Your brother being seized, 
 the soldiers conveyed him to Dunavaig's house for secu- 
 rity until next morning, when they intended to carry him 
 down to the Tolbooth of St. Johnstoun. That night the 
 laird strove hard to give Patrick his liberty. He plied the 
 guards with drink, and stole the key of the dungeon from 
 the sergeant who kept it ; but all came to nought the plot 
 failed." 
 
 " Were you in Dunavaig House that night? " 
 " I was not," responded Annabel. " It was Ranald Vou- 
 righ who discovered the plot ; and had he told it to the 
 English captain, doubtless the laird would have met condign 
 punishment. But feelings of old friendship made Macpher- 
 son hold his tongue. The story then arose Cvery naturally, 
 I allow) among people who were ignorant of the real circum- 
 stances, that the laird was your brother's betrayer ; and you 
 may easily understand how terror of the Government pre 
 vented his openly rebutting the dangerous calumny. But 
 you know he sent a messenger to assure you that he was 
 innocent of all participation in the deed, and you disbelieved 
 his sworn word." 
 
 'Where are the documents you speak of?" inquired 
 G Ideroy. 
 
 ' They were burned, I suppose, in the conflagration." 
 ' Oh ! " ejaculated Gildero} r , with another laugh, but not 
 quite so loud or so hearty as the first. 
 
 " I saw them I read them I can swear to their pur port," 
 said Annabel. " You would have seen them yourself had 
 you stayed the murderous hands of your followers." 
 
 Gilderoy seemed struck to the heart. He advanced a step, 
 and then traversed the chamber his eyes still bent down- 
 wards with a troubled stare, the colour coming and going on 
 his cheek, and his brow, overshadowed by his abundant red 
 hair, growing corrugated and dark. Without speaking a 
 word, he passed abruptly from the chamber. 
 
A SCOTTISH TKADITION. 59 
 
 Annabel had but resumed her seat when Gilderoy burst 
 anew into the room with such marks of agitation about him 
 that she felt alarmed at the threatening apparition. 
 
 " What sort of papers were those ? " he cried, 
 
 " They were two in number," answered the lady, after a 
 brief pause. " The one was a letter from the officer of the 
 party who took your brother to St. Johnstoun, and it con- 
 tained a transcript of the acquittance for the blood-money, 
 bearing Eanald Vourigh's mark, a cross, because he could 
 not write his name." 
 
 " How came those papers into Connal's hands ? " 
 
 " He heard rumours that you meditated a desperate 
 revenge upon him," said Annabel ; " so he applied to Ranald 
 Vourigh and to the English officer, entreating them to fur- 
 nish him with such proofs of his innocence as would best 
 remove your incredulity and avert your wrath. They com- 
 plied with his request. The other of the two documents was 
 a missive written by a public notary at Ranald Vourigh's 
 desire, avouching that the laird was neither art nor part 
 in your brother's betrayal. No evidence could be more 
 decisive." 
 
 " And where is the false Macpherson ? " 
 
 " It was from the town of Dundee that he sent his 
 missive." 
 
 " And the English officer ? " 
 
 " He sent his letter from St. Johnstoun ; but he is now in 
 Athole at the head of a detachment of Monk's soldiery." 
 
 " Brand him with eternal infamy ! " ejaculated Gilderoy, 
 in a terrible voice that shook the chamber. " The Saxon 
 hangman ! By the honour of my father, he shall die the 
 death of a dog ! Oh, lady, lady," he added, his voice sud- 
 denly sinking into plaintiveness, " had all this strange know- 
 ledge come to me in time ! But I am not to blame. My 
 brother, even at the foot of the gallows, accused Dunavaig." 
 
 " Because he was ignorant of Dunavaig's innocence, and 
 of the attempt to save him," responded Annabel. 
 
 Gilderoy dashed his hands together violently, and rushed 
 from the lady's presence. 
 
CO CILDEBOY: 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 By some auld houlet-haunted biggin', 
 
 Or kirk deserted by its riggin', 
 
 It's ten to ane ye'll find him snug in 
 
 Some eldritch part. Burns. 
 
 " CERTAINLY we have lost our way in this Highland 
 
 V^ wilderness, and must e'en be content to pass the 
 night under the bield of a rock. By my troth, it will not be 
 the first time that I have had to take the fern bush for my 
 host, as romancers phrase it." 
 
 So said a traveller who, attended by a couple of retainers, 
 was riding slowly through a defile to the south-west of 
 Dunavaig. He seemed to be a young man, and was mounted 
 on a powerful horse, somewhat spent, however, with pro- 
 tracted toil. He was wrapped in a sad-coloured riding-cloak, 
 fastened at the neck with tasselled strings, and wore a black 
 beaver, from the jewelled band of which nodded a long black 
 plume. He had a sword by his side and a pair of pistols in 
 his holsters. His countenance was thin, pale, and grave, but 
 manly a curled moustache giving it a sort of military air. His 
 two followers were equally well mounted. Both of them had 
 stout buff doublets and iron gauntlets, and were armed with 
 broadswords and ponderous pistols. The one, perhaps the 
 eldest, had his hair closely cropped about his ears, and wore 
 a high-crowned hat ; while the other wore long locks, and 
 had his head defended by a steel morion. 
 
 The summer night was descending, with a sky densely 
 overclouded ; and a blustering south wind swept through 
 the defile, dying away occasionally in dreary moans in the 
 far distance. No human habitation was within sight, and the 
 three horsemen were riding at random they had lost their 
 road. 
 
 " We may as well halt at once as proceed any farther," 
 said the cavalier. " The sky thickens, the night darkens fast, 
 and we shall have a storm ere long, if I am not much 
 mistaken." 
 
 " There's little shelter here, Mr. Jasper," said the attendant 
 with the cropped hair, with a rueful shake of his head and a 
 shrug of his shoulders. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION, Gl 
 
 "The trees are thick enough at the foot of the craigs 
 yonder," said the man with the morion. " I have spent 
 many a worse night on a bare hill-side or barren moor, where 
 there was neither bush nor bield. But if I may presume to 
 advise you, master, I think we should push on to the end of 
 this pass, where we'll likely come upon some house or other." 
 
 Mr. Jasper silently acquiesced in this sensible counsel by 
 applying his spur to his flagging horse ; and the party set 
 forward at a quickened pace. 
 
 After riding a considerable distance, they had the satisfac- 
 tion of emerging from the defile, which opened upon what 
 appeared to be a great tract of comparatively level country, 
 bounded by high mountains, which they knew to be the 
 Grampians. But the scene was desolate, and not a house or 
 hut to be seen. They drew up their horses on the banks of 
 a burn, and fell to considering what should next be done. 
 
 The wind now lulled, and the wailing notes of a Highland 
 pibroch fell faintly upon their ears, coming from the dim 
 distance in the front perchance from the very mountains 
 whose dark and uncertain outlines marked the horizon. They 
 listened eagerly. A surly gust of wind drowned the soft 
 music ; but in another pause the strains came clearer than 
 before, and then suddenly ceased. 
 
 " John Highlandman is astir, late as the night is," said the 
 man with the morion. "Let us forward and see." 
 
 "Tak* tent, Blackburn," said his comrade. "You dinna 
 ken where you are. I warn you, Mr. Jasper Hollo," address- 
 ing his master, "be na ower venturesome. There's nae 
 John Highlandman would play his pipes at this time o' nicht 
 in a gude cause. There are many queer sights and queer 
 sounds to be seen and heard in this outlandish country, 
 where papistry and heathen idolatry prevail a country fu' o' 
 the abominations o' Satan, and a' uncleanness." 
 
 " Tut, tut ! " cried Blackburn. " We are safe so long's we 
 have such a babe of grace as yourself in the company. I'll 
 lay a French crown that the very sight of your sanctified 
 face will make Auld Clooty beat a retreat for a hundred 
 miles. Do you take me, Elshender P " 
 
 " We will advance," said Hollo. " Doubtless we shall fall 
 in with somebody able to put us on the right road to 
 Dunavaig." 
 
 " I wadna stir a foot, Mr. Jasper, before daylight, no for a 
 king's ransom," said Elshender, backing his horse. "Rather 
 
62 GILDEBOY: 
 
 let us set up our Ebenezer here, and no tempt Providence by 
 throwing ourselves in the gate o' the Powers o' the Air." 
 
 " What do you dread, man ? " cried Hollo. " Highland 
 banditti may be abroad, but we have small reason to fear a 
 scuffle, unless the odds were heavy." 
 
 " We may encounter worse nor the worst Highland ban- 
 ditti that ever trod in brogues," replied Elshender. " Satan 
 has many wiles, and this is the dead hour o' nicht, when a* 
 uncanny things ha'e maist power. I beseech you, Mr. Jasper, 
 an' you be a wise man, call a halt till morning, and then we 
 can go on our way rejoicing." 
 
 " We have weapons," said Blackburn, " and we can use 
 them." 
 
 "I ken, I ken," said Elshender, with a sigh. "But to 
 your sin, and sorrow, and shame, the weapons o' your war- 
 fare were aye unco carnal. Think you that the Enemy o' 
 Souls cares a whistle for the best Ferraras or Toledos, or 
 blades o' Damascus, ever forged on anvil ? And isna it aye 
 in dry desert places that unquiet spirits wander aboot ? " 
 
 " Come, come, Elshender, cease this silly prating," cried 
 Hollo. " We lose time. Let us on." 
 
 The little party rode straight in the direction whence they 
 conceived the strains of the bagpipes had proceeded, and soon 
 a feeble light glimmered through the stormy gloom before 
 them. They halted again, and Hollo, pointing to the light, 
 expressed his gratification that they were now within reach 
 of some dwelling. 
 
 " You little think of the manifold inventions of the adver- 
 sary," said Elshender. " It may be but a corpse candle, 
 kindled by a touch o' a deevil's finger, to delude the unwary 
 to their utter destruction in the dark. The Highlands are 
 fu' o' sic eldritch appearances." 
 
 " The wind is high, but the light is steady, and so cannot 
 burn in the open air," said Hollo. 
 
 On they went, making towards the light, which gradually 
 broadening and brightening, was found at last to gleam from 
 the tall spacious window of some stately-building. A little 
 closer, and the outline of a church or chapel shaped itself 
 against the sky, with a fine window (destitute, however, of 
 the slightest vestige of glass), strongly illumined. 
 
 " An auld synagogue o' Popery lichted up at midnight ! " 
 said Elshender in an agitated whisper, as the party drew 
 their bridles. " Didna I tell you, Mr. Jasper, it was some 
 
A. SCOTTISH TRADITION. 63 
 
 uncanny thing you were going to seek? It can be nothing 
 but a covin o' norland warlocks and witches, and the enemy 
 himsel' standing up in the pulpit, in the shape o' a black 
 goat, preaching to his sworn servants, as he did in North 
 Berwick Kirk, in Doctor Fian's days. Whaur's a' your 
 bauld jeering now, Blackburn? What will a' your carnal 
 weapons avail against the assembled Powers o' Darkness ? " 
 
 " Leave you me to fight my own battle, Elshender," 
 retorted his comrade, angrily. " You're for ever prophesying 
 ill-luck. I'm as ready to face the devil as you are. And, by 
 Jove ! devil or no devil if I'm attacked " 
 
 " Be still ! " commanded their master. " There is mystery 
 here. Let us advance cautiously." 
 
 They advanced as cautiously as they could, the roar of the 
 wind swallowing the slight sound of the horses' tread. 
 
 The church was built on the summit of an irregular brae, 
 the ascent of which was rugged and overgrown with bushes 
 and brackens. The illumination of the window, which was 
 quite sheltered from the blast, seemed to proceed from 
 torch-light, the glare was so red and smoky. The edifice 
 itself was altogether in ruins, and thick masses of ivy clothed 
 the crumbling walls, rising and falling with the wind. 
 
 " I begin to understand where we are," said Hollo. " I 
 have seen this old church before. It is some miles from 
 Dunavaig House, and used to be the burial-place of the 
 Dunavaig family before the Connals came to the heritage. 
 We will dismount and examine into this affair. Hold your 
 weapons ready, men. Your pistols are loaded? " 
 
 " Mine carry double charges," answered Blackburn. 
 
 They dismounted and tied their horses to a tree. 
 
 " Keep close at my back," said Eollo. " Straight up 
 the brae to the window. Watch your footing, and tread 
 .softly." 
 
 " Mr. Jasper," implored Elshender, " hear me speak for a 
 moment. Couldna we march on singing a verse o' a psalm ? 
 I could gie out eight lines off my ain tongue." 
 
 " Hush ! not another word," said his master. 
 
 Amid the howling of the blast, and the dreary rustling and 
 sighing of the ivy on the aged walls, Hollo stole softly up the 
 difficult ascent, and approached the lighted window, the sill 
 of which was scarcely four feet from the ground owing to 
 an accumulation of rubbish from the fall of a portion of the 
 small belfry -tower, whence, in other times, the solemn 
 
64 GILDEROY: 
 
 summons of baptized bells had issued, calling all men to 
 prayer and praise. A peculiar sound suddenly arrested 
 Hollo's footsteps. It was the dull rasping sound of shovels 
 among gravelly earth. Thoughts of secret murder and 
 hurried interment flashed across his mind. His heart 
 beat quick, his blood ran cold. Bat, mastering the alarm, 
 he crept forward to the window, closely followed by his 
 retainers, and peering in at the side, under cover of a waving 
 screen of ivy, beheld a scene for which the sepulchral sound 
 of the shovels had prepared him. 
 
 His startled gaze fell upon a funeral party assembled 
 within the ruined fane. From eighteen to twenty men 
 composed the company, three or four of whom wore the 
 Lowland garb, but the others were tartaned Highlanders, 
 armed with swords and targets. The superior dress and ac- 
 coutrements of one of the Highlanders, and the mute but 
 marked deference paid him, pointed him out as being of some 
 rank and authority. There were two pipers, carrying under 
 their arms the instruments whose " savage and shrill " strains 
 had previously reached the ears of our travellers. Exactly in 
 front of the spot which the altar of the church had once hal- 
 lowed, but from which the altar had long disappeared, two 
 half-naked men were digging a large excavation, while imme- 
 diately behind, upon a pile of stones and fragments of joists, 
 arranged with some care to serve as a kind of bier, lay a 
 coffin, scantily covered with a black velvet pall or mortcloth, 
 mildewed, moth-eaten, and very ragged about the fringed 
 edges. The company were grouped in a semicircle about 
 the bier. Half a dozen of them held burning torches, the 
 smoky glare of which filled the church, and a large unlighted 
 torch was in another man's hand. 
 
 Our travellers had not viewed this striking scene for more 
 than a couple of minutes when a shaggy deer-hound started 
 up from behind the bier with a terrible yell, and springing 
 through the window attacked Hollo. The cavalier drew his 
 sword and dealt a blow with the flat of it, which felled his 
 fierce assailant to the earth. Not much injured, though 
 smarting from the stroke, the animal scrambled to its feet, 
 and, barking furiously, ran round and round the strangers, 
 but cautiously keeping beyond the reach of a second chastise- 
 ment. 
 
 The yell and spring of the hound acted upon the funeral 
 party in the same way as the admiring exclamation of honest 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 65 
 
 Tarn o' Shanter upon the conclave of witches whose grotesque 
 gambols he witnessed in Auld Kirk Alloway. The most of 
 the party, including several of the torch-bearers, rushed to 
 the door, which opened from the other end of the ruin, and 
 thronged into the open air, just as 
 
 " Bees bizz out wi' angry fyke 
 When plundering herds assail their byke." 
 
 The torches, flashing through the midnight gloom, discovered 
 the three strangers guarding themselves from the fierce dog 
 with their drawn swords. An indignant cry broke from the 
 Highlanders ; claymores and dirks were instantly unsheathed, 
 and bloodshed might have been the result ; but the principal 
 personage commanded his men to keep the peace, and call- 
 ing off the dog (which was promptly seized by the Lowlander, 
 to whom it seemed to belong), he scrutinized the strangers, 
 and then demanded of them who they were, and what they 
 wanted in such a place at such a time of night. 
 
 "I am a belated traveller," said Hollo. "These are my 
 followers. I have missed the road to Dunavaig." 
 
 " Missed the road to Dunavaig ? " repeated the Highlander, 
 who spoke good Lowland Scotch. " Was it to the laird's 
 you were bound ? " 
 
 " It was," replied Hollo. 
 
 " Then you'll find, my friend, that ye haena gane unco far 
 wrang after a'." 
 
 " Say you so ? I am glad to hear it," said Hollo. " Will 
 you allow one of your men to put us on the right track ? " 
 
 The Highlander shook his head sadly. " An you be seek- 
 ing the Laird o' Dunavaig, you couldna hae come a better 
 road to find him, for he is lying dead and cauld in his 
 coffin in-bye." 
 
 " In his coffin ! " ejaculated Hollo. " Connal of Dunavaig, 
 you mean ? Is Connal dead ? " 
 
 " He was dead four nichts since," said the Highlander ; 
 " and we are opening the old vault to bury him among the 
 ashes o' the ancient lairds. You have come in good time 
 to make up the company ; for it's unco thin. Indeed, man, 
 and you dinna ken o' the laird's slaughter? " 
 
 " His slaughter ! " cried Hollo, more aghast than ever. 
 (t Was he murdered ? " 
 
 " Basely murdered," returned the Highlander. "You maun 
 be a great stranger, never to hae heard o' a' this." 
 
66 GILDEEOT: 
 
 " It is not many days since I landed in Scotland from 
 abroad," explained Eollo. " But the murder " 
 
 " Gilderoy, the outlaw of Eannoch James M acgregor is 
 his name broke into Dunavaig under cloud o' night, slaugh- 
 tered the laird, plundered a' he could lay his hands on, set 
 the house in a blaze, and then departed, carrying Lady 
 Annabel Rutherford o' Glenbirkie a prisoner wi' him to 
 Eannoeh." 
 
 "My God ! When when was all this done ? " ejaculated 
 Eollo. 
 
 "Four nights since," said the Highlander. ."Gilderoy 
 blamed the laird for betraying his brither, but it was a false 
 charge, as I can testify. If you wad witness the last rites," 
 he added, " follow me. Our time is short, and the ceremony 
 cannot be delayed." 
 
 " I thank you for an invitation of which I shall most gladly 
 pvail myself," said Eollo. " Blackburn, attend to the horses. 
 We have horses," he explained to the Highlander ; "we tied 
 them to a tree down yonder, and they may break loose if 
 not looked after." 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 It's saftlie, saftlie have they layd Lord Archibald in graif, 
 And it's dowie, dowie ower his bouk thairplumis and banneris waif j 
 And it's lichtlie, lichtlie doe they hap the red erth on his heid ; 
 And waefil was ilk knichtly fere to luik upon the deid. 
 
 MotherwelL 
 
 THE retainer, Blackburn, hastened away to undertake the 
 prescribed duty. His master, overwhelmed with emotion, 
 accompanied the Highlander into the interior of the ruin ; 
 all the others followed, andElshender, with a sour and super- 
 cilious aspect, was the last that entered. The company 
 gathered again around the bier, and the two labourers re- 
 sumed their toil. 
 
 Eollo drew the Highlander apart. " I have been abroad 
 for some years," said he. " The old laird was my kinsman, 
 though a distant one ; and indeed I am his only heir." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 67 
 
 The Highlander was not a little astonished. " Your name 
 is Jasper Rollo? " he said. 
 
 " The same." 
 
 "I have heard about you; and maybe you'll have heard 
 the laird speak o' me. My name is Ranald Yourigh. Mac- 
 pherson the Sassenachs call it. I was on my way yesterday 
 to visit the laird, when the news o' the disaster met me. I 
 never got sic a sorrowfu' surprise in a* my days. I'kent that 
 Gilderoy had been vowing vengeance ; but I ne'er dreamt he 
 wad dare to put his threats into execution." 
 
 "There were ties of blood between Dunavaig and the 
 Rannoch Macgregors, if I am not in error." 
 
 " To be sure ; but the villain Gilderoy cares for no ties of 
 kindred when his evil passion gets the mastery o' him," said 
 Ranald; and then musing for a moment, he said, "Your 
 honour has gotten a waefu' hame-coming, and nae doubt 
 you'll think it unco strange that the company here assembled 
 are sae few in number." 
 
 " Well, I do remark that," said Hollo. 
 
 " It was the ancient custom, as you mayna be ignorant," 
 said the Highlander, " that the barons of Dunavaig for 
 Dunavaig was a barony before the dignity was lost in the 
 troubles langsyne should be interred, by torchlight, at the 
 hour o' midnight, in this Kirk o' St. Michael. The fashion 
 passed awa at the Reformation, a hunder year back, because 
 folk ca'd it a remnant o' Popery. But you ken that High- 
 landmen like to keep up a' auld customs, and especially in 
 regard to the burial o' the dead ; therefore, as Gilbert Connal 
 was my auldest friend, and had perished in sic a shamefu* 
 manner, and as I discovered that, the neighbouring gentry, 
 who had aye been on ill terms wi' him for some reason or 
 other, were giving themsels nae fash aboot his death, I de- 
 sired that he should be laid in the dust wi' a' the auld honours. 
 Did I richt, your honour, or did I wrang ? " 
 
 " Most assuredly you did right," replied Rollo. 
 
 "Thank your honour," said Ranald. "But the parish 
 minister, Mr. Simon Gilchrist, would hear of nothing o' the 
 kind being done, declaring that it savoured o' Popery and 
 Prelacy, and that if he countenanced ony sic superstitious 
 mummery it would cost him a rebuke from the Presbytery, 
 and maybe his place a'thegither in the lang run. I wadna 
 be driven from my plan for the feud o' minister or Presby- 
 tery. We came to angry words, and fell out. Mr. Simon 
 i? 2 
 
68 GILDEEOY: 
 
 stayed awa frae the burial, though it was himsel' that had 
 ordered everything regarding it at first; his ruling elder, 
 Beaton, stayed awa ; and their example gart a hantle 
 niair stay awa ; so my dozen o' men and me, and thae 
 wee pickle o' the tacksmen and cottars that you see before 
 you, got the haill ceremony to perform. Did I right, I speer 
 at you ? " 
 
 " Quite right," responded Eollo. " I deeply regret that 
 my kinsman lived on such unfriendly terms with his neigh- 
 bours. I know he was hard and grasping." 
 
 "And aye stirring up fykes aboot his rights. But he ne'er 
 was an ill friend to me." 
 
 " In the mean time, until we farther advise, let nobody 
 know who I am," said Eollo. 
 
 iip- 
 
 "A prudent resolution," returned Eanald. "And I sup 
 pose the ceremony is just to go on as I arranged it ? You 
 see, the men are digging doon through a' that rubbish to lay 
 open the mouth o' the burial vault." 
 
 " Conduct it all in your own way, my friend," said the 
 cavalier, putting his hand to his forehead. " This dire catas- 
 trophe has quite unmanned me. But I shall lower his head 
 into the vault." 
 
 The labourers speedily completed their excavation by dig- 
 ging down through the mass of rubbish that heaped the 
 pavement of the church, and laying bare a broad flagstone, 
 to the head of which a couple of large iron rings were at- 
 tached. With the aid of ropes the flag was raised on end, 
 as though it moved on hinges. Several of the company then 
 proceeded to make ready the cofBn for being lifted by the 
 spokes on which it rested on the bier. 
 
 " Do you wish a last look o' } 7 our kinsman ? " whispered 
 the Macpherson in Eollo's ear. 
 
 " No no," answered the cavalier, with faltering tongue. 
 
 A damp foetid odour issued from the dark orifice that 
 yawned in the floor. Originally a short flight of steps had 
 given easy access to the vault ; but now it was almost entirely 
 fallen away. The two labourers and two Highlanders let 
 themselves down into the sepulchral region below, the arched 
 roof of which was somewhat higher than their heads. A 
 lighted torch and the large unlighted one were handed down 
 to them. 
 
 "Let the funeral hymn be chanted," said Macpherson. 
 " Stand forward, Neil Gorrn, and take your book. Ne'er lot 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 69 
 
 the terror p' the kirk fash you. Your grandfaither was Reader 
 o' Dunavaig parish in John Knox's day, and nae man has a 
 better richt than yoursel' to fill that 'sponsible office on this 
 occasion. This company gi'e you commission to exercise it, 
 for Dunavaig shall gang to his last resting-place wi' the 
 funeral hymn chanted ower him in spite o' a* the kirks in 
 Christendom/ 
 
 An infirm, white-headed patriarch, clad in hodden grey, 
 with a broad blue bonnet under his arm, a small smoke-dried 
 volume in his hand, and a pair of horn-mounted spectacles 
 on his nose, tottered out from, among his companions, and 
 took his stand close to the mouth of the vault. Opening his 
 little book at a dog's ear, he began, in a quavering voice, to 
 chant a. long old-fashioned hymn, of which the following 
 stanzas may be taken at a specimen : 
 
 " Our brother let us lay in grave, 
 And no doubt thereof let us have, 
 But he shall rise at doomsday, 
 And shall immortal live for aye. 
 
 He is but earth, and of earth made, 
 And maun return to earth through deid ; 
 Shall rise syne frae the earth and ground 
 When that the last trumpet shall sound. 
 
 Ye faithful, therefore, let him sleep, 
 And not like heathen for him weep j 
 But deeply print into your breast 
 That death to us approaches neist. 
 
 End shall our days, short and vain, 
 And syne, when we cannot refrain, 
 Ended shall be our pilgrimage, 
 And brought hame to our heritage." 
 
 No one accompanied him in the chant, but all maintained a 
 death-like silence ; and the thin, weak tones of the Reader 
 trembled with peculiarly thrilling influence through the 
 torch-lit ruin, around which the melancholy moan of the 
 midnight wind sounded like the voice of a visitant from 
 the unseen world beyond death and the grave bewailing 
 the woes of man. 
 
 On concluding, the old man shut his book, made an 
 obeisance to the auditory, and slunk back to his former 
 place ; but the retainer, Elshender, who stood at his master's 
 back, could not suffer the affair to pass without putting in a 
 whispered protest : " I lift up my testimony against a form 
 of vain words that has lang been abolished and forbidden 
 by the universal Kirk of Scotland, as likewise against the 
 
70 GILDEEOY : 
 
 daring assumption of an office, to wit, that of Reader, which 
 has had nae place in the kirk for fourscore year back." 
 
 It may be stated here that for some time after the Re- 
 formation a form of burial service was used by the reformed 
 congregations in several parts of Scotland, but speedily fell into 
 disrepute with the General Assembly, and w r as abolished. 
 A copy of this service, under the title of " The Forme and 
 Maner of Buriall used in the Kirk of Montrois," or Mon- 
 trose, has been preserved, and consists of an exhortation to 
 be read by the minister and reader, after the body has been 
 "reverentlye brocht to the grain , accompany'd with the 
 congregatioun," and a funeral hymn, of which we have 
 quoted four verses. The office of reader did not long 
 survive, having been abolished by the Assembly in 1581. 
 Burial in churches was forbidden over and over again by 
 that ecclesiastical court, whose mandates in this particular 
 did not meet with very general obedience for a long course 
 of years. Burials by torchlight passed under the same 
 anathema. In the year 1579, on the occasion of the funeral 
 of the Earl of Athole, the Assembly hearing a " bruit " that 
 it was to be conducted with " superstitious rites," such as 
 the use of " a white cross on the mortcloth, lang gowns, with 
 stroupes and torches," made diligent inquiry, and finding 
 there was to be no cross, they " grantit the gownes and 
 deny'd the torches." 
 
 " Dust to dust, ashes to ashes," exclaimed Ranald Vourigh. 
 " Play, pipers ; rasie the coranach. Waken your strains of 
 lamentation. Ha til mi tulidJi We return no more !" 
 
 The pipers instantly raised the Highland dirge. The 
 coffin was borne forward and upheld over the dismal chasm, 
 and the company gathered in closely, with uncovered heads. 
 The faded threadbare mortcloth was removed, revealing a 
 small oblong silver plate on the coffin-lid, inscribed with the 
 deceased's name, style, and age ; and the black cords of the 
 coffin being unrolled, R/ollo put forth a trembling hand and 
 took hold of the one at the head. The spokes were with- 
 drawn, and w r hile the plaintive wail of the coronach filled the 
 gloomy pile, the coffin was slowly lowered into its last re- 
 pository. When the ropes slackened, they dropped from the 
 hands that held them, and rattled hollowly on the lid. A 
 confused shuffling and trampling beneath succeeded, and 
 then a gruff voice called out that all was done. The four 
 men scrambled up one by one, the last bringing his burning 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 71 
 
 torch with him. Preparations were now made for replacing 
 the flagstone. 
 
 " Stay !" cried Rollo, who observed with surprise that a 
 glare of light issued up through the mouth of the vault. 
 " They have left a torch blazing below." 
 
 "Another auld fashion," said Macpherson. "A lighted 
 torch was aye placed near the head o' the coffin o' a Baron 
 o' Dunavaig when he was laid amang his ancestors, and the 
 vault was quickly closed, leaving the torch to burn itself 
 out.* Down with the flag-stane. JS"or did I forget the 
 ither auld fashion," added he, in a whisper, " of putting a 
 silver plack in the coffin to win for the dead man a clear 
 passage to the next world. Cover up the flag." 
 
 The two sextons shovelled in the earth and rubbish above 
 the flagstone a work of speedy accomplishment. Every 
 rite had now been duly paid, and the strains of the bagpipes 
 ceased. Eanald Vourigh rewarded the sextons with a 
 handful of silver and copper money from his sporan. Two 
 greybeards and a plentiful supply of oaten cakes and cheese 
 were produced, and the company were served with French 
 wine and Highland usquebagh in quaichs. This regalement 
 passed in solemn silence, and then the proceedings came to 
 an end. 
 
 The party slowly broke up, and retired in groups from the 
 ruin, leaving all the torches with the sextons, who, still 
 lingering behind, set them up to stand among the rubbish. 
 
 Ranald Yourigh and Hollo paused at the porch, and cast a 
 parting look behind them. " Heaven be praised !" said the 
 former, "that we have been able to gi'e Dunavaig the burial 
 b' an auld Scots laird. There will never anither Connal be 
 buried here, either wi' auld fashions or without them." 
 
 Rollo had now an opportunity of observing fully and 
 narrowly the appearance of Macpherson, The Highlander 
 was a powerful, strong-limbed, swarthy man, of about the 
 middle height, and certainly past middle age, with a bold, 
 martial air, and two full dark eyes. His black hair, streaked 
 with sober grey, was short, thin, and inclining to curl, and 
 he wore a shaggy moustache and beard, mottled likewise 
 
 * An interesting: funeral usage has long been observed in the north of 
 Scotland. When the coffin has been lowered to its resting-place, fire is set to 
 a torch placed beside it, and the doors of the vault are hastily closed, not to be 
 opened until another tenant is given to the tomb. Vide Delicice LitraricB, 
 p. 46. 
 
72 GILDEEOY: 
 
 with the hue of advancing age. His attire consisted of a buff 
 doublet, strengthened with plates of iron ; tartan trews ; a 
 tartan plaid ; and a flat Lowland bonnet, apparently lined 
 with an iron plate in the crown, and decked with a raven's 
 feather. His arms were a claymore, a dirk, and Doune 
 pistols, and he carried a target at his back. Upon the whole, 
 he presented a good specimen of the Highland leader of the 
 time, whose inherent savagery had been partially smoothed 
 down by continued contact with the more civilized life of the 
 Lowlands. 
 
 " Was no attempt made to intercept Gilderoy in his 
 retreat ? " said Jasper Eollo. " He was suffered to carry 
 off the plunder and the lady without molestation ? "' 
 
 "It was a' done under cloud o' night," answered Mac- 
 phersou. " The enormity of the deed dang folk doited. 
 Gilderoy was off into the heart o' the Grampians before half 
 the tenantry were awake. And what did they do when 
 they were awake ? The body was carried to the shepherd's 
 cot, being the nearest house, and there they assembled, along 
 with the minister, to tak' counsel about steps for redress. 
 But Beaton, the ruling elder, wad hear o' nae appeal being 
 made to the officers o' a sectarian Government a Govern- 
 ment, by my troth ! the best that Scotland has seen for 
 many a long day. Some simple men hearing him rant awa' 
 about breach o' covenant, and coming judgments for sinfu' 
 compliances, sided wi' him ; the neighbour lairds were 
 cauldrife upon the whole matter, and so no steps at all were 
 taken. Ne'er fash your thumb, your honour," he added, as 
 Hollo uttered an indignant exclamation. " I'll take steps. 
 Hear me, sir. I am in the service and pay o' the Govern- 
 ment : so are my men. General Monk is my chief." 
 
 "General Monk is in Edinburgh," interposed Hollo, " and 
 what may be the fate of the captive lady before he can be 
 able to take action in her behalf? " 
 
 " A strong party of the Governor's soldiers, commanded by 
 Colonel Campion, is presently at Spierhaughs Castle, on the 
 borders of Athole," returned Macpherson. " To Athole I'll 
 haste with all speed ; and you may rely, sir, that, ere many 
 days pass, there will be wild work in Eannoch." 
 
 " I am the party agrieved, and it is my duty to accompany 
 YOU," said Hollo. " I will not look upon the ruined walls of 
 Dunavaig till my kinsman's murder be avenged, and Lady 
 Annabel set free." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 73 
 
 " Vengeance will be swift and sure," said Eanald. " Come, 
 then, and I'll get my cliields in order, and we'll march to 
 the clachan o' Stanebriggs, and make due preparation for the 
 journey." 
 
 They quitted the chapel ; but the moment they did so a 
 most ludicrous scene began to be enacted within. The two 
 sextons had not apparently divided the honorarium bestowed 
 on them by Ranald Yourigh according to any just principles 
 of arithmetic ; for even while Ranald and Jasper were 
 hovering in the porch, they were not entirely unobservant of 
 an altercation arising between the worthies, which, however, 
 was kept within decent bounds, though a rough Gaelic oath 
 occasionally enlivened it, till they went out. As soon as the 
 disputants were left by themselves, heavy blows were super- 
 added to abusive words, and a furious game at fisticuffs 
 ensued over the very burial vault. The torches sticking up- 
 right in the rubbish were knocked over and extinguished one 
 after another, involving the ghostly church in its congenial 
 darkness. The darkness enforced a cessation of hostilities, 
 and both combatants set themselves to yelling for light, 
 without anybody thinking proper to pay the slightest atten- 
 tion to them. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 He was of that stubborn crew 
 
 Of errant saints, whom all men grant 
 
 To be the true Church militant ; 
 
 Such as do build their faith upon 
 
 The holy text of pike and gun. ILudibras. 
 
 ON getting quit of the few tenants and cottars, Macpher- 
 son and Hollo, with their respective followers, took their 
 way towards the nearest village, which luckily happened to 
 lie in the direct route to Athole. 
 
 " The country folk," said Macpherson, " have sharper 
 eyes than you might suspect. They kent your honour, or 
 I'm cheated." 
 
 " Did they P " said Eollo. " Eor myself, I did not know 
 
74 GILDEEOY: 
 
 a single face. I was but once at Dunavaig, and the visit was 
 short, so that I had no means of making the acquaintance of 
 any of the tenantry." 
 
 " You might have seen how they started when they saw 
 you go to the head of the coffin. But I dare say the poor 
 state in which you found them, a mere handful, at the laird's 
 funeral, kept them silent for shame." 
 
 " When next we meet," said Jasper, sternly, " they shall 
 behold in me the laird's avenger." 
 
 " You'll ken the knight of Spierhaughs ? " said Ranald. 
 " The laird, honest man, was in great friendship wi' him." 
 
 " I met him at Dunavaig during the short visit I spoke 
 of," answered Hollo. " What is the reason that a division 
 of the Lord Protector's troops is quartered at Spierhaughs ? " 
 
 "To keep down an unruly country," replied Ranald. 
 " Gilderoy's misdeeds will give Colonel Campion the wark 
 he seeks, and gar him flee like fire and tow. He's a stern, 
 fearless man, the Colonel. He's ane that would march up 
 to the very muzzle o' the musquefs wither (as our Highland 
 folk ca' the muckle cannon), though the cannonier were ap- 
 plying his lighted linstock to the touch-hole. And syne to 
 hear him expounding : he'll preach and pray as though he 
 had been born and bred in a pulpit." 
 
 " And what is the power of this Gilderoy ? " 
 
 " JNo muckle to brag o'," said Ranald, "though he holds 
 his head as high, if not higher, than great Macallanmore 
 himself." 
 
 " He seems to have made himself famous." 
 
 " Famous ? Hoot ! a man with a band of armed gillies 
 at his back can soon mak' himself famous," said Ranald. 
 "I might have been famous mysel', but feud arose be- 
 tween me and Gilderoy's father, and he attacked me with 
 all his power, and drove me out of Rannoch. There's nae 
 word of Ranald Vourigh among the famous men of the High- 
 lands, though it was his hand that tied the thongs upon 
 Patrick Macgregor's wrist and ankles. Ay, and it will be 
 my hand that '11 shatter the strength of Gilderoy, and level 
 him with the dust aneath my feet ! " 
 
 At Hollo's solicitation, the Highlander entered into a 
 minute detail of the circumstances which had come to his 
 knowledge attending to the deadly outrage at Dunavaig. 
 The story was a heart-rending one, and again it caused the 
 measure of Rollo's grief and indignation to overflow. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 75 
 
 When they arrived at the clachan, or little country village, 
 the Highlanders procured a requisite supply of provisions for 
 their journey to Athole ; but Eollo endeavoured, without 
 effect, to obtain a change of horses, his own being quite ex- 
 hausted. The three horses were committed to the charge of 
 the keeper of the village change-house, or tavern, who was 
 duly cautioned by Ranald Vourigh as to their safe custody 
 until such time as they should be rightfully reclaimed ; and 
 Eullo and his attainers had nothing for it but to commence 
 trudging on foot like their Highland allies a necessity which 
 went sore against the grain of Elshender's nature. 
 
 After a short rest, the party resumed their journey. The 
 day was fine, the heat of the sun being tempered with a 
 brisk breeze. At the very next village Hollo had the satisfac- 
 tion of hiring three stout horses a stroke of good fortune 
 which completely restored Elshender's temper. The journey 
 lasted all day, and in the evening the travellers, much over- 
 come with their exertions, approached their destination. 
 
 The castle of Spierhaughs was situated in a pleasant strath, 
 which was well cultivated, and watered by a shallow river 
 pursuing a winding course between thinly-wooded banks. 
 Our travellers forded the water opposite to a hamlet, amidst 
 whose scattered cottages the grey spire of an ancient kirk rose 
 above the trees that shaded the adjacent bury ing-ground, 
 within the grassy bounds of which some sheep and cows were 
 feeding. Farther up the same bank of the stream stood the 
 baronial seat of the lord of the valley a venerable square 
 tower, which looked as if it had been recently strengthened 
 with additional defences. A spacious lawn spread out in front, 
 dotted here and there with gigantic oaks, and upon this 
 green expanse a good many military tents were pitched in 
 regular order. From a high pole, about the centre of the en- 
 campment, floated the flag of the Commonwealth a broad 
 banner of white silk, charged with the red cross of England, 
 and the word Emmanuel in large golden lettering. Red- 
 coated sentries were posted about the open ground, their 
 polished head-pieces and musket-barrels flashing in the sun ; 
 and a considerable crowd of unarmed soldiers had collected 
 together on the outskirts of the encampment. 
 
 Our party passed through the village, and on reaching the 
 encampment found that the military concourse which had 
 attracted their attention from a distance was in attendance 
 on an evening " exercise" or open-air preaching. A personage 
 
76 GILDEEOY: 
 
 wearing the undress of an officer of rank was mounted on 
 the head of an upturned barrel, and holding forth to his 
 auditory in strong, impressive tones. 
 
 " That's Colonel Campion," said [Ranald Vourigh. "Just 
 hear him." 
 
 The setting sun, almost touching the rim. of the distant 
 mountains, shed his slant beams in a resplendent blaze across 
 the fair green strath, with its thickets, its village, its castle, 
 its cultured fields, and its glittering river, and struck full on 
 the elevated figure of the preacher. Shining on his smooth, 
 sleek, black hair, the sunlight gave his bare head the ap- 
 pearance of being cinctured with a saintly halo or glory. He 
 was a man in the prime of life, but lank and slender in person, 
 although probably sinewy and vigorous. His countenance 
 was of commanding interest. Of oval form, it was emaciated 
 and pallid the emaciation and pallor being apparently the 
 results of intense corroding overthought; and his coal-black 
 eyeballs beamed with a lustre which seemed to partake some- 
 what of the fire of insanity. The whole face had a fascinating 
 basilisk-like influence upon the beholder, awakening strange 
 indescribable feelings that verged on the painful. The 
 man's gesture was vehement, but not altogether ungraceful, 
 although he had the trick of sawing the air, which Hamlet 
 denounces. 
 
 The advance of our travellers caused the preacher to make 
 a pause. But, seeing that they halted to listen, he went on 
 again in the following strain : 
 
 " The Apostle tells us ' This I say, therefore, and testify 
 in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles 
 walk, in the vanity of their mind ; having the understanding 
 darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the 
 ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their 
 heart.' Thus sayeth the Scriptures. And who are the 
 Gentiles in these latter times ? Some may say that the Gen- 
 tiles are those heathen whom the word of truth and the glad 
 tidings of salvation have never reached. But I say unto you, 
 brethren and fellow-soldiers, be not deceived. The word 
 clearly points to those who deem themselves heirs of the 
 kingdom even the sons of Prelacy and of Presbytery, 
 who have made war with the saints who have taken unto 
 themselves a name while they have no name who have pro- 
 fessed to serve God, while they are only serving Mammon, 
 and who will be astonicd, and put to shame, and covered 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 77 
 
 with confusion, in that great day when the saints receive the 
 wedding garments clean and white. What part have we in 
 Presbytery? What part have we in Prelacy? To your 
 tents, O Israel ! Did not Presbyterian as well as Prelatist 
 light to the uttermost against the blessed work of reformation 
 and Gospel liberty in these lands, and uphold the tyrannical 
 claims of the young man, Charles Stuart, even when we had 
 cast him out? And who are they that shall sit on thrones 
 judging the twelve tribes of Israel? Even yourselves, 
 brethren and fellow-soldiers, who have come through great 
 tribulation who have trodden down principalities and 
 powers, and everything that exalted itself who gave neither 
 sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids till the 
 reformation work was accomplished. They who were as 
 watchmen in the night, with their loins girded and their 
 lamps burning, ready to go forth to meet the bridegroom ; 
 they who, having once put their hands to the plough, never 
 looked back ; they who rose up against Baalam and Baal-peor, 
 and threw down Dagon of the Philistines, and dashed in 
 pieces the idols of Askelon and Ashdod, and burned the 
 groves ; they who made war with sin and Satan, and the 
 world and the flesh, calling no man brother unless he had 
 received a new name ; they who dragged a tyrant to the 
 block, and held up the bleeding head of an anointed king 
 in the open face of the world, and proclaimed, as with a 
 thunder-shout, that the reign of Gospel liberty was begun ; 
 they, and they alone, are the chosen people, who shall inherit 
 the glory, and enter into the rest ; and ye are of them. 
 Acquit yourselves, therefore, as men. Be strong, be valiant, 
 to the pulling down of strongholds, and the building up of 
 the heavenly Jerusalem, in which the just shall walk by faith. 
 !Be steadfast and immoveable. Fear not what man can do 
 vain man whose breath is in his nostrils. Press towards 
 the mark of the high calling, fighting the good fight of faith. 
 Kings and princes and the mighty ones of the earth shall be 
 as dust before us. And in that glorious millennium which is 
 now dawning upon the world we shall reign a thousand years, 
 and afterwards dwell for ever with the angels !" 
 
 "Doonricht blasphemy! "exclaimed the retainer Elshender, 
 quite unable to control the wrath with which the preacher's 
 remarks, particularly his denunciation of the Presbyterians, 
 had filled him. 
 
 An indignant outcry broke from the congregation, and 
 
78 GILDEBOT: 
 
 every eye darted furiously towards tlie daring disturber of the 
 sermon, which hitherto had been received with the most 
 solemn attention. Hollo collared his man and roughly re- 
 proved him for his gross indiscretion. Ranald Vourigh 
 looked daggers. 
 
 The preacher himself was irritated by the interruption, but 
 speedily recovering his composure, he stretched forth his 
 right hand towards Elshender, and said, calmly : " Friend, 
 when I have finished my discourse I shall be glad to hold 
 communing with thee touching the points of doctrine which 
 thou seest meet to impugn with such a show of vain swelling 
 words. Peradventure I may enlighten the darkness of thine 
 understanding ; for thou seemest as an heathen man and a 
 publican." 
 
 " Gae awa' wi' you, man ! " cried the undaunted Elshender; 
 " I'm nae publican, and nane o' my forbears had onything 
 to do wi' & public. I was brought up in an honest God- 
 fearing house, which is mair nor maybe you or the like o' you 
 can brag o' ; and I dinna scorn a public neither ; far frae 
 that, for I ken mony decent folk in a, public line that wad 
 shut up your mouth in a moment upon any scriptural point 
 whatsoever." 
 
 A storm of voices arose. " Shoot the malignant ! " " Cut 
 him down ! " " Thrust his doctrine down his throat with a 
 pike-head ! " But fortunately none of the soldiers carried 
 arms. 
 
 "Peace, all of ye," shouted the preaching colonel. "We 
 are freemen whom the truth hath made free ; and wherefore 
 should we be stirred up to ungodly wrath because of the 
 blindness of the Gentiles ? Let us compassionate those who 
 still walk in darkness. This man hath not attained unto the 
 marvellous light which illumines and fructifies our own 
 souls. Need we wonder that he is still groping among the 
 moles and the bats P His revilings can but return upon his 
 own head. If he would but listen patiently to my concluding 
 application, some beam of light may pierce the thick dark- 
 ness of his mind, and enable him to see with us eye to eye." 
 
 This was applauded by a loud but uncommonly surly 
 hum. 
 
 " No in sic darkness as you think, colonel," cried Elshen- 
 der. " I was teached at the parish school to read my Bible, 
 and to say the Single Catechism by heart ; and I hae sitten 
 under the ministry o' the purest kirk in a' the world. As for 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 79 
 
 your sectarianism, you may ca' it a licht ; but it's naething 
 but a will-o'-the-wisp that leads daft folk straught on the 
 road to destruction." 
 
 " ELshender," said Hollo, shaking him by the collar, " this 
 is not the first time your silly tongue has brought us into 
 trouble. I warn you, that if this occurs again you shall wear 
 my livery no longer." 
 
 "At your humble service, Mr. Jasper," answered the 
 retainer ; " but in matters o' conscience I ken nae master 
 upon earth. Nevertheless," added he, seeing the frown 
 darkening on Jasper's countenance, " what needs I raise din 
 to mysel' by disputing with a sectarian fool that winna be 
 enlichtened ? Let him follow his errors. I'se cast nae mair 
 pearls before him. Tak' awa' your hand, Mr. Jasper, and 
 you'll no find me in the fault again." 
 
 Silence and order being restored, the preacher resumed his 
 discourse, and continued for fully half an hour in the same 
 rhapsodical strain. When the sermon was over, a short hymn 
 was sung and a prayer offered, and the "exercise" concluded. 
 The preacher descended from, his cask, and putting on a 
 plumed beaver, made directly through the dispersing assem- 
 blage towards our party, as if with the view of bringing 
 Elshender to task. But Ranald Vourigh threw himself in 
 the way, and accosting the colonel, who welcomed him with 
 a cordial shake of the hand, informed him that the most 
 urgent business awaited his attention. 
 
 "Then come with me to my tent," said the colonel, in- 
 stantly assuming a different air from that of the preacher. 
 
 He accordingly led the way towards a capacious bell-shaped 
 pavilion, centrically pitched in the encampment, in front of 
 which stood the tall pole bearing the red-cross banner of the 
 Commonwealth. A couple of sentinels guarded the curtained 
 entrance. Hollo dismounted, and followed the colonel and 
 Macpherson into the interior. The rest of the party drew 
 up in order on the open space beyond the flagstaff. 
 
 Taking upon himself the office of spokesman, Ranald 
 Vourigh gave a clear and succinct account of the outrage at 
 Dunavaig ; and Hollo supplemented the statement by ex- 
 plaining his own relationship to the deceased laird. 
 
 Campion heard them both with grave attention ; and then 
 he said : " It is a grievous calamity, and hard to be borne. 
 But the arm of Government is not weak ; and you shall find 
 that the sword of justice has not been committed to me in 
 
80 GILDEEOY: * 
 
 vain. The very purpose of my present expedition is to over- 
 awe and quell the turbulence of the Highlands ; and now I 
 am resolved to strike such a blow in Bannoch as shall make 
 the name and authority of the Lord Protector respected and 
 feared by all the lawless and disaffected, and cause even the 
 chief of Lochiel himself to tremble in his western wilds." 
 
 " The Lady Annabel is known, I believe, to Sir John 
 Spiers," said Hollo ; "and doubtless he will feel a deep 
 interest in her misfortunes." 
 
 " We must acquaint Sir John forthwith," returned the 
 colonel. " He is in the castle. Attend me, friends." 
 
 They left the pavilion and made for the castle, the heavy 
 front of which faced them and filled up the view, suffused by 
 the yellow flush of the western sky, which showed all the 
 rougli scars left by time and warlike assault on the massive 
 stronghold. At about a stone's cast, in a direct, line from 
 the arched gateway, and close to the curving pathway which 
 led up to it, stood a withered oak of immense size, one great 
 branch of which stretched out almost horizontally from the 
 trunk. Not a single leaf, not a single bud, gave the aspect 
 of vitality to this naked remnant of an ancient forest. But 
 judge Hollo's surprise to perceive, on closer approach, the 
 corpse of a man in the Highland garb hanging by the neck 
 from the great bough. In the old feudal times every Scot- 
 tish castle had its " dule tree " before the gate, on which all 
 male criminals condemned to death by the baron court were 
 executed ; the females falling under the like sentence being 
 drowned in the nearest pool. And this gigantic oak was the 
 dule tree of Spierhaughs. The only covering of the dead 
 man's face was his own long shaggy hair, which waved and 
 fluttered as the wind swung the body to and fro. An aged 
 woman, huddled in a tartan plaid, sat crouching at the foot 
 of the tree on a grassy hillock, through which the gnarled 
 roots protruded like ribs of iron. The miserable creature 
 was slowly rocking her body as she sat, and crooning to her- 
 self what sounded like a dirge. 
 
 " Sir John has been holding his baron court, and exercising 
 his power of pit and gallows," said Macpherson. 
 
 " He has," answered the colonel, carelessly. " One of 
 Gilderoy's followers, whom we captured prowling in the 
 neighbourhood, was hung on the tree yesterday; and this 
 fellow, one of Sir John's own vassals, a noted cattlo-stoaler, 
 or cattle-lifter as they say here, who had been imprisoned in 
 
A SCOTIISH THADITION. 81 
 
 the castle for some time awaiting trial, was sentenced to-day, 
 and served in the same fashion, for the sake of uniformity 
 and impartiality. This old crone seems to be his mother. 
 She came from the hills to petition for his pardon, and has 
 been wandering about the castle these some days." 
 
 The sound of their voices caused the old woman to look up. 
 " A prettier lad never trod the heather, or wore the tartan 
 trews," she said, in Gaelic. " The light of his mother's eye, 
 and the hope and pride of his mother's heart. But now they 
 have hung him upon the dule tree. Alas ! the flower of 
 Glenfruchie ! " 
 
 " Why do you sit mourning here, when you know it is all 
 in vain ?'" said Eanald Vourigh, addressing her in her native 
 tongue. 
 
 " Where should I sit but at Jiis feet ? " she responded. 
 "The hearth-stone is cold; the shieling hut is empty; there 
 is no light step, no manly voice to cheer me at eve and morn. 
 The ravens and the hooded crows would settle on him, were 
 I not here to drive them away. I hear the foul birds croaking 
 on the next trees. Where should I sit but where the brave 
 and only son of the widow hangs upon the blasted oak ? " 
 
 " He should have left other men's cattle in their folds and 
 byres," said Macpherson. 
 
 The old woman shook her head. "Pass on, Gael," she 
 said. " I perceive that you have shaken hands with the 
 Saxon, and stained the honour of Clan Vourigh, whose 
 tartans you wear." 
 
 " She's daft, puir body," said Macpherson, relapsing into 
 the Lowland tongue. " Sorrow has turned her brain." 
 
 " His dog was with him when he left the shieling-hut," 
 continued the mourner, speaking as if to herself; "but it 
 comes not now to lick my hands and bear me company, 
 though I fed it many a day for his sake. Like all our 
 worldly friends, Oscar forsakes us when the cold night of 
 sorrow settles down with rain and storm. But I shall sit 
 and watch, and look for vengeance. My son's father was 
 slain on the heath, and brought home to my door in the grey 
 of the morning with the fatal dirk in his side, and the seal of 
 death on his brow. My son, my [Roderick, was then but a 
 child at the breast, and dabbled his little white hands with 
 the blood that soaked his father's plaid. And now he too is 
 taken away, and I am left alone to bear the burden of a 
 weary life ! " 
 
 G 
 
82 GILDEEOY 
 
 Hollo pulled some silver money from his pocket and threw 
 it in her lap. She took the coins in her hand, and examined 
 them one by one with a vacant bewildered stare, and then 
 laughed and burst into tears. " Bless your tender heart, 
 Sassenach," she cried ; " and never may the mother that 
 bore you need to sit and mourn as I sit and mourn. What 
 are these silver pieces to me ? Though you were to pour 
 into my lap the wealth of the Low country, would it heal my 
 bleeding heart? Take the pieces back." 
 
 " Keep the money ; it is the free gift of a generous soul, 
 honest woman," said Ranald Vourigh. " Leave her, gentles 
 and to the castle." 
 
 To the castle they went. On entering, Colonel Campion, 
 without calling any of the servants, led the way familiarly to 
 a chamber on the first storey, the door of which he opened 
 without any preliminary knock. Near the open casement of 
 the chamber sat a youthful man, dressed in the extreme of 
 the Lowland fashion, feeding and toying with a goshawk. He 
 started up the moment his privacy was broken. He was of 
 good stature, and somewhat shapely and well-built, with good 
 features and bold laughing blue eyes ; but his air was exceed- 
 ingly pretentious and affected, bespeaking an overweening 
 consciousness of high birth and position. He greeted his 
 visitors with great suavity. " Be seated, Colonel ; be seated, 
 you, sir ; ah ! Ranald Vourigh ! Something in the wind 
 when you have swooped so far." Here he placed the hawk 
 upon its perch at the side of the casement, where it imme- 
 diately commenced pluming its feathers and shaking its 
 silver bells. " By the way, Ranald, strange rumours were 
 heard this afternoon about some foray made by Gilderoy 
 upon Dunavaig. What truth, if any, is there in the 
 story ? " 
 
 "Too much, Sir John," said Jasper Rollo. 
 
 " Ah ! indeed ? " cried the knight, staring at the speaker. 
 " Why I should know your face, sir : I have seen it some- 
 where." 
 
 " We meet once at Dunavaig, years ago," said Rollo. 
 
 " We did I remember now I remember well," cried 
 Sir John. " I never forget a face. Your name is Rollo 
 Jasper Rollo. You are the laird's only kinsman. Welcome 
 to Spierhaughs, sir ! a thousand times welcome ! Would 
 that you had brought the laird with you, man ! You should 
 be chid for that neglect." Sir John shook LUJJ heartily by 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 83 
 
 the hand. " But what has happened to our good old friend? 
 The caterans were easily repulsed, I presume ? " 
 
 " Alas ! no," replied fiollo. " They murdered the old man, 
 plundered and burned the house, and dragged away the 
 heiress of Glenbirkie along with them. This man," pointing 
 to Macpherson, " will narrate the sad story more fully than 
 I can ; for I but reached Dunavaig in time to lay my poor 
 kinsman's head in the grave." 
 
 The knight was struck speechless with astonishment. He 
 sat down and heard Ranald tell the story. 
 
 " As I am a Christian man and an officer of the Common- 
 wealth," exclaimed the Roundhead colonel, " I shall visit 
 this fell outrage with the sternest retribution. This horde of 
 barbarians must be smitten hip and thigh, even as the Ama- 
 lekites were smitten by the hand of Israel in the wilderness." 
 
 " What could be Gilderoy's object in seizing the lady ? " 
 said Sir John Spiers. 
 
 " He looks for a ransom," answered E/anald Vourigh. 
 " What else ? But bethink yourselves, gentles ; if Gilderoy 
 discovers that cold steel and lead bullets are all the ransom 
 likely to be offered, will the lady's honour and life be safe 
 with him ? " 
 
 " That," said Eollo, " is the great perplexity. We cannot 
 tell what mad schemes may have entered into the villain's 
 brain, and it would be a melancholy issue if our attempt to 
 rescue the lady had no other effect than to accelerate her 
 fate." 
 
 " In that view," said Sir John, " would it not be prudent to 
 open negotiations with him before resorting to extremities ? " 
 
 " Negotiate with a common robber and murderer ? " said 
 the colonel ; " that would disgrace my commission. You 
 fear for the lady's life ? Well, and what would it avail him 
 to perpetrate a fresh crime ? Would we slacken in the pur- 
 suit of vengeance ? " 
 
 " I am somewhat inclined to the colonel's opinion," said 
 Hollo, " so far as regards the improbability of Gilderoy 
 wreaking his wrath upon Lady Annabel, when he finds that 
 the Government has taken up the quarrel. Were we raising 
 a mere private feud " 
 
 " It is not, and never shall be, a private feud," exclaimed 
 
 the Exmndhead, in a vehement tone, as he rose from his 
 
 chair. " I stand here, bearing the commission of the Lord 
 
 Protector, and I am actuated by no other motive than the 
 
 G 2 
 
84) GILDEROY: 
 
 desire faithfully to perform my duty to my country and to my 
 God. I have been sorely persecuted in my time by the cry 
 of ' private motives,' because I stood forward as one in a 
 thousand and executed righteous justice. They turn round 
 on me with the venom of asps beneath their tongues, and tell 
 me that it all sprung from a private feud, originating in a saucy 
 word and a contumelious blow given me in early youth. But 
 I make my appeal to the Searcher of all hearts ; and I de- 
 clare, before men and angels, that nothing but an overpower- 
 ing sense of duty impelled me to step forward, when they 
 who sat on the tribunal and pronounced the sentence of doom 
 shrank from the consummation. They fear and hate the 
 courage of the Christian man who put forth his hands to the 
 slaughter weapon " 
 
 But there he stopped. While he was speaking his eyes 
 were cast upwards, gleaming with a grey light, and his coun- 
 tenance wore an awe-inspiring composure ; but as soon as he 
 stopped, the grey light vanished from his eyes, a sickly, 
 sneering smile wreathed his lips, and he gazed around, and 
 flung himself into his chair. 
 
 Sir John Spiers and Ranald Yourigh glanced at each other. 
 Jasper Hollo, unaccustomed to the mental vagaries of the 
 English Roundheads, began inwardly to doubt the man's 
 sanity. 
 
 " The lady's safety should be our chief consideration," 
 said Rollo, " and every means should be tried to effectuate 
 that object. From certain expressions which dropped from 
 Gilderoy at Dunavaig, as I understand, it is probable that he 
 will attempt to purchase his own immunity by the lady's 
 release. In such a case, Campion, there will be but one 
 alternative namely, to close with the offer." 
 
 " I will not throw away a single chance of saving the 
 lady," answered Campion, " though I will not degrade my 
 commission by opening negotiations with Gilderoy. If he 
 sees meet to submit an offer, we shall consider it. In the 
 mean time we must to action. To-morrow I shall march upon 
 Rannoch. Our detachment numbers three hundred men ; 
 Sir John will muster some fifty or so of his vassals to join 
 us, and we will get accessions from the friendly clans on' our 
 march, so that we shall enter Rannoch in sufficient strength 
 to crush the country into submission." 
 
 " I go with you," said Rollo. 
 
 " And I," said Sir John Spiers. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 85 
 
 " Nor will I bo behind when Gildcroy is to be hunted 
 down," said Macpherson. " At what hour do you march ? " 
 
 " Noon," replied the Colonel. 
 
 In fact, Campion had eagerly caught at the prospect of 
 active service. The particular duty on which he had been 
 commissioned to the Highlands was to traverse certain dis- 
 tricts, with the view of keeping down all disorders ; and 
 here he was presented with the best opportunity for effective 
 operations which he could have desired. 
 
 A desultory conversation followed touching the conduct of 
 the impending enterprise, after which Sir John entertained 
 the party to supper at his own table, having first issued 
 orders for the muster of a certain number of his vassals at 
 the castle next morning. 
 
 It was a late hour when Sir John retired to his sleeping 
 apartment. But he did not immediately go to rest, though 
 he looked flushed and weary. He sat down at a table on 
 which writing materials were lying, and proceeded to write 
 a letter. The letter proved to be a very short one. Sealing 
 it carefully, he called in one of his attendants a raw slim 
 youth, frightfully scarred with the smallpox. 
 
 "Donald Breck," said Sir John, " you must start to-night 
 with a hasty message to Gilderoy in E/annoch." 
 
 The gillie nodded, and uttered a discordant sound which 
 showed that he was a mute / . 
 
 " You must deliver this letter into Gilderoy 's own hand," 
 continued Sir John. " Disguise yourself, set out instantly, 
 and spare not a moment by the way. Life and death depend 
 on your fidelity and speed. When you return, let it be by a 
 different route ; and avoid all meeting with the English 
 soldiers." 
 
 With these instructions he delivered the letter to the 
 youth, who concealed it in his bosom, raised his right hand 
 to Heaven, and uttered a guttural screech, as if swearing 
 fidelity, and then glided from the room. 
 
86 GILDEEOY: 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Athol, Argryle, I hold you bound, 
 
 A price is on M'Gregor's head; 
 With unsheathed sword and bloody hound 
 
 Avenge the widow and the dead ! 
 
 Ballad of " The Raid of Glen Fruin." 
 
 JASPEE EOLLO lodged in the castle that night. On 
 being shown to his bedchamber, he felt that, despite the 
 fatigues which he had undergone, his agitation of mind was such 
 as precluded the possibility of sleep being speedily courted. 
 He paced through the room, giving free scope to the turmoil 
 of his thoughts ; and all the hopes and aspirations of his 
 early days, and the chequered fortunes of his latter career, 
 passed in confused succession through his busy brain. 
 
 Born of an ancient but decayed family, the heir of a good 
 name but a paltry fortune, Jasper Eollo had been thrown, at 
 an early period of life, into stern conflict with the stern 
 realities of life. In his boyhood he was deprived by death 
 of a tender and affectionate mother, whose whole soul seemed 
 bound up in her only child ; and although the bitterness of 
 this first great grief subsided under the soothing influence 
 of time, the bereavement had made an ineradicable impres- 
 sion upon his heart, and imparted to his whole character a 
 tone of subdued melancholy which nothing could alleviate. 
 His father, a worthy representative of the old Scottish laird, 
 lived on his small estate of Cairnibee, in Lower Perthshire, 
 very much by himself, and seeing little of the world pecu- 
 niary embarrassments, which he had inherited along with 
 the lands, preventing him from mingling in the society befit- 
 ting his station. The laird was proud, and usually showed 
 a good deal of temper when he fancied that his family pre- 
 tensions were not fully acknowledged ; but he was affable 
 and generous to those about him, and beloved by all his 
 tenantry and dependents. He had no penchant for politics, 
 neither understanding nor caring about them. The frugal 
 management of his limited property, the direction of his 
 son's education, an occasional hunting match in summer, 
 a curling bonspiel in winter, and quiet confabulations with 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 87 
 
 the minister of the parish, were the chief avocations which 
 filled up the routine of his existence. When the commotions 
 of the Covenant broke out, they failed to enlist much of 
 his interest, although, at the same time, he sympathized 
 generally with the cause. He adhibited his name to the 
 Covenant of 1638, but took no part in the strife to which it 
 subsequently gave rise ; and about the time when Montrose 
 began his enterprise, the laird became bedridden, and con- 
 tinued more or less so until his death, about 1652, when he 
 was in his sixtieth year, and his son in his twenty-second. 
 
 The loss of his father, from whom he had scarcely ever 
 been apart, was a heavy blow to young Hollo. The solitari- 
 ness and aimlessness of his life came oppressively upon one 
 of his peculiar temperament. The old financial troubles, 
 which had never been surmounted, now annoyed him with 
 double sting. By the advice of friends, he resolved to go 
 abroad for some time and seek military service, as was the 
 custom of many poor Scots gentlemen who, like himself, 
 found it difficult to maintain their proper standing at home. 
 It was at this juncture that he was invited to visit Connal of 
 Dunavaig, a relative of his family, and of whom, indeed, 
 failing direct succession (and Dunavaig was an old confirmed 
 bachelor), he was the nearest and sole heir. A life-long 
 estrangement, originating in some petty quarrel, had existed 
 betwixt Connal and Jasper's father; but soon after the 
 latter's death Dunavaig seemed to have repented of his 
 animosity, and tendered overtures of friendship to the young 
 man, which he thought it prudent to accept in the spirit in 
 which they were offered. Jasper accordingly repaired to 
 Dunavaig House, and was most cordially received, the old 
 man evincing the warmest attachment to him, and assuring 
 him that his purse and everything he possessed were at 
 his disposal. Afraid, however, of laying too much stress 
 upon what might have been a mere whim which would soon 
 pass away, Jasper would not forego his resolution to leave 
 Scotland for a few years. 
 
 It was at Dunavaig that Jasper first saw Annabel 
 Hutherford, the heiress of Glenbirkie, who had just then, 
 become the laird's ward under her late father's settlement. 
 She was younger than Hollo, but she had suffered bereave- 
 ments equal to his own, and it was not surprising that a 
 community of feeling almost instantly became established 
 betwixt them. Thrown entirely into each other's society, 
 
GILDEROY: 
 
 their mutual friendship and esteem ripened into love. Jas- 
 per's brief sojourn at Dunavaig proved to him along dream of 
 unalloyed happiness, inspiring him with the hope that even- 
 tually his success in the world would entitle him to claim 
 Annabel's hand. 
 
 Hollo went abroad to France and obtained service among 
 the far-famed Scottish Archers of the Guard. He was 
 rising to considerable distinction when his career was checked. 
 Dunavaig became urgent for his return, and, unwilling to 
 offend the old man and run the risk of losing his good 
 graces, Jasper returned to Scotland. Landing at one of 
 the Fife ports, he engaged a couple of military retainers 
 or jackmen, and set out for Angus, where the reader first met 
 him on his way. 
 
 During his absence Lady Annabel had rejected several 
 distinguished suitors. Among the rest was Sir John Spiers, 
 of Spierhaughs, the representative of a Lowland house, 
 which, by a fortunate marriage in the preceding century, had 
 acquired a considerable estate on the borders of Athole. Sir 
 John's character did not rank high. He was vain, im- 
 petuous, and crafty, yet with a dash of hollow generosity 
 about him, that tended in many eyes to conceal his faults. 
 He had renewed his suit again and again without success ; 
 and latterly, he had given the lady reason to suspect that he 
 meditated some more effectual but nefarious means of in- 
 suring his aim. She hesitated to communicate her sus- 
 picions to her guardian ; but they were far from being un- 
 founded. We may mention that Sir John Spiers had endea- 
 voured to induce the two brothers of Bannock (whom he 
 sometimes secretly employed in his interest) to abduct the 
 lady and place her in his power, that he might then attempt 
 to force her into marriage with him. But the brothers de- 
 murred, principally on the score of her guardian's kin- 
 ship to them. Patrick's betrayal and execution, however, 
 seemed to remove this obstacle. No one was more assiduous 
 than Sir John Spiers in pouring into Gilderoy's ear the guilty 
 falsehood that Dunavaig was the betrayer of his brother ; 
 and it was partly owing to Sir John's base assertions and 
 taunts that Gilderoy credited the tale, and resolved to avenge 
 himself. 
 
 The castle clock was striking some of the short hours 
 "ayont the twal" when Eollo sought his couch. His 
 thoughts had now calmed themselves down, and he quietly 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 89 
 
 dropped into deep dreamless slumber, of which his exhausted 
 frame was in so much need. 
 
 The brazen sound of trumpets awoke him, and he found 
 the morning advanced. He arose and dressed himself, and 
 then looked out at the casement, which, being to the back 
 of the castle, commanded a delightful prospect of the^upper 
 strath, where the blue mountains closed in on the winding 
 bed of the river. Elshender now made his appearance. 
 
 " It's past eight upon the clock, Mr. Jasper," said the 
 retainer. " I micht hae waukened you sooner ; but you're 
 nane the waur o' a gude sound sleep. A' body's making 
 ready for the march. Four score o' the Spierhaughs men 
 are mustered already ; fifty to gang wi' their lord, and thirty 
 to keep the castle when he's awa." 
 
 " A beautiful morning," said Hollo, pointing to the sunny 
 scene without. 
 
 " We'll hae a braw day," replied Elshender. " There's a 
 wee skiffing o' mist aboot the hills ; but the sun and wind 
 w r ill soon dispel it ; and the sky is fu' o' snaw-white clouds. 
 This is a bonnie country side ; but I'm wae to think it's inha- 
 bited by a wild people that ken naething o' the word and 
 power o' grace." 
 
 Jasper followed his servant downstairs to the hall, where 
 he found Sir John Spiers, Colonel Campion, several of the 
 subordinate officers, and Eanald Vourigh. He was kindly 
 greeted by all. Breakfast was served in sumptuous style. 
 During the meal, Spierhaughs was moody and absent-minded ; 
 the Colonel talkative without any fanatical escapades ; and 
 Macpherson exceedingly elated. Eanald said that he had 
 t( a long account to settle with Gilderoy, and he would now 
 clear all scores once and for ever. It was years since he was 
 harried out of Eannoch ; but he found the reek of his burnt 
 house still sharp in his nostrils ; and he knew he was des- 
 tined to lay the head of Gilderoy as low on the heather as 
 he had laid his brother's." The officers were also in high 
 spirits about the expedition, and, to "Hollo's wonder, some of 
 them expressed their confidence of good fortune from a certain 
 obscure and Delphic-like prediction put forth in the "Astro- 
 logical Almanack " of the celebrated William Lilly, for that 
 year a work which (notwithstanding their severe Puritanical 
 profession) appeared by no means scarce among the detach- 
 ment. 
 
 Noon came, and the Eoundhead troops along with their 
 
90 GILDEROT: 
 
 auxiliaries were drawn up on the lawn. The encampment 
 had already been struck, and the tents conveyed to the out- 
 houses of the castle, where the other luggage was deposited. 
 The Roundheads had a most gallant bearing. They were 
 arrayed in scarlet coats, with back and breast plates, and 
 morions or head-pieces. One portion were armed with 
 muskets, and consequently wore bandoliers containing 
 charges for their pieces ; and another with pikes, sixteen 
 feet in length ; but every man had a heavy cut-and- thrust 
 blade, and was burdened with provisions for more than one 
 day. The Commonweath banner had been taken down from 
 the tall pole and attached to a common portable staff; and 
 an ensign at the head of the line was now shaking out its 
 broad folds to the gale. 
 
 There was a short " service " of prayer and praise, con- 
 ducted by Colonel Campion, and then the trumpets blew, 
 and the expeditionary troops commenced their march the 
 Colonel and Sir John Spiers riding side by side in the van. 
 Rollo, with his two retainers and Ranald vourigb, waited a 
 little to see the martial array defile past them, after which 
 they followed in the wake. Crossing the lawn, near to the 
 dule tree, they found it still bearing its hideous burden, and 
 the widow still crouching on the root ; for all through the 
 weary night-watches, and up to that good hour, had she kept 
 her post, to scare away the raven and the hooded crow from 
 their coveted prey. She seemed watching with interest the 
 departure of the troops. When she perceived, Hollo she 
 smiled wanly in recognition of him, and waved her hand in 
 token of farewell. 
 
 " The Highlands will tell a sorrowful tale ere yonder lads 
 come back," said Ranald Yourigh, addressing her in the 
 Gaelic. 
 
 " They will," she answered. " Many a mother will be 
 childless, and many a happy wife will be a despairing widow, 
 and many a fair girl will be bereft of her chosen lover, ere 
 yonder evil banner wave on this green again. But I'll 
 watch I'll watch." 
 
 A maid-servant of the castle now came up to the tree, 
 carrying some barley bannocks and a cog of milk, which she 
 laid on the grass at the old woman's feet, and then she 
 whispered something in her ear which caused her to utter a 
 shrill shriek, and start from the ground with her arms 
 upraised, as though in the extremity of despair. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 91 
 
 " What did you say, lassie?" demanded Ranald Vourigh, 
 in Scotch. 
 
 " That the lads are coming to take down the corpse and 
 bury it," answered the girl in Gaelic; and away she ran. 
 
 An aged serving-man and two rustics, carrying spades on 
 their shoulders, now approached the old woman fixing her 
 eyes on them with an infuriate expression ; and there seemed 
 every likelihood that she was determined to resist all inter- 
 ference with the body of her dead son. The serving-man 
 directed the rustics to proceed to a thicket by the river side, 
 and there dig a grave. 
 
 " We maun bury your lad, gudewife," said he. 
 
 The widow did not understand a single word of what he 
 said ; but she guessed pretty accurately what he meant. 
 "Why should my son's body rest here, and not beside his 
 father, miles away, in our own glen ? " she said, fiercely. 
 " He cannot rest in the shadow of that evil castle where they 
 doomed him to death/' 
 
 " Speak to the auld creature, Ranald Vourigh, in her ain 
 tongue, and put her aff her daft thocht," said the servitor. 
 " She's feckless, Ranald. Speak to her, and get her pacified ; 
 for she has nae means to tak' awa' the body to her ain 
 glen." 
 
 Macpherson spoke to her ; but though she listened patiently 
 to his expostulation, she looked as obdurate as ever. 
 
 An elderly man, clad in black, mounted on a Highland 
 pony, now trotted towards the group, and hailing Hollo in an 
 eager voice, hastened to his side. 
 
 " Mr. Gilchrist ! " exclaimed Hollo. " You have come in 
 the very nick of time, if you sought to see me ; for I accom- 
 pany the expedition to Rannoch." 
 
 They shook hands ; but there was a certain reserve on the 
 part of Rollo which did not escape the Minister's observa- 
 tion. They withdrew slowly from the tree, followed by the 
 retainers and Macpherson, the latter regarding the sudden 
 apparition of the Minister with anything but a friendly eye. 
 
 " I ken you're offended, Mr. Jasper," said the Minister ; 
 " I ken you're offended because you did not see me in attend- 
 ance at the laird's funeral ; but, sir, though it had been the 
 funeral of my own father, I durst not have given my coun- 
 tenance to doings that partook of the gross superstition of 
 Popery, from which may the Lord preserve this poor land 
 for ever ! " 
 
92 GILDEEOT: 
 
 " ITow did you come to know that I was present at the 
 funeral ? " inquired Hollo. 
 
 " Some of the folk knew you, but said nothing, because 
 they saw you wanted to keep your ain secret," replied Mr. 
 Gilchrist. " As soon as they told me you were there, and 
 that you marched off to Spierhaughs, I determined to follow 
 you. And I'll go with you to Hannoch likewise, for I may 
 help to persuade Gilderoy to give up the lady without 
 bloodshed." 
 
 " I shall be glad of your company," said Hollo. 
 
 " I'm anxious to do a' I can to further your interests, Mr. 
 Jasper," said the Minister, " though Ranald Vourigh's high- 
 handed ongoings kept me back from showing due respect to 
 the memory of the auld laird. But I couldna countenance 
 Popish practices." 
 
 " I saw no Popish practices at the funeral," said Hollo. 
 " There was a sort of service used, a portion of what once 
 was common in the Church of Scotland. However, as it is 
 all over, I do not reproach you, and I trust you and 
 Hanald Vourigh will forget the unseemly squabble and make 
 up your old friendship again. Hanald, come hither, man, 
 and shake hands with the minister." 
 
 Ranald went thither, but his greeting to the Minister was 
 exceedingly dry, and after exchanging a few words he fell 
 back into the rear. 
 
 The Minister then began to speak of the particulars of 
 Gilderoy 's outrage at Dunavaig ; and mentioned, with much 
 satisfaction, that a considerable portion of the money and 
 valuables in the mansion had escaped the hurried search of 
 the plunderers, and was now removed for security to the 
 manse, where it lay at Mr. Jasper's disposal. 
 
 As soon as our friends overtook the troops, Hollo intro- 
 duced the minister to Colonel Campion. The latter seemed 
 well pleased at the accession of such an auxiliary, who, from 
 hi? familiar acquaintance with Gilderoy, might be of much 
 service in promoting what was the chief object of the expe- 
 dition j namely, the release of the captive heiress. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 93 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Though some of you, with Pilate, wash your hands, 
 Showing an outward pity ; yet you Pilates 
 Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross, 
 And water cannot wash away your sin. 
 
 King Richard II. 
 
 rpHE march continued. The scenery along the route was 
 JL wild, and continually changing in its romantic charac- 
 teristics. The [Roundheads occasionally relieved their tedium 
 by the singing of psalms and spiritual songs, which was ac- 
 companied by trumpets and drums. After a long day's 
 journey, the troops halted to bivouac for the night under the 
 friendly shade of a wood. They saw the setting sun redden 
 the brows of a distant range of mountains which overlooked 
 the Macgregors' county, where they would find every man 
 able to wield a sword or draw a bow their resolute foe. 
 
 The soldiers had their evening "exercise" after the usual 
 fashion. Colonel Campion delivered a sermon specially 
 adapted to the circumstances of his men, whom he compared 
 to the host of Israel passing up through the wilderness to 
 destroy the heathen of the land of promise to the sons of 
 Jacob descending upon Shechem, each man with his sword 
 in his hand, to avenge the wrongs of their sister Dinah to 
 Abram and his trained servants, born in his own house, three 
 hundred and eighteen, pursuing unto Dan the kings who had 
 taken Lot, Abram's brother's son (who dwelt in Sodom), and 
 his goods. Mr. Gilchrist absented himself on principle from 
 the service, and Eollo forbade the attendance of his retainer, 
 Elshender. When all was over, the men retired to their 
 bivouacs, and sentries were posted. 
 
 The Colonel, Jasper Eollo, and Mr. Gilchrist took their 
 evening repast with Sir John Spiers, who had brought various 
 delicacies and some rich wine from the castle in his baggage ; 
 for, among his good qualities, the love of good living was 
 rather prominent. 
 
 Abstemious by habit and principle, Campion indulged him- 
 self very sparingly in the wine-cup ; but Spierhaughs, who 
 had been moody and taciturn during the march, drank to 
 
94 GILDEBOY: 
 
 excess, and became exceedingly hilarious draining goblet 
 after goblet to favourite healths, not forgetting those of 
 Lady Annabel and Jasper E/ollo, and hurling forth the most 
 hectoring denunciations against Gilderoy and all his tribe. 
 More than once, Mr. Gilchrist, somewhat scandalized by the 
 knight's intemperate vehemence, made bold to reprove him 
 in an indirect way, but with little effect. 
 
 " The parting-cup at a Highland banquet," cried Sir John, 
 " must needs be of the strong waters or usquebagh, for 
 which the Highlands of Scotland are becoming famous : " 
 and he filled a silver goblet with the clear sparkling liquor 
 which so well merited the flattering appellation of mountain 
 dew, savouring of the peat-reek and the heather-bell. " Our 
 Senachies may talk of the virtues of the beverage of the 
 Picts, the secret of which is lost, but, sure am I, it never 
 could have matched with the pure usquebagh." 
 
 " What sort of beverage had those blue-painted Picts ? " 
 inquired the Roundhead. 
 
 " It was brewed from heather, and called heather-ale, pos- 
 sessing unrivalled potency," said Sir John. " But, as I told 
 you, the secret of its preparation is lost, and has been so for 
 many long centuries. When King Kenneth McAlpin (one 
 of the fabled progenitors of the Macgregors) overthrew the 
 Pictish dominion and massacred the nation, only two of the 
 Pictish race a father and his son remained alive as pri- 
 soners, and they were said to possess the secret of the 
 heather-ale. Kenneth called them before them, and de- 
 manded to be informed of the preparation. ' Slay, my son/ 
 said the father, ' and I will disclose the mystery/ His son 
 was slain before his eyes. ' Now/ cried the old man, * you 
 may lay me beside him ; for I alone am possessed of the 
 knowledge which you seek, and it shall never, never pass my 
 lips ! ' They struck him dead beside his son ; and so the 
 secret of the heather-ale perished with the last of the Picts. 
 Drink, guests ! honour the Highland cup !" 
 
 The Highland cup was duly honoured, and then the party 
 separated. 
 
 Hollo lay down, with his mantle about him, among some 
 thick underwood, and disposed himself to rest ; but his 
 slumbers were brief and unrefreshing. About an hour after 
 daybreak he left his grassy couch, and wandering through 
 the mazes of the wood was surprised to find Campion standing 
 alone in a little lonely glade, with his back against a tree. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 95 
 
 and his looks bent to the ground. However deep had 
 been the Colonel's abstraction, his quick ear caught the 
 approaching footfall, and he glanced round and observed 
 Jasper. 
 
 " Ha, Hollo!" cried he. "You have spent as wakeful a 
 night as myself." 
 
 " I slept but little," said Jasper ; " repose was denied me." 
 
 " Sleep utterly fled mine eyelids," said the Roundhead. 
 " For the last hour I have been musing in this quiet solitary 
 place, musing on the scenes and events of past times, that 
 start unbidden into our recollection during the solemn night- 
 watches. I have been musing on the joys and the sorrows 
 of 'langsync,' as you Scots term it. Langsyne ! What a 
 depth of tenderness in that simple, homely, old-fashioned 
 word ! I was thinking, not without regret, perchance, that 
 the former days were passed away for ever of the happiness, 
 pure and sweet as a spring in the desert, which it pleases the 
 Great Disposer of events to bestow upon our early years." 
 
 " A fitting theme for a nocturnal reverie," said Hollo. 
 
 " How light the heart, how buoyant the step, how sweet 
 the slumbers, how gladsome the awakening of the boy, when 
 the morning sunlight flashes in upon his little pallet, whether 
 that pallet be spread in a princely palace or a peasant cot ! " 
 said Campion. " I once knew such a time, though my lot 
 was humble and my name obscure. Oh ! those blissful years 
 of innocence and peace, when the song of the lark, fluttering 
 high above the -breezy meadows of spring, inspired me with 
 deeper rapture than ever I have felt when the hoarse blast of 
 the war-trumpet pealed the note of victory over a field 
 heaped with the dying and the dead. And such a change 
 has come ! Had any man declared, or a voice from heaven 
 revealed, that I was to mingle in scenes of strife and death 
 that I was set apart, by infinite decree, as the chosen in- 
 strument to pull down tyrants, and to set my foot, in the 
 triumph of disdain, upon kingly thrones that this arm of 
 mine was to strike a blow at which my brethren in the cause 
 should stand aghast that my name should be remembered 
 to latest ages as the name of one who executed a deed of 
 justice such as the world had never before seen, I would 
 have counted the prophecy a falsehood, and the revelation a 
 snare of the devil ! " 
 
 " Tis well that we are ignorant of our destinies," responded 
 Eollo ; " for, were the future faithfully revealed to us, we 
 
9G GILDEEOY: 
 
 would be tempted to dash down the mingled cup of life, and 
 seek a refuge in the quiet grave. I have borne my own 
 share of this world's troubles, and when I look back, I behold 
 the path of my life strewed with dead hopes like the withered 
 leaves of autumn." 
 
 " I was lowly-born," said the soldier ; " I was lowly bred. 
 Early was my lot cast among strangers. I cherished no high 
 hopes. I plodded on my way, in humble obscurity, caring 
 for none of those things with the full possession of which so 
 many of our fellow-mortals are cursed instead of blessed. 
 How hard is it to say whether what we call a worldly blessing 
 be a blessing indeed ! How impious to revile Providence for 
 denying to our prayers what would prove to us the most 
 fatal curses ! " 
 
 " True ! most true ! " said Hollo. " And how well was it 
 said by Seneca of old' * Our very prayers are more perni- 
 cious than the curses of our enemies ; and we must pray again 
 to have our former prayers forgiven. Where is the wise man 
 that wishes to himself the wishes of his mother, his nurse, or 
 his tutor the worst of enemies, with the intention of the 
 best of friends ? We are undone if our prayers be heard ; 
 and it is our duty to pray that they may not, for they are no 
 other than well-meaning execrations. They take evil for 
 good, and one wish fights with another. Give me rather the 
 contempt of all those things whereof they wish me the 
 greatest plenty.' Again, Juvenal in his tenth satire, ac- 
 cording to the learned translation by Sir Eobert Stapylton, 
 speaks thus : 
 
 " ' To few men good and ill unmasked appear, 
 For what with reason do we hope or fear ? 
 What hast thou by thy happiest project gained, 
 But thou repent'st thy pains and wish obtained ? 
 Whose houses, th' easy gods have overthrown, 
 Granting their prayers that did those houses own.' " 
 
 " It is better said," returned the Colonel, " by an English 
 poet, Francis Quarles, in his Book of Emblems 
 
 " ' O, what a crocodilian world is this, 
 
 Composed of treach'ries and ensnaring wiles ! 
 She clothes destruction in a formal kiss, 
 
 And lodges death in her deceitful smiles ; 
 
 She hugs the soul she hates ; and there does prove 
 
 The veriest tyrant where she vows to love, 
 And is a serpent most when most she seems a dove. 
 
 ' ' Thrice happy he, whose nobler thoughts despise 
 To make an object of so easy gains 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 97 
 
 Thrice happy he, who scorns so poor a prize 
 Should be the crown of his heroic pains.' 
 
 I set my heart upon the attainment of no earthly baubles. 
 I yearned not for wealth, power, or distinction. What has 
 the immortal spirit within us to do with dust, and dross, and 
 ashes ? No w r onder that presumptuous man's path is strewed 
 with dead hopes ! I sought pardon and grace. Will these 
 things be denied ? Did heaven ever shut its ears to the 
 imploring cry of the earnest soul ? I sought that I might be 
 clothed with the wedding-garment. That was the highest 
 flight of my ambition." 
 
 " And it was gratified? " said Hollo. 
 
 " Gratified to the full," said Campion, proudly. "I coveted 
 no worldly distinctions; yea, I despised and spurned them 
 and lo ! as soon as I was clothed with the wedding-garment, 
 I was chosen to stand before kings and the mighty ones of 
 the earth. When I drew my sword I clove my way up to 
 such a height as would make most men giddy. This right 
 hand was predestined to execute a work with which the ears 
 of the world shall tingle, and which will be remembered until 
 time shall be no more and the heavens pass away as a scroll. 
 Moreover, there is another work which this hand shall yet 
 perform. But the eyes of this generation are still darkened, 
 so that they discern not the signs of the times. 'Judali 
 stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as an old lion : 
 who shall rouse him up ? ' ' 
 
 " I presume you served with the Lord Protector through- 
 out our late unhappy wars ? " said Hollo. 
 
 "We contended side by side in the same good cause," 
 replied the [Roundhead. "But even Cromwell's hand, 
 terrible and resistless as a hammer dashing the rock in 
 pieces, could not have perfected the good work without aid 
 from mine. And because I urged him on, because I helped 
 to clear the way for him, I am hated and dreaded by those 
 whom my bold, honest hand served and elevated. They fear, 
 craven ingrates as they are, that I may seek to rouse up the 
 lion of the tribe of Judah. Moreover, I am become the 
 mark of all the fiery darts of Apollyon and his hosts. Who 
 can contend with foes impalpable and insidious as the air we 
 breathe? They steal into my bosom, pouring their poison 
 into my very soul, and sometimes prevailing so far in those 
 moments when the frail Adam sinks in the mire of despon- 
 dency, and perceives not that he is surrounded by protecting 
 
98 GILDEBOY: 
 
 chariots of fire and liorses of fire, like Elislia of old that I 
 have been ready, like ungodly Saul, to call to mine armour- 
 bearer to pierce me through, or to fall upon my own sword." 
 "Nay, indeed, Colonel," ejaculated Eollo ; "these are the 
 hallucinations of a morbid fancy." 
 
 The eyes of the Roundhead, flashing forth a grey ghastly 
 light, darted on Eollo an indignant glare. " You speak in 
 ignorance and disbelief, young man," he said, sternly ; "but 
 I tell you these things are so. Better than an hour ago, as 1 
 lay courting sleep, the voice of the Tempter came to my 
 drowsy ear. I knew the hissing whisper ; and, had I given 
 heed to his glozing words, he would have whispered away my 
 soul ! He spake of the hopelessness and misery of life, and 
 sneeringly asked me was it a sign of saving grace that I 
 should live the torment of myself and the hatred and terror 
 of others ? The foul crawling serpent ! In wild confusion 
 of spirits, I sprang from the ground, and there, beneath the 
 dim night-sky, in the deep stillness, I felt the breath of the 
 fiend blowing upon my cheek like the blast from a furnace ! 
 And there passed before my face a tall, grim shadow, the 
 horror of which caused the hair of my flesh to stand up ; but 
 raising mine eyes to the seat of all holiness, I beheld a 
 brilliant planet shining down like the eye of God that ever 
 watches the world, and a prayer came to my lips ; the shadow 
 vanished away, and then I knew that I had vanquished the 
 demon." 
 
 " Is it often thus with you ? " inquired Hollo. 
 "Often!" echoed the Colonel. "Know you not that 
 Lucifer goeth about continually as a roaring lion ? A con- 
 stant dropping weareth away stone, and he flattereth himself 
 that, like the importunate widow of old, he will at last weary 
 me into compliance with his will." 
 
 The Eoundhead drew his hand slowly across his eyes, as if 
 to remove some film, and then heaving a profound sigh, 
 he staggered forward, and fell prone on the grass. Eollo 
 flew to his assistance, and raising his head, found his counte- 
 nance apparently stamped with the impress of death ! 
 
 The bivouac was instantly alarmed, and there was great 
 confusion. It was supposed at first that the Colonel had 
 expired ; but this was not the case ; he still breathed, though 
 his limbs were rigid, his eyes shut, and his cheeks cold and 
 clammy. 
 
 The march to Eannoch was thus checked. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 But had you seen the philabegs, 
 
 And skyrin tartan trews, man, 
 When in the teeth they dared our Whigs, 
 
 And Covenant true-blues man. Burns. 
 
 IT was the third day before Colonel Campion regained 
 consciousness, and even then he was so exceedingly 
 debilitated that he could scarce utter a word or lift a hand. 
 The regimental surgeons were puzzled how to deal with him. 
 Other two days passed, and his recovery was so rapid that 
 on the sixth he was convalescent, to the great relief and joy 
 of his men. The nature of the singular malady by which he 
 had been so suddenly prostrated in the midst of good health 
 no one could tell, but it was his own firm opinion that he had 
 been demon-struck, and he seemed to take some little pride 
 in assuming such to be the fact. 
 
 The march, meanwhile, had been entirely suspended, but 
 on the sixth day it was resumed. 
 
 Six days had thus been gained to Gilderoy, affording him 
 ample time to muster and marshal his strength, should he 
 have determined on open resistance. 
 
 Colonel Campion led his troops towards " the Macgregors' 
 country," obtaining, as he advanced, considerable reinforce- 
 ments of friendlv Highlanders, who cheerfully responded to 
 his summons. The march was rather slow, owing to the loss 
 of time necessarily occasioned by the raising of the new 
 levies ; but about noon on the second day after its resumption 
 the troops, with a blazing sun above their heads, approached 
 a pass that led direct to the enemy's fastnesses. 
 
 It was now known that Gilderoy had collected a force 
 around him, consisting of his own adherents and all the 
 " broken men " of the district, with the design of giving 
 battle in some one of the difficult mountain ravines through 
 which the invaders must attempt to force their way; so, as 
 the troops approached this pass, a party of Highlanders were 
 sent forward to explore its deep recesses. This party re- 
 turned with the satisfactory intelligence that not the trace of 
 an enemy could be found. 
 
 TI 2 
 
100 GILDEKOY: 
 
 The mouth of this patli was wide, but very rugged and 
 gloomy, presenting a region over which the wolf, the wild- 
 cat, and the eagle held hereditary sway. The troops advanced 
 in good order ; a strong body of Highlanders forming the 
 vanguard, the Government soldiers the centre, and the rest 
 of the auxiliaries the rear. Colonel Campion, accompanied 
 by Sir John Spiers, Jasper Rollo, Ranald Vourigh, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Gilchrist, marched at the head of his own troops. 
 
 Eor some time everything seemed to confirm the report of 
 the exploring party ; but unexpectedly the troops were 
 brought to a stand when they neared a part of the pass 
 where it suddenly contracted, while the heights on both 
 sides shelved down with greater steepness than before, and 
 though but sparsely dotted with trees, were well covered with 
 long heather and tangled brushwood. 
 
 " By my troth ! " exclaimed one of the foremost High- 
 landers, pointing onward with his broadsword, " I see the 
 glitter of a spear-head up yonder among the broom-bushes 
 above the white crag." 
 
 He had barely pronounced these words, when as if a 
 concealed enemy, exasperated at being discovered, sought to 
 snatch the advantage promised by the old superstition that 
 
 " Which spills the foremost foeman's life, 
 That party conquers in the strife"* 
 
 an arrow, shot from no weak bow somewhere in the vicinity 
 of the very spot to which he was still pointing, struck through 
 the bonnet of one of his comrades. This drew forth an angry 
 shout from the band, and an immediate halt was made. It 
 was abundantly obvious that the previous inspection of the 
 glen had been performed in the most perfunctory manner. 
 Colonel Campion and his friends hurried to the front 
 Mr. Gilchrist as eagerly as any of them. 
 
 " Gilderoy has ta'en his post wi' great skill," said Ranald 
 Vourigh. " If you be to reconnoitre, Colonel, just let IDC 
 hold this target of mine over your head ; for it's no dis- 
 paragement to a brave man to defend himself against hidden 
 foes. Ah ! see ! Tender's a spear now, and a Lochaber axe, 
 
 * It is curious to notice that Mariner in his account of the natives of the 
 Tonga Islands mentions a similar superstition as prevalent among the islanders. 
 " Killing these three men, in the first attempt upon the enemy, was by no 
 means to be considered a trifling advantage ; for it was supposed to augur the 
 protection of the gods, and great future success." See 3rd edition, vol. i. 
 p. 159. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. | A ; ! ! l(Xt - 
 
 on the right-hand side ay, and a banner too. Gilcleroy 
 stands on his defence in brave style. There's Clan Alpine's 
 pine-tree waving to the sun. Aweel, Colonel, you brawly 
 ken how to deal with armed rebels. ' E'en do and spare not.' 
 Spare not, I say." 
 
 While he was speaking, there had arisen from among the 
 bushes on the right side of the pass a spear, and a pole-axe, 
 and a banner the latter, as the light breeze slowly unrolled 
 it, displaying the well-known cognizance of the Macgregors 
 a pine-tree torn up by the roots. Voices began to call and 
 answer each other from the heights on both sides, and at 
 length there burst forth the strong notes of a bagpipe. 
 
 ' Hear you that pibroch ? " cried Hanald. '* It's the 
 Cruinneackac 7 h, or Gathering of Clan Gregor the Ruaig 
 G-hlinn BJiruin, commemorating the defeat of the Colquliouns 
 in fatal Glenfruin." 
 
 As if in obedience to the summons of the war-pipe, which 
 proclaimed defiance to the foe, spears, axes, muskets, and 
 broadswords bristled up thickly on the steep sides of the 
 narrow part of the pass, and now and then bonneted and 
 helmeted heads started up suddenly into view above the 
 bushes, and as suddenly sank and disappeared. 
 
 The Colonel was very wroth about the misleading report 
 which had been brought him by the exploring party; but his 
 courage and skill were fully equal to the emergency. " This 
 is a well-laid ambuscade," he said. " The glen is manned by 
 the enemy, and they have left the path open and free that 
 we may walk leisurely into the snare. But we are strong 
 enough to force our way, and scatter these lurking knaves. 
 It would be impossible, I dare say, to draw them by stratagem 
 from their vantage-ground ? " 
 
 Eanald Vourigh shook his head, answering: "They ken 
 their advantage and there they'll remain, as immovable as 
 the rocks around them." 
 
 " The heights," said the Colonel, examining, the enemy's 
 position through a small pocket-glass " the heights are not 
 precipitous, and may easily be scaled. Our Highlanders are 
 well accustomed to such modes of warfare." 
 
 " Should not some endeavour be made to bring the men to 
 reason P " interposed the Minister. " Send forward a trum- 
 peter, Colonel, wi' a flag o' truce, offering accommodation, 
 to prevent the effusion o' bluid." 
 
 The Colonel mused. " They are openly defying the 
 
102 GILDEROY: 
 
 authority of the Common wealth and the Lord Protector," he 
 said, " and accommodation, I am greatly afraid, is quite out 
 of the question. Nevertheless, in the interest of the captive 
 lady, and to satisfy tender or scrupulous consciences, I will 
 despatch a trumpeter offering to treat, in good faith, with 
 Gilderoy, for his being received into the Lord Protector's 
 peace, upon his complying with the following demands : 
 first, the lady's release ; second, the surrender of the actual 
 murderers of Dunavaig; third, the restoration of all the 
 plunder carried away ; and " 
 
 " Leave out the plunder," interrupted Hollo. " Raise no 
 unnecessary obstacle to a pacification." 
 
 "As you will," responded Campion. " Third and lastly, 
 then, the immediate dispersal of the men now in arms before 
 as. Will any man deny the fairness of these terms ?" 
 
 " JSTo man can question their fairness," replied the Minister. 
 " I trust they will be accepted." 
 
 " They will be scouted," said the Colonel, with a stern 
 smile. " Here, call me Ensign Trumbull and a trumpeter." 
 
 A boyish-looking trumpeter came to the front, followed by 
 an elderly ensign, who, from his dark and grim aspect, seemed 
 to have fed on gunpowder all his days. The Colonel de- 
 liberately repeated the message which was to be borne to the 
 rebels. 
 
 "I pray you, Colonel," said the Minister, " suffer me to 
 gang forward too." 
 
 " That would be against all rule and usage, sir, in such a 
 case as this," returned Campion. 
 
 "Maybe," persisted the Minister, "maybe ; but if James 
 Macgregor be yonder himsel', and comes down to give an 
 answer, I think my word will have some weight wi' him in 
 bringing about a peaceable arrangement. Dinna forbid me, 
 Colonel." 
 
 " I forbid you not," said the Colonel. " You may go, with 
 my best wishes for your success. But I am persuaded that 
 the hearts of these savages will be hardened to reject our 
 terms, in order that the sword of just vengeance may be let 
 loose against them." 
 
 " I'll go wi' the Minister," said Eanald Yourigh, as a 
 thought struck him. " Gilderoy never saw my face, and as 
 I never saw his, I would like to get a gude look o' the villain, 
 that I may ken him again should we meet in battle. See, I 
 hae borrowed a different clansman's plaid to disguise me." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 103 
 
 The Colonel consented, but with manifest reluctance. 
 
 A white handkerchief was affixed to the end of a pike to 
 serve as a flag of truce, and this extempore flag being com- 
 mitted to the hand of Ensign Trumbull, he, attended by the 
 trumpeter, and supported by Mr. Gilchrist and Ranald 
 Vourigh, advanced steadily and fearlessly up the glen to- 
 wards the verge of the enemy's position, which lay at about 
 the distance of a good bowshot. 
 
 " Minister," said Ranald Vourigh, with a careless laugh, 
 as he drew his plaid across the lower part of his face to pre- 
 vent recognition by any of the foemen who might have known 
 him previously, *' the Macgregors are a clan that you canna 
 ride waters on. I've seen as much as that we'll hae a shower 
 of bullets and arrows amang us before we win the length o' 
 yon auld birk-tree." 
 
 "Our lives are in a high hand," answered the Minister; 
 " and we that is, the ensign and mysel are on an errand 
 o' peace and mercy. But you are cherishing evil passion and 
 the thirst o' bluidshed in your bosom ; and were it not that I 
 dreaded that the Colonel would have forbidden anybody 
 going forward but the ensign, had I raised scruples on your 
 account, I would have protested against your company on 
 this perilous mission ; for what blessing can attend a man 
 that so lately set himself to countenance the abomination of 
 Popish ceremony ? " 
 
 H Macpherson, nettled by such a speech, was beginning a 
 saucy retort, when the ensign sternly imposed 1 silence. The 
 party went on ; and now a strong voice called out, in very 
 good English, from the right side of the pass, commanding 
 them to halt. They at once obeyed, drawing up almost in 
 the middle of the road. The officer waved his flag of truce, 
 and the trumpeter blew a loud clear parley. 
 
 The echoes of the trumpet-blast were but dying away in 
 the upper recesses of the defile when the figure of an armed 
 man arose from the broom-bushes a little below where the 
 banner was waving, and came slowly down the height. 
 When he had almost reached the bottom, another man 
 started up and accompanied him, and after a few more steps 
 he was joined by a third. Many plumed bonnets, iron 
 morions, and bare shaggy heads now appeared among the 
 underwood and heather on both sides, and under the bright 
 sunshine the heights glittered with arms. 
 
 "That's James .Macgregor foremost that's Gilderoy 
 
104 GTLDEEOY: 
 
 himsel," said the Minister, in a low voice. " The second is 
 a Lowlander, named Hackston ; and the third is Evan Gins 
 Mackinnon, the foster-brother of Gilderoy." 
 
 Attended closely by his two faithful adherents, Gilderoy 
 approached the little party. He was accoutred with an 
 ancient mail-coat and a steel head-piece, with a gauntlet on 
 his left hand, and carried a broadsword at his side, a target at 
 his back, and a dirk and pair of Doune pistols in his buff 
 belt. The only distinguishing marks of a Highlander about 
 him were his tartan trews and brogues. His long red hair 
 flowed gracefully on his shoulders, and his look was high 
 and commanding, with a consciousness of power in his clear 
 steady glance. 
 
 " How now," he cried, as he came up. " What message 
 do you bring ? You, Mr. Simon ? What ! have you turned 
 Eoundhead when the Gregalich are to be oppressed? Ah, 
 shame !" he added, glancing at Macpherson, " shame that I 
 should behold the tartan in such a service !" 
 
 The boyish trumpeter, exerting the utmost power of his 
 lungs, blew an ear-splitting blast, and then Ensign Trum- 
 bull delivered his summons, embellishing it with such epithets 
 as he deemed peculiarly applicable to Gilderoy, such as 
 " robber, outlaw, traitor, murderer," &c. 
 
 Gilderoy heard him calmly to an end, and then gave his 
 answer with equal calmness. " I have no desire to waste 
 time in bandying despiteful words. I utterly disown and 
 despise the authority of the usurper and regicide, Cromwell, 
 and all to whom he has delegated it. Return to your 
 captain, and tell him that I am here to defend myself. Let 
 him do his worst. I spurn his offers. Such is my answer." 
 
 " It shall be reported, Macgregor," said the ensign for- 
 mally, but with a fierce twist of his moustache. 
 
 " James, James, you are rushing upon your certain de- 
 struction," ejaculated Mr. Gilchrist, apparently in great 
 trouble of mind. " Winna you offer to make some amends ? 
 Winna ye restore the lady to her friends ? Is she living ? 
 is she well?" 
 
 " She is living, and she is well," answered Gilderoy. " But 
 hark you, Mr. Simon, I will not warrant her safety should 
 these Sassenach dogs attack us. Bear that in' mind." 
 
 " Touching the unworthy term by which you are pleased 
 to designate the officers and men of General Monk's forces," 
 said Ensign Trumbull, " I make bold to pass my word that 
 
A SCOTTISH THAD1TION. 105 
 
 you and your Highland savages will find anon that we have 
 sharp enough fangs to bite and throttle. Bear that in mind. 
 And more if so much as a single hair of the lady's head falls 
 to the ground wrongfully, fire and sword and pitiless de- 
 struction shall be let loose over the length and breadth 
 of your country, till none but the dead be left to bury the 
 dead!" 
 
 " Nobly spoken ! " exclaimed Eanald Yourigh, in whose 
 fierce and vindictive breast the presence of his foe was fast 
 fanning the flames of wrath. 
 
 "Beit as nobly done!" cried Gilderoy, with a laugh of 
 scorn, and then a furious scowl darkening his brow, he added : 
 " Prove yourselves the fellest bloodhounds that ever lapped 
 the blood of the brave ! " 
 
 " It shall be done ! Heaven's vengeance and mine cannot 
 be averted ! " burst forth the Macpherson, dropping the fold 
 of his plaid from the lower part of his face. " This day shall 
 ever be blackest in the annals of Clan Alpine. Your dastard 
 deeds, and those of your father, shall now meet their reward. 
 Your claymores shall be scattered like thistle-down before 
 the blast. Look upon me, Gilderoy ! look upon me ! I 
 once was the victim of your father's relentless hatred. I 
 once was driven from my home and my country, in misery 
 and despair. But patiently have I waited for my fortunate 
 hour, because I knew that such an hour was marked on the 
 dial of fate ; and now my hour is come. Look upon me ! 
 I am Eanald Vourigh, and this is my day of vengeance- the 
 day of which I warned your father, when his gillies fired the 
 roof above my head, and my only child the motherless in- 
 fant perished in the flames. Since the black hour in which 
 I was driven from Eannoch, the fortunes of your clan have 
 ever been crossed : your very land has lain under the evil 
 burden of the eirthear : * and now angry heaven hurries you 
 to your doom ! " 
 
 " Ealse villain ! " faltered Macgregor ; " I dreamt not how 
 foul a miscreant that plaid of a Campbell concealed. Spy, 
 traitor, outcast ! was not thy fell revenge slockened with the 
 blood of my brother, the price of whose head was paid into 
 thy mercenary hands ? " 
 
 " The price of thine own head shall follow ! " cried Mac- 
 pherson, dashing his clenched right hand into the open palm 
 
 * The curse which, according to Highland superstition, attaches to land 
 from which a tenant has been violently evicted. 
 
100 GILDEBOY: 
 
 of liis left, and then imitating the telling out of money. 
 " There's a thousand merks upon it, and the prize shall be 
 mine." 
 
 "Did not that white rag protect you," cried Gilderoy, 
 grasping the hilt of his blade, and pointing to the flag of 
 truce in Ensign Trumbull's hand, " you should never quit 
 this spot alive ! " 
 
 " I disclaim all the protection of that flag ! " shouted Ranald, 
 half-unsheathing his own weapon. 
 
 " Stop them, officer!" implored Mr. Gilchrist. 
 
 Ensign Trumbull instantly interfered, and prevented such 
 a flagrant violation of his flag of truce by ordering Ranald 
 to fall back. Here the parley ended, and both parties retired 
 the ensign rating the fiery Macpherson most soundly for 
 the gross indiscretion he had displayed. 
 
 Negotiations having failed, Colonel Campion made his 
 final arrangements, and issued his orders for battle. He felt 
 no doubt at all about the result ; for, according to his own 
 observation and that of the flag-of-truce party, the enemy, 
 though strongly posted, were not very strong in number, and 
 their main strength seemed to be disposed along the heights 
 on the right side of the pass, where, indeed, Gilderoy had 
 taken his station.. 
 
 The Colonel's arrangements were these : His own troops 
 would advance and deliver a heavy fire upon the hill-sides, 
 under cover of which columns of Highlanders would charge 
 the heights at the point of the sword; the Roundheads, then 
 occupying the open pass, would keep the enemy permanently 
 divided, and sustain and reinforce their allies wherever ne- 
 cessary. A small reserve under one of the officers, assisted 
 by Sir John Spiers, was ordered to remain in the rear, to 
 which Mr. Gilchrist now gladly betook himself. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 107 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 The English horse they were so rude, 
 They bathed their hoofs in Highland blood j 
 But our brave clans, they boldly stood 
 
 Upon the haughs of Cromdale. 
 
 But, alas ! we could no longer stay, 
 For o'er the hills we came away, 
 And sore we do lament the day 
 
 That e'er we came to Cromdale. 
 
 Old Ballad. 
 
 PLACING himself at the head of his men, Colonel Campion 
 drew his sword, exclaiming " Be our battle-word this 
 day, The Lord of Hosts and the Commonwealth I On, my 
 brethren on, and conquer!" 
 
 The Roundheads advanced in steady order, with trumpets 
 sounding, drums beating, and the red-cross banner of the 
 Commonwealth floating on the wind. Speedily a flight of 
 arrows the "short brown shafts sae meanly trimm'd " 
 hailed down amongst them, but did little execution, being 
 well resisted by the headpieces and breastplates. This dis- 
 charge was followed by a straggling fire of muskets and 
 pistols, the tongues of flame and puffs of smoke darting out 
 at short intervals along the shaggy hill-sides. The soldiers 
 halted, and delivered, in return for the warmth of this re- 
 ception, a close rattling volley, the drifting smoke of which 
 obscured the whole scene ; but the fresh breeze quickly 
 rolling away the " sulphurous canopy," evidence was at once 
 apparent of the destructive effects of their fire. Several 
 wounded Highlanders had fallen to the foot of the crags, 
 where they lay writhing in the agonies of death. Others 
 were crawling and staggering through the bushes. One tall, 
 half-naked savage, having received a shot in the throat, had 
 risen from his covert beside a projecting cliff, the edge of 
 which he grasped convulsively for a moment to steady him- 
 self; but losing his hold, he was precipitated head-foremost 
 down the steep, and dashed out his brains at the bottom. 
 The musketry and arrow-shot from above continued, and 
 great stones were hurled down with crashing force. The 
 troops firing another volley, their auxiliaries, sword in hand, 
 
108 GILDEKOY: 
 
 and holding their round targets above their heads to ward 
 off the pelting shower of missiles, charged gallantly up the 
 heights. In a few minutes the greater part of Campion's 
 men were engaged, and the reserve were ready, at a signal, 
 to join in the fray. The clangour of the claymores smiting 
 upon the targets and head-pieces was deafening ; and the 
 "Roundheads most effectively seconded the assault given by 
 their allies, by pouring volley after volley, in quick succession, 
 over their heads. 
 
 The body of Highlanders who attacked the heights on the 
 right side of the pass, where Gilderoy himself and the main 
 strength of the Macgrcgors were stationed, rushed to the 
 shock with indomitable resolution. It was to this division 
 that Ranald Vourigh and Jasper Hollo had attached them- 
 selves with their respective followers. Jasper was arrayed 
 for the conflict in the uniform and accoutrements of a Round- 
 head officer, which he had obtained through his friend the 
 Colonel. The assailants, with a yelling shout of slogans, 
 sprang up the heights, covering themselves with their targets, 
 and soon came front to front with their enemies, who, con- 
 fused by the musketry of the troops, were broken up into 
 small detached groups. A random fire of pistols was ex- 
 changed, and then claymores, spears, and pole-axes clashed 
 together in furious strife. The leaves and boughs severed 
 from the trees by the contending weapons scattered on the 
 wind. Ranald Vourigh was intent upon confronting Gilderoy, 
 but nowhere could his eager eye distinguish the chief; and he 
 threw himself against his enemies with frantic valour, hewing 
 right and left, and beating down all who opposed him. Jasper 
 Rollo followed, and his two retainers gave good proofs of 
 their sterling hardihood. The struggle was stubborn, fierce, 
 and bloody. But the Macgregors, favourable as was their 
 position, were slowly driven backwards, step by step, up the 
 well-contested steeps, with serious loss. Their banner was 
 down already. A blow from a two-handed sword had cut 
 the staff in twain, and the standard-bearer was cloven, clean 
 through his steel-lined bonnet, down to the chin, by the clay- 
 more of Ranald Vourigh, who then tore the flag asunder, spat 
 upon the rags, and trampled them under foot, with a shout 
 of triumph. 
 
 " Gilderoy ! Gilderoy ! " he cried, in Gaelic, high above 
 the roar of the battle. " Meet me, villain ; meet me ! Ranald 
 Vourigh is here ! " 
 
A SCOTTISH TKADITIOK. 100 
 
 But Gilcleroy was as yet invisible. His men gave way 
 more and more before the impetuosity of their opponents, 
 until a few of them fairly took to flight. The fugitives, 
 however, were quickly checked by some commanding voices 
 in the rear, and they doggedly returned to mingle again in 
 the conflict. At a little distance behind now appeared Evan 
 Glas, Dobbie Hackston, and Gilderoy ; and the presence of- 
 the chief restoring at once the flagging courage of his men, 
 the assailants, unexpectedly pressed by a sudden charge, were 
 borne half, way to the bottom in much disorder. Scorning 
 to yield an inch, Ranald Vourigh was left almost alone. The 
 nearest of his supporters was the retainer Elshender ; but 
 at the next moment Elshender was levelled by a stone, and 
 Jasper Hollo, who, from a distance, saw Ranald's extremely 
 perilous predicament, called out to him to retreat. Retreat ? 
 No ! Ranald was made of sterner stuff. Retreat in the very 
 presence of the enemy whom he had again and again defied? 
 Never! Raising the slogan of the CJan Vourigh Craig- 
 dhu ! (signifying the " Black Rock," the place of rendezvous 
 of the Macphersons), and whirling his broadsword around 
 his head with a rapidity that made it look like a circle of 
 light, he fearlessly threw himself across the path of Gilderoy, 
 who was coming down the height through some trees. 
 
 The two foernen glared on each other for an instant like 
 ravening wolves. Each one felt that the crisis of his fate was 
 come. 
 
 "Traitor!" cried Gilderoy, trembling with rage, "I heard 
 you shout my name. I am here, and death alone shall part 
 us." 
 
 Ranald, in whom the sense of his wrongs was boiling at 
 fever heat, hissed a defiance through his set teeth, and 
 elevating his buckler, strode up cautiously to encounter his 
 enemy, or rather enemies, for both Hackston and Evan Glas, 
 who now loomed into sight again through the eddying smoke 
 fast behind Macgregor, seemed determined to aid him in 
 the impending combat. But the heavy odds, which un- 
 questionably would have proven fatal to the lion-hearted 
 Macpherson, were speedily balanced, for Elshender, little 
 the worse for his fall, had by this time risen, and Jasper 
 Rollo had pressed to the spot, and they each singled out an 
 opponent Elshender selecting Dobbie Hackston, and Jasper 
 the foster-brother. Not another man belonging to either 
 party was at hand, as the battle was raging down towards 
 the bottom of the height. 
 
110 GILDEKOY: 
 
 With every nerve strung for a mortal struggle, Macpherson 
 and Gilderoy advanced upon each other, both having now an 
 equal advantage of ground, as they met on a somewhat broad 
 and level plat scantily covered with grass. The heavy broad- 
 swords clashed, and emitted sparks of fire. At the third 
 blow, Ranald struck his youthful antagonist on the head, and 
 but for the strength and temper of the good old head-piece 
 which Gilderoy wore, the trenchant steel, wielded by such a 
 hand, would have bitten into his brain. The stout morion 
 withstood it, and Gilderoy, though staggered by the shock, 
 was able to ward off the succeeding blow, and in returning 
 it with all his might he cleft Macpherson's buckler in twain. 
 The one half of the iron-studded disc fell clattering on the 
 ground, lianald, thus shorn of his defence, instinctively 
 stepped back, and plucking a pistol from his belt with hia 
 left hand, fired it at his enemy's breast. The bullet, which 
 even Gilderoy's target or his rnail-coat might not have been 
 sufficient to resist, it was shot so close, struck his claymore, 
 which he was brandishing at the moment, and splintered the 
 blade about half a foot from the basket-hilt, leaving only the 
 dagger-like remnant in his hand. But though his life was 
 saved from the bullet, death seemed inevitable ; and it is no 
 disparagement of the freebooter's valour to say that his 
 visage now became ashy pale. He apparently forgot that he 
 too had pistols in his belt. Seeing him almost defenceless, 
 the Macpherson swung his broadsword in the air, and rushed 
 forward to cleave him. What hope was there for Gilderoy? 
 Down came the furious blow ; but Gilderoy dexterously 
 covering himself with his buckler, was fortunate enough to 
 escape a wound, though the shock was such as to crush him 
 to the earth. With a triumphant yell, Ranald was dealing 
 the fatal stroke, when his foot was tripped by the fragment 
 of his broken target, and he stumbled in his eagerness and 
 fell above his antagonist. 
 
 The two combatants grappled each other in all the 
 intensity of mortal hatred. Their swords slipped from their 
 hands ; they attempted to draw their dirks ; but that was 
 impossible. Locked in a desperate choking clasp, they 
 rolled over and over each other down the declivity until a 
 large stone arrested their descent ; and then, as if by mutual 
 accord, they relaxed their hold, and scrambled to their 
 feet. They both unsheathed their dirks ; but though almost 
 within arms' length of each other, they stood panting, with 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. Ill 
 
 glaring eyes, as if gathering breath to make the deadly 
 spring. 
 
 A second encounter, however, was prevented by a new 
 turn of the battle below. The Macgregors were worsted 
 again, and now came surging up the hill-side in full flight, 
 llanald Vourigh was thrown down in the confusion ; but 
 Gilderoy was borne away, like a waif, by the tide of his 
 followers. Jasper Rollo and Elshender were also separated 
 from their opponents, who saw it prudent to join in the 
 retreat. A crowd of Campion's Highlanders, intermingled 
 with military, crowded up in hot pursuit, and the height was 
 won. When Ranald Vourigh reached the summit, he was 
 received with thundering acclamations ; for his dauntless 
 bravery had been witnessed by most of his friends. 
 
 Victory, which had thus crowned the efforts of the right 
 division of the assailants, did not fail also to crown those of 
 the left. The enemy's force, posted on the left side of the 
 pass, being weak and ill commanded, quickly lost heart, and 
 dispersed across the mountains. 
 
 The main body of Campion's troops, while rendering im- 
 portant service in the conflict, had hitherto been but partially 
 engaged hand to hand ; but their full share of that sort of 
 work was about to be afforded them. Gilderoy, repulsed 
 as we have seen from the main height, which was divided 
 from the succeeding one by a deep gully, probably filled in 
 winter by a torrent, but now quite dry and strewed with 
 large stones, drew off his men across the water-course, and 
 stationing a few along its edge, under cover of the trees and 
 bushes, to prevent the pursuers passing over, he prepared 
 for a last coup. Collecting together his whole available 
 forces, he gave a few hurried orders, and led them down in a 
 mass against the Roundheads. It was the last effort of 
 despair. 
 
 The soldiers were taken, completely by surprise. They 
 had no premonition of the onslaught, tor some minutes 
 previously not a single hostile shot had been fired ; and they 
 were concluding, from the shouts of their friends on either 
 hand, that the victory was decided, when the Macgregors 
 broke down upon them in grim silence. A bloody hand-to- 
 hand conflict ensued. Attacked in front and on one flank, 
 the column was pierced here and there. The long pike and 
 musket-barrel seemed unequal to resist the claymore and two- 
 handed sword. The trumpets sounded for the advance of 
 
112 GILDEBOY: 
 
 the reserve, which was hurried to the spot by the officer in 
 command, and the knight of Spierhaughs. The contest 
 became dreadful. Sir John Spiers, surrounded by some of 
 his personal followers, pressed his way to the front to 
 support Colonel Campion ; but he soon found cause to 
 repent his temerity. He was struck down and trodden on ; 
 and Gilderoy, perceiving his fall, commanded that he should 
 be taken at all hazards and carried away a prisoner. The 
 seizure of the knight was very difficult ; but it was 
 eventually accomplished, and he was dragged off, apparently 
 more dead than alive, by four of the Macgregors. 
 
 But the descent of the auxiliaries from the heights decided 
 the struggle, and the Macgregors were swept away like 
 chaff. Gilderoy had staked everything on the chance of 
 overwhelming the Roundheads by a sudden onset ; and his 
 game was lost. The Macgregors, we say, were scattered in 
 irretrievable defeat, and even Gilderoy himself narrowly 
 escaped capture. The pursuit was not very close ; for 
 Colonel Campion, looking to his losses, which were by no 
 means light, was anxious to keep his troops compactly 
 together, in place of allowing them to disperse in harassing 
 the enemy's retreat. 
 
 The smoke of battle soon cleared away, and the summer 
 sun looked brightly down on the scene of slaughter and 
 triumph. The victors were still shouting in honour of their 
 victory. But unfortunately some of the dry furze on the 
 right-hand heights caught fire from smouldering matches 
 and wadding scattered about, and burst into a broad crack- 
 ling blaze, which, impelled by the wind, spread with incon- 
 ceivable rapidity, so that in a few minutes the glen was 
 filled again with dense clouds of smoke. The burning ashes 
 floating on the breeze speedily communicated the con- 
 flagration to the other side, and the scene of conflict became 
 another Tophet. 
 
 "Save the wounded! save the wounded!" cried Colonel 
 Campion. " Save them all save friend and foe alike ; for 
 there is no respect of persons with our God who hath given 
 us the victory." 
 
 The conflagration, however, waxed so vehement that the 
 soldiers found it impossible fully to execute the humane 
 command. Many of the wounded were flinging themselves 
 out from amongt the blazing bushes all were shrieking for 
 help. The soldiers did their best, but several miserable 
 
A SCOTTISH TIIADIT10N. 113 
 
 wretches had to be abandoned to their fate. The breeze 
 still fanned the flames, and rolled the smoke through the 
 pass as through the mouth of a furnace. The intolerable 
 heat and smoke forced the troops to retire to a distance, 
 carrying with them all the wounded whom they had been 
 able to rescue. The conflagration, however, was not of long 
 continuance ; for ridges of naked rock effectually stopped its 
 progress, and it speedily burned itself out. 
 
 When the troops returned to the scene, they found the 
 bottom of the pass swarming with adders, which had been 
 driven from the hill-sides by the fire. The most of the 
 wounded who had been left behind had perished. Much 
 regret was expressed for the capture of Sir John Spiers. 
 All the other men of mark belonging to Campion's force 
 were safe ; but the general casualties were heavy. 
 
 " The axe has been laid to the root of Gilderoy's power," 
 said the Colonel, " and we shall now deal out to him the full 
 measure of justice." 
 
 " He'll never mak' head again/' said Eanald Yourigh 
 "Daft fool! to think that wi'twa three hundred men at his back 
 he would contend and cope wi' the power o' General Monk !" 
 
 " But," said Mr. Gilchrist, who had followed the rest after 
 all danger was past, ' winna the fiend o' revenge enter into 
 him, and possess him, and urge him on to take the life o' the 
 puir innocent lady ? It's very true, Colonel, that you hae 
 dashed his power in pieces like unto a potter's vessel ; but 
 we're as far frae our purpose as ever ; for how is the lady to 
 be rescued?" 
 
 " She is in God's hands," replied Campion ; " let us do our 
 duty fearlessly, and I doubt not that all will go well." 
 
 " I fervently hope so," said Kollo. " The lady's safety is 
 our dearest care." 
 
 "Hest content in your hope," returned Campion. " Her 
 death cannot avail him. I said so from the beginning, and I 
 say it again. Rest content." 
 
 " Sir John Spiers too," said Eollo. " I fear the good 
 knight is in an equally perilous plight." 
 
 " Hum ! " uttered Campion, with astonishing indifference. 
 " Do you know, sir," added he, drawing Jasper aside to 
 some distance, " do you know that this morning, just as the 
 cry of a heath-fowl awoke me from deep slumber, a strong 
 presentiment darted into my mind that defeat and disgrace 
 awaited us?" 
 
114 GILDEHOY: 
 
 " It has proved a false one," answered Eollo, smiling. 
 
 " False as the false demon who breathed it into my soul," 
 replied the visionary. " Nevertheless, I confess to you that 
 my confidence was much shaken ; and when I marched into 
 this wild pass, which resolute men, holding their lives in 
 their hands for the sake of a great cause, might successfully 
 defend against hosts, I marched as to a grave which was 
 yawning for me. The power of the tempter was strong ; 
 but at length my faith waxed stronger, and see how great a 
 mercy has been vouchsafed to me. I have triumphed, 
 despite the malice of Satan, and the treason which lurked 
 and plotted in our midst." 
 
 "Treason, say you?" cried Eollo, in astonishment. 
 
 " Yea, treason ; I speak advisedly. Who could have 
 acquainted Gilderoy with the particular direction of our 
 march, seeing that according to the plans which -we arranged 
 before setting out from Spierhaughs we repeatedly changed 
 our route for the very purpose of misleading him?" 
 
 " Doubtless he had spies and scouts." 
 
 " Doubtless he had ; but Satan must have gained over 
 some one in our own camp." 
 
 It was difficult for Jasper to decide in his own mind 
 whether this singular suspicion of treason was not like the 
 rest of the Roundhead's visionary prepossessions. " Upon 
 whom does your suspicion rest ?" he inquired. 
 
 " One of my sentries," responded Campion, " saw a dumb 
 stripling belonging to the household of Spierhaughs leave 
 the castle secretly and in disguise shortly after we had left 
 Sir John's supper-table." 
 
 "What of that?" 
 
 " And see here is a scrap of paper which a soldier found 
 lying on the hill-side over yonder. Attend to it, for it 
 unravels a deep and guilty mystery." The Colonel took a 
 crumpled, blackened scrap of writing-paper from his pocket, 
 and presented it to Eollo. It seemed to be a fragment of a 
 letter, but was so disfigured by the tread of feet, and 
 damaged by fire, that Eollo could not, at the first hasty 
 glance, decipher a single word of the writing which it 
 contained, He returned it without offering any remark. 
 
 "Examine it more narrowly," said Campion, holding it 
 out in the sunshine, " and you will make a strange discovery. 
 Pshaw! your master would be private," he said, half 
 angrily, waving back the retainers Elshender and Blackburn, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 115 
 
 who were sauntering up. " This- matter," he went on, 
 speaking to Hollo in a low voice, " must be a secret betwixt 
 us. Lend me your close attention for a moment. See you 
 not that there has been a signature? It is partly torn 
 away ; but what remains ? ' piers;' and above, ' march 
 this morning ;' and again, ' by the pass of.' Hah ! do I 
 enlighten you ? Then, * arm with all speed ;' and, * I will 
 strive to delay.' Now, was not that signature, in its 
 entirety, ' John Spiers ?' I can swear to his handwriting. 
 Was not this a missive, despatched in haste to Gilderoy, 
 betraying our plans and urging resistance ? Said I not well 
 that Satan had gained over one of our friends ? And ' I 
 will strive to delay,' too. What do such words betoken ? 
 Jasper Hollo, we have been foully betrayed. Have we not 
 good reason to conclude that my sudden illness was caused 
 by some drugs treacherously mixed in my cup by Sir John 
 Spiers when we supped with him in the wood not per- 
 chance with the deadly intent of destroying my life, but 
 with the design of delaying the march of the expedition ? " 
 
 " Can all this be true of Sir John Spiers !" exclaimed Hollo. 
 
 " His own handiwork vouches his guilt," cried Campion. 
 " But say nothing till we sift this matter farther," 
 
 " But what could have induced Sir John Spiers to act a 
 part so disgraceful ? " 
 
 " There you are at fault," said Campion, with a dark 
 smile. " During my short sojourn in Spierhaughs Castle, 
 about twelve months ago, Sir John opened to me some of 
 the workings of his inmost heart. He spoke of the lady 
 Annabel Rutherford, of her beauty and fortune. I gathered 
 from his discourse that he had been her suitor, and was 
 rejected, and was ready to move heaven and earth to gain, 
 her hand. Now, Jasper Hollo, what think you ? May not 
 he have betrayed us to the Macgregors in order that the 
 lady might be kept out of the reach of her friends until he 
 had matured measures to force her into wedlock with him ? 
 The moment I perceived this scrap of paper the whole plot 
 ay, and darker suspicions too flashed into my mind." 
 
 All this fell on Hollo like a thunderbolt. Until now he 
 had never heard a word about Sir John's suit to Annabel, 
 and the bare thought had never entered his brain. " My 
 kinsman's murder and the lady's abduction," he exclaimed, 
 " may have been planned by this felon knight, and perpe- 
 trated in his interest." 
 
 i 2 
 
116 GILDEEOY: 
 
 The conversation was here cut short by a crash behind 
 them, on the left side of the glen. On looking round, they 
 saw a wounded Highlander of Gilderoy's party, who in 
 attempting apparently to crawl down the height in quest of 
 water from a small spring or well-ee, at the bottom, had 
 fallen headlong, and his iron breast-plate striking against 
 the stones had made the crash which attracted their atten- 
 tion. The poor wretch a stalwart, nay, a gigantic figure 
 tittered a heavy groan, and struggled in vain to rise. Moved 
 by compassion, the Colonel and B,ollo hastened to his assist- 
 ance, and lifted him into a sitting posture among the stones. 
 His life blood was oozing from a gash in the breast, which 
 he had striven ineffectually to stanch with the end of his 
 plaid. Never had they beheld so wild and horrible a visage 
 as that which, distorted by pain and smeared with blood, 
 was now languidly raised towards them. All that the man 
 could falter for some moments was "Water, water!" The 
 Colonel ran, and picking up a morion, filled it to the brim at 
 the well, and offered him the clear sparkling beverage. But, 
 to the Colonel's profound astonishment, the mountaineer 
 suddenly thrust back the extempore goblet from his lips, 
 though they were parching for a draught. 
 
 " Away with it !" he exclaimed, in accents of strong 
 emotion, while his glazing eyeballs lighted up with a lurid 
 lustre. " Away ! There is murder upon that hand. The 
 blood of the Lord's anointed reeks upon it. Away ! Your 
 touch has polluted the blessed water from the spring, and 
 turned it into quick poison. I would not wet my lips from 
 that goblet no, for a thousand head of black cattle." 
 
 Campion dropped the morion at his feet, and steadfastly 
 regarded the mountaineer with somewhat of his old insane 
 glare. " How came you by that knowledge ? " he cried. 
 "Hollo," he added, turning to his friend, "you see and 
 hear for yourself. This is but another of Satan's buffetings. 
 He hath opened a mouth of reviling against me." 
 
 "The knowledge came upon me like a beam of light," 
 said the dying man. "My father was gifted with the 
 TashitauragJi. The gift became mine. I inherited it with 
 his brown locks, and hazel eyes, and dauntless heart that 
 ever hated the Saxon. Yes, I see the blood upon your 
 hand. It is the blood that cannot be effaced. Water will 
 not wash it away, neither can steel cut, or fire burn it out. 
 An:l I see the same hand raising itself against your own 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 117 
 
 life. Hark ! the dcaili-peal resounds through the midnight 
 streets ! I would not have your weird for a hundred forests 
 of deer. They shall say of me, when I am gone, that I was 
 ever true and loyal to my chief; but thou hence to thy 
 doom in yonder stately city of the south !" 
 
 He spread forth his hands, and while a slogan yell 
 struggled from his lips, he fell forward on his face, and, 
 after a short convulsion, the spirit forsook its earthly 
 tenement. 
 
 Hollo had been much struck by the Colonel's acquiescence 
 in the charge of being implicated in some great mysterious 
 crime, and he gazed on him with undefinable feelings of awe. 
 
 "It was an evil spirit speaking by the lips of that lump of 
 clay," said the Roundhead, disdainfully touching the corpse 
 with his foot. " But I appeal to Him who knoweth all 
 hidden things to justify me in the eyes of this stiff-necked 
 and rebellious generation." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Hence with thy brew'd enchantments, foul deceiver ! 
 Hast thou betray 'd my credulous innocence 
 With visor'd falsehood and base forgery ? 
 And wouldst thou seek again to trap me here ? 
 
 Milton's " Comus." 
 
 "TTTHEN will they come back, grandmither? Will 
 V V there be a lang war wi' the Sassenach, as in Glen- 
 cairn's time ? Oh, the tower is silent and cheerless when the 
 lads are awa'. The hills yonder ha'ena the same bonny warm 
 glow when the* sun sets behind them, and the e'ening star 
 hasna the same sweet blink as when a' was blythe around us. 
 There's a weary sough in the very wind, grandmither, blaw 
 it ever sac gently." 
 
 The speaker was Marion o' the Moor, who, disconsolate 
 and pale, sat looking from a casement of the Macgregors' 
 tower. The only other person in the chamber was her grand- 
 
118 GILDEEOY: 
 
 mother, who was busying herself in straining some boiled 
 herbs, probably of a medicinal character, into a bowl. 
 
 " There can be nae lang war, but just a bit skirmish in 
 some strait glen, and the Sassenach captain will be driven 
 back the road he cam', and that will mak' an ; end o' it," 
 answered Judith. " Aweel," she added, after a short pause, 
 "this gear o' mine is the best that ever I brewed, for the 
 herbs and plants were gathered in the prime o' their virtue ; 
 and I'll warrant it will do the lady muckle gude." 
 
 " But if the Saxons come in great strength, and there be 
 a great battle," pursued the girl, " how few o' our lads may 
 return to us ! and, except the guards o' the tower, every one 
 is away that was able to wield a broadsword or draw a bow." 
 
 " Hoot, lassie ! " said the crone, querulously. " Great 
 battle or sma' battle, the claymore will be victorious, and 
 Gilderoy will return wi' honour and glory." 
 
 " Both Gilderoy and Evan were sad and downcast when 
 they went away," said Marion. "No one was heartsome 
 but Dobbie ; and he's heartsome at a' times. I wish Gi]de- 
 roy had some o' Dobbie's blythe spirit." 
 
 " Gilderoy was never like himsel' after that strange lady 
 cam' here," said Judith, laying aside the bunch of herbs, and 
 beginning to stir the potion in the bowl with a horn spoon. 
 " It's her that's brought a' this feud. She aye threatened 
 that her kinsfolk wad rise, and they've risen indeed." 
 
 " But you ken, grandmither, it wasna wi' her ain will that 
 she cam' amang us ; and though she has brought us muckle 
 ill luck, we canna blame her," returned Marion. " She's 
 pinning awa' through sorrow." 
 
 " Aweel, lassie, I am grieved to see her ailing," said Judith, 
 in a softer tone, " and I'm exerting my best skill to mak' her 
 richt again ; for I can save life, as you ken." 
 
 " Is the drink ready ? " inquired Marion. 
 
 "Ay, ay," answered Judith, stirring the liquid faster. 
 " It's a healthsome drap. I'll tak' it up the stair to her 
 mysel' ; for I maun gi'e her a' the directions about the taking 
 o'it." 
 
 " Tell me, and I'll tak' it," said Marion. " You and her 
 dinna agree when you meet ; and she'll accept the medicine 
 frae my hand wi' more more " 
 
 " More what? Could she think that I meant to do her an 
 ill turn ? Sa, na ; I maun tak' it up mysel'. You wad for- 
 get the directions, bairn." 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 119 
 
 " She is more affable wi' me, you ken," persisted Marion. 
 
 " Dinna insist about it, lassie," said her grandmother ; " for 
 there shall naebody tak' it up but mysel'." 
 
 Marion rose from her chair at the casement, and saunter- 
 ing forward to the small table at which her grandmother was 
 standing with her medicinal bowl, she looked at the mixture. 
 " It has a queer colour," she remarked. " And whatna scum 
 is that on the tap ? She'll never put it to her lips unless 
 you tak' aff that scum." 
 
 " Sit down, you fool ! " cried Judith. " The scum is tho 
 very proof o' the mixture's virtue." 
 
 " Let me taste it ! " said Marion, while a flush appeared 
 on her brow. 
 
 " Let you taste it ! " cried the crone with a start, and 
 forcing a giggle. " You maun set up for a woman o' skill, 
 indeed ! Let^oz* taste it ! Behave yourself. Stand back, 
 I say ; or, deil be on me, an' you persist in meddling wi' 
 things that dinna concern you, I'll fling bowl and a* in your 
 face." 
 
 " Grandmither," returned Marion, in a subdued but em- 
 phatic tone, " I'll be at a word wi' you. Unless you let me 
 taste that drink, it shall never gang up the stair. Let me 
 taste it. Gie me the bowl in my ain hand." 
 
 Judith straightened herself up with a fierce and darkening 
 countenance, but instantly thereafter laughed aloud. " The 
 lassie 's in a creel," she said. " What has putten you upon 
 tasting a sick woman's drink? Aweel, then, hae I'se no 
 hinder you ; for wha can guide a wilfu' woman ? Hae, see, 
 rnak a muckle mouth, and drink it to the bottom." 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, she lifted the bowl in one 
 hand, and held it to Marion's head, doubtless in expectation 
 that she would recoil from it with loathing ; but finding that, 
 on the contrary, the girl was eager to taste the mixture, 
 Judith drew back the bowl, and hurrying across the chamber 
 to the open casement, flung it out with great violence. This 
 done she seated herself on a low chair without speaking a 
 single word. 
 
 " Why have you spilt the gude mixture ? " exclaimed 
 Marion, all in a tremor. 
 
 " You've spoilt your gude fortune," answered the crone, 
 with an air of indifference. " The lady may live or die for 
 me, 'and Gilderoy may come hame and make her his bride 
 without me moving hand or foot against it." 
 
120 GILDEEOY: 
 
 " I doubt/' replied Marion, " I doubt, frae your ain words, 
 that my fears were not without reason." 
 
 " Pears ? What did you fear ? " 
 
 " That there was that there was something in the bowl." 
 
 " Something in the bowl ? Aweel, you've spoilt your gude 
 fortune. Isna that woman a curse to us a', and a terror baith 
 day and nicht ? Though she were lying in her shroud before 
 you and she wad mak a bonny corp wad you be the worse 
 for that?" 
 
 " Ah ! " cried Marion, as the tears burst over her cheeks, 
 " you winna halt till you bring down the wrath and curse o' 
 heaven upon us baith. Hae you forgotten that there's a 
 God that punishes a' sin, whether o' thocht or deed ? " 
 
 " So Mess John says ; but I dinna ken," responded Judith, 
 with a light laugh. " The Roman priests are a mair comfort- 
 able people, for they can gi'e you clear scores for a sma' fee, 
 be you living or be you dead ; and they're the cattle for my 
 siller when I need them. I canna awa' wi' your new-fangled 
 doctrines and your new-fangled ministers." 
 
 " But," said Marion, " remember this if onything comes 
 ower the lady at your hands, I'll leave you for ever and seek 
 a hame whaur ne'er ane kens me. The lady has done us nae 
 wrang, and I'll no see a wrang done her, though she should 
 be Gilderoy's bride the morn. Mind my words." 
 
 " I'll mind them, dinna fear," responded Judith, smiling 
 sardonically. " I thocht I was building up your fortune ; 
 but tak' your will 'I'll put out my hand nae farther." 
 
 " You can never, never, build up my fortune by murder ! " 
 ejaculated Marion, through her sobs and tears. 
 
 " Murder ! " repeated the old hag, as she sprung from her 
 seat, and stamped her foot in impotent rage. " What will 
 you say if, at this moment, Gilderoy and your brither be 
 lying stark and stiff aneath the s words o' this woman's friends." 
 
 "God forbid ;" shrieked Marion in dismay. "And God 
 save a' kin o' mine frae deadly guilt ! " 
 
 And she fled from Judith's presence, and ran straight to 
 Annabel's room. 
 
 Annabel was sitting pensively by the window of her prison 
 chamber. It was a hot still day the distant mountains dim 
 with a sultry haze, and not a breath of air to stir the leaves 
 of the aspen. The swallows wheeling around the battlements 
 of the ancient tower imparted to the sunny silent scene the 
 only appearance of animation which it possessed. 
 
A SCOTTISH TKADITION. 121 
 
 The " iron of captivity" was entering into the lady's soul. 
 Her spirits had sunk, and her health was failing ; in fact, for 
 the last day or two she had been somewhat indisposed, and it 
 was in consequence of this slight indisposition that Judith 
 had set about preparing a "healing mixture," the fate of 
 which is already recorded. 
 
 Marion had dried her cheeks before she presented herself, 
 but Annabel saw at once that she had been weeping, and 
 therefore inquired, with much anxiety, whether any tidings 
 of Gilderoy had arrived. 
 
 " There's nae word yet," answered Marion, " but I hope 
 there will be nae bluidshed after a', for maybe Gilderoy and 
 your kinsfolk may come to a bargain, and part without 
 blows." 
 
 " If my friends were all with whom Gilderoy had to deal, 
 there might soon be a bargain," replied the lady ; " but the 
 troops of General Monk, I am afraid, will refer the quarrel 
 to none other arbitrament than that of the sword, and the 
 issue will probably be ruinous to the Macgregors." 
 
 These depressing words caused the tears to start again into 
 Marion's eyes. 
 
 " Whatever betide, my good Marion," said Annabel, 
 gently, "I pray Heaven that your own kinsmen may be 
 spared. Ah! who is this!" she ejaculated, having that 
 instant turned her glance to the window. "Look, girl! 
 Yonder comes a messenger. One of your own clan. And, 
 as I live ! he is the bearer of evil tidings. His spear is 
 broken ^his head is bandaged. There has been a battle, and 
 Gilderoy has lost the day ! " 
 
 Marion flew to the window, which looked towards the glen, 
 and saw a Highlander making for the tower in great haste, 
 but evidently much fatigued. He was followed at a distance 
 by some women from the clachan, who were tearing their 
 hair and wringing their hands as they ran. 
 
 Turning on Annabel a look of speechless agony, Marion 
 tottered from the chamber, and went down to the outer gate 
 of the tower, which was just in the act of being thrown open 
 by several of the guards to receive the messenger. As the 
 latter approached, Marion recognised in him one of the 
 personal and favourite followers of Gilderoy. He was bare- 
 headed, but with a blood-stained bandage about his temples, 
 lie rushed breathlessly to the open gate ; but as soon as his 
 eyes met those of Marion, he stopped, and leaning heavily 
 
122 GILDEEOY : 
 
 on his broken spear, exclaimed, in his native tongue " Woe, 
 maiden, woe ? The iron hand of the Sassenach hath smitten 
 us ; and all is lost ! " 
 
 Having said thus much, he bowed his head upon the spear- 
 shaft, and almost sank to the ground ; but Marion, grasping 
 him by the shoulder, demanded "And how fared it with 
 Gilderoy ? " 
 
 "I saw him in the thickest of the fight, bearing him 
 bravely," he answered ; " but we were all broken, and I saw 
 him no more." 
 
 " Slain ! slain ! " shrieked the girl, clasping her hands 
 together. " Wretch ! " she cried, with gleaming eyes, as 
 horror and anguish gave place to indignation. " Base kerne ! 
 and did you forsake your chief in the midst of danger, and 
 leave him to perish unavenged, that you might preserve your 
 own worthless life to be a burden and a curse to yourself? 
 Dastard slave, dare you hold up your face in the light of the 
 sun, and confess that you left your chief to die under the 
 feet of the foe ? " 
 
 The man responded only with a deep groan and a rueful 
 shake of his head. 
 
 The alarm now brought out the other inmates of the tower 
 old Judith and several clansmen and domestics. The 
 mourning women of the clachan also coming up one of 
 whom carried a sickly infant at her breast, and dragged a 
 half-naked squalling urchin behind her by the hand they 
 all flew upon the messenger, like so many tigresses robbed of 
 their whelps, demanding to be told of the fate of those near 
 and dear to them, who had gone forth with Gilderoy to meet 
 and repel the Roundhead invaders. Their outcries deafened 
 aud stupefied the poor man, and he staggered to the wall, 
 and leaned his back against it for support. 
 
 " How can I answer, when you will not cease your 
 tongues ? " he cried. " Stand back, and give me breath to 
 speak. Back, and give me free air." 
 
 They stood back indeed, but with no abatement of their 
 bewildering clamour 
 
 The man told his story betimes. On the previous day the 
 clan had been routed by the government troops, but he could 
 give no certain information about Gilderoy or any of his 
 principal followers, Separated from all his comrades in the 
 flight, badly wounded, and frequently falling dow r n exhausted 
 by loss of blood, it was with the utmost difficulty that ho 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADIT10N. 123 
 
 Lad been able to make his way homewards. " You need not 
 bend your looks of scorn on me, daughter of Grey Colin," 
 he added, " for I fought as long as the men stood together, 
 and my single arm could not turn the fortune of the day." 
 
 " But you could have died with your chief," retorted 
 Marion. " My brother, I am sure, would never quit his 
 side." 
 
 " Did the enemy pursue ? " inquired Judith. 
 
 " I know not," answered the messenger. 
 
 " The whole band cannot have been cut off," cried a clans- 
 man. " Where are all the survivors of the battle ? " 
 
 " They did not fly so fast as this coward," said Marion. 
 " They would rally again to defend the next pass." 
 
 " That is what your Sassenach dame has brought upon us," 
 said Judith, in her grandchild's ear. " Fire and sword, ruin 
 and desolation, will now spread over our country, and all for 
 her sake." 
 
 The fugitive sank down in a swoon at the side of the gate, 
 and the wailing of the women grew louder and more piteous 
 than ever. 
 
 Marion quitted the spot, and hurried once more to the 
 captive lady's chamber. Rushing in distractedly, she burst 
 into a fit of weeping. " They are all slain ! " she sobbed, 
 unconsciously using the Gaelic, in which she had spoken with 
 the fugitive, and then as unconsciously reverting to the 
 Scottish Doric. " They are a' slain, every man o' them. 
 Gilderoy, my brither, Hackston, and them a'. They'll never 
 come back. I'll never see their faces again. There was a 
 great battle, and the clan fled. May Heaven ha'e mercy 
 on me ! " 
 
 " And on me ! " cried Annabel, whose tears broke forth 
 also. " Oh, that I had never lived to see this doleful day ! " 
 
 "But you why should you greet and sorrow?" said 
 Marion. "You ha'e lost naebody, madam. But a' my 
 friends are slain and I am left alane." 
 
 " Does the man say positively that Gilderoy and your 
 brother fell ? " asked Annabel. 
 
 " The man ! False kerne ! dinna speak o' him, madam. 
 There had been mony like him mony had deserted their 
 chief in the battle. Oh, woman, woman ! my heart is 
 breaking ! " 
 
 Annabel snatched the sobbing helpless girl in her arms, 
 and, sitting down on a chair, pressed her tenderly to her 
 
124 GILDEROY: 
 
 breast. Marion's grief, breaking through, all control, was 
 violent and heartrending, and for some time she wept and 
 lamented bitterly, deaf and insensible to all the lady's 
 entreaties and condolements. The unhappy pair were in 
 this posture when old Judith stole into the chamber, and 
 startled them both with her sharp tremulous voice, instinct 
 with insensate wrath and hatred. 
 
 " You've been the curse o' Gilderoy ! " she cried, shaking 
 her clenched hand at the lady. " You've wrought the ruin 
 o' the clan. There's no a house in llannoch but will ring this 
 day wi' lamentation the bairn in the cradle for its father, 
 the mither for her son, the widow for her husband, the 
 sister for her brither, and the maiden wi' the silken snood for 
 her betrothed. Woman, you ha'e brought on us a curse 
 waur than that o' hell ! " 
 
 " Would to God that I had never entered within these 
 walls ! " faltered Annabel. 
 
 "You may never quit them a living woman," retorted 
 Judith, fiercely. 
 
 Marion raised herself from Annabel's embrace, and bade 
 her grandmother depart. " There's mair need for you to 
 gang and comfort the puir women greeting at the gate." 
 
 " That Sassenach dame," cried Judith, " has cast glamour 
 ower you, lassie, as she cast it ower Gilderoy. And there 
 you'll mak' your lament to tier ! For shame ! You dinna see 
 the web o' disgrace and ruin that she is weaving around you ; 
 and you ha'ena power to break it ; but I'll cut it asunder wi' 
 the cauld steel ! " 
 
 "Leave us, I tell you ! " said Marion, indignantly, as she 
 waved her hand towards her grandmother. "You canna 
 touch her life but through mine." 
 
 Judith stepped back to the open door, and looking down 
 the stair, called out " Murdoch, Murdoch Moolach, come 
 hither! " and then broke into a hollow rattling laugh. 
 
 A heavy footstep came up the stair, and a shaggy Highland 
 savage shuffled into the chamber, armed with a drawn 
 basket-hilted broadsword. The man was clad in ragged 
 tartans. His brajvny brown arms were bare of any other 
 covering save short tufts of coal-black hair from the gnarled 
 wrists to the shoulders ; and through the tangled locks that 
 hung about his face, mingling with his moustache and beard, 
 his fiery eyeballs glittered like those of a wild beast. He 
 entered the chamber with a menacing growl, turning his 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 125 
 
 restless eyes to Judith as if awaiting her commands, while 
 his left hand played with the butts of two steel pistols sticking 
 in. his belt. 
 
 "You see that Sassenach sorceress, Murdoch?" said 
 Judith, in the Gaelic language, pointing to Annabel. " Cut 
 her down. Spare her not. Cleave her, and cast out her 
 carcase to feed the carrion crows ! " 
 
 The hirsute savage gave another growl, and brandished his 
 weapon ; but Marion started forward with outstretched arms 
 in front of Annabel to prevent his attack. A fiendish smile 
 passed over his wolfish gaping lips. " Not you, my pretty 
 girl, not you," he said. " 111 befall the hand that strikes at 
 you. Keep to the one side, and let me cut her down." 
 
 With the rapidity of thought Marion darted in upon him, 
 plucked both pistols from his belt, sprang back again, cocked 
 them, and presented them full in his face. The hideous mis- 
 creant laughed in scorn, and playfully held up his left hand 
 as if to intercept the threatened shots. 
 
 "They are loaded," cried Marion. "I know by their 
 weight." 
 
 "They are toys for a man's hands alone," said the ruffian, 
 " and not for the small white hands of a pretty damsel. Give 
 me back the dags." 
 
 " Unless you withdraw, you shall have their contents in 
 your brain," said Marion. " I give you warning." 
 
 " Are you afraid of a child, Murdoch Moolach ? " cried 
 Judith, tauntingly. " Do my bidding like a man." 
 
 Hairy Murdoch advanced a step with his uplifted broad- 
 sword ; but Marion, true to her word, pulled the trigger of 
 one of the pistols. The report shook the chamber, and filled 
 it with smoke. A yell from Murdoch seemed to indicate 
 that the bullet had taken fatal effect ; but it had merely 
 grazed his left temple, and shorn away a lock of hair. He 
 had fallen back to the doorway, in which he now stood, 
 rubbing his temple with one hand, which, when he withdrew 
 it, appeared filled with blood. Judith, aghast at her grand- 
 child's audacity, crept towards him. A war of passions 
 raged within him, but he durst not retaliate on his fair 
 assailant ; besides, she had still another pistol, and her 
 second aim might be more unerring than the first. 
 
 "If a man had drawn so much as that little drop of my 
 blood," he said, stretching out his left hand from the tip of 
 the middle finger of which a thick gout fell to the floor, "I 
 
126 GILDEHOY: 
 
 would have cleft him to the breast-bone. But you are the 
 favourite of the clan, the flower of Rannoch, and the darling 
 of Gilderoy and you did this in your sport." 
 
 " Begone ! " cried Marion, in a voice of high command. 
 " Begone, or you shall have my next bullet through your 
 heart." 
 
 " A lovely maiden cannot be resisted," said the ruffian. 
 " May we soon be friends again." 
 
 With these words he hustled out of the doorway, and ran 
 down the stair. Judith followed in his wake. Marion laid 
 the pistols on the table, shut, and secured the door, and 
 then, with an agonizing cry, flung herself upon Annabel's 
 breast. 
 
 During this fearful scene Annabel had stood silent and 
 motionless. Paralysed by the apparent inevitability of death, 
 she had passively awaited the stroke of doom ; but now, 
 when the danger was past, and Marion sobbing on her bosom, 
 she found words to express her feelings, and thanked the 
 faithful girl with a widely impassioned ardour. 
 
 "I've done naething, madam, naething but what was my 
 duty in the sicht o' God," answered the brave-hearted 
 maiden. " They shall not murder you while I am by your 
 side." 
 
 "My fate, I fear, is not to be averted," said Annabel. 
 " They are set upon my death. The rest of the band will 
 return, infuriated by defeat, and who can save me then ? 
 Heaven look down on me in pity. This is my darkest 
 hour." 
 
 " You must be saved," cried Marion. " There's bolts to 
 draw, and armed men to pass ; but you must escape." 
 
 A gleam of hope kindled up in Annabel's mind for a 
 moment, but then it died out, leaving a deeper darkness and 
 an interiser horror than before. "Escape is impossible," 
 she said. 
 
 " No we can try ; we must try. Oh ! that you were 
 miles and miles awa', though there was nae living thing near 
 you but the eagles ! " 
 
 "You will but endanger yourself in my unfortunate 
 cause, and not succeed in saving me after all," said the 
 lady. " You will turn the fury of your own kindred upon 
 yourself." 
 
 " If you stay here your death is certain," returned Marion, 
 gazing steadily in Annabel's face. " Steel or poison will do 
 
A SCOTTISH TB1DITION. 127 
 
 the work. Alas ! madam, and when you lay dead and cauld 
 at my feet, they wad come and tell me that it was a' for my 
 sake they had slain you." 
 
 " For your sake ? How ? " 
 
 "You must fly you must escape," said Marion, evading 
 the question. " Oh ! that you could escape this night 
 though it should prove the stormiest that ever blew on the 
 Highland hills ; for what wad be the hurricane howling ower 
 a dark desert, and the red flash of the fire-flaughts cleaving 
 the blackness, and the roar o' the thunder drowning the dash 
 o' cataracts, compared wi' Murdoch Moolach's merciless 
 steel? Yes, and I'll fly with you, and be your guide to 
 some place o' safety, and then and then, may kind death 
 end a' my cares and troubles ! " She slowly rose from 
 Annabel's embrace, and pressed her hands on her burning 
 forehead. " For what is there to bind me to this place ? 
 They're a' dead and gane ilka ane that loved me." 
 
 " But the messenger did he assert that Gilderoy and your 
 brother fell in the battle ? " said Annabel, anxious to soothe 
 the damsel's woes. 
 
 " He didna ; but I ken they fell," cried Marion ; " for 
 they wad never quit the field o' defeat." 
 
 " Still, there is room for hope," said the lady. 
 
 " Nae hope remains for me naething but sorrow and the 
 grave ! " and Marion wandered blindly about the chamber, 
 with her hands covering her face, and her beautiful hair 
 dishevelled and streaming on her shoulders. " Oh ! Gilderoy ! 
 Gilderoy ! better that we had remained in the burgh town a' 
 our days, for this is no place for quiet loving hearts. The 
 blessing of God cannot rest here ! " 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 Desert us fly us carry with thee half 
 
 Our strength ! With the remaining- half we'll struggle, 
 
 Nor vilely live the thralls of tyranny ! 
 
 Caius Gracchus. 
 
 SURROUNDED by the confused remnants of his band, 
 ^ Gilderoy fled from the fatal pass. His discomfiture 
 was all the more galling inasmuch as he had promised him- 
 
128 GILDEEOY: 
 
 self an easy victory and great renown. He now felt how 
 grievously he had erred in spurning the enemy's offers ; for 
 his own overweening pride and presumption on finding him- 
 self, for the first time in his life, at the head of a somewhat 
 formidable force, joined with his high hopes of secret aid 
 through a secret ally in the adverse camp, had led him to 
 attempt a role which calmer reflection might have shown he 
 could not sustain. B-udely dissipated for ever was the false 
 dream of his ambition that he should raise himself to a posi- 
 tion among the chieftains of the north. Few of the despe- 
 radoes the " broken men " whom he had lured to his 
 standard by the prospect of plunder, followed him from the 
 scene of conflict ; and when the retreat had continued for 
 some miles, he found none around him but his own clans- 
 men, amongst whom, however, were all his leading adherents. 
 
 The route now lay across a mountain ; and on gaining its 
 naked summit the fugitives halted through sheer exhaustion, 
 and looking back beheld thick clouds of smoke ascending 
 from the fatal pass, and spreading like a grey pall all over 
 the surrounding country. 
 
 The Macgregors scattered along the broad brow of the 
 mountain. Some lay down to snatch a short repose ; some 
 wandered to and fro, waving their broadswords, lamenting 
 the kinsmen they had lost, and yelling out the slogan of their 
 clan ; while others, shading the sun from their eyes with 
 their hands, gazed intently and long towards the burning 
 glen, and then turned away with looks of horror and despair. 
 One tall, thin, aged Highlander, bareheaded, and with the 
 stain of blood on his wrinkled temples, kept apart from all 
 the rest, and as he roamed about he muttered to himself in 
 hoarse tones through his flowing beard. His only weapon 
 was a ponderous two-handed sword, and his defensive 
 armour consisted of a battered shirt of chain mail, which 
 had borne many a brunt in the wars of the Highlands. At 
 length he came to a stand, and leaning on his sword, spoke 
 out in a solemn, impassioned strain 
 
 " When the war-pipe summoned Clan Alpine to battle, and 
 the fiery cross scoured hill and moor, I ranged myself under 
 the pine-tree banner, with four gallant sons at my back ; and 
 when the combat mingled, we were foremost in the strife 
 of swords. But where are now my children ? Where are 
 the sons of Eachin Macraw, stately as young oaks on the 
 mountains ? Alas ? their blood soaks the heather, and they 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 129 
 
 have perished in vain. Exult, Sassenach, exult in the triumph 
 which thou hast won. Wave thy red cross flag of oppression 
 above the corpses of the brave and true. But from this dark 
 hour my heart shall neither pity nor my hand spare. Death 
 shall mark my footsteps, and the Lowlands shall shudder at 
 my name." 
 
 " Idle are our lamentations, Eachin idle our vows of ven- 
 geance," said another warrior, approaching. " It was fated 
 long ago that we should fall like ripe corn before the Saxon 
 sickle." 
 
 " Mine is not an idle vow," said Macraw, gloomily ; " for 
 many a Lowland home shall I lay in ashes, and many a 
 hearthstone shall I sprinkle with the blood of those dear 
 beneath the roof-tree." 
 
 Gilderoy came forward, attended by Hackston and Evan 
 Glas. " How many do we number now, Evan?" he inquired. 
 
 Evan glanced carelessly around, and then answered 
 "Nearly fourscore ; but many of them are badly wounded." 
 
 "Where is our prisoner?" cried Gilderoy, after a deep 
 pause. 
 
 " I am here," answered Sir John Spiers, who now advanced, 
 guarded by several clansmen. His steel morion was dinted, 
 and the plume partly cut away ; but he seemed to have re- 
 ceived no personal injury of any consequence in the battle. 
 " It was a sad blunder, Macgregor," he proceeded, " to carry 
 me away as a prisoner, for by so doing you have deprived 
 yourself of my influence in blunting the edge of Colonel 
 Campion's ire." 
 
 " Villain ! " exclaimed Gilderoy, gazing fiercely on the 
 knight. 
 
 " Why a villain ?" cried Spierhaughs. "For giving you 
 timely warning of your danger? For delaying, by a secret 
 sleight, the march of the enemy ? " 
 
 " There would have been no warning, and the march would 
 have been hastened instead of delayed," retorted Gilderoy, 
 " if the heiress of Glenbirkie had not been my captive. I 
 have unmasked your craft ; I have penetrated your machina- 
 tions, and I behold in you my evil genius my worst foe. 
 Why did you attack my men, and hang my bravest follower 
 before your castle gate ? " 
 
 " This is neither the time nor the place, Macgregor, for 
 such explanations as you demand," said Spierhaughs, warmly, 
 but with no sign of fear about him. " I am well able to clear 
 
130 GILDEEOY: 
 
 up what looks mysterious, and to convince you that through- 
 out our dealings I have acted in good faith. But, for one 
 thing, we are not alone." 
 
 A wave of the chief's hand caused the guards to fall back. 
 
 " Your followers," resumed Sir John, " were unwise enough 
 to approach the castle too closely, driving some cattle which 
 they had lifted from a neighbouring glen. They were set 
 upon by Campion's soldiers, and found to belong to the party 
 of an outlaw. But it is idle in you to pretend that their fate 
 can weigh much with you one way or another. Let us pass 
 to far more important matters. "What are your designs 
 regarding Lady Annabel ? " 
 
 " Oh ! to put her into your power," said Gilderoy, with a 
 bitter smile ; " and then to suffer myself to be crushed by your 
 guile. I could have no other design. I am but a novice in such 
 affairs a silly catspaw ; and when I have been sufficiently 
 hoodwinked, the sooner I am got rid of the better." 
 
 " Nay, man, this is no time for jest," said Spierhaughs. 
 " You will sink like a stone unless some strong arm supports 
 you. Why should I disguise the naked truth ? Allow me 
 an opportunity of addressing the Lady Annabel ; or rather 
 send her to the house of a chosen friend in Athole whom I 
 shall name, and your reward " 
 
 " Reward ! " repeated Gilderoy, scornfully. 
 
 "In the first place," said Sir John, "I will give my bond 
 for the sum which I formerly pledged myself to pay you so 
 soon as the lady was put into my power ; and in the next 
 place I will endeavour to smooth matters for you with Colonel 
 Campion. Recollect that I have strong interest with some 
 of your neighbours, whom I can incite to lend you what 
 assistance they can." 
 
 " To be short and plain with you, Sir John, I reject your 
 offer," cried Gilderoy. " I am not inclined to risk my neck 
 to promote your aggrandisement. It was partly at your in, 
 stigation that I set myself to meet the Roundheads hand to 
 hand, and you see how I have fared. You urged me to re- 
 tain the lady at all hazards. I'll retain her still, and yourself 
 too ; for while such prisoners are in my hands, Campion will 
 walk warily, and not provoke me to retaliation." 
 
 " You are mad, Macgregor, you are mad ! " ejaculated 
 Spierhaughs, in great disappointment. " You are recklessly 
 flinging from you the only means of safety." 
 
 " I am resolved to follow no plan which you suggest," said 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 131 
 
 Gilderoy. " I have suffered bitterly by your falsehoods and 
 your guile. When I was in doubt as to the betrayer of my 
 brother, you employed every art to convince me that 
 Dunavaig was the man, and I went and slew him ; and now 
 I am convinced of his innocence." 
 
 " The proofs of his guilt seemed strong enough," answered 
 the knight, with some uneasiness. 
 
 " Proofs ! There were no proofs," cried Gilderoy. " Bat 
 it served your purpose to malign him, and to hound me on 
 against his life." 
 
 " I never suggested his death. How can you urge an 
 accusation so unfounded ? " 
 
 " I hesitated before I struck the blow. I hesitated long," 
 said Macgregor ; " and but for your falsehoods it had never 
 been struck." 
 
 " What can cure this infatuation ? " exclaimed Sir John. 
 
 "Nothing that you can promise or threaten," replied Gil- 
 deroy. " My mind is made up. I am more likely to advance 
 my own interests by holding a dirk to your throat than by 
 helping you to wealth and beauty. Oar friendship is broken 
 for ever. The blood of Dunavaig lies betwixt us, never to 
 be overpassed. Hemove the prisoner." 
 
 " You will live to repent this madness," cried Sir John. 
 
 The guards closed around their prisoner, and led him 
 away, fuming with wrath and disappointment. Gilderoy re- 
 joined Hackston and Evan Glas. 
 
 The western sun was flooding the mountainous scene with 
 his richest splendours, and the light smoke that still 
 ascended from the distant battle-pass shone like a golden 
 mist hovering on the hills. 
 
 Gilderoy and his followers continued their retreat ; but it 
 was very slow, and altogether unharassed. On the second 
 night after the battle for they had been watching the ad- 
 vance of the enemy, who was much encumbered with his 
 wounded they returned to their fortalice. 
 
 Fir torches flared in the open gateway, showing the pale 
 anxious face of Marion Mackinnon, the evil visage of Judith, 
 and the shaggy front of Murdoch Moolach, with many 
 another countenance full of grief and horror. A feeble halloo 
 greeted the appearance of Gilderoy. On the impulse of the 
 moment, Marion, with a sob of anguish, threw herself upon 
 his breast ; but he, chafed and indeed half distracted, rudely 
 pushed her aside and passed into the tower. 
 K 2 
 
132 GILDEBOY: 
 
 That was a wretched night. No one thought of rest. 
 Gilderoy directed that Sir John Spiers should be conveyed 
 to the dungeon a small, damp, darksome oubliette under- 
 neath the tower. As to his other prisoner, the Lady 
 Annabel Rutherford, he was anxious in his inquiries about 
 her health, and seemed distressed to hear that she had been 
 ailing. 
 
 About sunrise scouts came in bringing the intelligence that 
 Campion was still advancing, and would certainly reach the 
 tower that night. 
 
 Gilderoy gave orders that his principal adherents should 
 be summoned to hold council with him in the hall a couple of 
 hours thence. This done, he stole away by himself to seek 
 another interview with Donach of the Den. 
 
 The morning was calm and bright. The Highland waste 
 smiled in the sunshine. Gilderoy hurried on his way, care- 
 less of the beauties of the morning. Suddenly he was hailed 
 by a voice, and raising his eyes he beheld the seer advancing 
 to meet him. 
 
 " The blow hath fallen !" exclaimed the inhabitant of the 
 Den, standing erect, with a frenzied look. " The white hand 
 of a woman hath wrought the ruin shadowed forth in the 
 seam. They told me of the battle, and that you had fled 
 from the face of the Saxon. Gilderoy, beware, for there is 
 darker misfortune still in store !" 
 
 " Prophet of evil ! " faltered the youth, stung to the heart 
 by such an address, " I came hither to seek thee in the ex- 
 pectation that thou might'st speak a word of hope with 
 which to cheer me. But idiot that I am ! how could I 
 look for hopeful words from thy lips bird of ill omen ! " 
 
 " Be warned, chieftain of Clan Gregor," replied the seer. 
 " If thou desirest to live and rule where thy fathers lived and 
 ruled, set free that Sassenach woman. It was her hand that 
 I saw in the seam dragging thee to destruction. Her kins- 
 men have already beaten down our banner. Away with her ! 
 She is more to be dreaded than a pestilence that slays its 
 thousands." 
 
 " If I deliver her up, I must ' come in the mercy ' (so the 
 phrase goes) of the Roundhead captain and his canting 
 crew," said Gilderoy. " I tell you, while she remains my 
 prisoner, she is my best security." 
 
 " Thou shalt perish, Gilderoy, thou shalt perish in igno- 
 miny ! " cried the seer, as with a heavy groan he cast his 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 133 
 
 hands above his head and clenched them convulsively. " They 
 are raising the gibbet already." 
 
 Still more bitterly stung by these terrible words, Gilderoy 
 could no longer contain himself. Pulling a pistol from his 
 belt, he levelled it at the old man, and drew the trigger ; but 
 the powder was damp, and the weapon missed fire. 
 
 The seer never stirred a limb never moved a muscle. A 
 martyr at the stake could not have shown sterner composure. 
 "Ah!" he said, "and is it thus? But I will not reproach 
 thee. Better to perish than to live and witness the ruin 
 which comes rolling on like a destroying flood. Beannuich 
 am Morair ! " * 
 
 Ashamed of his unmanly conduct, Gilderoy replaced the 
 pistol in his belt, and silently left the spot. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 But, doomed and devoted by vassal and lord, 
 Macgregor has still both his heart and his sword 
 Then courage, courage, courage, Grigalach ! 
 
 Macgregor 1 s Gathering. 
 
 AS Gilderoy approached the tower he found Marion Mac- 
 kinnon listlessly wandering by the wayside perhaps 
 watching his return. When their eyes met, they both smiled ; 
 and he, remembering his rudeness at the gateway overnight, 
 hastened to atone for it by a cordial greeting. 
 
 " Ah, Marion," he said, " yonder sun will shine upon a 
 desolate tower to-morrow, and we will hail its rising as 
 fugitives afar among the hills." 
 
 "An* you be safe," she answered, with a deep blush, "it 
 doesna matter whaur the rising sun may shine upon us, near 
 or afar. But what's to come o* the Lowland lady ? She's 
 no used to mak' her bed on the moor, amang the slae-bushes 
 and the brackens." 
 
 " She must go with us, Marion ; and I trust you will be 
 her faithful guardian." 
 
 * In English" Bless the chief! " 
 
134 GULDEEOY: 
 
 "But she may dee on the hills; for she's ill and discon- 
 solate," said Marion. " Oh, it was a pity that ever she cam* 
 here ava. As long as we keep her from her friends, there 
 will be fierce feud against us." 
 
 " Think you that setting her free would heal the feud?" 
 cried Gilderoy. 
 
 " God kens ! " sighed Marion. " But when will it he 
 healed P "Will it ever be healed ? " 
 
 " Not while the Roundhead captain is flushed with victory. 
 I must endeavour to recruit my broken strength, and keep 
 him at bay after Lochiel's manner. I seek to share with 
 gallant Lochiel the glory and renown of resistance to the 
 Southron regicides." 
 
 " They'll come," said Marion, with downcast eyes that 
 swam in tears, " and they'll burn and destroy the haill glen 
 and the tower, and spread death and desolation ower a'." 
 
 " But," returned Macgregor, " doubtless the sight of such 
 pitiless ravage, wrought by Saxon invaders, will rouse the 
 true Highland spirit; and when the country rises in its 
 strength, my standard may again wave at the head of a 
 gallant array. Who knows but that the name of Gilderoy 
 so long linked with scorn and degradation may yet be pro- 
 nounced with honour in the exiled court of fang Charles 
 the Second, and in every court of Europe, as the name of 
 the compatriot of trusty Lochiel?" 
 
 " Oh ! Gilderoy, we were happier in the burgh town than 
 ever we hae been in Rannoch," said Marion ; "happier when 
 we ran gathering go wans on the North Inch o' bonny St. 
 Johnstoun, or climbed Kinnoull cliff to the Dragon's Cave 
 on May mornings langsyne." 
 
 " Fie, woman ! you with a Highland heart, and yet giving 
 way to idle repining ! " exclaimed Macgregor, with a re- 
 proachful gesture. " You, who shall one day be a chieftain's 
 lady, should never yield to fear, but rather strive to restore 
 to the downcast that high courage which an evil hour has 
 depressed." 
 
 "A chieftain's lady?" repeated Marion, sadly, as big tears 
 slowly chased each other down her cheeks, and her little foot 
 toyed nervously with the sprigs of heather among which it 
 was half buried. " That high dignity may fa' to the lot o' 
 the Lowland lady ; for she has great beauty, and broad lands, 
 and muckle gear to win the love o' a chief; but it canna fa' 
 to mine, for I am but a simple Highland maid, wi' little mair 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 135 
 
 to ca' my am than the silken plaid around me, and thae 
 braw jewels that you gifted me yoursel'." 
 
 " Cease, cease, Marion ; you pain me exceedingly," said 
 Gilderoy. " The lady is but a hostage in my hands nothing 
 more. And I pray you, be gentle and forbearing with her ; 
 soften the hardships which she must endure; watch over 
 her, and tend her as a sister." 
 
 Ah ! he little knew how faithful Marion had been to her 
 trust ; how she had intercepted the poisoned bowl and the 
 uplifted steel ! For Judith, when her insensate fury cooled 
 down, had besought Marion to keep silence on the dreadful 
 subject, and to entreat Lady Annabel to do the same ; and 
 Marion had obeyed, so that Gilderoy was in ignorance of 
 the desperate perils through which his fair captive had 
 passed. Still, in her heart of hearts, Marion was resolved 
 to be most unfaithful to her trust. She was strongly touched 
 with pity for the lady's misfortunes ; but with this feeling 
 there mingled not only that of jealousy an intense fore- 
 boding that Annabel's beauty and wealth would captivate 
 Gilderoy but also a rooted conviction that the lady's deli- 
 verance would effectually appease the wrath of the enemy. 
 Therefore was she waiting her opportunity to set her free. 
 
 " Speak to me a word of courage," said Gilderoy. " No 
 one speaks aught but words of evil augury. Bid me go 
 forth and fight, like my fathers, for the honour'of the clan." 
 
 " The hor ur o' the clan can never suffer stain as lang as 
 you uphaud jour father's banner," responded Marion. " Go 
 forth, Gilderoy ! and may victory follow every shout of your 
 slogan, every flash of your claymore!" She was looking 
 him steadily in the face, and the tears had dried on her 
 cheeks, and her eyes beamed with a hopeful lustre. "Al- 
 though a murky tempest-cloud has broken in thunder over 
 your head, the bolt hasna shivered Clan-Alpine's pine. Go 
 forth, Gilderoy ! and soon may the sun o' fortune, bursting 
 through the stormy gloom, mak' a bricht and happy day." 
 
 The appearance of Dobbie Hackston put a period to the 
 colloquy, and Marion instantly glided out of sight. 
 
 "There's anither scout come in," said the soldier, "and 
 he reports that the enemy are still on the advance." 
 
 " We have still good time to retreat," said Gilderoy. 
 
 " I wish we were aff to the hills, and kent the best or the 
 warst o' it," said Dobbie. " Suspense is dreadfu'. Better a 
 finger aff than aye wagging." 
 
136 GILDE10Y: 
 
 They returned together to the tower. Marion, however, 
 had preceded them, and was now in close conference with 
 Lady Annabel, whom she had informed, among other in- 
 teresting news of the morning, of the approaching council of 
 the head men of the clan. 
 
 " If it were possible," said Annabel, a sudden thought 
 striking her, "I would go down to that council, and appeal 
 to the clansmen in person. They have no interest in pro- 
 longing my captivity. I could show them how peace might 
 be restored." 
 
 " But would you be safe among such a band ?" 
 
 " Safe ! Am I safe now ? I will dare all hazards. Suffer 
 me, my dear girl, to go down to the hall when the coun- 
 cil is met, and the consequences will lie on my own 
 shoulders. Will you grant this favour ? But stay it will 
 bring you under suspicion, and that is what I would wish to 
 avoid." 
 
 " We'll mak' it appear that you went down unkent to me 
 and unkent to a'body," said Marion. "Yes, madam, you 
 shall gang ; and may God speed you. Tell them that a* 
 feud will cease as soon as you're at liberty. Mak' ony 
 promise they seek, and I dinna doubt o* your success." 
 
 It was past the hour appointed for the council before any 
 of the head men responded to the summons. Numbers of 
 the common clansmen loitered about the tower , but to none 
 of that class was it permitted to enter the place of meeting 
 until their betters had done so, and even then their presence 
 would only be suffered as that of spectators, having no share 
 in the deliberations. 
 
 A peculiar class among the Highlanders, namely, the 
 " elders of the tribe," occupied an influential position in the 
 economy of clanship. They claimed and exercised the right 
 of controlling the chief in all his more important pro- 
 ceedings. "Although the chief," says the historian of the 
 Highlands and Highland Clans, " had great power with his 
 clan in the different relations of landlord, leader, and judge, 
 his authority was far from absolute, as he was obliged to 
 consult the leading men of the clan in matters of importance 
 in things regarding the clan or particular families, in 
 removing differences, punishing or redressing injuries, pre- 
 venting law-suits, supporting declining families, and de- 
 claring war against, or adjusting terms of peace with, other 
 clans." This commendable system, which imposed a curb 
 upon the abuse of power, prevailed all over the Highlands ; 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 137 
 
 and among the Macgregors of Rannoch, broken clan as they 
 were, the ancient usage was respected. Their leading men, 
 though sadly reduced in numbers, clung tenaciously to their 
 rights. But when Gilderoy succeeded to the chieftainship 
 he began to act very much at his own hand and upon his 
 own responsibility. A comparative stranger to Highland 
 customs, he not unfrequently slighted and infringed them, 
 and by so doing undermined the foundations of his own 
 position. His haughty, self-willed, and domineering de- 
 meanour served to raise discontent in the minds of those 
 whom perhaps he expected should be dazzled by the success 
 of his predatory exploits. He did not consult the elders 
 before the raid of Dunavaig, nor did he do so in gathering 
 followers to oppose the Roundheads. As soon as news of 
 the enemy's march reached him, he despatched the Crian 
 Tarigh, or, Fiery Cross, to call the clan to his side, and 
 solicited assistance from such of the neighbouring septs as 
 were on friendly terms with him. Whatever the discontent 
 that existed among the elders of the Macgregors, they held 
 it to be their bounden duty to fly to arms when they saw the 
 fiery symbol, and learned that Cromwell's soldiery were 
 advancing to devastate their country. But when they heard 
 from the lips of Gilderoy himself the real causes of hos- 
 tilities, their discontent manifested itself undisguisedly. The 
 most of them disbelieved the story of Dunavaig's treachery, 
 and all denounced the abduction of Lady Annabel Ruther- 
 ford, declaring that she should be honourably liberated, as a 
 means of preventing hostilities. Gilderoy, however, stub- 
 bornly refused to do anything but fight, relying on certain 
 success ; and the result was what he might have foreseen- 
 humiliating defeat. 
 
 The elders accompanied him in his retreat to the tower ; 
 for they had no other resource, after appearing in arms 
 against the government. Previous to the hour of council 
 they consulted together a good while in the vicinity of the 
 tower; but they could discover little or no prospect of 
 extricating themselves from the fatal dilemma in which the 
 hot-headed precipitancy of Gilderoy had involved them. 
 
 When they passed into the hall, a crowd of clansmen 
 poured in after them. Gilderoy, pale and agitated, received 
 them with saddened courtesy. The elders arranged them- 
 selves around the oaken table, and silently awaited what 
 communication Gilderoy had to make. In like silence stood 
 the common clansmen grouped behind. 
 
138 GILDEEOY: 
 
 During this gloomy interval the figure of an aged weird- 
 looking Celt, clad in a sky-blue mantle, suddenly uprose 
 from where he had been sitting in the shade, underneath 
 one of the deep-embayed windows, and pushed his way to 
 the head of the table, upon which he set a harp strung with 
 brass wire. Baising his rapt visage to the vaulted roof 
 his brilliant eyes fastening piercingly on vacancy he ran 
 his fingers over the strings, and after a jangling prelude, 
 struck into something like a strain of heroic music, which he 
 accompanied with a song. The song was in Gaelic, and 
 appeared to be an ancient composition detailing the genea- 
 logy and the heroic achievements of the Clan Gregor. 
 When the song came to an end, the bard, snatching up his 
 harp, resumed his seat under the window. 
 
 This attempt to stir the flagging soul of clanship produced 
 little effect on the assemblage. The strains of the bard 
 seemed to have lost all their intrinsic power. Gilderoy then 
 spoke. He commented bitterly on the want of energy 
 displayed by many of his assumed friends and allies. Had 
 all the men behaved with their accustomed valour, the day 
 must have gone against the enemy. Still, everything was 
 not lost, and he counselled retreat to the inaccessible wilds, 
 believing that Campion would content himself with the 
 capture of the tower, and attempt no other enterprise. 
 
 The elders listened moodily to all he said ; and what 
 answer could they make ? There was a deep pause, and 
 then one of them broke the silence by suggesting that an 
 attempt should be made to treat with the enemy, whose 
 wrath they might mollify by the liberation of the captive 
 lady. 
 
 " I appeal to you, men of Clan Gregor ! I appeal to you 
 for justice!" exclaimed a female voice in the hall, and Lady 
 Annabel herself broke through the throng and reached the 
 foot of the table. She was very pale, and she trembled 
 much ; but resolution shone in every glance of her steady 
 eye. Her apparition-like entrance, and her great beauty, 
 produced a profound sensation, and the mountaineers, of 
 whatever degree, gazed with wonder, admiration, and awe 
 on her lovely features and exquisite form. " I appeal to 
 you," she cried, " against the madness of your leader. 
 Counsel him to liberate me from this wretched thraldom, 
 and if I am set free, my best endeavours shall be exerted to 
 stay the effusion of blood, and to restore peace to your 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 139 
 
 country. On my bended knees will I implore the English 
 commander to grant you good and honourable terms." 
 
 " She says well," cried several voices. " Let her go." 
 
 " There is deep-laid treachery here ! " exclaimed Gilderoy, 
 seizing Annabel by the arm. " How came you from your 
 chamber P Do they keep neither watch nor ward P" 
 
 " I pledge my troth, clansmen, that I will strive to obtain 
 sure peace," cried Annabel. " Send me to the English 
 camp, or allow me to communicate in writing to the 
 English captain." 
 
 " Send a message offering to free the woman," said one 
 of the council. " If we delay, not even her influence and 
 entreaties may avail us ne jot. The other prisoner, too, 
 may make interest." 
 
 What other prisoner ? thought Annabel, for, as Gilderoy 
 had strictly enjoined that the fact of Sir John Spiers being 
 brought to the tower should be concealed from her, she 
 was as yet in complete ignorance of it. 
 
 " I saw the white hand of a woman knitting the knot of 
 death !" enunciated a hollow voice ; and the seer, Donach 
 of the Den, stood on the threshold of the hall, with his 
 right arm uplifted. " Beware ! children of my tribe. Send 
 her away in peace, that the threatened doom may be 
 averted ! " 
 
 There was great confusion. 
 
 "Impostor! traitor!" muttered Gilderoy between his 
 teeth. " Evan Glas," he cried, "away with her! Look 
 to her safe keeping, aa you shall answer with your life." 
 
 Annabel offered no resistance when Evan led her away. 
 
 Fuming with mortification, Gilderoy at once declared the 
 council dissolved. " Though not a man should follow me," he 
 cried, " I shall still uphold the banner of Clan Alpine in the 
 face of every foe." 
 
 "I am ready to bear a message to the Saxon captain 
 offering to release the lady on safe conditions," said an 
 elder. 
 
 "The Saxon captain would hang you upon the nearest 
 tree," responded Gilderoy. 
 
 He strode angrily from the hall, and so there was an end 
 of the council. 
 
 Preparations were immediately begun for the evacuation 
 of the fortalice. All the valuables, the spoils of many raids 
 in the Low country, were taken out and buried in the earth 
 
140 GTLDEBOY: 
 
 at a spot known only to Gilderoy and one or two of his 
 most trusted confidants ; and next, the arms and ammuni- 
 tion were removed. It was arranged that the men should 
 be divided into several small parties, taking different routes, 
 but with a common rendezvous in the end. One party 
 was to have Lady Annabel in charge, and another Sir 
 John Spiers. Gilderoy, at the head of a third, was to 
 watch the motions of the enemy. The fortalice was to be 
 left bare and tenantless, that the foe might find nothing 
 on which to wreak his wrath save the old walls. The 
 inhabitants of the clachan were to betake themselves to 
 the hills, setting their rude huts on fire behind them. 
 
 But at the eleventh hour old Judith caused a great 
 dilemma by declaring that upon no account whatsoever 
 would she quit the tower. She was incapable of bearing 
 fatigue, she said ; she saw clearly that ruin was brimming 
 in the cup ; and therefore she would stay and meet the 
 fate appointed for her. JSTo remonstrance, no entreaty, 
 could shake this resolution. Marion, in an excess of grief, 
 vowed that she too would remain and share the fate of 
 her grandmother; but Judith set her face firmly against 
 any such companionship, and commanded Marion to depart 
 on pain of drawing down her direst curses. 
 
 There was no help for it but just to allow the stubborn 
 old woman to remain where sne was; and Gilderoy was 
 the more reconciled to this course by reflecting that she 
 might be able to furnish him with important intelligence, 
 should she pass unscathed by the enemy, and indeed there 
 was little fear that any harm would befall her. As to 
 Marion, it was absurd to think that she should stay, and 
 therefore she had to take a sorrowing farewell of her half- 
 crazed relative. 
 
 As the sun was going down, the outlaws finally evacuated 
 the tower, which was left under the solitary guardianship of 
 old Judith. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 141 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 " Where are the lads o' this castle ? " 
 
 Says the Lammikin. 
 " They are a* wi' Lord Weire hunting," 
 
 The false nourice did sing. 
 
 Ballad of "Lammikin" 
 
 rpWILIGHT gathered around the abandoned tower of the 
 JL Macgregors with a blustering wind and a heavy rain. 
 But ever and anon the bluster of the gale and the plash of 
 the rain were mingled with the faint roll and rattle of distant 
 drums. The victorious Roundheads were advancing. 
 
 Some of the women belonging to the hamlet lingered 
 about the tower till well on in the summer night, bemoaning 
 the evil fortune meted out to the clan. Old Judith kept 
 wandering up and down, and out and in, speaking to herself, 
 but paying no heed to these gossips, who feeling hurt by 
 such treatment resented it by going away altogether. 
 
 At midnight Donach of the Den presented himself in the 
 hall, and sitting down by the cold hearth muffled his head in 
 his plaid, and spoke not a word. Judith still continued her 
 aimless wearisome peregrinations, repeatedly locking and 
 unlocking the outer gate, and muttering to herself: "I 
 needna flee to save the dregs o' a wretched existence. I've 
 wrought sair to raise that silly lassie to high dignity, and 
 she winna be raised by hand o' mine. I'll work nae mair." 
 
 The storm passed away with the night, and morning came 
 with mellow sunshine. The seer still occupied his seat by 
 the cold black hearth, and Judith, having bolted the gate for 
 the last time, had stationed herself at an upper casement of 
 the tower. 
 
 The drums, which had ceased early in the night, were now 
 sounding nearer, and in a short while the forces of Colonel 
 Campion were descried defiling down the hill sides to the 
 eastward of the tower. They descended the heathy slopes 
 in gallant array the red-cross banner flying, the trumpets 
 and drums resounding, and the bagpipes of the allied High- 
 landers yelling forth their respective pibrochs. 
 
 Judith beheld the troops surround the tower at a good 
 
142 GILDEEOY : 
 
 distance, and begin preparations for attack. She ground her 
 teeth at the sight with impotent fury. " An' I had but ae 
 piece o' cannon mounted on the battlement," she said to her- 
 self "and plenty o' pouther and shot, and a lichted peat in 
 my hand, scores o' thae villains should bite the dust before 
 the tower o' the Macgregors was ta'en. But wae worth me ! 
 I'm but a feckless auld wife." 
 
 The tower was speedily summoned by a trumpeter. With- 
 out much unnecessary delay Judith went down the stair, 
 crossed .the courtyard, unbolted and opened the gate, and 
 invited the man to enter. 
 
 This ready surrender amazed the soldier, who after gazing 
 for some moments at the leering hag, demanded " Where 
 is James Macgregor, commonly called Gilderoy ? " 
 
 " Awa wi' the craws. What gart you be sae langsome in 
 coming ? " answered Judith, with a mocking laugh, and 
 giving her skinny hands a wave in the air above her head. 
 " An' you doubt my word, come in and look, and believe your 
 ain een." 
 
 "And his followers ? where are his followers ? how many 
 of them compose the garrison of the place ? " 
 
 " Come in," said the crone, pointing to the inner door, 
 " and you'll find naebody but auld Donach o' the Den wait- 
 ing to spae your fortune, and to tell you how mony days lie 
 between you and the gallows." 
 
 The trumpeter made haste back to his captain, and reported 
 the singular colloquy. 
 
 " The nest is empty ; the birds are flown ! " exclaimed 
 Ranald Vourigh. " Och hone for Gilderoy ! " 
 
 He then advanced at a rapid pace towards the gate, with 
 drawn claymore and braced target, heedless of the warning 
 which the more cautious Elshender sh,outed after him : " For 
 any sake, Ranald Vourigh, dinna gang ower hard unto the 
 door o' the tower. Remembeftv man, that at the intaking o' 
 the strong tower of Thebez, a certain woman cast a piece o' 
 a millstane upon Abimelech's head, and crackit the venture- 
 some fool's crown. I hope, Mr. Jasper/' added he, turning 
 to his master, "you'll hae mair gude sense." 
 
 The old woman, who narrowly watched the advancing 
 Highlander, recognized him as he drew near ; but probably 
 her recognition of him was much quickened by hearing 
 Elshender bawl out his name. " Ranald Vourigh ! " she ex- 
 claimed, " do you mind when the raven that croaked evil to 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 143 
 
 the children o' Clan G-regor took wing to save his worthless 
 life frae the fire that should hae scorched him P " 
 
 " Ay, by my troth, auld wife, but you hae a gude memory," 
 answered 'Macpherson, with a dark scowl and a fierce laugh. 
 " But that raven, though he flew far and wide, finding sma* 
 rest for the sole o' his foot, and yearning for vengeance sae 
 lang that whiles he feared it wad never be gotten, has flown 
 hame at last with the fire aneath his wing that will burn and 
 destroy a' his enemies. Ay, auld wife, that raven will clap 
 his wings in triumph ower the smoking ashes o' Grilderoy's 
 nest. Come on, colonel ! Come on, men ! The tower is 
 
 our am 
 
 He boldly entered the courtyard, and was soon followed 
 by a crowd of soldiers and mountaineers, who made the clear 
 air ring with their stentorian huzzahs and shrill halloos. 
 
 The tower was searched all over, but no other inmate was 
 found save Donach of the Den. Colonel Campion put the 
 seer and Judith " to the question," eliciting the information 
 that Gilderoy and his followers, carrying the two prisoners 
 along with them, had retired to the mountains. He was 
 much astonished to hear that Sir John Spiers had been 
 treated with the utmost rigour. Hollo made eager inquiry 
 respecting Lady] Annabel, but Judith would condescend to 
 say very little about her. 
 
 " Were you to tie a burning match between the auld jade's 
 fingers, she wad soon find plenty to tell," said Macpherson. 
 
 Jasper, however, protested against any form of torture 
 being resorted to, and it was not done. But Judith and the 
 seer were placed in separate confinement to prevent their 
 acting as spies. 
 
 The troops established themselves in and around the tower. 
 By this time they were disencumbered of their wounded, 
 the latter having at last been left behind under the charge of 
 friendly Highlanders ; and Mr. Gilchrist had seen it to be 
 his duty to remain in attendance on the sufferers. 
 
 " JSTow, colonel," said Jasper Hollo, as he and Campion 
 sat down in 'the painted chamber' to partake of some 
 refreshment, 
 
 " ' Thus far into the bowels of the land 
 Have we marched on,' 
 
 but still the prize eludes our grasp. To what hand shall we 
 turn next ? " 
 
144 GILDEROY: 
 
 Eanald Vourigh, who Lad casually entered the room, 
 answered " We should haud about the tower for a day or 
 twa, till we smell the breath o' the country. Gilderoy winna 
 gang far; and if we get the country to join us, he'll be 
 hunted doon wi' little din." 
 
 Here a corporal of the guards announced that the Chief 
 Ian Yich Ian M'lan, who held considerable power and in- 
 fluence in the neighbouring country, had arrived at the for- 
 talice, desiring a conference with Colonel Campion. 
 
 The Roundhead left his repast, and gave audience to hia 
 visitor in the hall. 
 
 The chief was a stalwart Highlander, past middle age, 
 but possessing all the nerve and vigour of confirmed hardy 
 manhood. A band of his vassals, well appointed and armed 
 to the teeth, stood in the courtyard, exchanging pipes of 
 tobacco and pinches of snuff with the other Celts. After 
 making a respectful salutation to the colonel, whose appear- 
 ance seemed to impress him favourably, the chief broke at 
 once into an explanation of the object of his visit. 
 
 " It was only yesterday, colonel, that I heard of your 
 march, and your victory, and all that," he said. " It rejoiced 
 my heart, I assure you, to hear how you had clawed the 
 Macgregors' crowns, and I wished I had been there myself 
 to help you ? but it was not in my power, because, you see, 
 I was out on the hill at the stalking and pretty sport, too, 
 you may believe, for there's not better stalking ground in the 
 Highlands of Scotland than at Tullochmore. You must 
 take a day with us some time, colonel. It would be a great 
 pleasure to all our country, I am sure. You could not but 
 hear that I refused to rise with Middleton, and was not at 
 Lochgarry at all, for he once put a slight upon me, and I did 
 not count him fit for a cateran, far less a leader of the clans, 
 as I have said in many a good company. So, colonel, I came 
 on this morning by peep of day to have speech of you, and 
 I hope you wilj be free and outspoken with me, for I want 
 to put a question. Is it against Gilderoy alone that you 
 come here P 
 
 Campion succinctly explained the occasion and object of 
 his expedition. 
 
 " Yes well, to be sure, it was a sore business a black 
 business the raid of Dunavaig," said the chief, " and Gil- 
 deroy was a fool to bring away the bonny lass, unless he had 
 a sheep's eye after her himself. But I hope and trust, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION.^ 145 
 
 colonel, that no garrison is to be posted here, nor the country 
 at large held down for Gilderoy's fault." 
 
 " I have no orders to plant garrisons here," returned Cam- 
 pion. " My object is to root out this gang of banditti ; and 
 I shall give neither sleep to mine eyes nor slumber to mine 
 eyelids until I have accomplished my design." 
 
 " The country will give you thanks ; and I may say for 
 myself that I am ready to bring a good force to back you." 
 
 " You are an honest and loyal subject of the Common- 
 wealth," said the colonel. 
 
 " Hout ay, we're all subjects," cried the chief, apparently 
 wincing under the idea of subjection to such a government, 
 " though you need not be casting that in our teeth every day. 
 Nobody says a word against the Lord Protector. We wish 
 to live at peace with him, and according to our own customs 
 and fashions. He must not meddle with our ways of doing, 
 and we will not meddle with him. Garrisons here, and gar- 
 risons there, and garrisons the other place devil confound 
 them all ! they are the torment and disgrace of any country, 
 sucking out our very marrow and making fools of us, to say 
 no worse of them. The Lord Protector, nor General Monk, 
 nor yourself neither, must not try to put a bridle into our 
 mouths and a yoke upon our necks, when we are doing 
 nothing to anger any of you." * 
 
 The Eoundhead looked puzzled, "I have come here," he 
 said, " to endeavour to vindicate the sacred cause of order, 
 justice, and righteousness to restrain the unbridled licence 
 of lawless men, who prevent the ignorant people being weaned 
 from their savage habits." 
 
 " Tut, tut ! you may spare yourself the trouble," cried Ian 
 Yich Ian, with a careless laugh. "You are free to do with 
 Gilderoy as you like : the country will be well quit of him ! 
 but, take my word, colonel, you will never make the High- 
 lands any better for all your righteousness. Let me tell you 
 and I think I ought to know the country and the people 
 much better than you can pretend to do let me tell you, 
 soberly, that if you try to impose your new-fangled notions 
 anent the regiment of kirk and state upon the Highland 
 folk, you will wind yourself a bonny pirn, and Cromwell will 
 not thank you at the tail of the day. See what is going on 
 just now in Lochiel's country on account of the planting of 
 garrisons, and what not." 
 
 " Am I to understand, M'lan, that I make a false step if 
 
 L 
 
146 CHIDEEOT: 
 
 I attempt to set up the power of the law, and to rid the 
 country of marauders who make all around them suffer P " 
 
 " Gilderoy had more good sense in his head than to make 
 me suffer," replied the chief. " Had he tried to make me 
 suffer, I would have been here long ere now, with the torch 
 and the brand, and so saved you a long march. In a word, 
 , colonel, if you intend to make war upon Gilderoy alone, I 
 am ready to give you all the assistance in my power ; but if 
 you have some scheme behind your hand to bring us all, 
 every man and mother's son of us, under the lash of the 
 
 Lowland law " 
 
 " I pledge my word that I have no designs against any 
 other than Gilderoy," said Campion. " As to planting garri- 
 sons, I have no instructions." 
 
 " Good and well ! Then we shall shake hands and make a 
 paction upon it. And more, I shall send off word this moment 
 for my men to join." 
 
 The chief accordingly went outside, and despatched his 
 messenger, and then went his rounds among the leaders of 
 the allied Highlanders. 
 
 Campion returned to the painted chamber. 
 " Is M'lan friendly?" asked Eollo. 
 
 " Friendly after a fashion," answered the Roundhead, with 
 a vexed smile, and he repeated what had passed. " The men 
 of note here," he said, " are not one whit better affected 
 towards the Commonwealth than to the true faith. They 
 are glad to see Gilderoy put down, because he has been 
 as a thorn in their side and an adder in their path ; but 
 if you attempt to restrain and reform their own disorderly 
 habits, they will turn round and curse you to your face. 
 They will not brook close acquaintance with the Lowland 
 law, as they call it." 
 
 " They suspect," said Hollo, " that the sword now un- 
 sheathed against Gilderoy will ultimately be suspended in 
 terrorum above their own heads." 
 
 "Precisely," returned the colonel ; " and as we are deal- 
 ing with such inflammable materials, we must take care 
 lest accident kindle a general conflagration about us." 
 
 " In such circumstances," said Eollo, " it might be ad- 
 visable to treat with Gilderoy on the easiest terms, for the 
 sake of Lady Annabel, and so put an end to this embroglio" 
 " That opinion is forcing itself upon my own mind," said 
 Brandon. " To destroy the marauder would do the land a 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 147 
 
 service ; but Gilderoy's head would be rather dearly pur- 
 chased at the expense of the lady's life. Sir John Spiers I 
 care nothing about ; let him take his fate. We can punish 
 his treason by confiscating Spierhaughs." 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 He mounted himself on his steed so tall 
 
 And her on a fair palfrey, 
 And slung his bugle about his neck, 
 
 And roundly they rode away. 
 
 Fair EmmeJine scarce had ridden a mile, 
 
 A mile forth of the town, 
 When she overheard her father's men 
 
 Come galloping o'er the down. 
 
 Fair Emmeline sighed, fair Emmeline wept, 
 
 And aye her heart was woe : 
 While 'twixt her love and the carlish knight 
 
 Pass'd many a baneful blow. 
 
 Ballad of" The Child of Elle." 
 
 A NNABEL never lost heart so much as when acquainted 
 -^JL- that she was about to be conveyed away to the hills, in 
 consequence of the near approach of the Roundheads. The 
 same pony on which she had made her journey to the tower 
 was again pressed into her service, and another was pro- 
 cured for Marion Mackinnon, who was appointed to accom- 
 pany her. The fair captive's escort was formed of a small 
 band of clansmen under the command of Evan Glas, and 
 attended by the bloodhound belonging to the tower. 
 
 The route was north-westerly, and the stormy night was 
 passed under the scanty shelter of a wood ; but the High- 
 landers were careful enough to construct a kind of wattled 
 arbour, which protected the two females from the incle- 
 mency of the weather. Next morning the same route was 
 resumed leading through pathless deserts where neither 
 human dwelling nor human face could be seen, and where 
 everything was silent and desolate. Under other circum- 
 stances, Marion would have exhausted all her gentle and 
 winning arts to sustain and cheer the lady's spirits ; but now 
 the kind-hearted girl, exceedingly downcast by the terrible 
 calamities which had overtaken her own friends, was her- 
 self in sore need of consolation, and bemoaned parting 
 L 2 
 
148 aiLDEEOY: 
 
 from her grandmother, as though she should never see her 
 more. 
 
 In the evening the little band entered a rocky glen, down 
 which the setting sun poured his parting splendours, and 
 soon came in sight of a thatched hut nestling at the foot of 
 a tall naked cliff. 
 
 " Yon's our lodging, madam," said Marion, pointing to 
 the cottage ; " and we're to stay there till we get mair orders 
 frae Gilderoy. The guidwife is an honest, kindly woman, 
 and winna do you wrang." 
 
 "But where is Gilderoy?" asked the lady. "Is he in 
 that house ? " 
 
 " JSTo, he's no in that house," replied Marion. " He's 
 watching the enemy (and gathering strength. We mayna 
 see him very soon, an' all goes wellwi' him." 
 
 The house was of good dimensions, and had a barn or byre 
 behind for the accommodation of three or four milch kine and 
 several goats, which a flaxen-headed young boy was slowly 
 driving home from their pasture. A comely matron, carrying 
 a chubby infant in her arms, came to the door of the cottage, 
 apparently attracted by the lowing of the cows, for she 
 seemed surprised when her eyes fell on the armed party ; 
 but immediately putting on a smile of welcome, she saun- 
 tered out to meet the latter, and saluted them cheerfully in 
 Gaelic. Evan Glas took her aside, and had a brief whispered 
 conversation with her, after which she came foward and 
 stared at Annabel, and then, speaking a few words to Marion, 
 she hastened back to the cottage. 
 
 i " Her husband, she says, hasna come back frae the south 
 yet," whispered Marion to Annabel. " He gade doon the 
 country wi' a drove o' black cattle, belonging to the Laird 
 o' Balorick ; and weel for her and the bairns that he did sae ; 
 for, had he been at hame, he wad ha'e followed Gilderoy to 
 the battle, and micht ha'e been slain." 
 
 On their dismounting at the door, Marion led the lady into 
 the cottage, which they found tolerably clean, but scant and 
 poor in its furnishings and conveniences. A thin wooden par- 
 tition divided it somewhat equally into two apartments, the 
 inner or best one of which was appointed for the use of the 
 fair guests. The matron (Mrs. Helen Macnab, by name, as 
 Marion mentioned) was complacent and kind. The men of 
 the escort, who carried a sufficient supply of provisions with 
 them, did not need to infringe upon her little stock. They 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 149 
 
 disposed of themselves in groups behind the house, and fell 
 to their supper with hearty good will. 
 
 At nightfall Mrs. Macnab left her two guests by themselves 
 in their room, and betook herself to rest along with her 
 children, of whom she had three two young boys, and th 
 child (a girl) in the cradle. The outer door was fast locked, 
 and a couple of sentries were posted outside. The rest of 
 the band laid themselves down to sleep, part in the byre and 
 part in the open air. Neither Annabel nor Marion slept 
 much that night, and both were astir early in the morning. 
 
 It was a weary day a long, tedious, weary day. Gilderoy 
 did not make his appearance, and there were no tidings from 
 him ; at least, if there were tidings, Evan Glas kept them 
 to himself. None of the band interfered in the remotest 
 degree with the privacy of the prisoner, and Evan came in 
 only once to inquire concerning her health. 
 
 During the earlier part of the day the lady observed 
 Marion repeatedly in private conversation with Mrs. Mac- 
 nab, and in the afternoon, when the most of the Highlanders, 
 including Evan Glas, had gone to kill deer in the neighbour- 
 hood, she again saw her at a short distance from the cottage, 
 talking earnestly with a young clansman of the band. But 
 she took no notice of these circumstances, as Marion herself 
 made no allusion to them. 
 
 The hunting party returned with three fat bucks, which 
 they dressed for supper. Shortly afterwards, about one- 
 half of the whole band marched away as if despatched on an 
 expedition ; and Marion on inquiring of her brother, who 
 still remained, the reason of this, was told that a message 
 had been received from Gilderoy, directing a certain number 
 of the men to be sent to join him at a particular place. 
 
 The cottage door was locked earlier than on the previous 
 evening, and Mrs. Macnab and her family retired earlier to 
 rest. 
 
 When all was quiet, and the lady was about to prepare 
 for her couch, Marion confessed, in great agitation, that she 
 had concocted a plan for her escape that very night ! 
 
 Annabel started with astonishment, and yet she had been 
 suspecting something of the kind, though without allowing 
 her troubled hopes to build upon it. " My dear girl," she 
 said, " I cannot be accessory to anything that may endanger 
 you. In the present desperate pitch of Gilderoy 's fortunes 
 he will be ready to punish treachery with death." 
 
150 GILDEROY: 
 
 "I fear nae danger, madam," replied the girl. " Listen to 
 me. Mrs. Macnab is weel content to let me work my^will ; 
 and I've engaged Kenneth. Drummond, a trusty lad o' the 
 band, to be your guide to a place o' safety. Every obstacle 
 is overcome, and the path o' escape lies open before you. The 
 attempt cannot fail. I gave every one of the clansmen left 
 wi' us, my brither amang the rest every man except Ken- 
 neth a drink o' milk to their supper, mixed with a powder 
 o' herbs that will make them sleep lang and sound. It was 
 my grandmither that made the powder ; for she is weel versed 
 in a* sic skilly things, and I brought some o' it frae the 
 tower in a paper, thinking that I micht have need for it." 
 
 " Take care that you have not poisoned the men," said the 
 lady. 
 
 " I can rely on my grandmither's skill," returned the 
 girl ; " though I never till now dealt amang her drugs. The 
 only thing that I ever tried my hand on was a wash for the 
 face goat's milk infused wi' sweet violets : a wash that, 
 as an auld Highland sang says, will gar a woman's com- 
 plexion shine sae fair, that princes will admire her beauty. 
 Naething waur than deep sleep comes o' my grandmither's 
 powder. Kenneth is to watch till the men are a' sound, and 
 then you'll flee, lady, for your life." 
 
 " But if Gilderoy should come ? " suggested Annabel. 
 
 " He's no expected here the nicht," said Marion. " He 
 canna come before the morn ; but by that time ye'll be 
 mony miles awa'. Kenneth will guide you in a* haste to 
 the south, and you'll soon meet wi' folk able and willing to 
 protect you. I have been hesitating whether I should not 
 tak' my flicht alang wi' you ; but after a' I canna leave my 
 friends and my country, and it's for the sake o' friends and 
 country that I hae planned your escape." 
 
 " Gilderoy's vengeance will fall upon your head," said the 
 captive. 
 
 " He'll never blame me," returned Marion. " How can 
 he P Were I to flee wi' you, my treachery wad be clear ; 
 but I'll stay and face the storm, kenning that what I've 
 done will a* end in gude. He'll blame Kenneth, and he'll 
 blame the band for sleeping ; but Kenneth will be beyond 
 his reach, and my brither and the men daurna be meddled 
 wi'." 
 
 " And what interest has this Kenneth in my welfare that 
 he is ready to encounter so great a peril ? " said Annabel. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 151 
 
 " No muckle interest, madam ; but he'll risk his life at 
 my bidding ; for, to tell the truth, he's an auld lover o' 
 mine, and wad do onything to pleasure me. I ken that he 
 will be faithfu'. He's a braw fellow, and you may freely 
 put your trust in him." 
 
 " If I were assured of your own safety, I would readily 
 embrace the opportunity," said Annabel. " Bat they will 
 judge at once that you had a hand in it. You told me that 
 Gilderoy accused you of having connived at my appearance 
 in the hall." 
 
 " But you mauna scruple at the means o' deliverance 
 opened up to you," responded Marion, gravely, and with 
 somewhat of an authoritative air. " It's your duty to avail 
 yoursel' o' them, and to trust a kind Providence for the rest. 
 Are you willing to gang wi' Kenneth ? " 
 
 " And Kenneth, too ; it will bring ruin to the young 
 man," said Annabel. 
 
 " To help your escape is the best way o' saving Gilderoy 
 himsel'," said Marion ; " for, when you win back to your 
 ain friends, you'll gar the usurper's sodgers march hame 
 again, and leave the Macgregors at peace." 
 
 " I shall go down upon my knees to the commander, and 
 implore him to stop the war, as I pledged myself before the 
 council," said Annabel. 
 
 "Then fear naething, but go with Kenneth," said Marion. 
 " Let me assure you that before I broke the matter to him 
 at all, he had resolved in his ain heart to desert the cause 
 o' Gilderoy, for there's been lang a secret hatred betwixt 
 them, and it's time they were separated for ever. Therefore, 
 spare not a thocht on Kenneth, but say that you'll go wi' 
 him, for the hour approaches. Will you go ? " 
 
 Annabel, in her perplexity, burst into tears ; but, eagerly 
 and solemnly pressed by the Highland girl, she at length 
 yielded a reluctant consent to embrace the opportunity of 
 escape. 
 
 " May God watch ower you, madam, and bring you 
 triumphantly out o' a' troubles ! " exclaimed Marion, raising 
 her clasped hands to heaven. 
 
 The gloaming deepened in the glen, and all was silent, 
 save when a wakeful bird warbled forth an inconstant carol 
 to the stilly night. Lady Annabel, with a heavy and fore- 
 boding heart, made herself ready for her perilous adventure. 
 Marion gave her a gold ring- the blue stone of which she 
 
152 GILDEBOY: 
 
 described to be a potent talisman, and Annabel bestowed on 
 her in return a valuable ring from her own finger. 
 
 A slight tap now came to the window, which Marion in- 
 stantly opened. The lower or moveable half of the window 
 consisted of two wooden boards on hinges, the upper half 
 being filled with bits of coarse, green, knobby glass. 
 
 " They are all asleep," said a young Highlander on the 
 outside. " Is the lady ready ? " 
 
 " Are you ready to go with Kenneth, madam ? " inquired 
 Marion, turning round. 
 
 Annabel answered tremblingly in the affirmative. Marion 
 waved her hand to the clansman and he disappeared from 
 the window, and immediately the cottage door was heard to 
 open softly. 
 
 "You'll no forget me? " said Marion, as she threw herself 
 into the lady's arms, and kissed her cheek and brow again 
 and again. #^w : ; 
 
 " Forget you ? never ! " responded Annabel. " May 
 God watch over you, Marion, and reward you for your devo- 
 tion to me. I pray that I may yet see you happy in the 
 realization of all your wishes. Remember that in me you have 
 a friend till death. J shall never forget you. Heaven reward 
 you, I say ; for your kindness is beyond all earthly price." 
 
 " And as it may be the will o' Heaven that we shall never 
 meet again," said Marion, " I winna hide frae you the 
 secret o' the ither prisoner." 
 
 " What other prisoner ? " inquired Annabel, in surprise. 
 " Is there another prisoner here ? " 
 
 " No here ; but a prisoner was brought to the tower frae 
 the battle ; and I'm sure he's a trusty friend o' your ain, 
 because Gilderoy forbade me mentioning to you a word 
 about him. But I'll let the secret gang, since you are on 
 the road to freedom." 
 
 " A trusty friend o' mine ! " said Annabel. " What is 
 his name ? " 
 
 " Sir John Spiers." 
 
 Annabel started back with a faint shriek. "Heaven help 
 me in this evil hour ! " she ejaculated. " Sir John Spiers ! 
 Where is he ? " 
 
 " He was ta'en awa frae the tower by Dobbie Hackston 
 and anither band," returned Marion. "But I canna think 
 his life's in. danger. They winna slay him ; you needna 
 fear that." 
 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 153 
 
 " I care not," said Annabel. " He is the enemy whom I 
 have the most reason to dread. I thank you for this know- 
 ledge ; and I will cheerfully meet all privations and perils to 
 escape from the machinations of Sir John Spiers. Come, 
 dearest, I must not lose another moment." 
 
 They both passed noiselessly through the outer room or 
 kitchen, where the good woman of the house was sleeping, 
 and found the young Highlander standing in the open door. 
 There they shook hands for the last time, and then Annabel 
 glided out on tiptoe. A sudden dizziness struck into her 
 brain, and she staggered, and might have sunk to the ground 
 had not the youth seized her by the arm and led her along. 
 A sentinel was lying in front of the cottage, in profound 
 slumber, and farther off the remainder of the band lay 
 stretched on the grass equally unconscious. 
 
 " The powder that Marion put into the milk has wrought 
 wonders," whispered Kenneth. " There they all lie, drowned 
 in slumber, like dead men." 
 
 The bloodhound was loose, and now stole suspiciously and 
 with a low growl towards the lady ; but a wave of Kenneth's 
 hand pacified it. He stooped and patted it on the head, and 
 tried to wile it away with him, but it would not stir a step. 
 It fawned upon him in return for his caresses ; but follow 
 him it would not ; and at last it lay down among the 
 sleepers, and looked demurely in his face. With a muttered 
 curse Kenneth desisted caressing the obstinate brute, and 
 conducted Annabel to a little thicket beyond the house, 
 where her pony was standing tied to a tree. He unfastened 
 it, assisted her to the saddle, and then taking hold of the 
 bridle, led the way down the glen. 
 
 It was not dark, for there was scarcely a fleck of cloud in 
 the blue firmament, and the west still shone faintly with the 
 lingering light of day. Annabel's anxious heart throbbed 
 tumultuously with conflicting hopes and fears ; and some- 
 times her fears gained so much the ascendancy that they 
 seemed almost to quench the beacon light of hope. When 
 she regained some little composure, she began to scrutinize 
 her guide. He was a shapely athletic youth, with a hand- 
 some ingenuous countenance, and was fully armed with 
 broadsword and target, dirk and pistols. 
 
 " Shall we have a far journey before we reach a place of 
 security?" she asked, desirous of engaging him in con- 
 versation. 
 
154 GILDEROY: 
 
 " It will be all night and part 'of to-morrow too," answered 
 Kenneth, who spoke the English tongue rather fluently. 
 " You see I have provided for the journey," he added, 
 pointing to a small canvas bag, containing cakes and roasted 
 venison, which was attached to the saddle. " The journey 
 will be pretty long ; but there is no danger to dread." 
 
 ^ " Unless Gilderoy arrives at the cottage to-night, and 
 gives pursuit," said Annabel. " At all events there will be 
 pursuit, I doubt not, as soon as the men awake from their 
 charmed sleep." 
 
 " I would not care for Gilderoy, or for the men either," 
 returned Kenneth. " But yonder hound that I have often 
 fed out of my own hand I should have drawn my dirk 
 across her throat. Might not I go back and do it yet?" 
 He stopped the pony, and looked back fiercely towards the 
 cottage, which could not now be distinguished in the distance. 
 
 "For mercy's sake, no!" implored Annabel. "Let us 
 forward with best speed." 
 
 "Marion forgot the dog when she gave out the milk," 
 said Kenneth ; " and as the dog is Marion's favourite, I did 
 not feel in my heart to do it harm ; for I thought I could 
 have lured it away with us. The dog, if need be, could 
 track us to the world's end. I should not have been so 
 simple. But no matter," he added, more cheerfully, as he 
 again put the pony in motion, " no matter ; we have got the 
 start. They cannot overtake us though they had all the 
 sleuth-hounds in Scotland. Pshaw ! No, no. I am a fool 
 to care about the dog." 
 
 " Have you left any friends among Gilderoy's followers?" 
 
 " Not one." 
 
 "And no friends in the Macgregors' country ?" 
 
 " Only my foster-father, and a young orphan boy, his 
 grandson," responded Kenneth. " My foster-father is frail 
 and old, and the boy has been long sick, as if past all cure. 
 The rest of my friends are in their graves, and some of them 
 fell in the feuds of the clan. I have fought and bled for the 
 clan, too," he added ; " but I am weary of Gilderoy, and I 
 will fight for him no more. Ever since he came to Eannoch, 
 he has been bringing misfortunes on us by his own rashness, 
 and he scoffs at all sober counsel, and will not listen to 
 words of wisdom and prudence. He has ruined the clan." 
 
 " Why did the men fight for him against General Monk's 
 troops?" said Annabel. 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 155 
 
 "You did not see the battle, and therefore you can say 
 nothing about it," said Kenneth. " Trust me, lady, if the 
 men's hearts had been in the work, we would have destroyed 
 the enemy in the pass." 
 
 "It is very sad that the crimes of Gilderoy should be 
 visited on the heads of all his kindred and dependants." 
 
 " But who can help it?" cried the youth. " He has been 
 driving us, like cattle, to the shambles ; but it has come to 
 an end. We have found out that he never had a Highland 
 heart. He is Saxon to the core. He despises our traditions 
 and customs, and holds us as his born slaves. I cannot 
 away with his haughtiness. I would sometimes come to the 
 tower to speak a word with Marion, and he would drive me 
 away with scon and scorn, though I have shed my blood for him. 
 By the honour of my father ! but he shall repent his insolence." 
 
 "Perhaps he is in love with Marion ?" suggested Annabel. 
 
 "In love with Marion?" cried Kenneth, with a dark 
 smile, and a dark glance towards the lady. " To be sure ; 
 and if he could win a wealthy Lowland lady as his bride, he 
 would cast Marion from him like a weed. Never tell me 
 that he kept you as a hostage, and wanted your ransom. 
 He had another and deeper aim. I know his guile. But he 
 shall neither wed with you nor with Marion, for he shall 
 perish on the gallows-tree, like his brother !" 
 
 The conversation dropped off at this interesting point as 
 if by mutual consent. It had entirely satisfied Annabel 
 about the fidelity of her guide. 
 
 The glen was soon cleared, and Kenneth led the way 
 across a dreary range of mountains. A wind now sprang 
 up, blowing in fitful soughing gusts, which the dense pine 
 woods scattered amon the hills answered with a deep and 
 solemn sound like the rushing of a sea. The blast drifted 
 broken masses of cloud into the heavens, blotting out the 
 lustre of the " sentinel stars," and the shades of the summer 
 night fell darker on the desert solitude. 
 
 When the timid beam of morn was brightening the cloudy 
 east, the fugitives began to ascend a narrow crooked pass, 
 which scarred the side of a mountain like a rugged rent 
 caused by some convulsion of Nature. At intervals both 
 sides of the gully were so thickly set with birch and hazel- 
 trees, that the branches intertwining overhead formed a 
 close canopy, and cast dense obscurity on the irregular path 
 beneath, which, moreover, was rendered doubly hazardous 
 
156 GILDEROY: 
 
 by splintered fragments of rock lying about. Here the lady 
 was obliged to dismount and continue her progress on foot, 
 while the guide led the hardy little horse behind him. 
 
 It was a very difficult, not to say dangerous passage ; and 
 Kenneth was assuring the lady that the worst of it had been 
 got over, when a strange sound, unlike any other sound 
 which had as yet been borne by the wind and many a 
 mystic and weirdlike sound strikes the traveller's ear in 
 " desert wildernesses " came ehoing up the deep pass with a 
 fresh gust of the gale. The Highlander stood still, and 
 turned his ear to listen. His ruddy cheek grew pale. 
 
 " Are we pursued P " faltered the lady. " Is it a sound of 
 pursuit?" 
 
 "..-It is," answered Kenneth, in a hoarse low tone. " That 
 hell-hound ! she is on our track. She is near the bottom 
 of the pass. The men have discovered all." 
 
 " We are lost !" cried Annabel, in accents of despair. 
 
 The youth went down the gully a few paces, and parting 
 the overhanging boughs, listened 'for some moments, and 
 then stole back again, unslinging his target from his back. 
 
 "They are coming a band of them," he said. "I must 
 find some place where to make a stand." 
 
 " Alas ! what can you do against so many ? " sighed 
 Annabel. 
 
 " Do ? " responded Kenneth. " I can fight, and I can die. 
 But I must seek vantage ground." 
 
 They hurried up the pass, and vantage ground was speedily 
 attained at a place where a huge boulder, nearly four feet 
 high, lay in the road, leaving only a straight passage on one 
 side, while a spreading tree slanting out from the bank flung 
 its drooping branches over the head of the stone. Here 
 Kenneth cast the pony loose, and urging it up the path 
 beyond the obstruction, enjoined Annabel to follow. 
 
 " Retire behind some of the upper crags, lady, to escape 
 the arrow and bullets," he said. '* As for me, I shall take 
 post behind this great stone, and while I live not a man of 
 them shall pass it." 
 
 " But," said the lady, " if I surrender myself at once, 
 they may spare your life." 
 
 "You shall never surrender in my presence," said Ken- 
 neth, firmly. " Up, up and leave me to meet them here. 
 I know how to sell my life as dearly as I can." 
 
 Annabel accordingly retired up the pass, and comic g 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 157 
 
 to a projecting rock, sat down behind it in tears and 
 horror. 
 
 Kenneth, ensconcing himself behind the boulder, peered 
 cautiously over it, the canopy of clustering foliage effectually 
 concealing his head. He held one of his pistols cocked in 
 his hand. The wind blowing strongly in his face, the sounds 
 of voices and footsteps down the path were heard approach- 
 ing, and at length several Highlanders emerged into view, 
 following the ban-dog of the tower that ran before them, 
 snuffing the ground, and tracing the slot with unerring in- 
 stinct. .The light of dawn was now in the sky, and the 
 birds were chirping in the trees. The pursuers came on, 
 clambering over the scattered stones, and occasionally calling 
 out to each other and to the hound ; and it was with a 
 " stern joy " that Kenneth discovered the foremost to be 
 Gilderoy himself! 
 
 The hound suddenly stopped short, and raising her head, 
 gazed keenly up the pass, and began to howl and grind 
 her fangs. That same instant a stream of fire flashed over 
 the rugged top of the grey boulder and through the green 
 dewy leaves a shot rattled sharply through the air and a 
 Highlander, who had stepped before the chief to drive on 
 the sleuth-hound, leaped from the ground like a stricken 
 deer, casting out his arms, and then fell on his face, without 
 so much as a moan. 
 
 A confused cry burst from the pursuers, who were rapidly 
 increasing in numbers, as one after another hastened into 
 sight. Drawing their broadswords, they brandished them 
 about their heads, but seemed irresolute as to advancing, 
 being ignorant of what force might be in ambuscade above. 
 
 "Forward, men of Clan Gregor!" exclaimed Gilderoy. 
 " Will you stand to be shot like deer ! " 
 
 Another flash blazed over the great stone, and a second 
 clansman clapped his hand to his forehead, and staggering 
 back stumbled over his fallen comrade. 
 
 " Forward forward ! " again shouted Gilderoy, and 
 waving his sword he led the way, his men scrambling after 
 him like a pack of eager hounds, making the gully ring with 
 their savage yells. Not another shot arrested their pro- 
 gress ; but the narrow gap at the side of the boulder was 
 tilled by the undaunted Kenneth, who with his naked broad- 
 sword in his hand, and covering himself with his target, stood 
 prepared to dispute the passage. 
 
158 GILDEROY: 
 
 The bloodhound, rushing in advance, bounded on her 
 former friend as if to throttle him, undeterred by the gleam 
 of his steel; but his first stroke clove her skull in twain, 
 and his second, aimed full at Gilderoy, though caught by 
 the latter's target, hurled him back upon his followers. 
 The strife now thickened with hate and ferocity on both 
 sides. Some of the enemy attempted to climb over the 
 boulder ; but that was impracticable in the press, and they 
 rolled down and were trampled on by their comrades. Ken- 
 neth defended himself with the most daring courage, every 
 sweep of his blade seeming to deal destruction. Four or five 
 of the band lay gasping at his feet before the fatal gap. 
 But at last the force of numbers prevailed, and he was slowly 
 driven from his vantage-ground, and then overwhelmed, 
 beaten down, and stabbed to death. 
 
 Gilderoy and a few of his men ran up the pass, wondering 
 what had become of the lady ; but she was soon discovered in 
 her hiding-place and dragged forth. She was pallid, speech- 
 less, and trembling like a leaf. 
 
 " Lady," said Gilderoy, " it is not the will of Fate that 
 you shall escape me, for all our lives hang upon your 
 head." 
 
 Annabel had not a word to offer. 
 
 The pony was soon found and brought back ; and Gil- 
 deroy had taken the lady's hand to lead her away, when 
 something caused him to start and look suspiciously up the 
 
 ' What noise was that ? " he said. 
 
 " I hear nothing but the wind and the branches/' answered 
 a clansman. 
 
 "I hear footsteps among the stones!" cried another. 
 " Holy Virgin forefend, that we be not taken in our own 
 toils!" 
 
 All doubt was put an end to by the clear, prolonged blast 
 of a trumpet, which echoing down from the upper regions of 
 the pass, smote on the ears of the Macgregors like the trump 
 of final doom itself; and immediately after steel morions 
 and breastplates glimmered through the branches above, and 
 a small body of Campion's troops came in sight. 
 
 The unfortunate Annabel was scarcely conscious of what 
 happened during the next few minutes. She seemed to be 
 rudely dragged away, and then to sink helplessly to the 
 earth ; and then a volley of musketry bellowed like thunder 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 159 
 
 through the confined pass, shaking the very rocks, and a 
 furious strife surged past her ; and when her senses resumed 
 their wonted sway, she was half-reclining at the foot of a 
 crag, and the tumult of battle was raging down beyond the 
 stone. 
 
 All at once she was raised from the ground by a soldier, in 
 whom, to her unutterable astonishment, she fancied she 
 recognized the long-absent Jasper Eollo ! 
 
 " You are saved, dearest Annabel, you are saved," ex- 
 claimed he. 
 
 The voice thrilled her to the heart. She gazed fixedly 
 and wildly at him, and her first impression was fully con- 
 firmed. Jasper Hollo himself stood before her, in the uni- 
 form and accoutrements of a Roundhead officer. He was 
 changed, indeed, since she saw him last. His aspect was 
 manlier, his complexion darker, his stature taller ; but the 
 old lineaments, which had been long graven on her memory, 
 were not to be mistaken. With a cry of joy and gladness 
 she fell on his breast and sobbed aloud. 
 
 " Rouse thee, lady," he cried. " Summon strength, and 
 come with me. Heavens ! the air is full of death ! " he 
 added, as first one bullet and then another clanked and 
 flattened against the rock at his side. He sheltered her 
 behind the jutting crag under which she had fallen. 
 " Remain here, where you will be safe, till the detachment 
 has driven off the outlaws." 
 
 The roar and clangour of the conflict below waxed louder 
 and louder. Down beyond the boulder the pass was thick 
 with smoke, which ever and anon was streaked with red 
 flashes of muskets and pistols. Suddenly two soldiers 
 emerged from the dense obscurity, and came running up the 
 rugged path at headlong speed. 
 
 " Cowards ! " cried Rollo ; " have you turned your backs 
 to the foe whom you so lately vanquished?" 
 
 " The sons of Zeruiah are too strong for us," gasped one 
 of the fugitives. " They have smitten us hip and thigh 
 with a great slaughter. Fly, friend, fly. Your life is in 
 your hand." And he and his comrade rushed past. 
 
 " 'Tis vain for me to strive against fate," cried Annabel. 
 
 " Nay, nay," answered Rollo. " The path is open, and 
 we will endeavour to escape. Another detachment of the 
 troops cannot be far distant. Summon strength and reso- 
 lution, I say, and God may grant us a safe deliverance. 
 
160 GILDEBOY: 
 
 Colonel Campion himself, at the head of a powerful force, is 
 traversing these mountains. You shall not, while Ilive, pass 
 again into Gilderoy's hands." 
 
 By a strong effort Annabel overcame her weakness, and 
 leaning on his arm, suffered him to hurry her up the ascent, 
 though she had a strong presentiment that all his efforts to 
 save her would be fruitless. They were not long in reaching 
 the summit of the mountain, where the pass became sepa- 
 rated into three or four similar gullies, which diverged down- 
 wards on the other side. The roar of battle was behind ; 
 more guardsmen were seen in full flight ; and high above 
 all the tumult rang the slogan of Clan Gregor " O'ard 
 Choille ! " 
 
 "Where shalHwe find safety?" cried Annabel, despair- 
 ingly. " You will perish lite the brave and faithful 
 guide." 
 
 " Down the height ! down the height ! " responded Hollo. 
 And he led the trembling lady down one of the paths. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXL 
 
 And fast before her father's men 
 
 Three days we've fled together, 
 For, should he find us in the glen, 
 
 My blood would stain the heather. 
 
 Lord Ullin'8 Daughter. 
 
 My sister is not so defenceless left 
 
 As you imagine ; she has a hidden strength 
 
 Which you remember not. Comus. 
 
 JASPEE EOLLO expected every moment to be overtaken 
 by the enemy; but he prudently concealed his fears 
 from Annabel, and urged her down the mountain as fast as 
 her strength permitted. Occasionally the halloo of the Mac- 
 gregors' slogan was heard from above ; but such alarming 
 sounds soon ceased, and there was no sign of pursuit. It 
 seemed certain that if the victorious Highlanders were in 
 pursuit at all, they had unwittingly taken another track. 
 The bottom of the mountain was fringed by a straggling 
 wood, to whose shade our fugitives gladly betook themselves. 
 " The events of this morning have been marvellous," said 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 161 
 
 Annabel, as they passed through the trees. "But your own 
 presence here is the most startling marvel of all." 
 
 " My story is long and involved, and therefore must be 
 deferred till a more fitting time," answered Jasper. " But I 
 may tell you briefly that I only reached Dunavaig in time to 
 witness my poor old kinsman's interment. I then proceeded 
 to Spierhaughs, and joining Colonel Campion's expedition, 
 was present at the battle with the Macgregors. After we 
 seized Gilderoy's stronghold, Campion, fearing for your 
 safety, had resolved to offer easy terms, with the view of 
 obtaining your freedom, when two deserters from Gilderoy's 
 slender band of followers came in and disclosed everything 
 respecting his plans and haunts. Acting upon this informa- 
 tion, we went out in detached parties, hoping to surprise the 
 marauders. The party which I accompanied has fared badly ; 
 but the colonel, with a sufficient power, cannot be far away ; 
 and now that you have escaped, Gilderoy and his lawless 
 abettors will be destroyed without compunction." 
 
 "Gilderoy offered me no indignity," replied Annabel. 
 " It is but just that I should bear that testimony in his 
 favour. There are some, too, among his kindred whom I would 
 fain save from the common ruin." She mentioned Marion 
 and Judith and Evan Glas, recounting the great services 
 which Marion had rendered her. "The generous girl merits 
 the highest reward for exerting herself so disinterestedly in 
 my behalf, and I pray that it may not be denied her. But 
 for her interposition, I should still have remained a hopeless 
 captive." 
 
 " Colonel Campion will protect and reward her according 
 to your wishes," said Eollo. "You shall be enabled to 
 requite her for the good services to which you owe your 
 liberty." 
 
 They passed through the straggling wood, and came again 
 among the silent mountains, whose lofty summits were now 
 crowned with the golden resplendency of the rising sun. 
 Still no sign of friend or foe. Often and eagerly did Hollo 
 pause and scan the scene around, in hopes of descrying 
 Campion's party. Often and eagerly did he listen, if so be 
 that he might catch the welcome breath of a trumpet. But 
 no soldiers were seen no trumpet heard. 
 
 "If you had reached Dunavaig a few days earlier than 
 you did, Gilderoy's fell purpose would have been foiled," 
 said Annabel, " because the laird and I had arranged that 
 
 M 
 
162 aiLDEBOY : 
 
 immediately on your arrival we should all go to Glenbirkie 
 for some weeks. But it was otherwise ordained." 
 
 " I fear," said Hollo, " that Gilderoy was instigated to the 
 outrage by one more subtle than himself. I refer to Sir 
 John Spiers," and here he related the discovery made by 
 Colonel Campion. " But," added he, " I never knew until 
 the latter told me, that Sir John was once your suitor." 
 
 Annabel looked slightly disconcerted, but explained how 
 Sir John had pressed his suit, and how she had rejected it. 
 
 " Should he fall into our hands, he will meet the due 
 recompense of his matchless perfidy," said Eollo. " Even 
 Gilderoy himself seems to have broken with him." 
 
 Thus they conversed ; and the summer sun mounted to 
 his altitude, and still they were wandering through the 
 mountainous deserts. Annabel, much exhausted, sat down 
 to rest beside a forest spring ; and Eollo producing the little 
 quantity of provisions which he carried in his haversack, a 
 pretty good repast was furnished forth. 
 
 The setting sun found them still wandering they knew 
 not whither. Dreary solitudes still encompassed them. It 
 was now high time, however, that they should endeavour to 
 find some kind of shelter from the approaching night, which 
 certain appearances in the sky seemed to augur would be 
 stormy. 
 
 The sun went down behind a low-lying bank of vapour, 
 the breeze blew loud and shrill, and heavy rain-drops pat- 
 tered on the leaves. The fugitives held on their way. Still 
 no sign of friends no sign of enemies not a house to be 
 seen, nothing but the bleak Highland wastes. 
 
 They were slowly traversing an open stretch of moorland, 
 when Annabel suddenly pointed to a small loch lying at a 
 short distance on the right hand, and Eollo, casting his eyes 
 in that direction, perceived a man carrying a pitcher coming 
 up from the side of the water. 
 
 " We must accost this person," said Eollo, "whether he 
 prove friendly or not." 
 
 They turned aside and met the man. He was an aged 
 and infirm Highlander, apparently of peasant grade, stooping 
 in his gait, and with bleared eyes and frosty locks. Eollo 
 inquired whether he had seen any of the Lowland soldiers 
 in the neighbourhood during the day ? The old man answered, 
 in imperfect English, that he had seen none ; but that he 
 had been at home all day, tending a sick boy, his grandchild, 
 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 163 
 
 who was his only inmate, adding that as the water of this 
 loch was reckoned a sovereign remedy for certain distempers 
 incidental to children, he was in the habit of coming occa- 
 sionally for a supply to administer to the boy. 
 
 " Where is your dwelling ? " asked Hollo. 
 
 The old man replied that it was distant about three miles. 
 
 " Could you afford us shelter all night ? " pursued Jasper. 
 
 By this time the rain-drops were falling more thickly, and 
 the Highlander, glancing at the lowering firmament, said 
 that his hut was small and poor ; but that, seeing the night 
 threatened to be a rough one, and there was no other house 
 within easy reach, he would willingly give the shelter soli- 
 cited. Hollo promised to reward him well for his hospitality. 
 In answer to further inquiries, the old man stated that his 
 name was Callum Cluny, and that he had lived alone for 
 many years until his orphan grandson was cast upon his 
 care. " The boy," he added, "is the last branch of our old 
 stem, and I fear that his days are numbered. I have no 
 other kindred unless I count my foster-son, a brave youth, 
 who is among the followers of Gilderoy ; for his father was 
 of that clan." 
 
 " What is that youth's name P " asked Annabel. 
 
 " Kenneth Drummond. But Gilderoy casts an evil eye 
 upon him ; his heart is set against him and without cause." 
 
 Annabel heaved a sigh to the memory of her gallant but 
 ill-fated guide. " Have you not heard that the Common- 
 wealth troops have poured into the Macgregor's country, 
 and driven Gilderoy to the hills ? " she said. 
 
 " Never till this moment," cried the old man, in breathless 
 accents. " Do you know if my foster-son fell in the strife ?" 
 
 " We cannot tell," answered Hollo. " But this much we 
 know, that Gilderoy and his men were utterly routed. The 
 Saxon soldiers now garrison the tower of Hannoch, and 
 Gilderoy is a hunted fugitive, with a price on his head." 
 
 " May evil fortune attend him for the evil eye that he 
 casts upon my foster-son !" exclaimed Callum. " Indeed ! 
 and indeed ! and Gilderoy has lost the day ! " 
 
 " I am surprised," said Hollo, " that all this did not reach 
 your ears sooner." 
 
 " I dwell in a lonely place," said Callum. " But would that 
 I knew of Kenneth's safety. Alas ! he has perished, else 
 he would have been here." 
 
 In great agitation he lifted the earthenware pitcher of 
 M 2 
 
164 GILDEROY: 
 
 vrater, which lie had set down during the colloquy, and pro- 
 ceeded to lead the way towards his dwelling. Kollo relieved 
 him of his burden ; and then they went on quickly, Callum 
 putting a thousand questions about the overthrow of Gilderoy . 
 
 The journey was fully three miles, and by the time it 
 was accomplished Annabel was very weary and faint. Cal- 
 lum's dwelling was a common clay-built hut, near the foot 
 of a steep heathery hill, and with a small enclosure at the 
 back, in which a couple of cows and some sheep and goats 
 were pastured. The frail door was secured on the outside 
 by a twisted twig, which Callum undid, and then he ushered 
 his guests into the humble domicile, just as the rain, which 
 had been threatening so long, began to fall heavily. 
 
 "I wonder," remarked Eollo, " that in such a lawless 
 country you find your house and your cattle as you left 
 them." 
 
 " This is a lonely place, as I told you," answered Callum ; 
 " but there is not a cateran in all the Highlands who would 
 spoil poor old Cluny of his little gear." 
 
 There being no fire on the hearth, the place was clear of 
 the usual "peat-reek." The sick boy lay on a couch of 
 heath covered with a plaid. His grandsire, taking the 
 itcher from Hollo, placed it in front of the couch, and 
 neeling beside it felt the boy's brow and his pulse. " He 
 is asleep," he said, " and I need not waken him, for he never 
 shut an eye all day." Dipping his forefinger in the pitcher, 
 he traced a watery cross on the boy's forehead, and muttered 
 a few hurried sentences in Gaelic. The boy slept on, and 
 his grandsire rose from his knees, and placed stools for his 
 guests, and then brought out some cakes and milk from a 
 small press for their entertainment. The homely viands 
 proved very acceptable, and soon disappeared from the 
 board. 
 
 The night, which now blew a storm of wind and rain, 
 darkened fast, and Callum kindled a splinter of fir, which 
 being stuck in a kind of sconce affixed to the wall, dispensed 
 a smoky light through the cottage. Conversation proceeded 
 briskly, the subject being Gilderoy, his misdeeds, and his 
 defeat; but Annabel still refrained from afflicting the old 
 man by telling him of his foster-son's slaughter. 
 
 Time was verging on midnight, when Callum started up, 
 declaring that he heard men's voices outside. His guests 
 also rose to their feet and listened, but apparently heard 
 
 p 
 k 
 
'A wild night, Cailum,' said a man's voice 'You must give us 
 the screen of your roof.'" P. 165. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 165 
 
 nothing. Next moment there was a heavy knock at the door, 
 which was secured within by a wooden bar. "We must 
 open," said Callutn, " for they will see our light;" and he 
 went and opened the door. 
 
 "A wild night, Callum," said a man's yoice in Gaelic. 
 " You must give us the screen of your roof till this rough 
 blast blows by." The speaker brushed past Callum, and 
 strode heavily into the cottage. It was Gilderoy ! Several 
 Highlanders followed him. The wet was dripping from their 
 plaids, and they all seemed in very sorry plight. A shriek 
 from Lady Annabel and an exclamation of astonishment from 
 Gilderoy showed their mutual recognition. 
 
 " Never met I better fortune ! " cried Macgregor, in English. 
 " The heiress herself, and the Roundhead Captain lovers 
 fond and true ! Nay, by my faith ! not the Captain, but one 
 of his minions ! " 
 
 Hollo's sword was already unsheathed in his hand, and he 
 threw himself betwixt Annabel and the outlaw. The clans- 
 men gave a shout, and drew their swords, while more of the 
 band pressed themselves into the hut. 
 
 " Do you value your life so lightly, sirrah, that you dare 
 to interpose betwixt me and my prize ? " cried Ma'cgregor, 
 bending the full glare of his fixed eye on Hollo. " Stand 
 off sheath your weapon surrender yourself or, by 
 Heaven ! you die, without space to frame a prayer ! " 
 
 " Let no bloodshed ensue, I entreat you, brave friend," 
 said Annabel, laying her trembling hand on Jasper's arm. 
 " You cannot save me. Fortune is against us, and we must 
 submit." 
 
 "You must," said Gilderoy, sternly. "In place of pro- 
 moting your rescue, the intervention of the E/oundheads has 
 frustrated your own plans, and prevented your escape ; for, 
 had they not come out in parties, and driven me back, I 
 would not have come to Macnab, the drover's house, so soon 
 after your flight. Their Captain thought to surround me. 
 Pshaw! the fool strives beyond his strength." Then addressing 
 Hollo, he cried " Will you sheath your weapon, or must I 
 strike you down ? " 
 
 " Yield yield, for the love of heaven, and for my sake !" 
 implored the lady. 
 
 turning with bitterest mortification, Jasper sheathed his 
 sword, and presently he was beset by four of the band, who 
 pinioned his arms, divested him of his weapon, and rifled 
 nim of all the money which he carried about him. 
 
166 GILDEBOY: 
 
 " You wear the Roundhead uniform, but yet you do not 
 seem to belong to the service," said Gilderoy. " Who are 
 you ? and what is your ground of quarrel with me ? " 
 
 " You imbrued your hands in the blood of my kinsman 
 at Dunavaig," answered Hollo, fearlessly. 
 
 At these words Gilderoy's countenance fell ; but again he 
 fastened a searching gaze on the prisoner. "You are the 
 heir of Dunavaig ? " he said. " But know you not that your 
 kinsman betrayed my brave brother ? " 
 
 " He had no share in your brother's death," returned 
 Hollo ; " and you were bribed by Sir John Spiers to commit 
 the outrage." 
 
 " A silly tale ! " cried Gilderoy, scornfully, as he turned 
 away his head. 
 
 Old Callum now besought a word with him, and made 
 inquiry respecting Kenneth. An angry frown darkened 
 Macgregor's brow as he answered " You have a foster-son 
 no longer. The villain died beneath our swords this morning 
 for his foul treachery. I might almost hold you as an 
 accomplice in his plot, seeing that we find this lady con- 
 cealed here." 
 
 " Kenneth slain ! and by your sword and the swords of 
 the clansmen ! " ejaculated Callum, in tones of agony. " He 
 had no traitor's heart, James Macgregor. He was ever loyal 
 and true." 
 
 " Question the band, dotard, and they will tell you how he 
 played me false," said Gilderoy. 
 
 Callum, overwhelmed with anguish, staggered towards the 
 couch, and sank down beside it, wringing his hands. 
 
 The rain was lashing in torrents, and the tempestuous 
 blast shook the frail cottage as if it would shake it to the 
 ground. To escape the storm, the most of Gilderoy's 
 followers pressed inside the door. There appeared to be 
 about a score altogether in the party, several of whom were 
 wounded men. Some half-dozen were obliged, however, to 
 remain outside, for want of room in the house. 
 
 " I have vowed, and I must fulfil, and no man shall stay 
 my pitiless hand," exclaimed a hoarse, quavering, ferocious 
 voice from the door. "It is blood for blood, life for life, 
 that I crave." And the clansman, Eachin Macraw, who lost 
 his four sons in the battle, elbowed his way to Gilderoy's 
 side, with his rusty corslet on his breast, and trailing his 
 two-handed sword behind him. " Chieftain of the Gregalich, 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 167 
 
 there stands one of the Saxon villains who slew my gallant 
 children, and what hinders me from snatching my revenge ? " 
 
 " Keep silence, Eachin," said Macgregor, pushing the 
 savage back. But Eachin resisted, and struggled for room 
 to draw his sword. " Macraw," said the chief, sternly, " I 
 must be obeyed. Go back." 
 
 " You had your own revenge, and why should I be foiled 
 of mine ? " demanded Eachin. " The Saxon coward hung 
 your brother upon a tree, and set his head upon a pole, and 
 you descended from the hills like a torrent, and destroyed 
 the traitor of Dunavaig. And because of that brave deed, 
 and because of this pale-faced girl, the usurper's soldiers 
 marched against us, and scattered our power, and slew my 
 sons. And, standing in my desolation, I lifted up my hand 
 and vowed that I should never spare. And that vow I must 
 fulfil." 
 
 "Another word, and it shall be your last," cried Gilderoy, 
 pulling a pistol from his belt. " Your sons fell in the battle 
 what then ? They died in their duty like many others. 
 Go back, and keep silence." 
 
 With a hollow laugh, Eachin drew back, and disappeared 
 in the crowd. 
 
 " Macgregor," cried Hollo, " I think I could undertake to 
 arrange some accommodation with Colonel Campion, based 
 upon the release of all the prisoners in your hands." 
 
 " Have you authority to enter into a covenant with me ? " 
 inquired Gilderoy. 
 
 " I have not ; but I believe I could induce Colonel 
 Campion to offer favourable terms." 
 
 " That can be tried," said Gilderoy. " If the Eoundheads 
 agree to let bygones be bygones, and to quit Rannoch, my 
 prisoners shall be given up. To-morrow you shall have an 
 opportunity of communicating with the Colonel." 
 
 The old man of the cottage, who had been crouching on 
 the floor beside the sick boy's couch, now arose, and slowly 
 making his way through the crowd towards the door, passed 
 out without interruption. The rain was abating, but the 
 wind was still strong. He wandered forth into the stormy 
 gloom, and as he went he muttered " Oh ! that those Saxon 
 soldiers would pass this way, for then should Kenneth 
 be avenged ! Oh ! that the Saxon soldiers were at hand ! " 
 
 Strange to say, his eager wild wish was speedily gratified; 
 for the Powers of Vengeance were riding the blast that 
 
168 GILDEEOY! 
 
 night. ^ He had wandered upwards of a mile, when, near 
 the skirts of a wood, he came upon a marshalled body of 
 armed men advancing straight in the direction of his cottage. 
 He was instantly observed, and three or four Highlanders 
 seized him. 
 
 " What is the name of your chief? " he asked. 
 
 "Colonel Campion," they answered. 
 
 "Bring him to me," said Callum, gladly. 
 
 The rest of the troops coming up, the old man was sur- 
 rounded in a trice. Colonel Campion presented himself. 
 
 " Are you in quest of Gilderoy ? " said Callum. 
 
 " I am," answered the Colonel. " According to reliable 
 accounts, he has fled in this direction. There is a heavy 
 price on his head, and if you bring me front to front with 
 him, the reward shall be your own." 
 
 " I will deliver him into thine hand," responded Callum, 
 " He is now under my roof, a little distance hence, and his 
 band of murderers with him." 
 
 "Callum Cluny," exclaimed a stalwart mountaineer, 
 clapping the old man's shoulder, " if your words prove true, 
 you shall have a handful of gold pieces out of my own 
 sporran" 
 
 " Follow me and see, Eanald Vourigh," said Callum, after 
 a deep pause. " I would not have known your face so soon ; 
 but your voice ah! it brings back remembrances of 
 happier days. You, too, suffered from the rancour of the 
 Macgregors ; and now, E/anald, vengeance is within your 
 reach." 
 
 Callum was then addressed by another questioner. "You'll 
 maybe no ken naething, auld carle, aboot my master, Jasper 
 Hollo, the laird o' Cairnibie and, as I may say, Dunavaig P 
 for he has faun lawfu' heir to the Dunavaig lands, and 
 therefore he is laird o' the twa places. We heard that he 
 was neither killed nor taen prisoner this morning, but fled 
 awa' wi' a lady, to wit, the heiress o' Glenbirkie." The 
 questioner was Elshender. 
 
 Callum replied by relating how a Saxon soldier and a fair 
 lady had followed him to his cottage, and how they were seized 
 by the Macgregors. 
 
 All this was brave news for Colonel Campion. For- 
 tune had never been so propitious. His party was 
 numerous, and he had nothing to fear. "Lead on to the 
 cottage, but quietly," he said, "And, hark you," added he, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 169 
 
 in a whisper, touching a corporal on the shoulder, " keep 
 your eye on this old man, and if he plays the rogue shoot 
 him through the head." 
 
 No idea of suspicion disturbed the minds of the few Mac- 
 gregors who lounged outside the cottage ; therefore they 
 were far more anxious to screen themselves from the ill 
 weather than to keep vigilant watch. Their carelessness 
 allowed the house to be surrounded by the enemy before 
 they were aware ; and one of them had scarcely raised an 
 alarm, when the fire of several muskets stretched them all 
 on the ground, dead or dying. A wild outcry arose within 
 the house, and the door being pulled open with difficulty, 
 the dull red light which gleamed forth showed that the 
 interior was crowded with men. 
 
 " James Macgregor ! " cried the strong voice of Colonel 
 Campion, " in the name of the Lord Protector, whose com- 
 mission I carry, I call upon you to surrender, under pain of 
 being dealt with according to the extremities of martial 
 law." 
 
 The crowd within the doorway opened a little, and Gil- 
 deroy himself appeared on the threshold, with his drawn 
 sword in his hand. He cast his eyes around, and his heart 
 died within him on finding that he was thoroughly trapped 
 that it was impossible for him to break through and escape. 
 Still, one desperate hope was left him. "Bring forth the 
 lady," he cried. Annabel was led to the door by two of his 
 band. " There is the bonnie bird whom you have sought so 
 long," he exclaimed ; " and if you fire another shot, her life 
 shall be the forfeit." 
 
 "I call upon all those infatuated men now in rebellion 
 against the Lord Protector to lay down their arms and sub- 
 mit to me, his lieutenant in these parts," exclaimed Colonel 
 Campion. " A free pardon and a thousand merks to who- 
 ever shall bring me Gilderoy dead or alive." 
 
 " Gilderoy ! " ejaculated Eanald Vourigh, stepping out 
 from the line of soldiers in front of the cottage, and waving 
 his sword. " Gilderoy ! you fled from my face in the battle 
 like a dastard ; and I am here and dare you again to the 
 fight. Come forth, heart of hare ! I am Eanald Yourigh, 
 and I defy you, and proclaim you coward before all your 
 men." 
 
 Macgregor was greatly agitated, but gave no response. 
 
 " No, you lack courage to meet a death of honour," cried 
 
170 aiLDEROY: 
 
 Macpherson ; " and you'll die on the gallows, like your 
 brother before you." 
 
 "Bring out the other prisoner," said Gilderoy, at last. 
 Eollo was brought to the side of Lady Annabel. "Now, 
 sirrah, you have the opportunity of performing your promise. 
 Obtain terms from your captain. 
 
 " Entreat the Colonel," said Annabel, " to grant life and 
 liberty to them all." 
 
 " Tell him this," said Gilderoy : " the lady and yourself 
 will be delivered on condition that one and all of us are 
 allowed to depart whithersoever we choose, without molesta- 
 tion. In the first place, I will deliver the lady, and then 
 depart with one-half my men. At the end of a full hour you 
 shall be given up, and the other half of my party will march 
 away, and a full hour will be allowed before any pursuit is 
 made. These are my terms my final terms. I can listen 
 to no others. I will never degrade my name by submission 
 to the usurper. Free was I born free shall I live ; or I can 
 die fighting for freedom to the last." 
 
 A loud yell of applause burst from his followers. 
 
 Jasper Eollo immediately hailed Colonel Campion and 
 communicated the proposal, which the latter, after making 
 a show of consulting with his officers, accepted. 
 " I am sorry that Spierhaughs is not here," added Cam- 
 pion. " But Sir John's turn will come next. Let Macgregor 
 now ratify his own part of the agreement, and I will ratify 
 mine. I pass my word of honour, as a Christian man and a 
 soldier, for the faithful performance of my part of the 
 covenant." 
 
 Matters being thus arranged, Lady Annabel was liberated ; 
 and Gilderoy and one half of his party marched out, and 
 soon disappeared over the hill behind the cottage, Eanald 
 Vourigh gnashing his teeth meanwhile in bitter mortification. 
 
 The lady was no sooner among her friends than, overcome 
 by her feelings, she swooned at Campion's feet. When she 
 recovered, she thanked him cordially for the strong interest 
 which he had manifested in her behalf. She recounted the 
 story of her adventures, and entreated his favour for Marion 
 and her friends, as well as for old Callum, the foster-father 
 of her trusty but helpless guide. He assured her that he 
 would act according to her wishes. 
 
 At the end of the allotted hour, Jasper Eollo was released, 
 and the rest of the Macgregors retired, taking along with 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION". 171 
 
 them two of the wounded sentinels, being all that remained 
 alive. 
 
 Hollo suggested that Annabel should be conveyed without 
 delay to the Lowlands. 
 
 " She must accompany us back to the tower in the mean- 
 time," said the Colonel ; " for, as Macgregor's adherents are 
 roaming far and wide, it would be hazardous for her to at- 
 tempt a journey to the Lowlands with so small an escort as 
 I could afford to detach at present." 
 
 " I desire to be guided entirely by your opinion," said 
 Annabel. " If you think it best that I should return to my 
 old prison-house, I am most willing to do so. Indeed, by 
 returning there, I may be of service to some of the friends 
 I spoke of." 
 
 The Colon el then proposed that all the party should join in 
 thanksgiving to God for the great meed of success which had 
 attended the expedition ; and this duty was accordingly per- 
 formed with much solemnity. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 We've neither safety, unity, nor peace ; 
 For the foundation's lost of common good. 
 
 Venice Preserved. 
 
 RELIEVED from their dilemma in old Callum's hut, 
 Gilderoy and his little band eagerly pursued their 
 fiiglit. They traversed the wilds for several hours until they 
 reached the place of rendezvous which had been appointed 
 with those they left behind. The morning was fair and 
 bright, but the wind still continued boisterous, and the 
 swollen torrents tumbled down the mountain sides like long 
 winding wreaths of foam. 
 
 The rendezvous gained, the party halted to rest, and awaited 
 the upcoming of their comrades. 
 
 At this juncture Evan Glas, with a few of the Macgregors, 
 appeared on the brow of a neighbouring eminence. 
 
 Evan had fallen sorely under Gilderoy's displeasure on 
 account of the Lady Annabel's escape from the woman Mac- 
 
172 GILDEROY: 
 
 nab's cottage, himself and his men having been found fast 
 asleep when Gilderoy, attended by Hackston and other fol- 
 lowers, unexpectedly arrived there a very short time after 
 the captive had fled. High and hot words arising, Gilderoy 
 had refused to allow Evan to accompany him in the pursuit. 
 
 Gloomy looks and embarrassed salutations now marked 
 the meeting of the foster-brethren. Evan stated that the 
 approach of one of the enemy's parties had forced him to 
 leave Macnab's cottage, and to seek another refuge for his 
 sister, and that he had come out that morning to endeavour 
 to discover how Gilderoy himself had fared. 
 
 Gilderoy himself had fared badly, and all through the 
 baseness of those whom he had trusted most. The lady was 
 irrecoverably beyond his power. He had been constrained 
 to surrender her to secure his own safety. This was the im- 
 port of what he told Evan. " I have been foully betrayed," 
 he cried. "How could I make head against the enemy, 
 when those who followed my standard to battle were but 
 lukewarm in the cause ? Need I dream of retrieving our 
 misfortunes when my own kindred are bent on thwarting all 
 my designs ? " 
 
 " You wrong your kindred by such an imputation," said 
 Evan. 
 
 " I wrong no one," retorted Gilderoy. " You know the 
 treachery of your sister." 
 
 " It has not been proved against my sister," said Evan. 
 " 5Tour violence threw her into such agitation that she could 
 scarce speak a word in her own behalf ; and her mind is still 
 so much shaken that she is unfit for being questioned. Your 
 suspicions even rested on myself though ail the men could 
 testify that I knew nothing of it. Who can tell but that the 
 plot was the contrivance of Kenneth alone, for he long seemed 
 to me like one who had some old wrong rankling in his 
 heart?" 
 
 " Curse the fate that led me to repose confidence in friends 
 so unworthy ! " exclaimed Gilderoy. " It is impossible that 
 Kenneth could have plotted by himself alone." 
 
 Evan was strongly agitated, and his iron-grey complexion 
 became deeply crimsoned. "I may bear your cruel words 
 seeing that you are chafed by disaster," he said, stammering 
 with suppressed passion. " But you are grievously unjust 
 to one who was ever ready to lay down his life for your 
 sake. I have shared your weal and your woe. I was your 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 173 
 
 early companion in the Lowlands ; and after I followed you 
 to Ilannoch you never missed me from your side in the hour 
 of danger. I have shared with you the same couch among 
 the heather, with but one plaid around us, and the tempest 
 raging in the angry heavens above. I have held with you 
 the same weary watch on the midnight hill, when clansmen's 
 huts were blazing on the plain, and the blast was laden with 
 the shouts of the foe. And if at any time I offered you 
 counsel, the counsel came from an honest and faithful heart." 
 
 "Had I been honestly served," said Gilderoy, " I should 
 now have been sweeping the broken remnants of the Round- 
 head force down to the Lowlands gleaning the last handfuls 
 of the harvest of death ; but treachery blasted my career, 
 and you behold your chief a wanderer with scarcely one 
 faithful claymore at his back." 
 
 Evan Glas silently withdrew. 
 
 In about an hour the second party of clansmen who had 
 been left at old Callum's cottage made their appearance. 
 After they had rested themselves a little, Gilderoy gave 
 orders for the whole band to march." 
 
 " Whither ? " inquired Evan Glas. 
 
 Gilderoy paused. "Destruction threatens us on every 
 hand," he said. " Whither would you lead us ? " 
 
 " To the valley where I left my sister and the rest of my 
 men," replied Evan. "We should gather together our 
 little strength, the better to meet the attempts of the 
 enemy." 
 
 " Lead us whither you will," cried Gilderoy. 
 
 Conducted by Evan, the band set out, and, after a rough 
 and tedious journey among the hills, came to a confined but 
 romantic valley, in which they soon descried a few of their 
 comrades gathered around a fire, at which they were 
 dressing the carcase of a sheep. At a small distance from 
 the fire a female was sitting on a stone with her elbows on 
 her knees, and her face bent on her hands, like one over- 
 whelmed in misery. 
 
 The arrival of Gilderoy was welcomed with] but listless 
 gratulations. The whole of his armed adherents, with the 
 exception of the party who had the custody of Sir John 
 Spiers, were now before him, and they formed but a weak 
 sorry band. How rapidly had the sword of the enemy shorn 
 him of his strength ! 
 
 " Yonder," said Gilderoy to Evan, pointing to the female 
 
174 GILDEROY: 
 
 on the stone, who had not yet changed her attitude, " yonder 
 sits the traitress. She dares not look me in the face." 
 
 " She may look all the world in the face," answered Evan, 
 " without the dread of being justly reproached for a single 
 crime." 
 
 " She shed my blood, son of Grey Colin," cried the hairy 
 savage, Murdoch Moolach, rising from beside the fire. 
 
 " How came you here ? " demanded Gilderoy. " You 
 were one of the prisoner's guards. Has he escaped too ? " 
 
 " The Saxon soldiers came upon us suddenly in the wood," 
 answered Murdoch, " and we scattered and fled before their 
 overpowering numbers." 
 
 " Was Sir John rescued ? " cried Gilderoy. 
 
 "Not that I saw," said Murdoch. " But I lost my com- 
 rades, and wandered all night and this morning. It was the 
 smoke of this fire that drew me hither, and glad was I to 
 meet the faces of friends. But I will not keep silence on 
 her," he continued, raising his voice. " They say that she 
 has betrayed the clan, and therefore I will not keep silence. 
 She shot at me and shed my blood wantonly. Behold the 
 
 Eroof ! " and with one hand he flung back the shaggy locks 
 pom his left temple. " You may see it plain. The scar is 
 still raw ; and had she been another man's child had she 
 not been the pride of Hannoch, and the darling of Gilderoy 
 I would have slain her on the spot ! " 
 
 " Base miscreant ! " exclaimed Evan Glas. " Another such 
 speech, and I shall tread you under foot ! " 
 
 Evan was not ignorant of the circumstance to which the 
 kerne had so inopportunely referred, for Marion had in- 
 formed him of it during the flight from the tower, but it 
 was unknown to Gilderoy. 
 
 Exasperated by Evan's threat, the savage muttered vindic- 
 tively under his breath, and grasped the hilt of his broad- 
 sword. This act was too much for Evan in his present 
 mood. He instantly drew his blade and aimed a cleaving 
 blow at Murdoch, but the target of another clansman 
 timorously interposed and caught the weapon ; and Mur- 
 doch, starting back, unsheathed his sword with a yell of 
 defiance. 
 
 Gilderoy rushed betwixt them. " What quarrel had you 
 with Marion that made her shed your blood P " he demanded, 
 seizing the savage Murdoch by the sword-arm. 
 
 " She shot at me when her grandmother called me up to the 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 175 
 
 painted chamber to slay the Saxon woman," answered Mur- 
 doch, readily. 
 
 Gilderoy was astounded. Marion had now risen from the 
 stone, and was gazing wistfully towards the group. Evan 
 briefly disclosed how his grandmother, on hearing of the 
 defeat of the clan, had, in a moment of frenzy, determined 
 on sacrificing the captive lady, and how Marion had pre- 
 vented the foul assassination. 
 
 " So Marion saved her from a bloody death ! " cried Gil- 
 deroy. "That was well and noble. But she rescued her 
 again when the rescue was destruction to all my hopes. 
 Sheath your sword, Murdoch and you, Evan. Pass from 
 this quarrel for ever." 
 
 On seeing them both, obey, he sauntered onward to the 
 stone on which Marion had resumed her seat in her former 
 attitude. He touched her lightly on the shoulder, and she 
 looked up with a countenance so wan and wasted that he 
 could scarce think it possible that a few hours had wrought 
 so grievous a change. There was a wavering wildness in her 
 eye, but not a single tear dimmed it, for profound grief had 
 dried up the fountain of tears. 
 
 " Is it true," he said, in much of his old familiar tone, but 
 with a touch of acerbity in it, "is it true, Marion, lass, that 
 you forgot the promise you made me, and became a traitress 
 to your best friend ? Little did I think you were capable of 
 betraying a trust received from my hands ; and little did you 
 think when you opened the door and bade the lady flee, that 
 you were taking the surest means of compassing my destruc- 
 tion. As long as that lady was my prisoner, the Round- 
 head captain was trammelled ; but now all Rannoch will soon 
 feel the edge of the Saxon blade." 
 
 " I couldna sit and see the lady pining awa' for her 
 liberty," answered Marion, in confusion ; " and I thought 
 that were she free there wad be an end o' a' strife." 
 
 " Though you had torn from the hands of a drowning man 
 the rope or the plank to which he clung in his agony," 
 returned Macgregor, "you could not have done an act more 
 cruel and fatal than that which you have done to me." 
 
 " Butwinnashe pleadVith the Saxon Captain that he may 
 grant you peace? " 
 
 " Plead for me P " ejaculated Macgregor, indignantly. " I 
 scorn and scout her intercession. Were she still in my 
 power, I could wring my own terms from the enemy ; but 
 
176 GILDEROY: 
 
 your treachery lias undone everything. Traitress ! the ruin 
 of the clan lies at your door." 
 
 " Gilderoy," said Evan Glas, who now approached, with a 
 sullen frown on his face. " I will not stand aside and hear 
 you reproach the girl. She is my sister, and whatever be 
 her fault, it was prompted by innocent feeling." 
 
 The chief turned a fiery eye on the speaker. " She 
 confesses her guilt," he said. " I did not accuse her wrong- 
 fully." 
 
 " She is but a girl, and may be forgiven the fault into 
 which her simple feelings betrayed her," said Evan. " The 
 great damning error of all lay in your bringing the lady 
 from Dunavaig. Blame yourself for all the evil which has 
 befallen us. My sister's fault is light and trivial compared 
 with your own." 
 
 " Evan Glas Mackinnon," responded Macgregor, sternly, 
 " take heed what you say. Though I may fancy, in kind- 
 ness, that you are irritated to discover your sister's guilt, yet 
 your very violence would go far to show that you were a 
 partner in it. Remember that I am still your chief, and that 
 I still demand the respect which was ever my due. Take 
 heed what you say." 
 
 " I take no more heed," cried the incensed Evan, " than 
 though you were Murdoch Moolach himself ; and I tell you 
 that since you have chosen to cast a fresh stigma upon my 
 honour, I could draw upon you as I did upon Murdoch, were 
 it not that you were suckled at my mother's breast, and grew 
 up under my mother's eye." 
 
 " Forbear, Evan," exclaimed Marion, with a shriek. 
 " Forget a hasty word spoken in the midst o' trouble. 
 This is an evil hour, and the bitterness o' misfortune is in the 
 chief's heart, as weel as in your ain and mine." 
 
 " Then restrain your reproaches," said Evan. " I have 
 fully shared in the calamities of this evil time, and I am 
 willing to share them even to death. But your insults I 
 cannot and will not bear." 
 
 " The misfortune that turns fast friends into foes is the 
 warst misfortune o' a'," said Dobbie Hackston, who had 
 followed Evan to the spot. "Ne'er be that misfortune 
 amang us." 
 
 "You have presumed upon me, Evan Glas," said Gilderoy, 
 " knowing well that I lack heart to resent the insolence of 
 one to whom I am bound by the closest ties. Alas ! and 
 
A scornsH TBADITIOX. 177 
 
 who could have imagined that you would lift up the heel 
 against me P There once was a time when I could say with 
 the proverb 'Scaomk le fear a ckaraid, acli 's e smior a 
 cJirithe a chodhalt^ But adversity tests our friendships, and 
 strips deceit and subserviency of the mask that served for 
 better days." 
 
 " Hold, Gilderoy, hold ! " cried the impetuous Evan. 
 " This is insult still more galling. I never wore a mask. 
 My heart was ever open as the face of heaven. I never 
 fawned upon you with the arts of a flatterer. I am a 
 stranger to deceit. I never was subservient. I respected 
 and obeyed you as my chief, and loved you devotedly as 
 my foster-brother. Often have I ventured my life in 
 your cause. Again and again have I saved you by my 
 sword." v >&fcM ; ^ 
 
 " It was but your duty," returned Gilderoy, haughtily. 
 "It was but your duty to do all this, and it is so still." 
 
 " My blood is not so noble as your own," said Evan, 
 whose feelings smarted under the callousness of Gilderoy's 
 words ; " but there never was a traitor of Mackinnon's 
 race." 
 
 " What need we count our kin," cried Dobbie Hackston, 
 " unless the dead are to rise frae their graves and help us 
 at this pinch ? and syne the man that has the langest pedi- 
 gree will hae the biggest following." 
 
 "And to you I say," uttered Gilderoy, addressing the 
 Highland girl, " that henceforth we shall be as strangers to 
 each other. I will not reproach you again; but your treachery 
 can never be forgotten." 
 
 Marion stood with drooping head, and her hands clasped 
 before her. She never raised her eyes, and though her lips 
 quivered as if she meant to speak, not a word came. 
 
 "Are we to bide here, quarrelling for nae guid end, when 
 aiblins instead o' the cries o* the hawks aboon our heads 
 we'll hear the Roundhead trumpets ? " said Hackston. 
 " Keep in mind that we're no sae mony mile awa' frae the 
 enemy." 
 
 Gilderoy drew a long sigh. " Wander whither we will," 
 he said, " we cannot escape the fell sweep of ruin." 
 
 "Tak* heart, man; tak' heart," cried Hackston. "As 
 broken a ship has come to land." 
 
 * Affectionate to a man is a friend 5 but a foster-brother is as the life-blood 
 of his heart. 
 
 V 
 
178 GILDEEOY : 
 
 " Pass the word that we continue our flight as soon as the 
 men's repast is over," said Gilderoy. " We can seek some 
 other spot in which to perish. We can wander on, protract- 
 ing the evil hour as best we may ; but not the wildest and 
 most untrodden desert in all the Highlands will hide us from 
 the ken of the pursuing Fates, who follow us like eagles 
 hastening to their prey. It is no common enemy who is 
 behind us, but the avenger of blood pitiless as the grave." 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 Though I ha'e slain the Lord Johnstone, 
 
 What care I for their feid ? 
 My noble mind their wrath disdains j 
 
 He was my father's deid. 
 Both night and day I labour' d oft 
 
 Of him avenged to be ; 
 But now I've got what lang I sought, 
 
 And I may not stay with thee. 
 
 Lord Maxwell's Goodnight. 
 
 THE fall of the summer evening found Qllderoy and his 
 followers far in the fastnesses of the mountains. It 
 was one of those evenings of gorgeous, tranquil beauty that 
 seem to lap the earth in the hues of heaven. The sun, in 
 dazzling majesty, had rolled down the azure steeps of the 
 west, and his dying blaze of glory slowly faded into a faint 
 flush that suffused, as with the tender roseate tint of a sea- 
 shell, the feathery cloudlets hanging motionless in the welkin, 
 like fairy barques becalmed on a fairy sea. The winds were 
 hushed : old JEolus slumbered in his cave ; and only the cry 
 of the heath fowl, or the scream of the eagle, disturbed the 
 profound and almost oppressive quietude of Nature. 
 
 It was again a secluded valley, deep among the everlasting 
 hills, that the fugitives chose for their resting-place, where a 
 sparkling brook wandered at will with a gentle song. 
 
 - O'er stiller place 
 
 No singing sky-lark ever poised himself. 
 The hills were heathy, save the swelling slope, 
 Which had a gay and gorgeous covering on, 
 All golden with the never-bloomless furze, 
 Which now bloom' d most profusely. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 179 
 
 Weary and dispirited the Highlanders sat down, in gloomy 
 groups, on the banks of the water, and began preparations 
 for their evening meal. Marion seated herself apart from 
 all at the foot of a knoll, the thick verdure of which displayed 
 a profusion of fairy rings. 
 
 Gilderoy, who had been sauntering listlessly up and down 
 for some time communing with himself, now made a sign to 
 Hackston ; and they both withdrew up the glen, out of sight. 
 
 " Dobbie," began the chief, " this wandering, desperate 
 life must end. We may flee from glen to glen, and from 
 desert to desert ; but they will hunt us down at last. The 
 Saxon bloodhounds are sure and strong of scent. Dobbie, I 
 will leave B/annoch leave it, never to return." 
 
 The soldier was much startled, and he gazed inquiringly 
 into Macgregor's face. 
 
 "Our disasters can never be retrieved," exclaimed Gil- 
 deroy. " I have striven and struggled with my whole soul, 
 and Fate has put me under its ban. In truth, I have 
 resolved, solemnly and finally, that this very night " 
 
 " Tak' nae rash oaths, Gilderoy ; tak' nae rash vows upon 
 yoursel'," interrupted Hackston ; " for rash vows are often 
 repented when repentance is ower late." 
 
 " Nor have I rashly resolved," said Gilderoy. " If I but 
 perceived the faintest gleam of hope breaking through the 
 darkness that enshrouds me, I should not be daunted ; but I 
 have seen the last gleam of hope expire. The power of the 
 Gregalich in E-annoch is beaten down ; and why should I 
 struggle to retrieve what is undone and lost for ever and 
 ever ? " 
 
 Gilderoy paused, in deep thought, and drew his hand across 
 his brow, as if to clear his brain from the confusion of 
 thought which overwhelmed it. " Alas ! alas ! that such an 
 hour as this should come!" he said. "My heart and soul 
 were bound up with the honour and glory of my tribe. My 
 infant ears were lulled with the songs of the mountains. 
 My boyish heart was stirred by the traditions of my brave 
 and unfortunate ancestry. I promised to myself the glory 
 and renown of stemming the adverse tide which had so long 
 set in against us. And look at the end ! Treachery, defeat, 
 shame, and degradation unutterable ! But," added he, with 
 a gloomy stare into vacancy, " the blood of that old man at 
 Dunavaig would that it had never been spilt ! His expiring 
 yell evoked the storm which still rages around us ! " 
 
 N 2 
 
180 GILDEROY: 
 
 " But your brither's bluid was aneath his nails," said the 
 soldier. 
 
 " So I thought so I was told. Curses on Spierhaughs 
 for that falsehood. The old man was innocent, and E/anald 
 Yourigh j was the villain to whom my brother owed his 
 death." 
 
 " A sad mistak', truly," said Hackston. " But wha can 
 mak' amends ? The deed's done, and the laird's in his grave. 
 This just shows the great folly o' rashness. You maunna 
 be rash in times to come. A hasty man never wants wae. 
 To leave Eannoch wad be an unco perilous venture; and 
 whaur wad you flee ? " 
 
 " To the Braes o' Balquhidder, where the great branch of 
 the Gregalich still hold their own," responded Gilderoy. 
 
 " That's a far flicht," said Hackston. " I thocht you wad 
 rather ha'e tried to join Lochiel." 
 
 " The enemy will doubtless suspect a flight to Lochiel's 
 country, and strain every nerve to intercept me," said Gilde- 
 roy. " The route towards the Lowlands will be unguarded, 
 and Balquhidder may be reached in perfect safety. The 
 Roundheads will never dream of a flight to Balquhidder. 
 Arrived there, I can assure myself of friendly aid and con- 
 cealment till it is seen how affairs turn in R-annoch. I said 
 that I should leave Eannoch never to return ; but I shall 
 return so soon as a favourable juncture presents itself. I 
 said that I had seen the last gleam of hope expire ; but 
 there is still within this racked and lacerated breast of mine 
 a hope that better days are in store for Gilderoy. Who can 
 tell how short may be the sway of this regicidal usurper, 
 Cromwell ? Who can tell how soon we may see King Charles 
 restored ? Yes, Dobbie, I feel the promptings of hope ; but 
 when the ghastly pleading face of Dunavaig comes across my 
 imagination, every spark of hope becomes quenched in the 
 blackness of despair. I think I see him now as he crawled 
 along the earth, and clutched me by the sash, and implored 
 for mercy, while the swords of the clansmen clashed above 
 his bare head ! " 
 
 " Dinna think on't," said Hackston, shuddering violently. 
 " Glad am I that I never entered Dunavaig gate till the auld 
 man was lying cauld. There's nae blame o' his death lying 
 on my conscience. Let it be a warning to you, I say, against 
 rashness. Winna you stay and tak' the morn's thochts upon 
 your flicht P" 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 181 
 
 " The step, if taken at all, must be taken immediately- 
 this very night/' said Gilderoy ; " and you shall be my only 
 companion that is to say, unless you are weary of following 
 a ruined leader." 
 
 " Forbid that I should forsake in his misfortunes him that 
 befriended me in mine ! " cried the honest-hearted adventurer. 
 " I'll never desert my colours. I'll follow you, betide what 
 may, But I wad ance mair counsel you against hasty reso- 
 lutions." 
 
 " My only hope depends on instant flight," said Gilderoy. 
 " As soon as the men are sunk in sleep we shall steal off 
 quietly, and ere sunrise be beyond the reach of our foes." 
 
 " Sae be it, Gilderoy, sae be it, since better winna be," 
 said Dobbie, resignedly. " But what a clamour will rise the 
 morn's morning when the men discover that you hae left 
 them ! What will poor Marion say P " 
 
 " I desire never to behold her face again," said Gilderoy. 
 
 "She'll be a sorrowfu' lass," said Hackston. "Aiblins 
 she didna think she was dealing you a wound when she 
 opened the cage and gave the bonnie bird its freedom. Puir 
 lass ! sorrow has laid a weary load upon her ; and the load 
 will grow nane the lichter when she kens that she's clean 
 forsaken. We may come back maybe soon, maybe late ; 
 but when we come back it wad gie me nae surprise to see 
 the heather-bell' and the lang lady-fern growing ower her 
 head." 
 
 " What can I do P " cried Gilderoy, with some emotion. 
 " She betrayed my trust, and she cannot go with us ; nor 
 dare I acquaint her with my design." 
 
 It was now the shadowy gloaming. The dews had fallen, 
 and the evening star was twinkling sweetly in the west. 
 Gilderoy and his companion leisurely retraced their steps. 
 They found Evan Glas sitting by himself on the green knoll, 
 and Marion straying along the banks of the brook, as if 
 pensively watching the melodious flow of the limpid laughing 
 water. 
 
 When the evening meal was over, the Macgregors lay 
 down to rest on the dewy grass, and Dobbie Hackston was 
 appointed sentinel for the night. Evan Glas led his sister to 
 a sheltered nook, a little up the valley. 
 
 Slowly passed the silent hours. Midnight had come and 
 gone before the whole party, with the exception of Gilderoy 
 and Dobbie, were sunk in slumber. In the grey twilight of 
 
182 GULDEBOY: 
 
 the summer morn, when not a breath was in the air, G-ilderoy 
 arose from his grassy couch, and stalking noiselessly through 
 the recumbent groups, passed on to Hackston, and whispered 
 " The time is come." 
 
 "And are you resolved?" inquired Dobbie. 
 
 "I am," answered Gilderoy. 
 
 " He that will to Cupar maun to Cupar," said the soldier. 
 "Lead on!" 
 
 They hastened down the glen with eager footsteps, as 
 though they fled from pursuing foes, instead of sleeping 
 friends. They uttered not a word to each other, and they 
 never looked back. A wilderness of broomy braes soon lay 
 between them and the unconscious band whom they had 
 forsaken. 
 
 " This has been a long, long night," said Gilderoy, and he 
 sighed. " While I lay watching the men dropping asleep, 
 one by one, the fleet chariot of time seemed to stand still, 
 and 1 thought midnight's gloom would never gather in the 
 valley." 
 
 Dobbie looked weary and thoughtful, and appeared to find 
 the musket which he carried on his shoulder a very incon- 
 venient burden. 
 
 They proceeded on their way for some time in perfect 
 silence. The sky kindled with the blush of morn, the winds 
 sighed along the heath, and larks mounted into the cool air. 
 
 " The power of ihe Gregalich would have prevailed," eja- 
 culated Gilderoy, as if in a reverie ; " but the blood of that 
 old man pressed it down ! " 
 
 A trumpet sounded in the distance. 
 
 "Did you hear yon? " said Hackston. "Eicht in front. 
 The foes are in our path." 
 
 Gilderoy stood still, and cast his haggard looks around. 
 "No; I will not go back," he said. " Though destruction 
 be in our path, I will not go back. Turn to the left." 
 
 And so they turned to the left. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 183 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, 
 And coming events cast their shadows before. 
 
 Lochiel's Warning. 
 She hides her love from one and all 
 
 'Tis a modest maiden's whim 
 Unless it be, whate'er befall, 
 She has it own'd to him. Henry S. Eiddell. 
 
 IT was not until high noon that Lady Annabel and her 
 friends left the precincts of the lonely cottage, in which 
 such startling vicissitudes of fortune had befallen her. 
 
 Colonel Campion, having been reinforced in the course 
 of the morning by some of his Highland auxiliaries, 
 resolved on leaving a considerable body of them at the cot- 
 tage for some time, with the view of establishing there a post 
 of observation against the Macgregors. This being arranged, 
 he and the rest of his party began their journey back to the 
 tower. It was now that Annabel took an opportunity of 
 earnestly pressing upon him the desirability of giving peace 
 to the fugitive enemy on the easiest terms possible. 
 
 " Are not my terms easy, lady ? " answered the Hound- 
 head. " The men of the clan have but to deliver me Gilderoy, 
 dead or alive, and I will at once admit them to the Lord 
 Protector's peace. I am bound to execute righteous judg- 
 ment ; and I will rather see Earmoch turned into a waste 
 and howling desert than suffer Gilderoy to lift his head again, 
 either as a rebel or as a sworn subject of the Commonwealth. 
 The family of Mackinnons, whom you mentioned, shall meet 
 with my protection whenever it is required ; but Gilderoy 
 must be crushed for ever, and his fate held up as a salutary 
 terror to this lawless and heathenish country. Gilderoy has 
 now no hostage in his possession whose safety he can menace 
 with any effect on me ; for I value not Sir John Spiers a 
 rush." 
 
 Hearing this settled resolution, Annabel had no room to 
 plead farther. 
 
 " I devoutly trust this poor lady's misfortunes are now at 
 an end," said the colonel, addressing Eollo, when Annabel 
 had withdrawn. " I cannot but admire and extol the rare 
 constancy of heart with which she hath endured them. 
 
184 GIIDEEOY: 
 
 Blessed are they who regard adversity as a fatherly chasten- 
 ing, a trial of faith, the nursing-mother of virtue and all the 
 heavenly graces, the purifier of the true gold. Witness Job 
 and his tribulations. I make no doubt/' he continued after a 
 silence, " there were many righteous men on the earth in the 
 days of Job ; yet upon no head but his were the brimming vials 
 of Satan's hatred poured out. Even so, in these latter days, 
 am I set apart as one among a thousand. At this very 
 moment Satan is stirring up a fresh controversy with me. 
 The voice within the inner monitor of the soul hath 
 sounded me a warning, that of all the darts in Apollyon's 
 quiver, the heaviest and sharpest is now being drawn forth 
 against my peace. He draws it forth he poises it in his 
 hand he glances exultingly at the shining barbed point fresh 
 from the forge of perdition, and he calls upon the accursed 
 hosts of darkness to arise from their depths and behold the 
 overthrow of a just man. But will they behold itP will 
 they behold the just man's overthrow ? Never ! This is 
 the last and most dreaded dart ; but as all previous missiles 
 shivered against the breastplate of righteousness which glit- 
 ters on my breast, so shall this one shiver into a thousand 
 splinters, while Satan gnashes his teeth in impotent fury ! " 
 
 "You seem to have had some presentiment of evil," said 
 Eollo. 
 
 " The inner voice, I say, sounded the alarm," returned 
 Campion ; " but I know that I shall prevail, and that my 
 righteousness shall shine forth clear as the sun and terrible 
 as an army with banners." 
 
 " But you had a presentiment of defeat immediately pre- 
 vious to our victory in the glen," said Hollo, "which shows that 
 such fancies are altogether unworthy of wise men's regard." 
 
 Before the Roundhead could respond, a Highland scout 
 came up with some information about the Macgregors, but it 
 was of no great interest. This incident, however, broke off 
 the conversation, much, indeed, to Eollo's relief; and when 
 the Colonel again became talkative, his topics were very dif- 
 ferent, the current of his thoughts having turned into an- 
 other and more rational channel. 
 
 After a long journey, undiversified by any noteworthy ad- 
 venture, the tower was at length reached. 
 
 The gate had just been thrown open, when a wild figure, 
 partly clad in skins, rushed out, and grasped Colonel Campion 
 by the right arm. It was the seer, Donach of the Den. 
 
 "He shall fall, and shall be seen no more on his native 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 185 
 
 mountains," ejaculated the crazed prophet. " In the seam 
 which unfolded itself to my sight this day all was clear and 
 bright as if in sunshine, and I saw him perish in the land of 
 the Sassenach." 
 
 " Whom did you see perish P " inquired Campion, with a 
 sneering smile. 
 
 " Mark his words, Colonel," cried Ranald Yourigh, press- 
 ing forward. " This man has the power of the TaskitaraugJi, 
 and, Macgregor as he is, I never kent his words fail. The 
 secrets o* the unseen world are revealed to Donach in dreams 
 and trances and open visions." 
 
 " I despise power derived from diabolical agencies," said 
 Campion. " It is a mockery and a snare by which men's 
 souls are lured to perdition." 
 
 " Speak, Donach, speak," cried Ranald. " The Sassenach 
 captain will hear you. Disclose the vision." 
 
 " Woe to the land of the north woe to the children of 
 Clan Gregor ! " cried the seer. " Evil was the vision : evil 
 to Gilderoy : evil to his enemies." Then releasing Campion's 
 arm he receded a pace, clasping his hands together on his 
 breast. "I saw Gilderoy fall," he said, in a husky tone. " I 
 saw Gilderoy perish. And thy hand, son of the Clan 
 Vourigh " 
 
 " Ay, my hand P " interrupted Ranald. " You saw it strike 
 him down clench the fetters on him drag him to the gal- 
 lows tree ? " 
 
 " Mo mhallacJid ort ! "* exclaimed Donach, fiercely. "Your 
 hand shall accomplish what you have said ; but the day that 
 gives Gilderoy to his doom shall see him avenged on the false 
 Macpherson." 
 
 "Do you hear him, Colonel?" cried Ranald, greatly ex- 
 cited. " Mark the prophecy, and watch the issue. I ken," 
 he added, gnashing his teeth, " I ken that I'll tramp my foot 
 on Gilderoy's neck. I ken that my lang-hoarded revenge will 
 be slockened in his blood. Hasten the day hasten the day ! " 
 
 "In that day of doom," said Donach, "this Sassenach 
 leader," pointing at Campion " shall have a name of won- 
 der, affright, and horror in the land ; but long before that 
 day comes he shall be powerless as an unweaned child ; for 
 his authority shall have departed as a dream of the night, 
 and all his honours fallen away from him, like the yellow 
 leaves from the tree in gusty November." 
 
 * My curse upon you. 
 
186 GILDEROY: 
 
 " Is any man so foolish and unenlightened as to give heed 
 to such presumptuous ravings ? " said the Eoundhead, looking 
 around. 
 
 " With reverence, Colonel," broke in a sergeant ; " it is my 
 mind that we should take this false prophet, and bring him 
 to judgment at the drum-head, and do unto him whatsoever 
 may seem meet in the eyes of the court-martial." 
 
 " For my sake, Colonel, deal gently with the poor old man," 
 cried Lady Annabel. 
 
 " The careless guards who have allowed him to escape from 
 his confinement at this time are more to blame than himself," 
 said the colonel, " and it is their conduct which ought to be 
 taken cognizance of by a court-martial." 
 
 "But, with reverence, Colonel," persisted the sergeant; 
 " he gives himself out as a soothsayer, and as one who hath 
 a familiar spirit prophesying times and seasons, and threat- 
 ening good men's lives ; which crimes are highly amenable 
 to punishment, according to the laws of the Commonwealth." 
 
 But Donach was summoned to a tribunal whose power is 
 omnipotent, whose decree is eternal. His eyes blazed in their 
 sockets for an instant, and then his head drooped on his 
 shaggy breast, and he staggered back and measured his 
 length on the ground. He could laugh to scorn all the laws 
 of the Commonwealth all the puny might of man. A slight 
 convulsion shook his thin and emaciated frame, and when 
 Ranald Vourigh bent over him, essaying to lift his head, the 
 spirit of the Celtic soothsayer fled. 
 
 It might be that the "lightening before death" enabled 
 the hoary dweller of the rock to pierce the veil of futurity, 
 and to see clearly events yet in the far distance. It might be 
 that as he drew nigh the borders of the better land, the 
 shades of his fathers, waiting to receive him, poured prophe- 
 tic knowledge into his soul. For, as has been finely said by 
 Rabelais, in his soberest passage " It hath been told fre- 
 quently, that old decrepit men upon the brink of Charon's 
 banks do usher their decease with a disclosure, all at ease, to 
 those that are desirous of such informations, of the deter- 
 minate and assured truth of future accidents and contingen- 
 cies. For as when," he continues, " being upon a pier by the 
 shore, we see afar off mariners, seafaring men, and other 
 travellers alongst the curled waves of azure Thetis within 
 their ships, we then consider them in silence only, and seldom 
 proceed any further than to wish them a happy and prosper- 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 187 
 
 ous arrival ; but, when they do approach near to the haven, 
 and come to wet their keels within their harbour, then both 
 with words and gestures we salute them, and hastily congra- 
 tulate their access safe to the port wherein we are ourselves. 
 Just so the angels, heroes, and good demons, according to 
 the doctrine of the Platonics, when they see mortals drawing 
 near unto the harbour of the grave, as the most rare and 
 calmest port of any, full of repose, ease, rest, tranquillity, 
 free from the troubles and solicitudes of this tumultuous and 
 tempestuous world then is it that they with alacrity hail 
 and salute them, cherish and comfort them, and, speaking to 
 them lovingly, begin even then to bless them with illuminations, 
 and to communicate unto them the abstrusest mysteries of 
 divination." 
 
 The Colonel and his friends passed into the tower, all of 
 them deeply impressed with the sudden stroke of fate which 
 they had witnessed. 
 
 Old Judith, on being made aware of Lady Annabel's 
 arrival, craved permission to speak with her, and the request 
 was granted. Her object was to inquire about Marion ; 
 but the lady, of course, could give her extremely little 
 information, and she did not enter into any particulars about 
 her own escape. 
 
 Two days afterwards there was authentic intelligence that 
 the fugitive Macgregors were completely scattered, and that 
 Gilderoy, with only a single adherent, had taken flight 
 towards the low country. 
 
 To Lady Annabel, happily relieved from all her troubles, 
 the Rannoch freebooter's tower was no longer a dreary 
 habitation ; for she now had the society of one who loved 
 her, and to whom she had given her heart. One evening 
 she and Eollo were seated together at the casement of " the 
 painted chamber," watching the setting sun, talking of their 
 approaching return to the south, and expressing their hopes 
 that the future had happiness in store for them, to compen- 
 sate in some degree the misfortunes and dangers through 
 which they had passed, when a small party of Roundhead 
 cavalry galloped up to the tower. 
 
 Surprised at this occurrence, Eollo hastened away in quest 
 of Colonel Campion. 
 
188 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 I think it is the weakness of mine eyes 
 That shapes this monstrous apparition. 
 It comes upon me Art thou anything ? 
 
 Julius Casar. 
 
 ROLLO, on entering the hall, found Campion in the act 
 of receiving a sealed packet from the hands of the 
 sergeant of the party who had just arrived at the tower. 
 
 The Colonel motioned Hollo to take a seat, and then broke 
 open the packet, and unfolding an official-looking document 
 which was inside, he leisurely perused it. This done, he 
 addressed the soldier " Thou art to quarter here, along with 
 thy party." 
 
 " So my orders direct," answered the man with a salute. 
 
 " Well, my friend, thou shalt find rare quarters," said the 
 Colonel ; " and here is a piece of money for thy pains and 
 expedition in bringing me the despatch. Call, in the 
 outer court, for Sergeant Strong faith, and he will bestow 
 thee and thy good fellows suitably. The evening exercise is 
 about to commence, and thou shalt hear Corporal Defy-the- 
 devil expounding. It is the corporal's turn to-night, and he 
 is a man of great zeal and unction." 
 
 The man made another military reverence, and took his 
 leave. 
 
 The Colonel and Hollo being now alone, the former went 
 and carefully shut the hall door, and returning to Jasper, 
 who had risen from his seat, he held out the open packet 
 and its enclosure in his hand, saying " Thou hast not for- 
 gotten the revelation made to me touching " 
 
 " Touching the fate of Gilderoy P " interrupted Eollo. " I 
 have not." 
 
 " JNTay, nay ; not that foolishness," said the Colonel, "which 
 had passed from my mind, even as the circling ripples 
 caused by a pebble's plunge fade from the bosom of a quiet 
 pool of water. I meant the revelation of a fresh and furious 
 attack upon me by the great enemy of souls. Friend, the 
 fiery dart, of which I had due warning, hath been thrown 
 it hath been hurled with all the force and might of hell, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 189 
 
 and the chosen breastplate hath proved itself invulnerable. 
 Glory, glory in the highest ! " 
 
 Eollo, making no response, continued staring at the 
 Houndhead, who stood calm and impassive, with no anima- 
 tion in his face, save the wild sparkling roll of his grey -lighted 
 e} r eballs. 
 
 "It is hurled," resumed Campion, "and it is shivered as 
 against a rock of adamant ! But," said he, with somewhat of 
 the tone in which he would have addressed troops under arms, 
 " feel that pulse ; count the beats," and he stretched forth 
 his left hand. " Is there sign or token of agitation there P " 
 
 Hollo, humouring the vagary, felt the pulse with great 
 care. "None," he answered. "The beat is regular, and 
 you are calm." 
 
 " Then, you may judge of the resignation with which a 
 just and upright man receives an unmerited stroke of adver- 
 sity," said the colonel; "and I pray you, make it your 
 earnest endeavour to profit by the example which I now set 
 forth. I wished a word with you concerning a trivial matter ; 
 but this great business " holding up the papers " which 
 transpired as you came into my presence must take prece- 
 dence of everything else. This despatch comes from General 
 Monk, the Governor of Scotland. It notifies to me that he 
 hath seen good and sufficient reasons to supersede me in my 
 present command, by transferring the said command to 
 Colonel Francis Solway, whose father, I may tell you, fell 
 at Preston in the service of the tyrant, Charles Stuart, and 
 who was ever suspected of secret leanings towards the 
 malignant interest. I am directed to suspend all military 
 operations in the Highlands, and to proceed to Edinburgh 
 so soon as Colonel Solway arrives here to assume his duty, 
 which will be shortly, as he is believed to be now on the way. 
 In Edinburgh, the general will inform me as to what may be 
 further required of me in the way of service under the 
 Government." 
 
 " But, my friend," replied E/ollo, " I cannot apprehend how 
 this order can be construed into a wrong or a stroke of mis- 
 fortune. To my view of the matter, General Monk intends 
 to invest you with a higher commission. Yery probably he 
 stands in need of your counsel and skill at headquarters. 
 This is advancement and not degradation." 
 
 " Did I not know the man, I might, perchance, think so 
 too," said Campion. "But I am convinced that it is hia 
 
190 GILDEEOY: 
 
 design to exclude me altogether from the service of the 
 Commonwealth. I am not pliant enough for the purposes 
 the far-reaching ends of George Monk. 
 
 " But you can complain to Cromwell himself," said Rollo, 
 " who, I conceive, will not suffer one of his old and tried 
 supporters to be thrust aside in so very summary and un- 
 gracious a fashion." 
 
 A dull smile parted the dry pale lips of the fanatic, and he took 
 a few measured strides through the hall, while the old grey 
 light in his eye was beaming brighter and brighter. " And 
 Cromwell, too," he said, coming to a stand ; " even Cromwell, 
 in his Protectoral chair, secretly views me with carnal 
 suspicion, lest, in the face of the sun, and before the people 
 of England, I might be tempted to declare his rule an odious 
 tyranny, which wears the mask and apes the speech of 
 freedom." 
 
 "I beseech you, colonel, exercise some discretion and 
 caution in your words, even in presence of a friend," said 
 Hollo. "What if you were overheard by some eaves- 
 dropper? You would be apt to impute his sinister tale- 
 bearing to my charge." 
 
 "No one hears me but yourself; and there is frank and 
 sterling honesty in every lineament of your countenance," 
 said Campion. " Nevertheless, my words are such as may 
 be openly proclaimed in the market places and on the house- 
 tops ; for they are words of truth and soberness, of which 
 no man need be ashamed. The time is coming nay, almost 
 now is when they will be proclaimed over the length and 
 breadth of the land. 'Tis well that I was warned of this 
 sudden stroke ; and even the dead soothsayer of Eannoch 
 had been constrained, like Balaam of old, to utter a faithful 
 prediction. The minions of tyranny," he added, " would 
 crush me if they dared ; and because they dare not, they 
 weave their spider-like nets, and conspire to goad me into 
 some overt act which they would pronounce to be treason 
 against the Commonwealth." 
 
 "If such be the object of these orders, you should study 
 to baffle it," said Hollo ; " and your enemies' machinations 
 will eventually recoil upon their own heads." 
 
 " Pshaw ! man ; you need not counsel me," cried Campion, 
 with a sardonic laugh that made Jasper's flesh creep and his 
 blood run cold. " I know I shall yet be quits with them. 
 I will bend to the blast. I will yield obedience to the orders. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 191 
 
 I will be in George Monk's hand like the staff in the hand 
 of the Master Jesuit. But there are thousands upon thou- 
 sands of honest men in England by whom I shall be righted. 
 And thou, Satan," he continued, turning to the blank wall, 
 " the thunderbolt forged by thee, that should have ground 
 my bones to powder, proves but a harmless shaft, weaker 
 than a withered rush. Go, arch-deceiver ! down to thy 
 legions, and howl in unison with the howlings of perdition, 
 because thou art Baffled by the righteous." And he cast the 
 papers in his hand violently against the wall. 
 
 In spite of himself, Eollo grew much agitated, for he saw 
 that the fanatic's monomania was thoroughly roused. 
 
 Campion paced slowly to and fro, sometimes biting his 
 nails, and mumbling over them. He started on a sudden, 
 and raising his eyes to the wall against which he had dashed 
 the papers, he stepped back dubiously, and then waved his 
 hand in an impatient, scornful way, uttering another loud 
 laugh. 
 
 " What avails it that you rise from your sepulchre, and 
 thrust your pale ghastly face upon my sight, as though I 
 were one whom the risen dead could appal ? " he said. 
 " Begone ! It was the national tribunal that demanded 
 the sacrifice. You were condemned by the people whom 
 you had long oppressed and enslaved. The sentence of 
 eternal justice had been passed upon you ere your head 
 rolled among the sawdust of the scaffold. You have no 
 power over me. I am steadfast and immovable, fearing 
 neither the living nor the dead. Your blood clings not 
 more to my hand than to the hands of all the others who 
 sat in judgment at your arraignment. What have I to do 
 with tnee? Hence, idle phantom! You dare not say it 
 was a private grudge that prompted me to give my voice for 
 death. 'Tis true that in my young days, beneath the old 
 elms in Chesterton Chase, you struck me to the ground in 
 your haughty pride of heart, because I, a peasant boy, 
 ventured, forsooth, to assert my rights against the insolence 
 of a malapert boy-prince. But though no such passage had 
 ever happenedin my boy hood, I would as readily haveconsigned 
 thee to the black-hung scaffold at Whitehall. Away, away 
 with thy ' remembers.' The world will ever remember the 
 great act of justice performed by the memorable Tribunal." 
 
 The shape which had made itself manifest to his diseased 
 vision now seemed to melt away, for he raised himself rigidly 
 
192 GILDEEOYt 
 
 erect, and drew a long breath, as though a heavy weight 
 were removed from his shoulders, and laughed again, and 
 turned to Hollo, saying " How they assail me. Even he 
 must rise from his coffin ! " 
 
 " Who ? " inquired Eollo. 
 
 " Feel that pulse once more," said the Colonel, stretching 
 out his left hand. " How does it beat ? " 
 
 " Calmly regularly," said Hollo, after a moment's examina- 
 tion. " But who arose from his coffin ? " 
 
 " Who ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! As if the face that I looked 
 fearlessly on at Whitehall could affright me now. It was 
 the man, Charles Stuart ! " 
 
 " The late king P " 
 
 " The late tyrant," said Campion. " Did you not perceive 
 him standing yonder, with his pale melancholy countenance, 
 and the red circle about his neck, showing where the heads- 
 man's axe cut sheer through? " 
 
 What ! Did Hollo stand in the presence of one of the 
 judges of Charles the First ? 
 
 "Colonel Campion," cried a soldier, flinging open the door, 
 " Sir John Spiers is come." 
 
 " Good luck, Colonel," ejaculated a well-known voice 
 behind the soldier, and immediately Spierhaughs hurried 
 into the hall. " The game is up with Gilderoy ; he is driven 
 from Hannoch, and you have extirpated his banditti." 
 
 Probably had the 'Colonel's pulse been felt at that particular 
 moment, it would have been found to have acquired a very 
 decided acceleration. He was exceedingly surprised ; but a 
 threatening frown settled on his gloomy countenance. Nor 
 was Hollo much less strongly moved by the sudden appari- 
 tion. Sir John offered his hand to the Colonel, but the latter 
 disdainfully declined it, and drew back. The hall being 
 dusky, the knight did not fully perceive the unfavourable 
 and ominous impression which his appearance had created. 
 He looked a great deal the worse for his sojourn among the 
 Macgregors ; he was bare-headed, his beard was untrimmed, 
 his dress was soiled and rent, and a ragged plaid hung about 
 him. 
 
 " By what means did you make your escape ? " was 
 Campion's first inquiry. 
 
 " It can scarcely be called an escape," answered Sir John. 
 " Your troops beat up the cateran's quarters so effectually 
 that the gang who had me in charge were not able to hold 
 together, and so, 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITJON. 193 
 
 Some flew east, and some flew west, 
 And some flew to the crow's nest j 
 
 but before they dispersed they set me at liberty to find my 
 way home as I might. And I have had a dreadful journey 
 of it, all on foot, and without a guide, and almost without 
 food. Come, what cheer have you ? Ah ! Jasper Rollo ! 
 Confound this dingy dungeon ! I did not recognise you till 
 now. Wish you joy ! The Lady Annabel is safe, they say. 
 Tore heaven ! what is it, Jasper ? Do you refuse my hand ? " 
 
 " He scorns the hand of so base a traitor," said Campion. 
 
 " Am I dreaming ? " cried Sir John. " Did I hear you 
 aright ? " 
 
 "You did," returned the Colonel; "and were you to be 
 served aright, you should instantly be hung up over the 
 battlements." 
 
 " You betrayed our secret plans to the enemy," said Rollo. 
 " You held treasonable correspondence with Gilderoy. 
 You attempted to poison Colonel Campion." 
 
 " Dost thou confess thy treason? " demanded the Colonel. 
 
 "Treason what treason?" cried Spierhaughs, vehe- 
 mently. "Where are your grounds for accusations so 
 monstrous ? " 
 
 "I found a fragment of your very letter," said Campion. 
 " It is here ; " and he produced the scrap from his pocket. 
 " Read this, and say whether the handwriting be not your 
 own." 
 
 Sir John took the fragment, and hastening to the nearest 
 window, pored over it for a few seconds, and then returned, 
 saying " Why, indeed, there seeins a slight resemblance ; 
 and he was a cunning scribe who wrote it ; but you know, 
 Colonel, you know full well it is but a sorry forgery ; " and 
 before he could be prevented, he tore the paper to shreds, 
 which he indignantly scattered* on the floor. 
 
 " Sir John Spiers, that act sufficiently proves your guilt," 
 said the Colonel ; " and but that I am now superseded in my 
 command, I should order you into arrest as a traitor to the 
 Commonwealth. As I am, I will take no step in any such 
 public matter." 
 
 " But I have a different score to reckon with you, Sir 
 John," said Rollo. "You instigated Gilderoy to murder 
 my kinsman, and to carry off his ward. I call you villain 
 and assassin, and dare you to prove your innocence at the 
 s\yord's point. Take that for my challenge of battle," 
 
 o 
 
194 GILDEBOY: 
 
 and he struck him across the shoulder with his sheathed 
 blade. 
 
 Spierhaughs swore a deep oath gasped for breath and 
 quivered with fury. "Let me have repose for a single 
 night within these walls,'* he said at last, " and I shall vindi- 
 cate myself to-morrow." 
 
 " To-morrow, then," said Hollo. 
 
 " To-morrow it shall be," returned Sir John ; and with 
 these words he at once left the hall. 
 
 " Will not the villain save himself by flight ? " said Eollo. 
 " You should arrest him without scruple. There are none 
 of his vassals here to raise a disturbance, for they were all 
 left behind in charge of the wounded after the battle." 
 
 "I am counted unworthy to carry the Protector's com- 
 mission," answered Campion, "and therefore I will no longer 
 exercise authority in such a matter." 
 
 They took seats, and sat down, agitated and full of thought. 
 Not many minutes afterwards a corporal looked in to 
 announce the " evening exercise ; " and this man casually 
 mentioned that Sir John Spiers had left the tower. 
 
 '* I knew that he would fly," cried Eollo, in great dis- 
 appointment. " Why did you suffer him to go ? " 
 
 " Suffer him to go ? " repeated the soldier. " Is Sir John a 
 delinquent ? " 
 
 " A delinquent of the blackest dye," said Eollo. 
 
 " That's odd, indeed ! " said the corporal. " He borrowed 
 a horse and a headpiece, a pair of pistols, and an old eut-and- 
 thrust, and then rode away." 
 
 " Went he alone ? " asked the Colonel. 
 
 "Yes with the horse," returned the soldier. "But he is 
 not far gone ; he is in sight yet. How do you say, Colonel, 
 shall we pursue him ? " 
 
 " Pursue him instantly," cried the Colonel, rising to his 
 feet. " So false and cowardly a villain must not escape." 
 
 "With your leave, Colonel," said Eollo, eagerly, " I'll follow 
 him myself, and make sure of his capture." 
 
 In a few minutes more Eollo, with his two retainers, were 
 on horseback, and galloping hard in pursuit of Spierhaughs. 
 
 The chase was short and successful. The false knight was 
 overtaken. He offered no resistance, and was brought back 
 a prisoner to the tower. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 195 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 Like bloodhounds now they search me out,- 
 
 Hark to the whistle and the shout ! 
 
 If farther through the wilds I go, 
 
 I only fall upon the foe : 
 
 I'll couch me here till evening grey, 
 
 Then darkling try my dangerous way. 
 
 Lady of the Lake. 
 
 WEEKS had passed since the Knight of Spierhaughs 
 was brought back a prisoner to the tower of the Mac- 
 " gregors. 
 
 The moon of July, round as the bossy shield of a Highland 
 warrior, was shining placidly in the soft cloudless heaven, 
 and sparkling and flashing on the waters of a burn that ran 
 down the southern side of the Grampian mountains. It 
 was a night in the wane of July ; and it was a fair scene 
 over which the full moon shed her solemn radiance. On 
 descending the Grampian chain, the burn wound its way 
 through the low country, mirroring the silvery orb of night 
 and the sprinkling of pale stars that glimmered around her. 
 
 The plain was dotted with clumps of aged trees, evidently 
 the remains of an ancient forest in which the Picts and 
 Scots might have glutted themselves in mutual slaughter, 
 or withstood the advance of the E-oman legionaries. The 
 gentle night-breeze rustled the deep foliage in unison with 
 the babbling of the running stream. 
 
 On the skirt of one of the thickets, and hidden by the 
 scattered furze, a man was carelessly lying along the grassy 
 sod, with his head resting on his hand, and his eyes gazing 
 drowsily on the bright water gliding merrily by. His aspect 
 and attire were wild, rude, and vagabondish. He was roughly 
 shapen in form, and harsh in features, with thick black hair, 
 small fiery eyes, an enormous moustache, and a complexion 
 deeply bronzed by the sun. His attire was very rude and 
 simple, being a greasy leathern jerkin or long jacket fastened 
 across the chest ; breeches of coarse woollen stuff, reaching a 
 little below the knee, and leaving the lower part of the leg 
 bare ; a pair of old Morocco slippers, tied on his feet with 
 bits of twine ; and a flat Lowland bonnet on his head, with 
 o 2 
 
IDS GILDEIICY: 
 
 tufts of matted hair bristling up like feathers through gaping 
 rents in the crown. He was armed, too, after a vagabondish 
 fashion. In a belt girding the jerkin closely about his middle 
 was stuck a whittle or broad-bladed knife in a tattered scab- 
 bard, along with a formidable-looking pair of pistols, the 
 barrels and locks of which were very rusty. Altogether he 
 was an extremely ugly customer to stumble upon, lurking 
 on the edge of a thicket, in a lone place, at a late hour of the 
 night. 
 
 As if something had startled him, he hastily gathered his 
 large, uncouth, shambling limbs together, and sprang to his 
 feet, cowering, however, behind the tall bushes to avoid 
 being seen. With one hand on the buckhorn haft of his 
 whittle, and the other on the butt of a pistol, he darted his 
 keen fiery glance all around, and discovered two men coming 
 down the nearer bank of the brook. They were still at a 
 great distance, and had apparently followed the course of 
 the stream from the mountains ; but he saw that they were 
 armed men perhaps soldiers of the Government ; for the 
 moonshine struck brightly on their steel-caps and corslets. 
 Seeing this, he glided noiselessly within the shade of the 
 trees, where he stood on the watch, until on their close ap- 
 proach to the thicket he gave a loud premonitory cough, and 
 boldly stepped forth to meet them, bringing them to a sudden 
 and astonished stand. 
 
 " By all the stars above ! " he exclaimed. " The very man 
 I'm on foot to see ! Gilderoy ! And Hackston ! honest 
 Hackston besides ! The best stroke of good luck I've had 
 for many a day." 
 
 " You mak' free wi' folk's names, my lad," said Debbie, 
 who had his musket in both hands ready for service. 
 
 " And you soon forget the face of an old comrade, Dob- 
 bie," rejoined he of the whittle. " You could not greet 
 me more gruffly though I were a spy and crossing your 
 lines." 
 
 " An auld comrade ? " repeated Bobbie. " Say you sae ? 
 Ay, and you speak nae mair nor the truth," added he, after 
 a thorough examination of the vagabondish stranger. 
 " Roger Cristal was ance your name, an' you haena changed 
 it, like a pass-word that has done its duty." 
 
 " Blythely would I change it, if the change would better 
 my fortune," laughed the other, with a kind of drunken, 
 half-military swagger. " Speaking of changes, there's been 
 
A SCOT113H TEAD1TION. 197 
 
 many a change since 1 was mad enough not to pitch my camp 
 in Rannoch, along with yourself, Dobbie ; but changes are 
 lightsome, and fools are fond of them. It's the rolling stone, 
 Dobbie, that gathers no fog. My service to you, Gilderoy. 
 What's the news, friends ? How are all my old acquaint- 
 ances in Rannoch bonny Marion among the rest ? " 
 
 Neither Dobbie nor Gilderoy made any response. They 
 looked first of all at each other, then at Roger, and lastly into 
 the thicket behind him. 
 
 " I'm alone," said he, stepping aside, and waving his hand 
 towards the thicket, as much as to say that they might exa- 
 mine it for themselves. ' " I have been resting among the 
 trees since the rising of the moon. I'm on my way to 
 Rannoch." 
 
 " To Rannoch ? " said Hackston. 
 
 " Ay, to Rannoch," said Cristal ; " for I scarce dare show 
 my face openly in the Lowlands. Look at me ; once a dash- 
 ing blade like yourself, Dobbie, in Middleton's own body- 
 guard, and winning the general's praise for bravery and 
 saving the colours at Lochgarry ; and now look at me ! I 
 should have remained in Rannoch when you gave me the 
 offer, Gilderoy." 
 
 " You thought there would be better fortune in the Low- 
 lands," said Hackston, after a pause, seeing that Gilderoy 
 abstained from speaking. 
 
 " And who would not have thought that a man might live 
 by his own hand in a troubled country ? " cried Roger. 
 " But there was an evil destiny that held my head down. 
 A few hardy lads consorted with me ; but we were soon pro- 
 claimed at every market cross benorth the Firth of Forth ; 
 for Monk and his emissaries are making the country too hot 
 for honest men. When my comrades were dispersed, I 
 thought that were I to spend a month or two in Rannoch 
 some dogs might be thrown off the scent, and I flattered 
 myself that Gilderoy, and Dobbie Hackston, and the rest of 
 my Rannoch friends would give me a hearty welcome." 
 
 " I'm doubting, Roger, an' you gang to Rannoch, it will 
 be worse than frae the devil to the deep sea," said Hackston. 
 
 " The scent will be stronger in Rannoch than in the Low- 
 
 i i > 
 
 lands. 
 
 "What's wrong?" cried Roger. "And you, Gilderoy, 
 what makes you so gloomy ? You've never said a word to 
 me. What's wrong ? " 
 
198 GILDEEOY: 
 
 " The Usurper's sodgers are ruling the roast up yonder," 
 said Hackston, jerking his thumb backwards over his 
 shoulder in a northerly direction. " They're proclaiming 
 a' honest men, and offering high rewards." 
 
 " Rewards ! " said Cristal. " Eewards for what P " 
 
 " You profess ignorance of all that has happened in Ran- 
 noch this summer?" said Gilderoy, suspiciously. 
 
 "I did hear something about a rebellion in Rannoch, 
 and Monk's troops marching to quell it," returned Cristal, 
 with an earnest truthful air; "but as I bore the name of 
 a black sheep myself, I kept out of people's sight as much 
 as I could, and therefore heard little of the country news. 
 But it was nothing wonderful to hear about troubles in 
 Rannoch. The Highlands wouldn't be the Highlands if 
 they were not always in troubles. But I see that you mis- 
 trust me, and I will force myself upon no man." 
 
 " Misfortune teaches us to distrust all," said Gilderoy; 
 " and what I have now to tell you is known over all the 
 country : the Roundheads have driven me out of Rannoch, 
 and are hunting for my life," 
 
 " And you fear," said Cristal, " you fear lest the tempta- 
 tation to betray you should overcome me ? Shame on such 
 a thought ! Because I am a broken man, have I lost all sense 
 of honour ? " 
 
 " The reward offered for my head is tempting," said Gil- 
 deroy, with a proud smile ; " but it is far out of your reach." 
 
 Cristal darted a keen glance at Gilderoy, and then said : 
 " I understand you, Gilderoy. Let us part. Take your own 
 road I'll take mine." 
 
 " And we may meet anither day, Roger, when there will be 
 nae occasion for mistrust," added Hackston. " But look to 
 yoursel', for I tell you there's nae safety within sicht o' the 
 hills." 
 
 Cristal nodded his head, and backed into the thicket, and 
 the two fugitives went on their way. 
 
 Weeks had gone since that midnight when Gilderoy and 
 his trusty adherent forsook the slumbering band in the quiet 
 valley watered by a' gentle brook ; and not until this night 
 in the wane of July had they been able to pass the High- 
 land line by reason of the hot pursuit kept up by their ene- 
 mies. Colonel Campion, to be sure, suspended all operations, 
 and impatiently awaited the arrival of his successor in com- 
 mand ; and the arrival of his successor had hitherto been 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 199 
 
 delayed owing to untoward circumstances which kept him in 
 attendance on General Monk at head-quarters. But during 
 this long interval no restraint was imposed on Eanald You- 
 righ, who, actuated by his insatiable thirst for vengeance, 
 took upon himself the conduct of the pursuit after the out- 
 law, and pressed him so hard that Gilderoy found almost 
 insuperable difficulties in escaping to the Lowlands. 
 
 For weeks had Gilderoy and his trusty adherent suffered 
 the harshest privations while hunted from covert to covert 
 by the bands of Macpherson ; but now the broad Lowlands 
 were before them, and they deemed the worst of their trials 
 past. 
 
 " There's something in yon fellow's e'e I dinna like," said 
 Hackston. " It's nae new thing for a cavalier sodger to 
 turn outlaw and live at his ain hand in ill times ; but I could 
 never venture a groat upon Roger Cristal's honour, even in 
 his best days." 
 
 " The thickets will enable us to change our route for the 
 present," answered Gilderoy. " He will expect us to keep 
 directly south ; but if we strike east for some way we will 
 throw him out of his reckoning." 
 
 " Unless we are fast pursued by Macpherson, I dinna 
 dread muckle at Cristal's hand," said Dobbie ; " for houses 
 are but few here, and Cristal is powerless o' himseF. Ah ! by 
 my faith, yonder's a wreath o' peat-reek rising up aboon the 
 trees." 
 
 They avoided the direction in which the peat-reek was 
 rising, and kept their way closely within the straggling old 
 woods, which extended to the bottom of a low range of 
 hills. 
 
 Eoger Cristal saw the peat-reek fully as soon as the fugi- 
 tives. He was dogging them step by step. Little did they 
 think that they were tracked by as sure a bloodhound as 
 ever took the slot. On seeing them begin to ascend the 
 heights, he hurried back towards the spot whence the smoke 
 arose. The winding burn twice interposed its flood between 
 him and his destination ; but the water, being shallow, was 
 easily waded. At length he found himself in the vicinity of 
 a farm-house, surrounded with strong palings, which fenced 
 in the barn-yard, kail-yard, and other appurtenances. There 
 being little time to search about for the proper access, 
 Hoger took the fences in his way, and scrambled right 
 across every obstruction, till his hasty progress was arrested 
 
200 GILDEROY: 
 
 by the clash and rattle of a chain, and the furious deep- 
 mouthed barking of a dog. Brought to an instant stand, 
 and grasping his pistols, he looked for nothing short of a 
 desperate onset from the Cerberus of the place ; but he was 
 much relieved on discovering that the animal was firmly 
 chained to the wall near the main door of the house. There 
 was light in some of the windows, but it disappeared from all 
 as soon as the dog began to bark ; and in a moment or two 
 afterwards the moveable board forming the lower half of one 
 of the windows was opened, and the moonshine showed 
 a man's head filling the aperture. The dog instantly fell 
 quiet. 
 
 To an inquiry toucl^ing who he was and what he wanted 
 his interrogator addrbg the interesting information that he 
 had a firelock at hand loaded to the muzzle Cristal made 
 answer by claiming assistance to apprehend a notorious 
 Highland rogue, of whom the soldiers of Government were 
 presently in hot pursuit. 
 
 " Whatna rogue ? " demanded the voice at the window. 
 
 " Gilderoy," replied Cristal. " There's a high price on 
 his head, and it can be won." 
 
 " Let the man in," said another voice at the back of the 
 questioner. " Light the candles. Oh ! that it might be 
 permitted unto me to come face to face wi' that murdering 
 cateran ! Quaker, light the candles, I say." 
 
 "But do you stand caution, Gideon Beaton, for the safety 
 of this house, an' I open the door ? " said the first voice, 
 while the head withdrew from the aperture. " What do we 
 ken but that this wild-looking stranger is the ringleader of a 
 band o' thieves and robbers ?." 
 
 " Trusting in the Lord," answered the other voice, " I'll 
 make my auld broadsword stand caution. Open the door." 
 
 The bolts being drawn and the door warily opened, a light 
 broke forth which showed the figures of three men within 
 the doorway. Cristal went forward, but not without a grave 
 dread of the watch-dog, which did not seem at all reconciled 
 to him on closer acquaintance. " It was weel for you," said 
 the first voice, " that Fangs was chained when you ventured 
 ower the paling, for I was just on the eve o' loosing him 
 for the night, when his bark told us that something was 
 wrang. Be peaceable, Fangs, and let the man past you." 
 Thus admonished, the dog allowed free and quiet passage to 
 the stranger, who was admitted into the doorway, and thence 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 201 
 
 conducted to the kitchen. The light of a couple of thick 
 tallow candles which one of the men held in his hands, en- 
 abled Cristal to scan the faces of the three men, and the 
 three men to scan his own. One of the three was " the 
 gudeman o' the farm-toun " himself. The second was none 
 other than our auld friend, Gideon Beaton. The third was 
 the one who held the candles, a very remarkable figure. He 
 was a long, lank man, with a thin, fleshless physiognomy, 
 staring blue eyes, and short grey locks. The habit in which 
 he was attired was cut after a peculiarly plain and formal 
 fashion, and well patched, and much bespattered with mud. 
 His manner was stiff and ungainly, and his look precise and 
 melancholy. 
 
 In few words, but with some confusion and prevarication 
 in details, Cristal recounted as much of his chance interview 
 with the Rannoch fugitives as he chose to tell, and besought 
 the men to join him in immediate pursuit, insisting strongly 
 on the certainty of gaining a high reward. He freely con- 
 fessed (and with perfect truth too) that hearing that Gilderoy 
 was attempting escape to the Lowlands, he had hastened to 
 the north in the hope of being able to discover and arrest 
 him. It appeared, moreover, that he had been in some sort 
 of indirect communication with Ranald Vourigh. " You 
 may say I might have shot the villains off-hand," he added ; 
 " but it was dangerous to fly in the face of two desperate 
 men, and in dogging them I could not get near enough to 
 take sure aim." 
 
 Gideon Beaton listened greedily to every word, and then 
 struck his sheathed sword emphatically on the hearthstone, 
 saying : " It's no for the rewar-d, man, that I would put 
 forth my hand against the villain ; but because it's a bounden 
 duty upon us all to rid the land of a wild beast that has 
 lang laid waste our vineyards. Think on the murder of the 
 Laird o' Dunavaig ! And no mony mornings before that 
 deed, the malignant and his savages came down upon my 
 ain fauld and drove twa score ewes, and three gude nowte 
 no their marrow in a' Angus. Let us up, I say, like men of 
 war, wi* our swords upon our thighs, and cut off Amalek from 
 the earth ; for the Lord hath manifestly delivered him into 
 our hands." 
 
 " I counsel thee," said the man with the candles, in a shrill 
 and monotonous voice, which perceptibly paused betwixt 
 each word" I counsel thee, friend, to restrain thy feet 
 
202 GILDEKOY : 
 
 from those paths which lead men to blood-guiltiness. Hast 
 thou forgotten what was said to Peter in the garden, when 
 he drew his sword and cut off the high priest's servant's ear 
 and the servant's name was Malchus ? * They that take 
 the sword shall perish by the sword.' Yea, friend, avouch 
 thyself a true follower of the Prince of Peace." 
 
 " I'll listen to no more of your abuse of the blessed Word, 
 Quaker," cried Gideon Beaton. " This night have I with- 
 stood your false doctrine, and proved, as plain as a pike- 
 staff, how far wrang your inner licht has led you. No 
 wonder though the country rises in indignation, and drives 
 you oot to be wanderers and vagabonds on the face of the 
 earth. Who could suffer such heresy in this covenanted 
 land?" 
 
 " Come away ; never mind kirk doctrine," cried Cristal, 
 with angry impatience. " Come on, and after Gilderoy, else 
 he'll slip through our fingers like a knotless thread. What 
 power have you, laird ? " he asked, clapping the " gudeman " 
 on the shoulder. 
 
 " I ha'e four stout ploughmen lads," answered the latter. 
 " They're a' sleeping in the barn. But how do we ken that 
 after you get us awa' wandering through the country there 
 mayna a band o' your tribe come in and fall on the steading ? " 
 
 " Don't quit the steading keep watch on the steading," 
 replied Cristal. " Give me three of your ploughmen and I'll 
 seek no other help." 
 
 "Count me ane o' the three," said Beaton. "You and 
 me, and twa o' the lads, will tak' the road, and the other twa 
 lads will keep the house wi' the laird and the Quaker. I 
 think that should make a' things safe and richt." 
 
 This proposal was adopted without further discussion. 
 The four hinds were roused from their lair of straw in the barn, 
 and brought into the kitchen, where two of them received 
 basket-hilted broadswords. The female domestics who had 
 retired out of sight on the entrance of the stranger, were now 
 called, and directed to procure a bottle of the best usquebagh 
 which the house afforded. There was no "gudewife," as the 
 " gudeman " was an old and confirmed bachelor. A hearty 
 glass was served round, and the expeditionary party, inspired 
 by the potent stimulant, marched forth. 
 
 The sky was still cloudless and the moon bright. Fo 
 sound but the slumberous murmur of the winding stream 
 saluted the ear of night. 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 203 
 
 " It looks as if a special Providence had brought me to 
 Glenfoot this nicht," said Beaton ; " and wha kens what 
 great wark is appointed to be wrought by my hand ? I was 
 at Kirkallon tryst this morning, and when my market was 
 done I came west to spend a night wi' my auld friend the 
 gudeman o' Glenfoot. When I cam in, there was yon 
 Quaker creature in the kitchen, getting a bit of supper for 
 charity ; for he's wandering aboot the country, without a 
 plack in his pouch, by reason that his neighbours drave him 
 oot frae amang them on account o' his schismatical doctrines. 
 Of all the sectaries that are over-running our covenanted 
 land, surely the Quakers are the most perverse, and should 
 be putten doon by the strong hand, instead of being utterly 
 tolerated according to the new and sinful fashion of Cromwell 
 and Monk. There is no doctrine so unscriptural, hatefu', and 
 detestable as toleration." 
 
 " We must be silent, gudeman," said Cristal ; " for the 
 night is quiet, and silence is best on such an errand." 
 
 Under Cristal's cautious guidance, the party rapidly pur- 
 sued the route which he had seen the fugitives follow. When 
 they ascended the low range of heights, they found the 
 summit somewhat marshy, and Cristal, whose keen eye 
 seemed to possess all the faculties of a Hed Indian's, soon 
 discovered recent footprints on the sod, and skilfully tracing 
 these until they disappeared, he led his allies down the other 
 side of the braes, and straight on across the country until 
 they came to the beaten track which wound away towards 
 the south-west. 
 
 This beaten road was bordered pretty continuously with 
 dwarf trees and tangled underwood, and the party had not 
 pursued it for any great distance, when the acute ear of 
 Cristal the spy detected the murmur of voices in front. 
 The party paused to prepare their arms for use, and then 
 stealing forward, almost on tiptoe, they turned an angle of 
 the winding path, and came in full view of the objects of 
 their search, who were seated on a grassy bank by the way- 
 side. The moon, struggling through the foliage that over- 
 hung the bank, cast down a broad circle of light exactly 
 over the heads of the fugitives, showing them to be engaged 
 in mending the thongs of their brogues, and their heads 
 being down, they did-not observe the sudden but silent ap- 
 pearance of their enemies, who had therefore opportunity to 
 withdraw out of sight before they should plan their attack. 
 
204 GILDEROY: 
 
 The pursuers held a hurried council of war. The eager 
 spy and his equally eager coadjutor, the Covenanting farmer, 
 were quite prepared to rush at once upon the fugitives. A 
 general rush was, indeed, the only practicable means of 
 attack the character of the road and of the surrounding 
 ground forbidding the idea of stealing unseen to the bank. 
 But the two ploughmen, now that they were brought almost 
 front to front with the redoubtable Gilderoy, of whose 
 desperate prowess they had heard so many startling relations, 
 were shaken in their courage, and indicated plainly that they 
 did not covet the perilous honour of a personal encounter. 
 
 Cristal, seeing their irresolution, pulled a pistol from his 
 belt, and looked cautiously round the turn of the road. " I 
 have hit a bird upon the wing, at a greater distance," he 
 whispered, " and one good shot will rid us of one enemy." 
 
 " And then the other enemy will mak' aff," returned the 
 Covenanter. " JN"a, na, friend we canna trust to firing, for 
 folks' hands are never steady at sic a moment as this. Come, 
 lads, show your mettle. We maun fa' on. The first man 
 that shows the white feather I'll brain him on the spot. 
 Mind my words. It was me that wrote my name on the 
 Covenant wi' my ain blude, so I am no a canny man to parry 
 wi', lads." 
 
 All at once, all abreast, with a hoarse shout, and brandish- 
 ing their naked weapons in the clear moonlight, the party 
 poured down the path towards the fugitives, who, springing 
 to their feet in confusion, grasped their arms, but looked as 
 if undecided whether to fight or flee. The spy fired a 
 pistol, but the shot far from justified his vaunted accuracy of 
 aim, as it merely broke away a twig from a tree behind 
 Gilderoy. The ineffectual shot was promptly returned from 
 Dobbie Hackston's musket, and one of the ploughmen gave 
 a thrilling yell, dropped his broadsword, and sank to the 
 ground like a dead man. 
 
 " Down wi' the Philistines ! " shouted Gideon Beaton, as 
 he rushed at Macgregor and engaged him in combat. The 
 other two threw themselves against Dobbie, who first dashed 
 his gun in their faces, prostrating the second ploughman by 
 the shock, and then drew his sword to encounter his remain- 
 ing assailant, whom he recognised with a fierce and vengeful 
 oath. Cristal presented another pistol at Hackston's breast ; 
 but the expert Dobbie struck it out of his hand before it 
 was fired, and would have followed up the blow by cleaving 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 205 
 
 him, had not the second ploughman, who now rose from the 
 ground with a capital stomach for the fray, pressed forward 
 undauntedly, and drove back Hackston step by step. 
 
 Meanwhile Gilderoy found ^himself hard pressed by the 
 stout Covenanter, who, with nerves of steel and the heart of 
 a lion, kept raining a shower of blows upon him, which it 
 took all his art and skill to ward off. Gilderoy was slowly 
 forced to give way, until he unconsciously approached the 
 brink of a deep gully at the side of the road, and suddenly 
 stepping back into vacancy, he crashed down to the bottom 
 through the dense brushwood with which the hollow was 
 overgrown. 
 
 " So fall the enemies of Israel!" shouted the Covenanter, 
 springing forward to the treacherous edge of the bank. His 
 impetuosity almost caused him to share the fate of his 
 antagonist, for a large portion of the loose earth gave way 
 under his foot, and he only saved himself by clinging to a 
 tree, and then springing back. "Amalek hath fallen into 
 the snare," he said, " like a bird into the net of the fowler. 
 The vale of Siddim and the slimepits thereof have swallowed 
 him up, even as they swallowed up the ten kings of old !" 
 
 The faithful Dobbie, seeing the catastrophe which had 
 befallen his leader, relinquished his combat with the plough- 
 man, and fearlessly leaped down into the dark bosky hollow. 
 A bullet from the spy's pistol whistled over his head as he 
 sank, and the brushwood crashed with his fall, and closed 
 above him. Cristal tore the sword from the hand of the 
 fallen ploughman, and ran down the road in hopes of finding 
 an easy descent to the gully. His two allies followed. 
 They soon found what they sought, and plunged into the 
 jungle ; but the fugitives were nowhere to be seen or heard 
 they had utterly disappeared, as though they were of those 
 "bubbles" which "the earth hath" in common with the 
 water. 
 
 The rosy light of morn found the pursuers (now rejoined 
 by the first ploughman, whose wound had turned out to be 
 by no means serious) still " beating about the bush " in 
 quest of their enemies ; but all their search was in vain. 
 Gloomy and dispirited they wandered back to the farm- 
 steading of Glenfoot. 
 
 The homeless Quaker met them by the way. " See you 
 not the hand of God visibly in your discomfiture?" he said. 
 " He will not suffer you to touch so much as the hem of the 
 
206 GILDEROY : 
 
 garment of the sinner whom he hath reserved for his own 
 visitation in His own good time." 
 
 " It's a droll thing," cried Beaton, " that every time I try 
 to execute judgment upon Gilderoy, some fool or other 
 comes and quotes a screed o' Scripture against me. First, 
 there was our ain minister, and syne here's this Quaker. 
 But I'll argue nae mair wi' a daft man. We maun on to 
 Glenfoot, lads. Was a' thing richt at the steading, Quaker, 
 when you left it ? " 
 
 " I left the house as I found it in peace and security," 
 returned the Quaker. " The master wearied for your 
 coming, and sent me forth to seek you." 
 
 " Then, follow us," cried Gideon, gruffly, " and I'se mak 
 you sure o' a gude breakfast, at ony rate. I hate and abhor 
 your heresies, man ; but I hae compassion on your distress. 
 Try, man, and tak a thocht o' yoursel', and renounce that 
 quake quaking." 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 Of these three tracks which lie before us, 
 We know that one leads certainly to Death, 
 But know not which that one is. 
 
 Howe's " Lady Jane Grey." 
 
 EVENING [was closing in Glen Connachan the lone 
 and dismal Glen of Lamentation and the high winds 
 moaned in harmony with the thundering plash of the 
 cataract. The sound of wind and water, echoing among the 
 precipices, was sublime. There had been a glorious sunset, 
 and the broken flying masses of cloud still faintly glowed 
 with its purple dyes. 
 
 Many suns had risen and set since Gilderoy and his 
 Lowland follower escaped from the toils of Cristal the spy. 
 Nerved to incessant exertion by the prospect of earning a 
 golden reward, the spy had succeeded in rousing the country 
 and driving the fugitives back to the hills. The pursuit went 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 207 
 
 hotly on the spy and Eanald Vourigh keeping it up with 
 unflagging perseverance. 
 
 And on the night when the flying clouds still faintly 
 glowed with the purple dyes of the sunset, Gilderoy and his 
 last adherent sought the inhospitable and ominous recesses 
 of Glen Connachan. 
 
 " Time had dealt roughly with them since we saw them 
 last." Gilderoy 's long hair hung torn and matted ; the 
 floridness of his complexion had deadened into ghastly 
 pallor, his cheeks were sunken, deep furrows seamed his 
 brow, and his whole aspect was " lean and hungry." Hack- 
 ston was in similar plight. Their swords were their only 
 weapons, and Hackston carried Gilderoy 's target slung at his 
 back. 
 
 "And we are driven into this fatal glen!" exclaimed 
 Gilderoy, as he gazed regretfully on the frowning rocks 
 around him. " Say what you will, my honest comrade 
 here we must perish. The weary struggle is near its close. 
 There is no refuge here. Even now the villains may be 
 close on our tract." 
 
 " Ten to ane they'll never think we wad tak a road that 
 leads direct to Dunavaig," answered Dobbie. 
 
 " Dunavaig !" repeated Gilderoy, in husky accents. " The 
 
 blood that cries from the ground at Dunavaig " There 
 
 he stopped, and smote his hand on his brow. " The web of 
 my fate is woven. The hour of doom approaches ; and we 
 can no more retard it than we can stay the sun in the midst 
 of the firmament." 
 
 Wandering past the cataract, and out of hearing of its 
 eternal thunder, they reached a wide part of the glen, where 
 on the opposite side from the torrent, the bottom, along the 
 base of the giddy heights, was rather thickly set with trees 
 and bushes. The wind was still for the time, and profound 
 quiet pervaded the savage scene, save for the brawl of the 
 water. 
 
 " Sit down," said Dobbie, pointing to broken pieces of 
 rock scattered among the trees. " We maun hae some rest. 
 The branches o' the birks and hazels will hang ower us like 
 a curtain, and a hunder men may pass, and no an e'e licht 
 upon us. Sit down." And he seated himself. 
 
 The spreading boughs hung motionless ; but the fragile 
 leaves of a tall and stately aspen quivered with a gentle 
 rustle that might have soothed the wayworn into slumber. 
 
208 GILDEP.OY : 
 
 Far off in Highland wilds, 'tis said 
 (But Truth now laughs at Fancy's lore), 
 That of this tree the cross was made 
 Which erst the Lord of glory bore, 
 And of that deed its leaves confess 
 E'er since a troubled consciousness. 
 
 " That pool," said Gilderoy, pointing to a pool of the 
 stream, on the black surface of which patches of foam, like 
 great white drowned moths, were lazily floating round and 
 round that pool is deep, and a plunge would end all my 
 miseries." 
 
 " By the blackest misfortune o' a'," said Hackston, shaking 
 his head. " Better far to rush upon the levelled pikes and 
 brandished swords o' the enemy, and meet a death o' honour. 
 Awa' wi' sic wild thochts. Sit down, I beg o' you. The 
 caller air will cool the burning fever o' your brain." 
 
 Gilderoy sat down ; but weary as he was, the agonising 
 tumult of his thoughts seemed to render it impossible that 
 he could taste of rest. He arose and paced up and down in 
 front of where his follower was sitting. 
 
 " But wherefore should you share my fate ? " he cried. 
 " It is my life they seek. Yours may be saved." 
 
 " I'll follow you to the last," returned Dobbie. 
 
 "Oh! faithful friend, leave me, and save yourself!" 
 ejaculated Gilderoy; "for, where I am, there destruction 
 hovers around." 
 
 "I've told you often, and I tell you again, that I dinna 
 desert my standard though it be borne down in the battle," 
 responded Hackston. 
 
 An eagle started, with a loud scream, from a pinnacle up 
 the pass, and mounted majestically, and straight as an arrow, 
 into the darkening air. Suddenly a musket-shot was heard, 
 and the bird dropped like a stone, but all in a wild flutter, to 
 the summit of the precipice from which it had taken flight. 
 Hackston sprang from his seat. Gilderoy hurried into the 
 leafy covert beside him. Some moments of cruel suspense 
 followed, and then distant voices were wafted on a gust of 
 wind down the glen. 
 
 " We are lost ! " faltered Macgregor. " Eanald Vourigh 
 and his band ! " 
 
 " Stand fast and silent," urged Hackston. " Silence is our 
 only safety." 
 
 " Their"dogs, if they have any, will infallibly discover us," 
 said Gilderoy. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 209 
 
 " I hear nae dogs," said Dobbie. " The shooting <y the 
 eagle wad gart dogs bark." He took the target from his 
 back and gave it 'to Gilderoy, who braced it on his left arm. 
 They both drew their swords. 
 
 About twelve armed Highlanders, talking, jesting, and 
 laughing, emerged into view, and marched leisurely down 
 the middle of the road. They had no dogs. 
 
 "You thought I was no marksman, Donald," said one 
 voice ; " but put Gilderoy within fair range of me, and I 
 will bring him down as surely as I brought down the erne." 
 
 "Oh, you may safely brag about Gilderoy," answered 
 another voice ; " for I'll wager that Gilderoy is over the hills 
 and far away by this time." 
 
 The men passed the spot where the trees concealed the 
 fugitives. No discovery was made ; and the voices speedily 
 died away in the distance. 
 
 " Macpherson's men," said Hackston. 
 
 " They are," answered Gilderoy, " a portion of his band ; 
 but he is not with them. Our fate is but deferred, not 
 averted. They will shut up the pass and leave us no way of 
 escape. More of the band may be fast behind. We are 
 taken as in a trap." And in extreme dejection he sheathed 
 his sword, unbuckled the target from his arm, and laying it 
 down at his feet, glanced gloomily towards the dark pool on 
 which the moth-like flecks of foam were swimming. 
 
 "Canna we endeavour to climb the crags?" returned 
 Dobbie, cheerfully, as he pointed to the precipices on the 
 opposite side of the glen. " Yonder stands a rock sae 
 shelvy, that it looks like a muckle braid stair, built up, stap 
 by stap, by the auld-warld builders, the Picts, wha' set up 
 the kirk o* St. Johnstoun in ae nicht's time. We could 
 easily scramble to the tap, hauding by the bushes. Tak' 
 heart, Gilderoy." 
 
 " I lack all heart even the very desire to secure my own 
 safety," said the outlaw, casting his hands abroad in a frantic 
 fashion. " Were we out of this accursed glen, I might 
 think and speak and act like a man ; but here my very soul 
 is weighed down by the recollection of that wild night at 
 Dunavaig. It was truly said by the minister, that the fire 
 of Dunavaig would raise the country to hunt me down. Not 
 a blast of wind comes sweeping by, but seems to moan out a 
 malison. Here I cannot struggle for my wretched life, or yield 
 it with honour. Is there not a smell of burning in the air ? " 
 
210 GILDEEOY: 
 
 " Ay, o' the powther wasted on the eagle that lies flaffing 
 up yonder on a peak unapproachable by mortal man," said 
 Hackston. 
 
 " Let us across the heights," cried Gilderoy, eagerly. " My 
 every energy is cramped and benumbed in this place. Curses 
 light on the villain who told me that my brother perished 
 through Dunavaig's guile ! Hah ! mercy on us ! I hear 
 
 voices 
 
 " In what direction ? " asked Dobbie. 
 
 "Up the glen." 
 
 They listened, but nothing met their strained ears save 
 the moan of the blast and the soughing rustle of foliage. 
 
 " What would I now give that Connal were sitting at his 
 own hall fire ! " said Gilderoy. " By the soul of my father, 
 I do hear voices ! " 
 
 " Where where ? " inquired Hackston. 
 
 " Up the glen, I tell you. There ! You hear them ! You 
 must hear them ! " 
 
 The voices were now quite perceptible. The fugitives 
 slunk farther back among the trees. Another party of 
 Highlanders, some six or eight in number, came rapidly 
 down the glen. 
 
 " It is Eanald Vourigh ! It is my arch-enemy at last ! " 
 whispered Macgregor. " We are undone ! " 
 
 He began to buckle on his target, but his agitation was so 
 excessive that his fingers seemed to have lost their power, 
 and failing in the attempt he unluckily let the target fall. 
 It clattered loudly on the stones, attracting the notice of the 
 strangers, who were now close at hand, and causing them to 
 halt, 
 
 It was the hour of doom. The outlaw's career was run. 
 The iron hand of destiny was upon him. The murder of 
 Dunavaig was about to be expiated. 
 
 A violent gust of wind scattered the branches of the 
 thicket like dishevelled tresses of hair, and disclosed the 
 forlorn fugitives to open view. The strangers, although not 
 perhaps recognising them at the first, set up a shout, and 
 seized their swords. 
 
 All the desperate courage and energy of the outlaw 
 momentarily returned to him. He braced on his target, 
 and raising his war-cry, broke out upon the strangers like a 
 lion. Hackston, nothing loth, followed hard at his back. 
 
 "Gilderoy himself!" exclaimed the well-known voice of 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 211 
 
 Macplierson. " Make sure of him, my lads. Remember 
 the price of his head ! " 
 
 The fugitives encountered fearful odds. The furious clash 
 of claymores sounded through the glen. The ferocious oaths 
 and yells of the combatants showed the fiendish intensity of 
 the strife. Soon did Hackston prostrate one of the enemy, 
 and immediately a second fell beneath the hand of Gilderoy. 
 But fate was not to be overborne. The enemy redoubled 
 their exertions, determined that their prey should not escape. 
 Hanald fought with overpowering fury. Twice he encoun- 
 tered Gilderoy hand to hand, and twice were they separated. 
 The conflict went on clash, and shout, and yell, mingled at 
 intervals with the report of a pistol. 
 
 At length Dobbie Hackston was cut down. Many wounds 
 were on him, and his blood was pouring out fast. He 
 essayed to rise, but fell helplessly on hi side, and his sword 
 dropped from his hand. His battles were over. But even 
 in his extremity his heart was with his leader he was true 
 to his colours to the last ; he called to Gilderoy to flee. 
 
 Gilderoy strode across the prostrate body of his faithful 
 follower, and dauntlessly continued the strife the trees and 
 bushes at his back securing him from attack behind. In 
 this posture he clove the head of a third enemy ; but his 
 strength was failing, and a stroke from the Macpherson's 
 claymore stretched him beside Hackston. 
 
 " Take him alive ! " cried lianald ; for his remaining fol- 
 lowers were rushing on the fallen chief to despatch him at 
 once. " Take both alive. They shall be made gazing stocks 
 to a' Scotland." 
 
 His behest was obeyed, and the outlaw and his adherent 
 were secured as prisoners to be dragged to a judicial doom. 
 
 " Yillain ! " said Gilderoy, as he was flung over on his 
 back, " complete your vengeance stab me to the heart. I 
 would do so to you." 
 
 " I swore to you that this hand of mine should clench the 
 fetters upon your limbs, as it clenched them upon your 
 brother's," answered Macpherspn, with an exultant laugh. 
 " I swore that this hand of mine should drag you to the 
 black tree on which your brother died ; and my oath shall 
 be fulfilled." 
 
 He tore up a handful of long grass, and while he care- 
 fully wiped the blood from his sword with it, before returning 
 the victorious weapon to its sheath, he directed his men to 
 p 2 
 
212 GILDEROY: 
 
 attend to the wounds of the prisoners and of their own 
 comrades. Hackston had now fainted from exhaustion. 
 Gilderoy, whose wounds were not so deep and dangerous, 
 attempted, though without avail, to resist the performance 
 of a duty towards himself, which he well knew was prompted 
 by no feelings of compassion. When the men came to 
 examine the condition of their own fallen comrades (for the 
 prisoners had engrossed their first care), they discovered, 
 with surprise, that all three had expired. Macpherson 
 himself and his remaining followers had entirely escaped 
 wounds. 
 
 The prisoners spent the night in the glen the Lowland 
 soldier still continuing insensible, and apparently drawing 
 nigh unto death, and Gilderoy, full of pride and disdain, 
 maintaining a stern silence. 
 
 Ranald despatched one of his followers to bring up the 
 party of Highlanders who previously passed. It appeared 
 from his orders to the messenger that the party had been 
 directed to proceed on to Dunavaig Manse, whither their 
 leader intended to follow them for the purpose of meeting 
 there with some friends whom he expected. 
 
 After daybreak the messenger returned 'with the party, 
 and likewise with a country cart to convey away the prisoners. 
 The cart was driven by the farmer to whom it belonged, and 
 who, on coming forward, gazed eagerly and long at Gilderoy, 
 who was seated on the ground, with his back against the 
 aspen tree, which rustled incessantly, as if trembling for his 
 fate. 
 
 " And this is Gilderoy ! " said the farmer, after his long 
 and eager gaze. " What a pity sae strapping a lad should 
 fill the hangman's grips ! " 
 
 " You never suffered from his hand, gudeman ? " said 
 Ranald Vourigh, sneeringly. " You never had your house 
 burnt over your head by the Macgregors ? " 
 
 " No me, man no me," returned the farmer. " I ken 
 that he set Dunavaig House in a blaze ; but he ne'er burnt 
 mine ; and wherefore should I bear malice against him in 
 his evil day ? He's a strapping lad, burn whase house he 
 likes." 
 
 "You're one of the Dunavaig tenantry?" cried Mac- 
 pherson, in wonder. " You're one of the murdered laird's 
 tacksmen P " 
 
 " And to my sair loss, as a' the parish can testify," said 
 
A SCOTTISH TBAJHTION. 213 
 
 tho farmer, with an angry indifference. " But we've gotten 
 a bra\v new laird, that ought to ken law and justice ; and 
 'new lairds, new laws, 5 as the proverb says." 
 
 Macpherson having appointed several of his men to stay 
 behind and inter the dead bodies of their comrades at the 
 spot where they fell, the two prisoners were lifted into the 
 cart, which was then surrounded by the rest of the party, 
 and driven slowly down the glen. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Aft I ha'e ridden thro' Stirling; town 
 
 In the wind both and the weet ; 
 But I ne'er rode thro' Stirling town 
 
 Wi' fetters at my feet. 
 
 Aft ha'e I ridden thro' Stirling town 
 
 In the wind hoth and the rain j 
 But I ne'er rode thro' Stirling town 
 
 Ne'er to return again. 
 
 Ballad of " Young Waters" 
 
 f~^\ ILDEBX)Y sat in the cart with his head downcast and his 
 vT long red hair hanging in confusion over his face. 
 Stretched at his feet lay the Lowland soldier, inanimate and 
 pale as a corpse. When Gilderoy raised his haggard eyes 
 for the first time during the journey, the sun was up and 
 breaking through an amber cloud, and the blackened ruins of 
 Dunavaig House the memorial of his master-crime met 
 his gaze. 
 
 Kanald Vourigh, who sat on the front of the jolting vehicle, 
 turned round as if to mark what effect the sight of the ruins 
 should exercise upon his captive. But the captive seemed 
 unmoved. 
 
 " Do you mind the night of murder and burning yonder? " 
 said Macpherson, with a cruel smile, as he pointed to the 
 scene of ravage, which showed blacker in the bright and 
 bounteous sunshine. 
 
 " I do," answered Gilderoy. " And you will ever remem- 
 
214 GILDEBOY: 
 
 ber the dark and windy winter morning when the devouring 
 flames drove you from your own dwelling, and my father's 
 men lacked the heart to brain so mean and despicable a mis- 
 creant. My father's deeds of vengeance and my own will 
 not soon be forgotten." 
 
 " Had the memory of that dark and windy winter morn- 
 ing melted from my mind like that winter's snow from the 
 steeps of Schiehallion," replied Eanald, " I would not have 
 tracked you from hill to glen, and from glen to muir, and 
 through every pass and corrie of the Grampians. And I 
 know that I shall yet witness the deeds of that morning 
 avenged in your ignominious death." 
 
 A few country people were now hastening towards the 
 party from various quarters, anxious to obtain a sight of the 
 renowned freebooter, and among the rest was the Covenant- 
 ing hero, Gideon Beaton. 
 
 "Your nowte and your sheep may now graze in safety, 
 Gideon," said Macpherson, " for the forays of Gilderoy are 
 all ended." 
 
 Beaton pushed up to the cart, and taking hold of the side- 
 board with one hand, walked along at an equal pace, bending 
 a keen gaze on the captive, whose head was now sunk again 
 on his breast. " He's but a young man, a slender youth," 
 said Gideon. " And for a' that has come and gane atween 
 him and me, I winna rejoice in a carnal warldly spirit ower 
 his downfall. Bl} the wad I be to fight out the battle I had 
 wi' him at Glenfoot, the twa of us getting equal weapons and 
 a fair field ; and I'm surprised that so slim a lad should have 
 fought so sturdily with ane that's more nor twice his age, 
 and has more nor twice his strength. But we must ne'er 
 forget that we're forbidden in Scripture to exult ower our 
 enemies. And," he added, casting his eyes among the High- 
 landers, " where's your ragged landlouper, Cristal? " 
 
 "I know nothing about him," answered Macpherson. 
 " He's no man of mine. The reward brought him into the 
 field, and he's working for his own hand ; but eager as he is, 
 I have outstripped him. The prize is won by me. You of 
 this country-side," he continued, with an air of pique, occa- 
 sioned doubtless by the commiserating tone of the Covenan- 
 ter's remarks on Gilderoy, which were so similar to those 
 previously expressed by the driver of the cart " you of this 
 country-side should give me thanks, I think, for ridding you 
 of such a plague as the last of the Eannoch caterans." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 215 
 
 "And so I do," cried Beaton, quickly. "I praise and 
 magnify the Lord for putting a hook in the young man's 
 nose, and a bridle in his jaws, and laying him at the mercy 
 of them he wronged. My braw callant," he said, turning to 
 the silent captive, " it's time you were taking thocht o' your 
 past life in the view of your latter end ; and if you need a 
 friend's assistance, I'm free and willing to tak' order wi' you 
 anent the things that concern the salvation o' your immortal 
 soul. Even at the eleventh hour the thief upon the cross 
 found pardon, justification, and adoption." 
 
 Gilderoy gave no answer. He did not even look at the 
 speaker. It was doubtful whether, immersed in his own dark 
 cogitations, he had heard him at all. 
 
 " I would counsel you, as a sober friend, to repent in sack- 
 cloth and ashes," resumed Gideon ; " for though your life 
 may ha'e been pleasing in your ain e'en, when you were 
 rolling sin as a sweet morsel under your tongue, you must 
 bear in mind that for a' your thochts and deeds you will as- 
 suredly be brocht to judgment. No doubt, you were proud 
 and uplifted when you dwelt in Eannoch at the head of your 
 kilted heathens villains that wad grip to dirk and claymore 
 at a wag o' your finger, or a wink o' your e'e ; but grim 
 death now stares you in the face, and it's a friend's advice 
 that you should turn your mind to think on how you can 
 venture to face your Maker, wi' innocent men's bluid upon, 
 the skirts o' your garments." 
 
 He paused here, seeing that Gilderoy continued quite in- 
 different ; and then he addressed Macpherson. " Itanald," 
 said he, " do you ken you that kens a' Hannoch, and was 
 there yoursel' shortly syne do you ken what the Macgre- 
 gors did wi' my cattle ? Did you see ony o' my ewes ? There 
 . were twa clad score o' them ; and ye wad maybe ken my 
 mark upon them. They were marked across the back." 
 
 " A cross you say P " said Ranald. " I did see some sheep 
 there with that mark a thick black cross." 
 
 " Haud your tongue, man ! do you ken wha you're speak- 
 ing to ? " exclaimed the Covenanter, in a momentary passion. 
 " NSL, na ; my mark was nae cross. I never dedicated beast 
 of mine to the deevil and the Pope of Home by putting upon 
 it any such idolatrous token. If you saw sheep wi' the cross 
 upon them, they must have belanged to Papishes as heathen- 
 ish and deluded as the Clan Gregor themsel's ; and troth, 
 man, folk that would put such tokens upon the poor dumb 
 
216 GILDEBOY: 
 
 brutes deserved to lose ilka trotter o' them for ever and aye . 
 But iny mark was made in Christian fashion twa plain 
 strokes, and naething mair. Did you see ony sheep wi' that 
 mark ? " 
 
 Macpherson replied saucily in the negative. 
 
 " What did you do wi' you twa score ewes from the Crai- 
 ginha' Muir, Gilderoy ? " pursued Beaton, once more address- 
 ing the outlaw. " You mind well how your gillies drave them 
 and three fat nowt. Hoot, man ! you mind brawly. What 
 price did they bring you, and wha was your merchant ? Or, 
 are they in Bannoch still ? Eh ? Do you hear me, man ? " 
 
 " You need not question him," cried Macpherson, " for 
 he'll give you no answer. There's too much devil in him." 
 
 " But I must question him," returned Gideon ; " for, if 
 the beasts be still in B,annoch, it's but right and just that I 
 should get my own. I'm saying to you, Gilderoy, and I'm 
 speaking as a friend " 
 
 But it was altogether useless to go on, either as a friend 
 or as a foe, for Gilderoy paid no attention, and never raised 
 his head, for all that could be said to him. Baffled and irri- 
 tated, Beaton quitted the side of the cart, and fell into the 
 rear of the party. 
 
 The cart jogged and jolted along until it came at last to a 
 stand before the gateway of Mr. Gilchrist's manse an old- 
 fashioned, cozy -looking tenement, with " harled " walls, and 
 roof covered with coarse grey slates which was pleasantly 
 situated several miles beyond the house of Dunavaig. There 
 was a garden around the manse, stocked with apple, pear, 
 and cherry trees, gooseberry bushes, green kail, and a sprink- 
 ling of common flowers. A dry stone dyke enclosed the 
 grounds, and on both sides of the wide slap which formed 
 the entrance way some gigantic sun-flowers reared their 
 gaudy heads above the level of the dyke and the bristly 
 tangled spray of sweet-briar and hawthorn that crept over it, 
 and looked steadily forth to the road, like sentinels on the 
 watch. Cultured fields lay in the vicinity, waving with good 
 crops of ripening grain. But there was a peculiarity about 
 those fields which deserves to be remarked. It was only 
 every alternate "rig " that grew corn, the remainder lying in 
 grass, according to the immemorial usage of the district ; and 
 this mode of culture was called, in the vernacular, " rig and 
 bauk." The bauks were never subjected to the ploughshare, 
 but always left under their natural grass. Here and there 
 
A SCOTTISH TEAJDIT10N. 217 
 
 were seen the " faulds " for the cattle enclosures with mud 
 walls, which were frequently visited and " toomed " by ma- 
 rauders from the mountains. A broad but shallow stream 
 wimpled in the rear of the manse ; and the humble parish 
 kirk, with its "ivied tower/' stood on the brow of a green 
 upland at about a bowshot's distance. 
 
 The Minister was a widower, with no surviving family, and 
 his household consisted only of two maid-servants, both well 
 advanced in years. The arrival of the party at his gate 
 seemed to have taken him by surprise, although apparently 
 he had received previous information of Gilderoy's capture. 
 He came out hurriedly and (to judge by his looks) not in the 
 best of humour, followed by his two domestics, and likewise 
 by two gentlemen, in half-military habits, who were none 
 other than Colonel Campion and Jasper Hollo. 
 
 "You must give our prisoners the shelter of your house 
 for a little, Mr. Simon," said Ranald Vourigh, jumping down 
 from off the shaft or " tram " of the cart on which he had been 
 sitting. "How's a' wi' you, Colonel? How's a' wi' you, 
 Mr. Jasper? I hope the lady is none the worse of her jour- 
 ney from the Macgregors' country." 
 
 " Do you intend making my house a common tolbooth, 
 Han aid Vourigh?" demanded the Minister. "You'll bring 
 me into bad bread wi' the Clan Gregor, wha will blame me 
 wi' betraying James, as they blamed auld Dunavaig wi' 
 betray ing' Patrick. Canna you just drive on wi' them to the 
 first jail? " 
 
 " We require some time, Minister, to make provision for 
 the journey," replied Macpherson, humbly. " Besides, sir, 
 the other man Hackston is so sore wounded, that I fear he'll 
 not survive many hours, and we will require, in common 
 charity, to lift him into some house, till we see what comes of 
 him. I ask you, sir, could we take him into any house 
 where he would find better spiritual attendance than here ?" 
 
 The Minister, Campion, and Hollo, went close to the cart 
 and looked at the prisoners. 
 
 " The words of the Highland seer are now fulfilled," said 
 the Eoundhead. " He forewarned me that in the day when 
 Gilderoy fell I should be powerless; and lo ! am I not 
 so? " 
 
 " And you have got down from that weary Eannoch at 
 last, Colonel," said Macpherson. " You've been lang, 
 lang." 
 
218 (HLDEROY : 
 
 " I could not in honour quit my post till my successor's 
 arrival," answered the Colonel. " As you know, Lady Annabel 
 and Rollo remained with me from day to day and from week 
 to week, waiting till Colonel Francis Solway's arrival should 
 enable me to conduct them to the Lowlands under the pro- 
 tection of the military escort assigned for myself. We all 
 reached the manse early this morning, just after your mes- 
 senger had come and gone, and we dismissed the escort an 
 hour ago, as being no longer necessary." 
 
 " It was a blessed mercy that you sent me word to meet 
 you here," replied Ranald ; " for, in coming to meet you, I 
 met my fortune. I never saw anything so lucky. Who 
 would have looked for Gilderoy in Glen Connachan ? And 
 what news from Rannoch ? " 
 
 The Colonel hummed, and shrugged his shoulders again 
 and again. " What think you was Solway's first act on 
 assuming command? Ay, Ranald, you may guess. He 
 liberated Sir John Spiers, on the ground that my charges 
 against him were frivolous ! Satan is unchained ! " 
 
 " Then let Lady Annabel beware of her disappointed 
 suitor," said Ranald. 
 
 " Lady Annabel is bound for Glenbirkie," returned the 
 Colonel, " where she will be out of his reach. Hollo has 
 sent on his two retainers to announce her home-coming. I 
 am invited to accompany her, but other duties forbid." 
 
 The Minister, leaning on the side of the cart, touched 
 Gilderoy on the shoulder. " James, James," he said, " I 
 warned you, my jo, that this would be your end, and you 
 would listen to nae reason, your madness was so strong. 
 Alas ! alas ! and is this the end of your father's son the end 
 of the lad-bairn on whose face 1 sprinkled the baptismal 
 water ! " 
 
 " Will you tell the Minister, though you winna tell me, 
 what you did wi' twa score o'clad ewes, and three fat cattle 
 beasts, frae the Craiginha' Muir, Gilderoy?" said Gideon 
 Beaton, leaning over the opp6site side of the cart. " Oh ! 
 man, it might ease your conscience a bit to restore the right 
 thing the right gate ; and you hae muckle to answer for 
 beside the ewes and the nowte though I hope and pray you 
 will unfeignedly repent and be forgiven. It's a sign o* 
 true and unfeigned repentance when sinners acknowledge 
 their misdeeds, and try to mak' amends to them they 
 wranged," 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 219 
 
 Gilderoy had hitherto been crouching in his old attitude, 
 but he now raised his ghastly face, and with a shake of his 
 head tossed back the red locks from his brow, and addressed 
 the Minister, saying " I have but one poor request, Mr. 
 Simon. My brave but unfortunate comrade is lying here 
 mortally wounded. I know that his moments are counted, 
 and I pray you suffer him to be carried into the manse that 
 he may die in peace." 
 
 " I will, I will," cried Mr. Simon. " Eanald, carry in the 
 twa lads." 
 
 The Highlanders instantly bestirred themselves, and 
 having unyoked the horse from the cart, took out the two 
 prisoners, and conveyed them into the kitchen of the manse. 
 
 Gilderoy was placed in a large arm-chair. His companion, 
 whose bonds were taken off, and who was reviving from his 
 insensibility, was gently laid down upon a mattress which 
 the maid-servants had spread on the floor for him, and pillows 
 were put under his head. 
 
 The place soon filled to overflowing with the crowd of on- 
 lookers. The Minister hastened up-stairs to his cabinet to 
 procure balsams, salves, and cordials. Colonel Campion, 
 having some little smattering of military surgery, promptly 
 set about examining Hackston's wounds. But soon with a 
 vexed and gloomy air, he pronounced them mortal. " He 
 dies within the hour ! " 
 
 " Ah ! would to God you had left me, Hackston ! " ejacu- 
 lated Gilderoy, in bitterest anguish. " You should have 
 left me, man, and made your peace with the enemy." 
 
 " I dinna rue," said Dobbie, feebly, as he raised himself 
 on his elbow, and gazed round him, on the crowd of strange 
 and excited faces, with a languid eye that seemed glazing 
 fast. " It was aye my heart's wish to meet a sodger's 
 death, and I'll meet it in spite o' a' the traitors in Scot- 
 land." 
 
 " Winna you think on the state o' your soul, my man ? " 
 said Gideon Beaton. " Would you like me or the Minister 
 to put up a prayer for you ? " 
 
 " An honest man's prayer can do me nae ill," responded 
 Dobbie. " But I was aye true to my king and country. I 
 followed Great Montrose through a' his wars ; and to hae 
 followed sic a leader is an honour and glory. Let the man, 
 or the lass, or the bairn either, that ever I wranged, stand 
 forward and charge me. But my time is rinning oot fast, 
 
220 GILDESOY : 
 
 Gilderoy ; and you maun hear to me, and pass your word 
 that you'll grant my last request. Will you gang doon to 
 the banks o' the Almond, some time when you hae leisure, 
 and set a bit flower or twa on my faither and mither's 
 grave ? " 
 
 " My faithful companion," answered Gilderoy, with a 
 deep groan, while tears trickled down his cheeks, " you 
 forget that I am a prisoner on my way to death." 
 
 The dying soldier shifted himself on his elbow, and looked 
 at Gilderoy with a bewildered eye, and then recollection 
 returning, he faltered, " I ken I ken ay, ay, my mind 
 was wandering, and I thocht I saw the grave in the south- 
 most 'nook o' the kirkyard, near by Elder John's marble 
 stane wi' the twa white angels blawing trumpets on the tap 
 o' it. There's anither lies in that kirkyard that ance I dearly 
 lo'ed ; Jeanie Gordon, my first and only love the Flower 
 o' Almondside a puir man's daughter, but wi' a face as fair 
 as the summer morning, and a heart as pure as Almond's 
 crystal wave. Oh ! Jeanie, Jeanie ! how I grat when I saw 
 the green sods happit aboon your head ! " His elbow yielded 
 under his weight, and he fell prostrate on his back with a 
 heavy and gurgling sigh. Next moment there was no 
 Dobbie Hackston, but a lifeless and blood-boltered lump of 
 clay ! 
 
 A solemn stillness fell over the assemblage, now profoundly 
 awed by the presence of death. The voice of Gideon Beaton, 
 husky with emotion, was the first sound that broke it. 
 " Puir lad," he said, "puir lad ! The worth o' a' the ewes 
 and nowte in Angus couldna recall the spirit that's now 
 standing, in fear and trembling, before its Maker's throne o' 
 judgment." 
 
 " Had I but a thousand men faithful and steadfast as he," 
 said Colonel Campion, gazing on the dead, with the old grey 
 light gleaming in his eye, " this nation should behold the 
 lion of the tribe of Judah roused to conquest !" 
 
 " You have done your work," exclaimed Gilderoy, turning 
 to Ranald Vourigh, who stood leaning on his sword. " You 
 have slain as gallant a soldier as ever drew sword in battle 
 for a loyal cause. You have done your work." 
 
 " I had no feud with Hackston, and he had none with 
 me," answered Macpherson. " But it was his fortune to 
 follow an outlawed villain whom every other friend deserted 
 in disgust. You were unworthy of that dead man's friend- 
 ship." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 221 
 
 " The room must be cleared," cried Jasper Eollo. " We 
 need not make the prisoner a mere show to stare at." 
 
 " There spoke a generous heart," said Gilderoy. " But 
 for you, Macpherson this is your day of dastardly triumph, 
 and you may enjoy it to the full. Months years ay, 
 years upon years may pass away, but the hand of a Mac- 
 gregor will avenge me at the last. Every effort to avoid 
 the avenger will be in vain. You may flee from Scotland, you 
 may disown your name, and divest yourself of everything 
 that could betray you for a Macpherson ; but wherever you 
 be, and under whatever disguise whether in the heart of a 
 wilderness, or upon the wide wide sea, or in the throng of a 
 populous city a Macgregor's dirk will find the way to your 
 heart ! " 
 
 " Threatened folk live lang," retorted Ranald, scornfully. 
 
 The Minister now hurried into the kitchen with his medi- 
 caments, and was greatly concerned to find the poor soldier 
 dead. " Did naebody pray wi' him ? " he cried. " You, 
 Gideon Beaton, what wereyow doing?" 
 
 " I spak' o' prayer," answered Gideon ; " but there was 
 nae time, and he wadna halt boasting and blawing aboot 
 Montrose." 
 
 The dead body was carried out and laid upon a temporary 
 bier in the barn, and covered with a clean white sheet. The 
 kitchen was cleared of all the company, only four of the 
 Highlanders being left as a guard. Gilderoy's bonds being 
 slackened, his wounds were dressed by Campion, and then 
 refreshments were offered him, of which, however, he partook 
 indifferently. When his repast was over, he earnestly 
 desired to see the Lady Annabel, who he understood was 
 in the manse. She came, along with Hollo. 
 
 "Lady," said Gilderoy, "you now behold the fallen chief 
 of the Gregalich ; but I will not wrong you by the suspicion 
 that you rejoice in the sad sight." 
 
 " Believe me, I do not," she said. 
 
 " And can you find in your heart to forgive me the wrongs 
 which you suffered at my hand ? " he asked. 
 
 " I can," she replied ; " I forgive you freely. May Heaven 
 grant you forgiveness as free and full as mine ! " 
 
 " You hear her, Jasper Eollo ? " said Gilderoy. " Has 
 forgiveness a place in your heart ? I slew your kinsman ; 
 but I was urged on to the foul deed by the cunning falsehoods 
 of Spierhaughs. May he meet with his reward ! He had a 
 
222 GILDEEOY: 
 
 plot against the lady, but I never joined in it, for I had wild 
 thoughts of my own which jarred with his. Say that you 
 forgive me." 
 
 " I forgive you as freely as Lady Annabel has done," 
 returned Rollo. 
 
 " Then, farewell," said Gilderoy. " To you, Colonel 
 Campion, brave and skilful soldier, I owe my gratitude, 
 because you have so generously tended your old enemy, and 
 never insulted his misfortunes by a single proud word." 
 
 " JN"o fallen enemy," answered the Roundhead, " ever 
 brought against me such a reproach as that I insulted his 
 distress." 
 
 This closed the brief interview, and the prisoner was left 
 with the guard. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Has not this present Parliament 
 A leger to the Devil sent, 
 Fully empowered to treat about 
 Finding revolted witches out ? 
 And has not he, within a year, 
 Hang'd threescore of 'em in one shire? 
 
 Hudilras. 
 
 ABOUT a fortnight had gone since the capture of 
 Gilderoy. 
 
 There was a rough east wind blowing straight up the 
 Firth of Forth, and lashing the sea into tumbling billows, 
 the foam of which, flying through the air, seemed, in the 
 gathering shades of night, like wildered sea-birds struggling 
 with the storm of wind and wave. The fishermen on the 
 Fife shore were dragging their craft high upon the sands, 
 out of reach of the waves that rushed after them like furious 
 mastiffs striving to exceed the bounds of their chains. 
 Lights glimmered along the line of the coast, indicating its 
 small towns and hamlets. 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 223 
 
 On the old, rickety, wooden pier of a fishing village or 
 " town," on the Fife side, many of the denizens of the place 
 had spent the afternoon, watching the rising of the gale ; 
 for they were sea-faring people, and not a few had friends 
 aboard coasting vessels which were daily expected in the 
 Firth. But when the night came prematurely down on the 
 gurly sea, and rain began to spit, the anxious watchers 
 consoling themselves with the hope that the vessels they 
 expected would not enter the estuary till the following day, 
 and hearing no signals of distress, slowly and thoughtfully 
 quitted the quay, one by one, to seek the comforts of their 
 own snug firesides, till only two were left, and they were 
 about to follow their neighbours and leave the open un- 
 sheltered pier (at which not a single vessel was lying) to the 
 wind and the rain and the dashing spray. 
 
 "We've never had a nicht o' calm weather on that water," 
 said one of the loiterers a man of stunted stature and 
 somewhat deformed shape, with a slouched hat upon his 
 head, and a threadbare mantle tightly wrapped about his 
 meagre body : "I say that there has never been a nicht o' 
 calm weather on that water -since it was crossed by the great 
 malignant and outlaw frae the north, GHlderoy. Didna you 
 mark it, neighbour? As soon as the boat that carried him 
 left the pier the sea grew troubled, and three distinct claps 
 o' thunder rattled ower our heads ; and ilka nicht sinsyne the 
 wind rises, and the sea rises, and there's a wild angry water 
 till morning." 
 
 " But what do you mak' o' it, Reuben Kennoway, you that's 
 a man o' wisdom ? " said his companion. " We had a lang 
 track p' braw weather before; and folk say the weather 
 gangs in tracks lang fair, lang foul." 
 
 "I make this," replied Reuben, " that there's witchcraft 
 in it. A cantrip has been cast upon the water, and Gilderoy 
 has a hand in the pie. I'm confident of that especially 
 from what I saw this day. Evil agencies are at work, 
 Joseph Pettigrew ; the enemy's emissaries are at their old 
 trade, and it would give me no surprise though there should 
 not be so much as a single coble left to the town before 
 many days come to an end." 
 
 " Dinna you tak' steps to find out thae evil emissaries, and 
 to bring them to justice ? " said Joseph. " I'm sure there's 
 no a better witchfinder than yoursel 5 in a' the kingdom o' 
 Fife. What for do you suffer winds to blaw and storms to 
 
224 GILDEEOY! 
 
 rise, nicht after nicht, to tlie damage o* our cobles and 
 shipping, let alane our auld pier that's cracking and shaking 
 to its very foundations ? Find oot them that's troubling the 
 water, and let us mak' a bonfire o' them on the top o' the 
 Gallows-knowe." 
 
 "Give me time, Joseph, give me time," responded the 
 witchfinder. " Home was not built in one day. I am in the 
 midst of deep investigation, Joseph." And he nodded his 
 head significantly, and pulling his thin cloak still closer 
 around him, he took a few short meditative turns on the 
 creaking pier, and then stood and gazed towards the eastern 
 horizon, out of which the spirit of the storm was sweeping 
 the clouds in mad career. Thick splashes of foam were 
 spattered in his face, as if by a mocking hand. " Ay," he said, 
 " many spells have been cast before the wind could blow so 
 loud and the waves rise so high. You mind, Joseph," he 
 continued, sidling up to his companion, " you mind how the 
 water was calmed at the burning of old Eppie Sawers on the 
 knowe ? Eppie had long practised in secret against our 
 fisher-folk and mariners, raising storms that cost this town 
 dear ; but after patient search, accompanied with fasting and 
 prayer, I discovered her hidden arts, and brought her to a 
 full and clear confession. She acknowledged that Satan, her 
 master, instructed her to raise the wind, by dipping a clout 
 or rag in water, and then knocking it on a stone with a 
 beetle, and saying to herself 
 
 I knock this rag upon this stane, 
 
 To raise the wind in the devil's name; 
 
 It shall not lie till I please again. 
 
 Likewise, he instructed her to lay the wind, by drying the 
 wet clout and saying 
 
 I lay the wind in the devil's name ; 
 It shall not rise till I raise it again j 
 
 and if the wind would not abate on the instant, she was to 
 cry out to him 
 
 Thief! Thief! 
 
 Conjure the wind, and cause it to lie ! 
 
 That morning she was to suffer, the wind was a hurricane, 
 and the sea rinning like mountains. But when we chained 
 her to the stake, and kindled the faggots, the wind suddenly 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 225 
 
 died away, and tlie water fell ; and when naething remained 
 of her but a heap of reeking ashes, the air was hushed ; 
 there was not a breath to scatter the bit curl of reek that rose 
 from the pile as calmly as from my tobacco pipe. It was a 
 great manifestation of our triumph over the powers of dark- 
 ness." 
 
 " It's a pity, Reuben, that you couldna contrive to work 
 the same wonder again." 
 
 " Can I no ? " cried the witchfinder, with a low chuckling 
 laugh. "Ill try." 
 
 " But where's the witch or the warlock to tak' and burn ? " 
 inquired the other. " Gilderoy is laid up in the Tolbooth o' 
 Edinburgh, and oot o' our jurisdiction. Has he emissaries 
 in this town ? I thought you had purged town and parish 
 months syne." 
 
 " Yea," said Reuben, "I purged town and parish, and the 
 detection of witchcraft gart my pat play brown for many a 
 day, though since Eppie Sawers suffered I've been able to 
 make but a poor shift to keep soul and body together ; for 
 no witch, no wage, you know. But," continued he, coming 
 closer to Joseph, and seizing him by the lappet of the coat, 
 and rising on tiptoe so as to put his lips on a level with 
 Joseph's ear, "there's a landward witch in the town a 
 Highland hag a limmer frae Rannoch! How do I know 
 that, think you ? " 
 
 " You needna speir at me how you know it, Reuben ; for 
 you ken a' thing. There's mair skill in your little finger 
 than in a' the heads in the parish putten thegither. But 
 where is she, this Highland witch? I ne'er heard tell 
 o' her." 
 
 " Did you meet an old woman and a young lass, in tartan 
 plaids, coming into the town this morning, up at the New- 
 barns ? " 
 
 " That I did. Wha were they, yon ? " 
 
 The witchfinder laughed drily. "Witches rank witches," 
 he said ; " at least the old hag. I speak upon her. She 
 could not deceive my sight. She could not cast her glamour 
 over me. As for the young one, I merely hold her in sus- 
 picion as yet, for I make no rash accusations." 
 
 " Where was you when you saw them coming in by the 
 New-barns ? " 
 
 " I was just out to get a mouthful of the morning air, for I 
 slept ill all night," responded Reuben. "When I saw them 
 Q, 
 
226 GILDEROY: 
 
 coming, I bent down among the bushes, and you passed by, 
 and they passed by, without seeing me. The moment I seb 
 my two eyes upon the old woman, I saw the devil's seal and 
 signet upon her brow. I crept through the bushes behind 
 them, and heard them speak of Gilderoy ; yea, and the old 
 hag, over and over again, lifted up her hands and swore ven- 
 geance against all his enemies, By heaven! her doom is 
 set ! I have blotted out her name from the Book of Life. 
 She dies ! she dies ! And ye, her masters ! " he cried, looking 
 towards the angry sea, while his eyes flashed and his teeth 
 chattered: "Reuben the deformed Eeuben, the sport of 
 every thoughtless brat that jeers me as I pass in the street 
 Heuben the deformed shall quell your malice. Not a fiend 
 that rides the blast, and hurls up the waves with a flap of his 
 dark wing, but shall own my power supreme. Howl, rage, 
 spit on me ! " he hoarsely vociferated, wiping the spray 
 from his face. " I shall find the means to chain ye down, 
 and to scatter the ashes of your slave to the two and thirty 
 winds of heaven ! " 
 
 "But where's the witch?" demanded his companion. 
 " And I wad beg o* you no to cry oot in sic a wild manner. 
 You made my very heart loup. I could almost tak' my great 
 oath that when you was skreighing yon time I saw a wave 
 wi' something in the midst o' it like a face a' glowering wi' 
 muckle round e'en." 
 
 " I see a host of fiendish faces rising and sinking," cried 
 the witchfinder. " For, over yonder, a full half mile from shore, 
 the ' Southron's Sandbank ' used to appear at low water, till 
 the currents and eddies of the Forth drifted it away." 
 
 " I've heard folk speak o' the story since I cam' to dwell 
 in the town," said Pettigrew, " and I've kent them that saw 
 the spirits." 
 
 " The story has been a story longer than the town has 
 been a town," said Heuben. " It happened in the days of 
 King David Bruce, when the English armies had overrun 
 Scotland (just as they have done at the present time), and 
 set Edward Baliol on the throne. There was a ferry here, 
 but only a single house, in which dwelt Allan Steersman, 
 who kept the ferryboat. One day a band of the Southron 
 troopers left Cupar Castle for an excursion, and passed on, 
 drinking and driving, till they came to the water side, late 
 at night, and then the thought struck them that they would 
 cross the firth, and go forward to greet their comrades, the 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 227 
 
 garrison of Edinburgh Castle. It was a squally night, with 
 a cloudy moon, and the tide near the flow. They knocked 
 up Allan Steersman, and demanded to be taken across. He 
 answered their call, and sore, sore, did he try to persuade 
 them not to risk the venture ; but persuaded they would not 
 be they would be over the firth, though Satan himself 
 should forbid. They sent back the horse-boys to Cupar with 
 their steeds, and crowded on board Allan's barque. Allan 
 weighed anchor and set sail. It was a cloudy night, I say, 
 and the sandbank rose high and dry, looking, in the uncertain 
 light, for all the world like the white beach on the opposite 
 coast. Allan, seeing they were all drunk, pointed to the 
 bank, telling them he had fulfilled his duty and carried them 
 to the Lothian shore. He dropped his anchor, and out the 
 troops jumped, refusing to pay him a single plack for the 
 passage. When the last man had gone, Allan hoisted his 
 anchor, turned his helm, and bore off, A wild shriek camo 
 after him. The drunken troopers had discovered their error. 
 The tide was rising on them. Allan gave no heed, but 
 steadily kept on his course for his own shore. There was 
 nothing that they did not promise him as they ran roaring along 
 the edge of the bank. All the wealth of Scotland should be 
 his if he would but put about and take them in. But Allan 
 turned an adder's ear to their entreaties. They were the 
 enemies and oppressors of his native country, and what cared 
 he though the waves should swallow them up ? The waves 
 swallowed them. Not a soul escaped. And therefore, 
 though the fatal sand-bank has long since disappeared, the 
 ghosts of the drowned Southrons are heard and seen on 
 stormy nights, yelling and waving their hands, as when they 
 vainly implored Allan Steersman to come back and save them 
 from the advancing tide. 1 * There I see them, mingled with 
 scowling fiends ! They spit their venom," he went on, as 
 splashes of foam struck his breast. "But I scorn them 
 I scorn them ! " 
 
 " Say nae mair to them say nae mair aboot them," cried 
 Joseph, in affright. 
 
 " Come with me, Joseph, and be a witness of the discovery 
 and arrest of the Highland hag," said Eeuben. " She and 
 her companion are in Widow Thorn's public- house, where I 
 have been privately watching their doings." 
 
 * See this story circumstantially related in Heron's History of Scotland. 
 Vol. iii., p. 237. 
 
223 
 
 The rain was now beating thick and fast. In fact, wind 
 and rain and flying foam seemed conspiring to sweep the two 
 cronies from the pier. The witchfinder, with a curse, shook 
 his clenched fist at the raging sea. Instantly, as if resenting 
 the menace, a billow rose, like a lion, against the pier, dashed 
 over it with a roar of thunder, and spent its fury almost at 
 his feet. This was too much for the nerves of the cronies. 
 They took to flight at the top of their speed, and rushed 
 towards the village, which lay in a sandy hollow considerably 
 beyond the beach. 
 
 The narrow, crooked, dirty lanes of the village (for street 
 it had none) were all but deserted, and almost every door 
 was shut against the tempest, but cheerful lights shone through 
 the windows. The witchfinder, nearly spent with running, 
 brought himself and his companion to a full stop in an 
 empty space, and near to an open door which emitted a 
 strong glare, illumining all around. 
 
 " The beldame and her young associate are here, in the 
 change house, having gained on the compassion of Widow 
 Thorn," he said ; " and they are to remain here till morning, 
 when they intend to cross the firth, if wind and weather permit. 
 But cross the firth they never shall. I could have seized 
 them both in the day time ; but I judged it more prudent to 
 suffer them to entangle themselves in the toils. The bel- 
 dame has been exerting her healing skill on Widow Thorn's 
 sick daughter ; and perchance we will now seize her in the 
 midst of her spells and incantations." 
 
 " You're a cunning dog, Heuben," answered his companion, 
 with a laugh. "Lead the way, then, and ca' in a stoup o' 
 the Kirkcaldy treacle wine ; * and if the job hauds gude, you'll 
 stand anither stoup o' stronger gear." 
 
 * In a chm-ter, dated "Windsor, 12th June, 1680, granted by Charles IT. to 
 the burgh of Kirkcakly, mention is made of treacle iv'uie, and aho water of life, 
 commonly called stiong waters. 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 229 
 
 CHAPTEll XXX. 
 
 Here, here she comes : I'll have a bout with thee ; 
 
 Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch, 
 
 And straightway give thy soul to him thou serv'st. 
 
 King Henry VI. 
 
 rpHE witchfinder and his satellite entered the tavern 
 J- quietly, and passed straight into its only public room, 
 in which a good sea-coal fire was burning the night being 
 very chilly for the season of the year. Here a company of 
 villagers were assembled over their drink. A fine young 
 woman, wearing a tartan plaid, sat near the fire, pensively 
 leaning her head on her hand. Some of the company 
 greeted the new entrants jocosely, and invited them to seats ; 
 but although [Reuben's companion complied at once with 
 the invitation, Heuben himself did no such thing, but 
 standing in the middle of the floor, fixed his eyes on the 
 young woman, whose back was towards him, and who did 
 not yet turn her head. Having sufficiently regarded her in 
 grim silence, he stepped forward and touched her on the 
 shoulder with his right hand, as though he arrested her in 
 the name of the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. She, 
 apparently supposing that this was a hint for her to allow 
 somebody a share of the hearth, shifted her stool aside, and 
 then gave a half glance over her shoulder. It was Marion 
 Mackinnon Marion o' the Muir, that glanced at the witch- 
 finder. 
 
 ' Where is your mother, lass ? " inquired E-euben. 
 
 1 My grandmither, you mean," said the Highland girl, 
 with a smile. 
 
 ' Ay, your grandmother where is she ? " 
 
 ' She's ben the house." 
 
 * Ben the house doing what ? " 
 
 ' Making a drink to the sick bairn." 
 
 1 And where got she the drink? " 
 
 ' She brewed it frae herbs." 
 
 'Brewed it frae herbs imphm And where were the 
 herbs gotten P Can you tell ? " 
 
230 GILDEEOY: 
 
 " I can tell brawly ; for I was at the gathering o' them. 
 They were gotten west at the foot o' the craig, where there's 
 an auld kirk in ruins. We went out at noon, and sought for 
 them, but could find nane till we cam' to the foot o' the 
 craig." 
 
 ' Did you pull them off the top of graves ? " 
 
 ' Graves, man ! We saw nae graves." 
 
 * Was it near the kirk you pulled them ? " 
 
 * Aboot the breadth o' this room frae the side o' it." 
 < What side?" 
 
 * The east side." 
 
 ' And you tell me you saw no graves ? " cried Eeuben, 
 stepping back a pace. "All the town knows that the 
 old burying-ground has not been in use these hundred 
 years bygone, but the graves are still plainly visible to them 
 that have eyes in their heads. Enough ! I accuse you and 
 your grandmother of witchcraft and sorcery." 
 
 A shout of surprise burst from the company who had 
 been listening in eager silence to the interrogation, and every 
 man sprang to his feet. Marion also rose from her stool and 
 cast a startled gaze around her. 
 
 "Look ye, neighbours," cried the witchfinder, " this lass 
 freely avows that she and her grandmother gathered baleful 
 plants and herbs from off the graves of the dead, and there- 
 with brewed magical potions for the recovery of the sick. 
 Is not the proof of sorcery clear ? They may pretend that 
 they are no more than white witches, which kind use their 
 unlawful skill in the healing of diseases ; but our laws 
 punish white witchcraft as well as black witchcraft botli 
 kinds being equally obnoxious in a Christian land. Ho, 
 neighbours ! " he exclaimed in a louder key, " shall we suffer 
 such enormities to be openly practised in the midst of us, 
 without let or hindrance, as though there were no laws to 
 which we could appeal ? Look to your firth ! Ever since 
 it was crossed by that great malignant, Gilderoy, storms and 
 tempests have prevailed to our astonishment, our alarm, and 
 our heavy loss. But why need we wonder ? Why stand we 
 astonished ? These women are of kindred to Gilderoy, and are 
 practising in his interest. Count your own losses, neighbours. 
 You, Caleb Wilson, lost a trawl net ; you, John Currie, a 
 new coble ; you, an anchor and chain ; you, a coil of ropes ; 
 you, Andrew Brydie, your boat with its haill load, your son 
 narrowly escaping a watery grave." 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 231 
 
 " True, true ! it's the truth, Keuben." 
 
 " Haul forth the murdering limmers ! " 
 
 " We'll mak' a blaze o' them the nicht yet ! " 
 
 " Tie them back to back, and fling them ower the pier to 
 pacify the water ! " 
 
 Such were the exclamations of the shocked auditory. 
 
 Marion stood motionless and mute, struck to the heart 
 with consternation, and the plaid dropping from her shoul- 
 ders revealed her gracefully-moulded form. Her dress was 
 homely, and stained with travel. 
 
 " Faith ! and she's a comely strapping cummer this ane to 
 be a witch ! " cried one man. " Auld Clootie has shown 
 gude taste in choosing siccan a winsome leman. His fancy 
 used to lie among the auldest and ugliest Jezebels in a' the 
 country." 
 
 The uproar brought in the hostess herself from some inner 
 room of the public-house. Widow Thorn was a dumpy, 
 buxom, fresh-complexioned dame, with a quick black eye, 
 and features indicative of easy good-nature. She bustled in, 
 and coming to a stand, put her bare arms akimbo, and looked 
 about her, partly in astonishment and partly in anger. 
 
 " You are harbouring witches, Agnes Thorn," said Reuben 
 Kennoway ; "and we must drag them forth to speedy judg- 
 ment. Even at this moment the elder of them is engaged 
 in administering drugs and drinks of damnation to your 
 daughter." 
 
 "Nonsense, you havering gowk !" answered the widow, 
 laughing. " The man's in a creel ! They're no witches ava. 
 They come frae the North Highlands, and they're going 
 across the water the morn to Edinburgh. The auld wife has 
 great skill in bairns' complaints ; but there's nae witchcraft 
 nor ony ither ill craft aboot her." 
 
 " She hath blinded you," retorted the witchfinder. " You 
 see not as I see." 
 
 " I daresay no, E-euben," cried the widow. " You're 
 either drunk or daft, man, to crack such blethers. Sit doon, 
 neighbours, to your drink, and dinna mind what he says. 
 We a' ken E/euben ; he's crazy aboot witchcraft, puir body, 
 and we maunna heed a man that's no in his senses. Sit doon, 
 lass ; he daurna harm you on my floor-head." 
 
 " Maybe the ale's 'witched," said Joseph Pettigrew, looking 
 curiously into a half-full tankard on the board. 
 
 " Taste it and see," cried several voices. 
 
232 G1LDEKOY: 
 
 Joseph did so, and spat out the mouthful which he had im- 
 bibed, with strong aversion. " Feegh ! " he cried, spitting and 
 sputtering. " The taste o' brimstane ! the taste o' sulphur ! " 
 
 " Horrible ! horrible ! " ejaculated the witchfinder. 
 
 " My troth, gudenian," said the hostess, sailing majestically 
 up to Joseph, like an inflated turkey ; " before you misca* 
 my ale, and cry * Feegh ! ' till't, you should clear your auld 
 lawings. I ha'ena seen the colour o' yer bawbees for twice 
 eight days ; but aye ilka nicht in you come and ca' for 
 drink, and when reckoning time comes Hoot ! you've for- 
 gotten your purse, or you didna get your wage, or a hole in 
 your pouch gart you lose twa or three groats, and you'll mak' 
 a point to pay the morn. But that morn ne'er comes, and 
 aye the score on the wa' aboon the chimley brace ben the 
 house growing langer and langer, and me having rent, and 
 coal, and candle, and the brewer to provide for ! " 
 
 " Bring the magistrate send for Bailie Will," cried the 
 witchfinder. " Run, Joseph, run, and bring the bailie." 
 Joseph instantly bolted out on this congenial mission. " Stand 
 by me, neighbours," continued lleuben, " I have both law 
 and gospel on my side. I obtest ye that ye value no man 
 or woman's illegal resistance." 
 
 An exceedingly confused altercation ensued. But in vain 
 did the good-natured hostess exert herself to allay the foolish 
 excitement. She might as well have striven to allay the 
 storm on the Firth. Her opposition only tended to add 
 fuel to the flame. The witehfinder's madness bore down 
 everything before it. When old Judith made her appearance 
 from the sick child's bed-room, she was seized by half-a- 
 dozen hands, and it was with great difficulty that some of the 
 more furious spirits could be restrained from executing sum- 
 mary justice upon the unhappy crone on the spot. The 
 increasing disturbance brought in people from the neighbour- 
 ing houses, and, in fact, soon set the whole village in a 
 ferment, so that by the time Bailie Will arrived a noisy 
 crowd was thronging and bustling about the tavern door. 
 
 The bailie a worthy master carpenter by trade, squat in 
 person, and ineffably pompous in manner, with a strong 
 smell of whisky and tar about him elbowed his way into 
 the house, and forthwith entered upon an investigation of 
 the alarming 1 case. 
 
 " Tak' tent, bailie," cried one of the crowd ; " tak' tent 
 that the limmers dinna smit you wi' their evil e'en," 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 233 
 
 " That cannot bo," quoth Reuben, " and the bailie knows 
 it too; for hath not the late King James declared in his 
 famous Book of Demonplogy ' If witches be apprehended 
 and detained by any private person, their power, no doubt, 
 either in escaping or in doing hurt, is no less than ever it 
 was before ; but if, on the other part, their apprehending 
 and detention be ,by the lawful magistrate, upon the just 
 respects of their guiltiness in that craft, their power is then 
 no greater than before that ever they meddled with their 
 master; for where God begins justly to strike by his lawful 
 lieutenants, it is not in the devil's power to defraud or 
 bereave him of the office or effect of his powerful and re- 
 venging sceptre.' Therefore the magistrate has nothing to 
 fear." He then stated the full charge against the prisoners. 
 
 The magistrate, himself a devout believer in the existence 
 and prevalence of witchcraft, was much horrified to hear 
 Reuben's statement. Without troubling himself to put 
 many questions to the accused, or to hear evidence in their 
 behalf, he gave peremptory orders that they should be com- 
 mitted instanter to " the common gaol," and there closely 
 confined till the further orders of court. 
 
 The gaol was a tumble-down wooden erection, standing 
 in the heart of the little town. When untenanted by 
 prisoners, it was commonly used as a byre for cattle ; and 
 on this particular night it happened to be fully occupied in 
 the latter capacity by some beasts belonging to a small farmer 
 or cowfeeder resident at about a mile's distance inland. 
 
 The high mandate of law having been solemnly pronounced, 
 the two criminals were unceremoniously dragged outside. They 
 made no resistance, and did not offer a single word in their own 
 defence. After they were dragged out on their way to prison, 
 the bailie remembered that the gaol was full of cattle, and the 
 key in possession of their owner, according to use and wont. 
 Here was a quandary. What was to be done ? The bailie, 
 however, had too high a sense of his own dignity to allow of 
 his decision being baulked by any such accident. The key, 
 he declared, must be made forthcoming, the gaol opened and 
 the prisoners incarcerated. The " town's officer" being sent 
 for, was found helplessly drunk in his bed. The bailie was, 
 therefore, under the necessity of employing John Pettigrew 
 for the nonce, in room of the obfuscated official, and him he 
 despatched for the key, giving him from his pocket a huge 
 clasp-knife, bearing his name clumsily carved on the haft, to 
 
234 GILDEROY : 
 
 exhibit to the farmer as sufficient warrant. " Tell him," 
 said the bailie, " that we winna turn oot the beasts the 
 nicht ; we'll no stir the beasts, but we'll only ram the twa 
 criminals into the laigh cellar, the Witches' Pit, by themsels, 
 till the morn, when the court opens. Haste you, Joseph, 
 and dinna let the grass grow at your heels." 
 
 Joseph set off like a hare, and the bailie was about to 
 direct the two prisoners to be carried back into the public- 
 house until the key came, when the trampling of horses was 
 heard, and four travellers came riding into view. 
 
 " It's Kimmerghame it's the drucken laird, as fou as a 
 piper ! " cried several voices. " Mak' way for him. He'll 
 be wanting anither jorum frae Luckie Thorn." 
 
 The crowd readily opened to make way ; but the tra- 
 vellers drew their bridles, and inquired the cause of the tumult. 
 
 " Twa witches frae the North Highlands, and we're waiting 
 for the key o' the gaol," was the answer. 
 
 The foremost rider urged his champing steed towards 
 Marion, on whose pallid face the strong light from the public- 
 house door was shining, and who instinctively stretched out 
 her hands towards him as if imploring his protection. He 
 was a tall, thin youth, with a pimpled face, and long sandy 
 hair floating in the wind. A good beaver, adorned with a 
 jewelled band and feather, was squeezed down awry on his 
 head ; a mantle was blowing loosely about him, and he 
 carried a rapier at his side, and pistols at his saddle-bow. 
 The other three horsemen were evidently his attendants. 
 
 " Why, lass," he vociferated, with a drunken hiccup, 
 " they blame you for witchcraft ! Stop my breath, but if 
 there's witchcraft about thee, it must be in those bright eyes. 
 'Slight ! they pierce like bullets. Stand off, clowns ! stand 
 off, I say. I must see to this." 
 
 " I've pronounced high sentence upon baith o' them, 
 Kimmerghame," cried the bailie, " and it's at the peril o' 
 ony man to contravene my decision. I'm Bailie Will, chief 
 magistrate o' this town o' Parton, and my word is law within 
 the liberties thereof." 
 
 " These women, Kimmerghame, have avowed themselves 
 witches," added the witchfinder, who held both prisoners 
 firmly ; " and they are lawfully condemned to prison until 
 judgment shall be executed upon them. They have troubled 
 land and water with their sorceries, and they must die the 
 death according to the Scriptures." 
 
A SCOTTISH TKAD1TION. 235 
 
 Bamnierghame showed himself to be a man of action 
 rather than of many words. Urging his horse still closer to 
 the prisoners, he lifted his heavy riding-whip, and struck 
 first the bailie and then the witchfinder several rapid and 
 hearty thwacks across the shoulders with the shaft of it, 
 which was loaded with lead ; and calling to his men to lay 
 about them with the like good will a command which they 
 were by no means slack in doing he seized Marion by the 
 arm and pulled her towards him. The bailie bellowed, the 
 witchfinder roared, and there was a general yelling clamour, 
 enough to arouse the dead in their coffins. The crowd scat- 
 tered in dismay, the onslaught was so sudden and ener- 
 getic. The laird pulled at Marion with might and main, 
 nearly oversetting himself with the exertion. The witch- 
 finder held firm and shouted " Murder ! murder ! " in 
 a voice that must have been heard over all the town. 
 But the attendants now struck him unmercifully across the 
 wrists with their whip-shafts, which made him forego his tena- 
 cious and death-like hold of both prisoners. 
 
 " Bear a hand with the girl," cried the laird. " Get her 
 up before me here. Come, my beauty, put your foot in the 
 stirrup." 
 
 Eager to embrace any means of escape, Marion clasped 
 the laird's hand, but at the same instant her agitation was 
 so overpowering that she reeled in giddiness against his 
 horse's side. One of the attendants leaped nimbly from his 
 saddle, and raised her upon the shoulder of his master's steed. 
 The laird clasped her around the waist, keeping her firm and 
 secure in her seat. This effected, the attendant remounted. 
 
 " Save my grandmither ! " implored Marion, waving her 
 arms towards old Judith, who stood speechless and benumbed 
 with fright. " They will murder her if you leave her." 
 
 " Fire and faggot for them both ! " cried the witchfinder, 
 who was leaning against the wall of the tavern, rubbing his 
 bruised and bleeding wrists. 
 
 " Treason ! " shouted the bailie. " Men o* Parton, winna 
 you flee to your weapons and support your magistrate against 
 a drucken ne'er-do-weel ? Treason, treason ! " 
 
 " Awa wi' the lassie, Kimmerghame," cried Widow Thorn. 
 " And dinna leave the auld wife neither. Put them baith 
 ower the firth the morn, and I'll gie ye as muckle brandy 
 as you micht swim among." 
 
 " Mind my grandmither," again implored Marion. 
 
236 GILDEKOY: 
 
 . (i I'll mind yourself, my beauty, and that's enough for 
 me," answered Kimmerghame. 
 
 " But I canna leave her," cried Marion. " I'll rather die 
 beside her." 
 
 The laird, whistling to his men to follow, gave his horse 
 the spur, and the party rode off, pursued by the mingling 
 yells and huzzas of the excited mob. 
 
 Marion continued to beseech him to turn back and rescue 
 old Judith, but he rather quickened his pace. She then 
 struggled to get down, that she might return and share her 
 grandmother's fate. But he held her fast, and on they went, 
 out into the stormy darkness that by this time brooded over 
 the open country. 
 
 Marion's struggles were very feeble, and she was soon ex- 
 hausted, and became passive in the grasp of her deliverer. 
 Still, however, she implored and wept, and still on the horse- 
 men galloped, mile after mile, until they suddenly came to 
 a halt under the barred archway of what secerned to be an 
 ancient square tower, perched on an eminence close to the sea. 
 
 The servants dismounted, and knocked at the gate. One 
 of them assisted Marion to the ground, and protected her with 
 his cloak from the driving rain. The laird himself dismounted 
 without assistance, though at considerable danger of pitching 
 down upon the crown of his head. Staggering towards 
 Marion, who stood sheltered under the servant's cloak, he 
 cast his arms about her neck, and essayed to kiss her lips. 
 The cloak prevented him, and she screamed and resisted with 
 all her failing strength. 
 
 " The devil ! " cried the laird. "After rescuing you from 
 such a rabble, and bringing you so far at the hazard of my 
 neck. Silly wench ; do you refuse a kiss to your deliverer ? 
 You must yield one before my prim starched sister sees you. 
 Come ! " 
 
 But she struggled still more violently, and at last slipped 
 out of his hands altogether, and burst away with the speed 
 of a startled doe. 
 
 The oaths and shouts of Kimmerghame were frightful. 
 Instant pursuit ! instant pursuit ! Any money for the girl ! 
 One of the men mounted and galloped off at random ; but 
 his horse stumbled down a precipitous water-course, and the 
 wind bore to Marion's ear the heavy groan of the crushed 
 rider. The night was dark, and she knew not whither to fly, 
 but fortunately she soon reached the skirts of a wood, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 237 
 
 Pursuers the laird and his two attendants were so close 
 behind, that scarcely had she crept in among the bushes and 
 trees when they dashed past, hallooing like furies. They 
 never saw her, and so Marion escaped them thanks to the 
 dark ni^ht and the thick wood. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 The sea-weed thrown, 
 
 By wave or wind, 
 On strand unknown, 
 
 Lone grave to find, 
 Methinks may own 
 
 Of kindred more 
 Than I can claim 
 
 On life's bleak shore. Motherwell. 
 
 THE poor trembling maiden crept in beneath a huge oak, 
 whose wide-spreading boughs, almost sweeping the 
 ground, and forming a sort of natural pavilion, would have 
 afforded, even in the day-time, close concealment to any one 
 who sat upon the hillocky root. Dripping with wet, chill and 
 sick at heart, overpowered by a thousand cruel perplexities, 
 Marion covered her face with her hands, and bursting into 
 an impetuous flood of tears, besought Heaven that she might 
 die and be at rest " free among the dead, like the slain that 
 lie in the grave, whom Thou rememberest no more ! " 
 
 The wind gradually fell ; but the rain lashed for long hours 
 that seemed long ages. Marion still sate crouched under the 
 shelter of the friendly oak, undisturbed by her drunken pur- 
 suers, of whom she heard nothing farther. With the dawn 
 of morn the rain ceased, and the sky beginning to clear, a 
 sweet and soothing calm spread over the face of nature. The 
 clouds that came from the German Sea had now a slow and 
 solemn motion, and ever and anon rending asunder, they dis- 
 closed glimpses of the azure of heaven. Marion felt that she 
 must promptly provide for her own safety, because, in the 
 approaching daylight, she would run the risk of being dis- 
 covered by somebody belonging to the tower, which reared 
 
238 GILDEEOY: 
 
 its gaunt and gloomy height at less than a mile from the 
 wood. She felt, moreover, that to return to the town of 
 Parton would be but to court the full rigours of persecution ; 
 still, she was eager to rejoin her grandmother, and to share 
 her fate, whatever that might be. 
 
 After musing a little space, she quitted her seat, and pass- 
 ing through the wood, diverged towards the coast, taking 
 the direction in which she conjectured the fishing village to 
 lie. She pursued her way a good distance without meeting 
 a single being or seeing a house, and the tower of Kimmerg- 
 hame had sunk out of sight when a man came upon her from 
 a cross-road. He had the appearance of a pedlar, for he 
 carried a bulky pack strapped upon his back, and a long staff 
 in his hand, which was marked as a measure or ellwand. 
 Glancing suspiciously at her draggled dress and woe-begone 
 looks, he inquired if she had been travelling all night in the 
 rain. She replied in the affirmative, and requested to know 
 the shortest road to Parton. 
 
 " You're on the straight road, lassie," he replied. " Haud 
 on and you'll soon see the lums o' Parton reeking. There 
 was a fell steer in Parton yestreen, I understand." 
 
 " About what P " asked Marion, tremblingly. 
 
 " A witch an auld witch-wife. But witch or no witch, 
 they brunt her." 
 
 "Brunt her?" 
 
 " Deed did they, as I was told. They took the law into 
 their ain hands, and brunt her on the open ground in front 
 o' Luckie Thorn's public. But I wasna there to see, lassie. 
 I only heard tell o' it this morning. You'll hear a' the news 
 when you gang yont." 
 
 The poor girl could have thrown herself down upon the 
 earth in despair ; but she checked the tumult of her feelings, 
 and, thanking the packman for his information, resumed her 
 own course. A turn of the path, and the shade of some 
 trees, enabled her to halt without the man's observation, 
 though he might look back, and she seated herself beneath 
 the trees, and gave way to the inexpressible anguish which 
 was rending her heart. 
 
 It was an open country around her, with swelling uplands, 
 and scattered woods, and level plains, and winding stream- 
 lets. The harvest had now been gathered in a full and 
 abundant harvest over all the land ; for though the spring of 
 the year bad been very backward, the summer and harvest 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 239 
 
 proved so fine that " the like," says a diarist of the time, 
 " was never seen in this age." The air was full of the briny 
 smell of the sea ; but the firth itself was not in sight, owing 
 to the intervention of rising grounds. The morning sun, 
 struggling through the clouds, shed transient beams on the 
 quiet and smiling scene. Here and there, in the distance, 
 cattle and sheep were browsing on the sunny slopes of green 
 braes, and ascending smoke denoted the locale of a farm- 
 stead or a hamlet. Marion sat, with her head bent on her 
 knees, utterly drowned in woe, and unconscious of the rapid 
 flight of time. She wept till even tears failed her. For long 
 she seemed in a stupor, and birds came hopping fearlessly 
 around her silent motionless form, and butterflies alighted 
 and swung on her wildered tresses which the light breeze 
 was waving. When at length she stirred herself, and raised 
 her head, and wiped her eyes, she knew by the altitude of 
 the sun that noonday was at hand. 
 
 "And now," said she, rising stiff and shivering, "if I 
 could but see Gilderoy, and get speech o' him, I wad joyfully 
 bid farewell to this cruel world !" 
 
 She had abandoned every thought of going to Parton, 
 seeing that her grandmother had miserably perished by the 
 hands of the mob ; and thoroughly alarmed for her own 
 safety should she linger in such a ruthless neighbourhood, 
 she was more anxious than ever to get across the firth, and 
 make her way to the presence of Gilderoy in his dungeon. 
 After tidying her hair and dress, she retraced her steps till 
 she reached the cross-road up which the packman had come, 
 and which undoubtedly led to the waterside. 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation she turned down this route. 
 After a short walk she got to the brow of a rising ground, 
 and saw the broad firth, on which the swell had not yet en- 
 tirely subsided, and a few cottages beneath her, facing the 
 sands. Several boats were drawn up on the beach beyond 
 tide-mark, but one was riding at anchor off a small croy. 
 Directly opposite, on the other side of the estuary, was a 
 hamlet, with a wooden pier or jetty, and one or two sloops 
 lying at it. She went down to the shore. There were a man 
 and a boy lounging in the stern of the boat at the croy. The 
 man was smoking his pipe, and gazing abstractedly at the 
 clouds floating overhead. The boy was leaning over the side, 
 dropping pepples, one by one, into the water. Neither of 
 them took any notice of her as she approached, and nobody 
 
240 G1LDEEOY: 
 
 else was visible on the beach, or about the houses. She ac- 
 costed the roan, asking him to be ferried across. On hearing 
 her voice, the boy started up and flung aside the stones in 
 his hand, and the man, shaking off his apparent reverie, took 
 his pipe from his mouth, carefully knocked out the ashes, 
 put it in his jacket pocket, and examining her rather saucily 
 with a pair of greyish goggle eyes, demanded where she was 
 going. 
 
 She replied that she was going to Edinburgh. 
 
 " And where come you frae ? " he continued. " You dinna 
 belang to this quarter, I think. You're no a Fife body ; and 
 looking at your figure-head, I'm to be excused for saying 
 that you've maybe run aw a frae your service benorth the 
 Tay. Eh? Am I right ? Or has some fause jo scorned you, 
 and you're after the villain, to gar him stand to his plighted 
 word?" 
 
 Marian smiled, and slightly blushed, and held down her 
 head. 
 
 " Hoots, lassie, there's nae denying a common fault," con- 
 tinued the boatman, " and I'm no ca'ing you in question for 
 it, sae you needna look blate. But you haena told where 
 you come frae yet." 
 
 Marion remained silent. She was half afraid to say any- 
 thing, and half angry at being so questioned. 
 
 " You didna come by Parton town this morning, did you ? " 
 he went on. 
 
 " ]N"o," answered Marion. 
 
 " Then you can tell naething about the burning o' the 
 witch last night?" 
 
 ' Was a witch burned at Parton ? " inquired Marion, be- 
 coming questioner in her turn. 
 
 "Ay, brunt to a cinder," said the boatman. "Packman 
 Pate spak' to a man that saw the affair. I wonder that nane 
 o' the Parton folk ha'e been doon this way ere now ; but 
 they'll be doon in a little to mak' a great blaw o' their 
 cleverness. And what may you be wanting ower at Edin- 
 burgh ? " 
 
 "I ha'e a friend there," said Marion. 
 
 " A friend ? Aweel, lass, put a saxpence in my loof, and 
 I'll gie you a cast ower the water momently that is to say> as 
 soon as the ither passenger and his servants finish their 
 eleven hours up bye," and he pointed to the nearest cottage. 
 
 The fare was higher than Marion had calculated on. She 
 
A SCOTTISH TK1DITION. 241 
 
 had but a few coppers in her possession, for during the jour- 
 ney southwards her grandmother had been entrusted with the 
 keeping of their joint purse. As soon as she put her hand 
 to her pocket she felt she lacked sufficient to pay the fare ; 
 nevertheless, she held out her pittance, saying she was sorry 
 to find she did not possess what he wanted, but hoped he 
 would accept of what she had, it being her all. While she 
 spoke she blushed deeply, and seemed to shrink within her- 
 self at the thought of her humiliating position, not one whit 
 above that of a beggar. 
 
 " I'll accept nae sic thing," cried the boatman, thrusting 
 out his hand with a repelling gesture. " What for should I 
 bring doon my boat fee ? S"a, na, lass, I maun ha'e my fee, 
 or the boat can lie here and rot." 
 
 " Kilt your coats, lass, and wade the water," said the boy, 
 laughing. 
 
 Marion was proceeding to expostulate with the boatman 
 when a gentleman, in a military undress, with a mantle over 
 his arm, accompanied by two military-looking attendants 
 though in plain attire, emerged from the nearest cottage, and 
 ^ame down to the beach. The boatman immediately laid a 
 plank over tho gunwale of the vessel for the sake of facilita- 
 ting embarkation. Marion looked so wistful and dejected 
 that she engaged the gentleman's attention. He stopped as 
 he was about to put his foot on the plank, and probably sus- 
 pecting the state of matters, inquired if she wished to cross 
 the firth. 
 
 " That she does," cried the boatman ; " but she hasna the 
 boat fee, your honour, and I canna keep boats on the water 
 for naething." 
 
 " It's a matter o' life and death, sir/' said Marion, and 
 she was now ashy pale with shame ; for several men, women, 
 arid children were hurrying down from the cottages to see 
 the boat depart. 
 
 The stranger put no other question, but affably took her 
 by the hand and assisted her to get into the vessel, and 
 pointed her to take a seat in the bows. 
 
 The churlish boatman stared in open-mouthed amazement, 
 and then became greatly confused, and harshly ordered his 
 boy to the helm; but soon covering his confusion with a 
 careless whistle, he drew in the plank after the two serving 
 men had come on board, and proceeded to set his sail. The 
 boat wore off, and propelled by an easy breeze from the 
 
 a 
 
242 \ GILDEROY: 
 
 northwest, began to cleave the sparkling tide, drawing a long 
 dancing line of brilliancy astern. 
 
 Not a word passed during the brief voyage ; but the 
 stranger ever and anon gazed meditatively at the Highland 
 maiden, who sat abashed and drooping. Never had she 
 seemed so innocently and captivatingly beautiful as in this 
 her hour of deepest distress. 
 
 The boat soon ran aground on the opposite shore, a little 
 way below the pier, and the party landed. The stranger paid 
 the boatman his full fare, adding a solemn rebuke for his un- 
 kind treatment of the wanderer. The man took the money 
 with a dogged air, and shuffled to his boat, grumbling and 
 growling to himself; but suddenly turning back, as if some 
 new thought had struck him, he thrust a piece of silver into 
 Marion's hand. 
 
 " Hae, lassie," he said, with a very red face, " hae there's 
 a saxpence to yoursel'. It'll buy you some refreshment in 
 the public. My bark was aye waur than my bite. Gude 
 day to you, and a fair journey." And he jumped aboard his 
 boat and swept out into the firth, as if afraid that his bounty 
 would be scornfully returned. 
 
 " The rough clown hath somewhat of heart, after all," said 
 the stranger. " Now, girl, whither do you go ? " 
 
 "To Edinburgh town," answered Marion. "But before 
 we part, I maun thank you heartily for your great kindness." 
 
 " You mean to travel on foot to the city ? " 
 
 " Yes," she said. Her experience of the rough Laird of 
 Kimmerghame made her somewhat shy of the stranger, 
 whose aspect and bearing, however, though he was unques- 
 tionably a military man, were not such as to beget distrust, 
 but rather calculated to inspire the fullest confidence. He 
 was a staid, puritanical-looking personage, with a deep 
 gravity about him. 
 
 " You wear the tartan," he said. " Do you come from 
 the Highlands ? " 
 
 " Frae Eannoch," responded Marion. 
 
 " The country of the Macgregors ! " 
 
 " The same, sir." 
 
 " And what has brought you so far from home ? " he pur- 
 sued. " I suppose the late insurrection in that quarter has 
 something to do with your journey ? You may trust me 
 with your secrets, young woman, for if you are in difficulty 
 of any kind, I may lend you a helping hand." 
 
g 
 T 
 
 A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 243 
 
 Marion hesitated for a moment, and then said " I'm 
 oing to Edinburgh to try and get a word o' Gilderoy. 
 hey hae putten him in the Tolbooth, and I maun see him 
 before he dies. That's a' my secret." 
 
 The stranger's interest was still more strongly excited by 
 this simple confession. Another question elicited the whole 
 of the poor girl's history. 
 
 She told of the disasters in Rannoch and how she had fled 
 to the wilds. Her brother Evan was surprised and shot by 
 the military on the next morning after Gilderoy and his 
 solitary adherent, Dobbie Hackston, forsook the band. On 
 that fatal morning she herself very narrowly escaped capture 
 or death. Her grandmother, who was imprisoned at first 
 when the tower of the Macgregors fell into the hands of the 
 enemy, was speedily liberated through the influence of the 
 lady whose abduction from Dunavaig had been the main 
 cause of the troubles ; and the old woman succeeded in 
 joining her in the mountains, with a kind message from the 
 lady, stating that they were both at liberty to dwell any- 
 where they chose in the country, and that she would be 
 happy if Marion would return to the tower, and place her- 
 self under her protection. But her grandmother kept away 
 till they should see what became of Gilderoy, whom they 
 always hoped to retrieve his misfortunes ; and when they 
 learned that he was seized and carried away to Edinburgh 
 Tolbooth, they set out together from Eannoch, with the view 
 of endeavouring to see him before he died ; for they looked 
 upon his speedy execution as certain. She concluded by 
 relating the painful story of Judith's death by the hands of 
 the mob in the town of Parton. 
 
 The stranger was much moved by the recital, but especially 
 by the catastrophe with which it closed. " This fell deed," 
 he said, sternly, "is a crying scandal to a Christian com- 
 munity, and must be brought under notice of the Government. 
 It shall be my duty to speak to General Monk. These Fife 
 louts must be taught the peril of assuming to themselves the 
 administration of law and justice. What friends have you 
 in Edinburgh?" 
 
 " Nane," she said. " But when Lady Annabel departed 
 from Hannoch she left word for me that if I wad gang to her 
 house o' Glenbirkie at ony time I should be welcome. I 
 didna mean to gang to Glenbirkie ; but in coming through 
 the Lowlands o' Perthshire, I heard that Lady Annabel was 
 E 2 
 
214 GILDEBOY: 
 
 on the eve o' setting cot for Edinburgh, and I may find her 
 there. A lady o' her quality will be weel kent in the town." 
 Without prolonging the colloquy farther, the stranger re- 
 quested her to accompany him to the village tavern, where 
 he intended hiring horses for Edinburgh. After some slight 
 demur, she consented and went. 
 
 On entering the tavern, the stranger ordered refreshments 
 for the poor girl, and also such change of raiment as she 
 stood in need of, for her misadventures of the previous night 
 had reduced her to a very tawdry and soiled condition, though 
 long before this time her drenched dress had been thoroughly 
 dried by the sun and wind. This excess of generosity, how- 
 ever, did not fail to arouse suspicion in her own mind as to 
 what might be his ultimate intentions, which suspicions were 
 not abated by the landlady's remarks when she took her 
 into a closet to look out the change of apparel 
 
 " It's a braw thing to tak' a sodger's e'e, my bonny lass,*' said 
 the good woman. " Only, you ken, sodgers are unco nighty, 
 and get the name o' seeking a new jo in ilka town." 
 
 "Is the gentleman a sodger?" asked Marion, quietly, 
 though she was indignant. 
 
 1 Do you no ken his calling ? " 
 
 < No." t 
 
 ' Nor his name ? " 
 
 ' No, nor naething aboot him," said Marion. " Do you ? " 
 
 ' As little as yoursel', an' you be telling the truth." 
 
 ' What wad gar me no tell the truth?" cried Marion. 
 " I ne'er saw him till he met me at the ferry-boat." 
 
 " A clear case o' love at first sicht," said the hostess, with 
 a giggle. " He's some head officer by his looks ane o' 
 General Monk's richt hand men, and it's but proper that you 
 should be weel put on, no to affront him. When you win to 
 Edinburgh, lassie, you should gar him tak' you ower a' the 
 mercers' shops in the Lawnmarket, and cleed you frae tap to 
 tae in the best braws. Thae officers never spare siller when 
 they tak' a fancy to a bonny face; but you should be wily, 
 lass, and mak' your hay when the sun shines, for there's 
 plenty bonny faces in Edinburgh." 
 
 Marion darted a furious glance at the dame, and burst 
 into tears. 
 
 " Hoot toot, woman ! " cried the landlady, in some affright. 
 " Dinna tak' a joking word sae sair to heart. It's nane o' 
 my business what's between you and the officer, and if you 
 
A SCOTTISH TU1DITION. 245 
 
 be pleased I'm mair nor pleased, for I've nae concern in the 
 matter. Here come try on thir things." 
 
 " I'll no touch a rag o' your things," exclaimed Marion, in 
 high wrath. 
 
 " Mercy, woman ! he'll fire the house ! " cried the hostess, 
 now fairly alarmed. "For ony sake pacify yoursel', and 
 look ower my meddlesomeness, and tak' the things. Thae 
 officers are deevils when they're raised, and especially when 
 lasses are amang hands." 
 
 Marion relented on seeing the dame's distress, and drying 
 her cheeks, fitted herself with the plainest articles of apparel 
 shown her, and only such as she absolutely required. 
 
 A carrier had now halted at the tavern, with his horse and 
 cart, on his way to Edinburgh. The " officer " arranged 
 with this man that Marion and one of his own attendants 
 should have seats in the conveyance. 
 
 " Lest danger should arise on the way, my servant ^will 
 protect you," said he, on informing Marion of the arrange- 
 ment. " I shall ride on to the city afc once ; but when you 
 arrive there, my servant will conduct you to the house of 
 Deacon Molison, in the Luckenbooths, where I have engaged 
 lodgings. My name is Campion." 
 
 " Colonel Campion ! " shrieked Marion, with undisguised 
 horror. " The desolator of E-annoch ! " 
 
 " I am the man," returned the [Roundhead, calmly. " But 
 you have no reason to fear me. I have heard the Lady Annabel 
 speak of you, and of your great exertions in her behalf, and 
 I pledged my word to her that you should have my protection 
 whenever and wherever it might be required. 1 shall place 
 you under her care as soon as she arrives in Edinburgh, 
 which, as I understand by advices from her, will be very 
 shortly in a day or two at most ; and I shall also use my 
 endeavours to procure you free access to the prisoner whom 
 you so much desire to see." 
 
 "How can you show kindness to ane o' the unfortunate 
 Macgregors, when you bathed your hand in our best bluid ? " 
 cried Marion. 
 
 "My hand was lifted against your chief and his clan, 
 because they dared to set the laws of heaven and earth at 
 defiance," said Campion. "I repressed violence, and visited 
 the guilty with unerring retribution. I crushed the pride 
 and power of Gilderoy, and established law and order where 
 previously they were unknown. I did all this in my duty. 
 
246 (HLDEBOY: 
 
 Nevertheless, Marion Mackinnon, in me you will find a 
 fast friend. I heard your unhappy history from Lady Glen- 
 birkie's own lips." 
 
 " It wasna unhappy till the troubles broke out," faltered 
 Marion, with honest pride. " I lived like a queen in 
 Hannoch." 
 
 She fell into a fit of weeping. People standing about 
 began to stare and wonder, perceiving which, she overcame 
 her emotion, and the Colonel reiterating his promises to 
 befriend her, she was fain to commit herself to his guidance, 
 as she had no other immediate resource. 
 
 Having paid all demands at the tavern, the Colonel took 
 horse, along with a single attendant, and rode away towards 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 The carrier started soon afterwards with his two passengers, 
 and at night the cart halted at its destination in the Grass - 
 market. The Colonel's man conducted Marion to Deacon 
 Molison's house, in the Luckenbooths, where she was hos- 
 pitably received by the Deacon's spouse a simple-looking 
 homely dame of about fifty summers. Campion had arrived 
 hours before, but was out visiting friends in the city. Marion 
 did not see him that night, nor did she see any other member 
 of the family. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 I asked him for my dear, dear James, 
 
 With throbs of wild delight, 
 And begg'd him in his master's name, 
 
 To take me to his sight. Hogg. 
 
 THE mass of buildings called the Luckenbooths stood in 
 the centre of the High Street of Edinburgh, opposite 
 St. Giles' Church, and separated from it by a curious nar- 
 row lane called the JZrames, chiefly occupied by the small 
 shops of the toy and confectionery sellers. At the west end 
 of this block of houses was situated the Tolbooth. Near the 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 247 
 
 east end was the residence of Deacon Molison of the Wrights, 
 a flat on the second story. 
 
 The Highland wanderer enjoyed a good night's rest, and 
 arose early, much refreshed. She had as yet no idea, how- 
 ever, how close was her proximity to the Tolbooth, in which 
 Gilderoy lay in his chains. The window of her bed-room 
 looking to the High Street that stately grand old street, 
 which has no parallel in any other capital she beheld with 
 wonder the range of ancient lofty tenements rising story 
 above story to a giddy height. She had seen nothing like 
 this in any other Lowland town with which she was ac- 
 quainted. The street, at first silent and deserted, quickly 
 began to fill with people hastening to their daily toil. The 
 merchant burgesses and craftsmen began to open their shops 
 and booths. The shrill musical cries of bare-legged fishwomen, 
 laden with heavy " creels " of the shining denizens of the 
 deep, sounded through the street, mingled with the rattle of 
 drums from the castle. Marion gazed on the busy scene with 
 something like the interest of a child. 
 
 In due time worthy Mrs. Molison appeared to bid her guest 
 good morning. They had some talk together. The Colonel 
 had come home late at night, and was well pleased to hear of 
 his protegee's safe arrival. Lady Annabel had not yet reached 
 town, but might be expected every day. Marion told her 
 hostess a little of her own history, and the hostess was equally 
 communicative. It appeared that Deacon Molison and his 
 spouse were a somewhat well-to-do couple, who had risen by 
 their industry from a humble station. They had no children. 
 They let out part of their house as lodgings for the better 
 class, and kept as servant an elderly maiden relative of the 
 Deacon's, Betty Kelly by name, with whom her mistress 
 shared the household drudgery. 
 
 To this servant Mrs. Molison next introduced Marion, 
 and thereupon left the two together. 
 
 " I was troubled with a headache last night, and went to 
 my bed early," said Betty, " so I did not see you when you 
 came ; but I hope you were well enough received." 
 
 " Very kindly," answered Marion. 
 
 "I'm glad of that; and now breakfast must be first in 
 hand. Take you a chair, and I'll have everything ready in 
 a crack." 
 
 She was as good as her word, for she quickly loaded the 
 table with a superabundance of substantial fare. 
 
2-18 GILDEEOY: 
 
 ' Marion made a fashion of applying herself to the tempting 
 viands ; but she had little appetite, and was soon satisfied. 
 As all her miseries crowded into her heart, tears uncon- 
 sciously trickled down her cheeks, and moistened the morsels 
 which her trembling hand conveyed to her lips. 
 
 " You're greeting, lassie ! " cried Betty. " I'm sure the 
 very sight of all these dainties might heal the most sorrowful 
 heart." 
 
 Marion excused herself incoherently, and forbore weeping. 
 
 " They tell me you want to see Gilderoy in the Tolbooth," 
 said the servant. 
 
 " That's my only errand here," replied Marion. 
 
 " Well, lassie, I must say he's a handsome fellow." 
 
 " You saw him ? " 
 
 " I saw him led up the street to the Tolbooth the other 
 morning, among a band of soldiers and Highlandmen ; and 
 though he was a prisoner, and in a poor, miserable condition, 
 he looked the chieftain every inch of him." 
 
 Marion listened breathlessly, fixing on the spinster the 
 full gaze of her beautiful eyes, which glittered with tears. 
 
 " It was a wild windy morning," continued Betty. " The ' 
 drums and trumpets coming up the street from the Nether- 
 bow caused every window to fly open, and folk were crying 
 to one another * It's Gilderoy ! It's the robber o' Hannocli 
 that killed the auld man, and stealt awa the young heiress ! ' 
 And a thousand eyes were set upon him, just as your own 
 eyes, lassie, are set upon me just now ; but Gilderoy never 
 changed a feature for all that. A handsome fellow ! But 
 they must pass sentence upon him ; he cannot be pardoned, 
 for he was taken in open rebellion." 
 
 "And will not I see him?" exclaimed Marion, rising to 
 her feet in great agitation. 
 
 " Take patience, lassie, take patience," said Betty, gently 
 urging her down again on the chair. 
 
 "How can I tak' patience, and him at the point o' 
 death?" 
 
 "There's no time lost, woman. You'll see him, I sup- 
 pose, before all is over with him ; and though they should 
 forbid you entering the prison, will not you see him on the 
 scaffold, as well as the rest of the town ? But tell me 
 have you come to try and get interest and intercession made 
 for him, or just to take a last, lang farewell ? " 
 
 " A last, but no a lang fareweel," said Marion, with a 
 
A SCOTTISn TBADITION. 249 
 
 wild upward stare, and then she bowed her head and 
 pressed her temples with both hands. " I hae nae interest 
 to mak'," added she, looking tearfully around her. " A' body 
 in power is set against Clan Gregor ; and though they were to 
 offer Gilderoy his life upon condition that he made submis- 
 son to them, I ken that his proud spirit wadna yield." 
 
 A heavy trampling of horses was now heard in the street, 
 and Betty and Marion going to the window saw a small 
 party of English cavalry halting below, An officer dis- 
 mounted, and went up the clumsy fore- stair which gave 
 access to the tenement. 
 
 " General Monk ! " said Betty. " He's come to visit our 
 Colonel." 
 
 After the lapse of a few minutes, Mrs. Molison burst into 
 the room very much flushed and flustered, and announced 
 that General Monk had come in from Dalkeith (where he 
 had his residence), and was now closeted with Campion. 
 
 " There's a band of troopers at the stairfoot," continued 
 the dame, " and the whole neighbourhood's out, wonder- 
 ing what the Governor can want in our house. I declare 
 I do not know how to behave, and the gudeman away to 
 his booth in the Cowgate. I was like to fall down with 
 perfect surprise when the Governor met me at the door." 
 
 A small silver hand-bell tinkled sharply from an adjacent 
 room, and Mrs. Molison, turning very pale, bustled away 
 to answer the summons. She re-appeared presently, bring- 
 ing the extraordinary command that Marion should be taken 
 instanter into General Monk's presence. 
 
 Marion grew as pale as the mistress had done on hearing 
 the silver bell ; and without being allowed time to compose 
 herself, she was led into a small but well-furnished cham- 
 ber, in which she found her patron and the Governor of 
 Scotland, Mrs. Molison, leaving her there, retired con- 
 fusedly. 
 
 The two soldiers were standing on the opposite sides of a 
 round table occupying the centre of the room, and were 
 conversing loudly and almost passionately when Marion was 
 introduced, but they fell silent, and turned their gaze upon 
 her, while she made a low courtesy. 
 
 General Monk was a short, heavy, coarse-featured, dark- 
 visaged man, with a full face, a narrow wrinkled forehead, 
 and a bright eye. One of his cheeks was distended with a 
 large quid of tobacco, the juice of which he occasionally 
 
250 GILDEEOY : 
 
 squirted on the floor a habit which probably he acquired 
 on board ship while commanding the English fleet. 
 
 " This is the young woman for whom I desire the pass to 
 enable her to visit the prisoner Macgregor," said Campion. 
 " You may see she does not look like an agent of con- 
 spirators." 
 
 Monk put several questions to her concerning her con- 
 nection with the clan, and her motives for seeking an in- 
 terview with the prisoner ; all of which she answered with 
 honest simplicity. 
 
 " The pass can be granted, Colonel," said the Governor, 
 " but only on your assurance that it will not be turned to im- 
 proper uses. I hear rumours of a rescue being plotted, and 
 in consequence the jailor has received instructions to admit 
 no person whatever without special authority." 
 
 " I thought my bare intercession would have served as 
 assurance enough," replied Campion, somewhat bitterly. 
 " But things are changed, George Monk. I am suspected. 
 I thought that." 
 
 " In saying so," cried Monk, " you do wrong both to 
 yourself and to me." 
 
 *' JSTay, general, my very position at this moment shows 
 that my name, my principles, my devotion to the good old 
 cause, and my services to the Commonwealth, stink in the 
 nostrils of George Monk." 
 
 The Colonel was right, how bluntly soever he expressed 
 it ; for Monk had already struck into that line of artful, 
 insidious, secret policy by which he eventually weeded the 
 army of occupation in Scotland of almost every one of its 
 republican officers, and thereby paved the way for the resto- 
 ration of Charles the Second. 
 
 " I have told you, over and over again, that I am acting 
 under the Lord Protector's express instructions," said the 
 Governor. " I must, of necessity, yield implicit and un- 
 questioning obedience to the mandates of the supreme power. 
 I have written pressing Cromwell to inform me of his views 
 regarding yourself, and I await his reply." 
 
 " So, so ! " said Campion, with a grim smile. " But I tell 
 you, I have been observant of certain recent changes, and it 
 did not escape me that, one by one, the most prominent and 
 faithful men are being supplanted in all offices of civil and 
 military trust. To what does all this tend ? Would I be 
 better esteemed did I turn Cavalier ? " 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 251 
 
 " Consider, consider, Colonel, that we have a witness," 
 said Monk, pointing to Marion. 
 
 " Cautious as ever," said Campion. " But I care not 
 though my words were proclaimed at Edinburgh Cross, for 
 there would every honest man avouch their truth." 
 
 "You charge the Government wrongfully," cried Monk. 
 
 " I repeat my charge," said Campion. " Doubtless there 
 existed strong and paramount reasons why the hand that 
 cleared Cromwell's path to power should be disarmed. "^ 
 
 " I beseech you, Colonel, force me not to take notice of 
 your ravings," said General Monk. " Turn we to the proper 
 business in hand." 
 
 " Your affected consideration for me will not avail you," 
 cried the Colonel. " It is to you that I owe my dismissal, 
 and it is from you that I demand reparation." 
 
 The general, in a sudden fit of wrath, spat out his quid 
 emphatically, and grasped the hilt of his sword. Marion 
 sprang forward, and throwing herself down upon her knees 
 before Campion, she implored him to remember that if he 
 incensed the Governor, she would likely get no pass to visit 
 Gilderoy. This simple appeal cooled Monk's indignation, 
 and caused him to smile. Campion smiled also, and stroking 
 Marion's head, raised her to her feet. 
 
 " We shall right this grave business another time, general," 
 said the Colonel. " Give the girl the pass. I vouch for her 
 honesty." 
 
 Monk did not hesitate another moment. Applying him- 
 self to some writing materials that lay on the table, he 
 scrawled a hasty line or two upon a slip of paper, which he 
 then handed to Marion with the observation that the pass 
 would admit no person but herself to the Tolbooth. 
 
 Tears trembled in her eyes as she received the precious 
 document, and stammering forth her thanks, she withdrew. 
 
 She was all impatience to proceed to the Tolbooth ; but 
 by Mrs. Molison's advice she was persuaded to defer till 
 evening, when there would be few or no strangers about 
 the prison. She now learned that she was so near to the 
 prison, and also that Gilderoy's arraignment was appointed 
 to take place a few days thence. But before General Monk 
 left the house she was unexpectedly recalled to his presence. 
 He questioned her about the death of her grandmother, and 
 then dismissed her with the assurance that the Government 
 would take strict cognizance of the outrage. 
 
252 GILDEEOY: 
 
 CHAPTEB XXXIII. 
 
 His foes are gone and here he hath no friends : 
 Is it some seraph sent to grant him grace ? 
 No, 'tis an earthly form with heavenly face ! 
 
 Byron's " Corsair." 
 
 THE evening sun was casting a bright red beam along the 
 roofs and chimney-stalks of the stately tenements of 
 the High Street, when the Highland girl, accompanied by 
 the deacon's spouse, repaired to the portal of the Tolbooth 
 the " Heart of Mid-Lothian " a building famous in the 
 pages of history and romance. 
 
 The High Street was crowded and gay, and the " cries of 
 Edinburgh " rang shrilly above the buzz and bustle. The 
 beauty of the evening had brought out half the population to 
 the streets. The castle drums were sounding through the 
 avenue of the Lawnmarket. Ladies and gentlemen of 
 quality, attended by their liveried pages and footmen, saun- 
 tered about in groups. Soldiers mingled with the passing 
 throng, their bright uniform and armour contrasting pic- 
 turesquely with the sober attire of most of the citizens. 
 The busy noisy street-scene seemed to bewilder Marion as 
 soon as she came down stairs ; and glancing furtively about 
 her as she was led towards the Tolbooth, she had but 
 confused glimpses of the ancient market-cross, with its tall 
 pillar surmounted by the Scottish Unicorn rearing upon a 
 lance the gateway, battlemented tower, and spire of the 
 Netherbow Port the public weigh-house also with its spire 
 pointing to the brilliant evening sky the airy imperial 
 crown of St. Giles Church and the many remnants of the 
 olden time still adorning the broad and noble thoroughfare. 
 The Krames (the narrow passage already mentioned betwixt 
 the Tolbooth and St. Giles Church) was full of women and 
 children viewing and purchasing the toys and sweetmeats, of 
 which almost every one of the curious little booths plastered 
 up against the walls of the church displayed a tempting 
 variety. The Tolbooth itself was a huge clumsy pile. The 
 greater portion of its ground-floor was not devoted to prison 
 purposes, but was let out for merchants' shops. Marion 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 253 
 
 looked tremblingly at the grim edifice. But when sho 
 raised her timid eyes on high, what was her horror to 
 perceive a human head fastened upon a spike on the summit 
 of one of the gables ! The face was black and sunken, but 
 locks of long hair still waved about it freely. It was the 
 head of Montrose ! 
 
 Several privates of the Town Guard lounged about the 
 door of the prison, and knowing Mrs. Molison, they touched 
 their hats to her, and desired to know her commands. She 
 told them, and Marion held out the pass. None of them 
 were capable of decyphering the scrawl, possibly from having 
 imbibed too much liquor. But they rendered what service 
 they could. They knocked at the jaii door, and then handed 
 in the paper through a small square aperture or " vizzy- 
 hole " at the side. 
 
 The strong iron-belted oaken door, ponderous as a mass of 
 solid metal, slowly opened, with a dismal creaking that made 
 the teeth chatter, and Marion trembled in every fibre. She 
 took leave of her conductress. 
 
 " You will find your way back to the house, without any 
 difficulty ? " said the latter. 
 
 " It's but a few steps, and I canna go wrang," returned 
 Marion. " Thank you kindly." 
 
 Mrs. Molison accordingly left her ; and Marion, for the 
 first time in her life, entered within the walls of a prison, 
 with a sickening feeling in her heart as though she had 
 heard the voice of destiny proclaim "Leave every hope 
 behind, all ye who enter here !" 
 
 She now stood before the jailor himself the " Gudeman 
 of the Tolbooth," as he was called a bullet-headed per- 
 sonage, burly, squat, and sinister-eyed, wearing a greasy 
 leathern jerkin, and a bunch of well-polished keys at his belt. 
 " And you want to speak with Gilderoy Macgregor ? " he 
 said, returning her the governor's pass. " Faith, and I will 
 say, he's just the kind of gallows-bird to catch a thoughtless 
 wench's eye. Come this way, lass, and you'll see him." 
 
 He closed and locked the door as before, thereby shutting 
 out almost all the light, and involving the passage, or 
 vestibule, or whatever it was, in which he and Marion were 
 standing, in sudden gloom. The air smelt rankly and vilely 
 of drink and tobacco, added to a damp unwholesome odour 
 like that of a cellar. Taking Marion by the hand, he con- 
 ducted her up several steps terminating at another massive 
 door, which he opened, and light was restored. 
 
254 CHLDEEOY: 
 
 She was ushered into a sort of common hall, in which 
 were several men, obviously prisoners. There was a wooden, 
 pulpit, or something very like a pulpit, perched in a corner. 
 The prisoners were chiefly engaged in play with cards and 
 dice. Near the wooden erection stood a man, who, from a 
 key or two being attached to his girdle, seemed to be an 
 under-turnkey or warder. Marion's conductor secured the 
 door, and bidding her wait a moment, went over to this 
 person, and whispered a few words in his ear, after which 
 they both ascended a stair near the pulpit, leading to the 
 upper regions of the building. 
 
 While Marion was standing by herself glancing timidly at 
 the prisoners, an old man with grey locks and an emaciated 
 visage, who had been sitting by himself at the wall, under 
 a grated window, poring over some smoke-dried papers, 
 tottered towards her, depositing his papers in his pocket as 
 he came along. A venerable pair of horn-mounted spectacles 
 surmounted his nose, by the aid of which his rheumy 
 blinking eyes took a deliberate survey of her face and person . 
 
 "So young, so bonny!" he said, somewhat indistinctly ; 
 for nearly all his front teeth were out. " This is no place 
 for such a fresh tender flower ; for here the sun ne'er shines 
 nor the winds blaw, but aye a dim gloaming through these 
 old, thick, rusty bars. What brought you here, lassie ? It 
 couldna be debt, like myself ; and surely you didna take the 
 life of a sweet bairn ? " 
 
 " I cam' to speak wi' a prisoner," answered Marion, in a low 
 and agitated tone. 
 
 " You came to speak with a prisoner," said the old man. 
 " Nane of them here ? Somebody above ? Just so. Then may 
 you pray, with all your heart and soul, that that prisoner's 
 time may be short, short here, though his release should only 
 be by the hangman's hempen rope, or the headsman's axe 
 of steeL It's Gilderoy you come to see ? " 
 
 " It is." 
 
 " The rope and the steel are waiting for kirn," said the 
 prisoner ; " but better that death should release him than 
 that he should wear out his days in such a place as this. 
 Lassie, I was seven-and-twenty when I was first put in here, 
 and I'm fourscore this day." 
 
 " God help you ! " cried Marion. " Hae you been a prisoner 
 for sae mony long years ? " 
 
 " Mostly, mostly," returned the old man. " I've been out 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 255 
 
 and in, out and in, more than a dozen of times ; and I may 
 say that the best part of my days has been spent here. I 
 cannot understand what made folk be so hard with me ; but 
 always when I fell behind in the world they clapt me in here, 
 for they said I would never pay a just and lawful debt 
 except under the terror of the Tolbooth, and I paid and paid 
 till I paid everything away. Maybe if I had my days to 
 begin again, I would try another course to please folk ; but 
 my days are wearing done, and it's not in my power to turn 
 over a new leaf. This is my last time here, and I'll never, 
 never set foot on my own High Street again. I'll never 
 more go down the Krames, where I've often run when I was 
 a bit laddie, to buy a sugar-plum or a plaything. These old 
 hands are stained with no crime, but the crime of honest 
 poverty. Lord forgie us our debts as we forgie our debtors." 
 
 " Bah ! you old kna,ve ! " cried one of the prisoners. 
 " There's not a greater rogue in all Edinburgh." 
 
 " Do you hear him ? " said the old debtor. " That's what 
 they call me a rogue ; and they swear I hae siller, though 
 Ihae none. The man that spoke," he whispered, "is in for 
 robbery and murder on the high road ; and sometimes when 
 he falls asleep at the wall yonder, it's dreadful to hear how 
 he'll mutter about heads breaking and throats cutting ! But 
 he'll soon quit the Tolbooth to the gallows, and he'll see the 
 Grassmarket and the Castle, and the faces of all the folk, 
 which I'll never see, for I have no more siller, and I must just 
 lie here." 
 
 " Can't you ask the wench for a groat to bring in a jug of 
 nut-brown ? " cried the murderer. 
 
 *' If you have a groat to spare, lassie and it's the fashion 
 to make some small offering when you come to the Tolbooth 
 to visit a friend slip it into my hand, and let nobody see," 
 whispered the debtor. " I have no concernment with the 
 other prisoners. Every herring should hang by its own head. 
 They all change from time to time ; all these ruthless fellows 
 may be away the morn, but I'm always left. I'm as much a 
 part and portion of the Heart o' Mid-Lothian as these very 
 walls. There's no a crack in the floor ; there's no a mouse- 
 web in the window ; there's no rat, or a spider, about the 
 prison, but what I know great, big, wild spiders that come 
 flying out of their dusty dens, like fiery dragons, when I 
 catch a fly and let it fall among their webs. Look, lassie, 
 there's a big fat villain that lives in yon web that's flaffing 
 
253 GILDEEOY : 
 
 among the topmost bars of the window do you hear 
 that ? that's a blue-bottle in his clutches, bizzing like 
 mad! Eh, woman! he's a grand hunter, and a grand 
 fighter. I [wagered and won a shilling on him one day 
 against a wasp and he killed the wasp. Ah ! I know 
 him, and what's in him. Me, and the rats, and the spiders, 
 are thirled to the Tolbooth. The Tolbooth would not be 
 like itself without us. Now, my bonny dear, if you have a 
 groat " 
 
 Marion had still the boatman's sixpence in her pocket, and 
 she quietly took it out and put it into his hand. By this 
 time, to her great relief, the jailor and the turnkey re- 
 appeared, and the aged debtor instantly hurried away to his 
 former seat at the wall. 
 
 The jailor motioning her to cross the hall, she did so, and 
 was conducted by him up the flight of steps, at the top of 
 which was a strong iron-studded door, which he threw open, 
 disclosing a dingy noisome cell, lighted by a small grated 
 aperture close to the roof. A yellow glimmer of the sunset's 
 glories struggling through the window showed a man in 
 chains reclining on a heap of dirty straw. His chains were 
 fastened to an iron bar of great thickness that traversed the 
 place about breast-high from the floor. 
 
 " Gilderoy Macgregor ! " shouted the Gudeman. " Here's 
 a lass conic to speak to you." 
 
 The prisoner started, as if from slumber, and raised his 
 eyes languidly to the open door. 
 
 " There's just half an hour allowed, lassie," said the jailor, 
 leading in Marion, and then shutting the door and locking 
 it inside, and placing his back against it. " Just half an hour, 
 so you must be brief." 
 
 The captive outlaw, chained with heavy fetters like a 
 beast of prey in a cage, arose slowly from among the straw, 
 portions of which stuck in his long, matted, red locks, and 
 about his ragged habiliments. His face was hollow, and 
 most sepulchral in hue, but his sunken eyes still emitted a 
 dull glare. Marion, quaking in every lirnb and fibre, stood 
 looking at him, with her forefinger resting on her lower lip. 
 At first he did not seem to recognise her ; but after he had 
 drawn his manacled hand across his eyes, recognition flashed 
 upon him, and he struck his hands together, causing a hideous 
 clash and rattle of his chains. 
 
 " Ah ! serpent ! viper ! " he exclaimed, in tones of burning 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 257 
 
 hate. " Behold the fruit of your fell treachery ! Are you 
 come to gloat over my degradation ? " 
 
 She was not looking at him then, for her eyes had sunk to 
 the ground ; but a deep sob escaped her lips the moment she 
 heard his voice. 
 
 " An' it was her that gave you up to justice, she deserves 
 credit," said the jailor ; " for you cheated the gallows so long, 
 man, that folk began to think the hemp wasna' spun that 
 should make the rope to hang you." 
 
 "Peace, hound! " cried Gilderoy. "Were this hand free 
 of its iron bands you would not dare to open your lips." 
 
 " Trout sko ! John Highlandman ! I'm as good a man as 
 you, and maybe better, were it coming to close grips," 
 retorted the jailor, contemptuously. "My name's Jock 
 Darnaway, that never feared Highland folk nor Lawlant folk, 
 unco folk nor kent folk ; and I wad scorn to say, man, that 
 a silly bit lassie was the outwitting of me. I thought it was 
 Eanald Yourigh that apprehended you ; for Eanald mak's a 
 brag of it all over Edinburgh." 
 
 Marion was much disappointed and abashed on finding that 
 the Gudeman was to be a witness of the interview, conse- 
 quently she remained silent for some moments, till she over- 
 came her confusion, and then she answered Gilderoy " I 
 ne'er betrayed you, James. I had as soon betrayed my own 
 brother I had sooner laid down my ain life. I only gave 
 Lady Annabel Rutherford her liberty." 
 
 " And it was through her alone that I could have retrieved 
 all my misfortunes," said the captive. " But you treacherously 
 deprived me of my last hope and stay. Woman ! at your 
 door lies all the guilt all the guilt and shame of having 
 betrayed and ruined him who was nursed upon your mother's 
 knee. I fancied that though I were abandoned by all 
 my followers, you would have been faithful. But it was your 
 feeble, unsuspected, ungrateful hand that brought low the 
 fortunes of the Gregalich." 
 
 " I had nae thocht that in letting the lady escape I had sae 
 far wranged you," returned Marion, struggling with a spasm 
 of agony. " I thocht that were she awa and rnony o' the 
 clan thocht the same thing the war wad cease, and you be 
 saved frae ruin." 
 
 " Well, well ! " said Gilderoy, gloomily. " It cannot be 
 undone. We must submit. The iron destiny which has 
 hurled me in the dust must have its course, and I need not 
 
 s 
 
258 aiLDEEOY: 
 
 heap reproaches upon your head, silly girl. How are they 
 all in Rannoch ? Does the armed hand of the stranger still 
 press them down ? " 
 
 " When I cam' south," said Marion, " the sodgers were 
 quartered up and down the country, and ilka claymore was in 
 its sheath." 
 
 " Sorry, sorry issue of my efforts to plant the pine-tree 
 banner firmly on my native hills ! " exclaimed Gilderoy, with 
 the smile of a maniac on his pallid lips. " Coward hearts ! 
 had they but stood by me, we should have fed our Highland 
 eagles with the Southron hosts, and maintained our indepen- 
 dence against the utmost power of the usurper. But the 
 very name of Macgregor will perish and be forgotten in a 
 country which the Gregalich lacked the heart to defend ! " 
 
 The hard harsh clank of his chains, as he swayed to and 
 fro, formed an appropriate accompaniment to his husky 
 accents. 
 
 " I could gang to the Colonel I could gang to the Governor 
 or to Ranald Yourigh himsel' I could gang to ane and a' 
 o* them," cried Marion, sobbing, " and put my ain life in 
 their hands to save you." 
 
 "You shall not beg my life of mortal man ! " ejaculated 
 Gilderoy, sternly. " Banish such a thought from your mind, 
 unless you would have me curse you with my latest breath. 
 I know that I must perish." 
 
 A pause followed. Marion was weeping silently. 
 
 " Why is Evan not here P " inquired the prisoner. " But 
 that is a foolish question ; for Evan durst not show his face 
 in the Lowlands, unless after making his peace ; and I fancy 
 he disdains submission." 
 
 "Evan was slain," answered Marion. "The sodgers wad 
 hae gi'enhimhis life ; but he wadna submit, and sae he fell." 
 
 " Brave, gallant Evan ! Would that I had fallen with him ! " 
 
 " And my grandmither " 
 
 " What of her ? -where is she ? " 
 
 "Dead." 
 
 Gilderoy was struck. Something like his old affectionate 
 look returned, although dashed with despair. " And did you 
 come all this long way alone, Marion ? " he said. " Did you 
 cross the Grampians and the Lowland plains without a friend 
 to cheer you ? " 
 
 As well as her sobs and tears would permit, she recapitu- 
 lated the leading incidents of her journey. He heard her with 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 259 
 
 attentive silence ; but when she told of him the kindness 
 of Colonel Campion, he could not contain his astonishment. 
 
 " He is a generous soldier," he said. " But I trust you 
 have not bowed, and knelt, and prayed, and cringed to him 
 for my sake ? " 
 
 " I craved naething frae him no even the liberty to come 
 here to see you," replied Marion. " He gave ilka ane o' his 
 favours without prayer or request o' mine. Oh ! say that 
 you forgi'e me a' the ill I've done you." 
 
 " I will not go to my death with hatred in my heart 
 against you," said Macgregor. "This long and perilous 
 journey to speak a last word to me atones for all your errors. 
 I forgive you all. But remember that you shall not beg my 
 life of mortal man without incurring my deepest curse. Re 
 member my words." 
 
 " Cut short, cut short dinna you see the gloaming draw- 
 ing on ? " cried the jailor. " Shake hands, and be done." 
 
 Gilderoy held out his hand to Marion, who clasped it, 
 and bending her face over it, bedewed it with her tears. 
 They wished each other good night, but said not a word 
 about another meeting, and so they parted. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 But farewell now to unsuspicious nights, 
 
 And slumbers unalarm'd. Now, ere you sleep, 
 
 See that your polish'd arms are primed with care, 
 
 And drop the night-bolt : ruffians are abroad; 
 
 And the first larum of the cock's shrill throat 
 
 May prove a trumpet summoning your ear 
 
 To horrid sounds of hostile feet within. 
 
 Cowper's " Task.' 1 
 
 THE street was dusky when Marion emerged from the 
 Tolbooth. The cool breeze of the harvest gloaming 
 gratefully fanned her throbbing brow. Lights were beginning 
 to twinkle in the shops, and also in the windows of the tall 
 piles of houses. The stir and bustle had not diminished, 
 and vagrants and thieves of both sexes and all ages had 
 come prowling abroad. Fortunately, the distance from the 
 s 2 
 
260 GILDEROY: 
 
 prison to Deacon Molison's residence was very short, other- 
 wise Marion might have felt some timidity in traversing such 
 a noisy thoroughfare. 
 
 She was passing hurriedly towards the Deacon's stair-foot, 
 when an exclamation of surprise caught her ear, and imme- 
 diately her arm was firmly grasped by a man, tall of stature, 
 with a grey Lowland plaid flung carelessly around his 
 shoulders, and partly muffling his face. The voice and the 
 figure were not unknown to her. She recognised Eachin 
 Macraw ! He was dressed in a Lowland suit of humble 
 hodden grey, with a -broad blue bonnet on his head. His 
 hair was cut short, and his beard trimmed ; but he wore a 
 basket-hilted broadsword buckled at his side. 
 
 " Thou hast seen him ? " he said, in a clear whisper. 
 " Thou hast visited him in the prison ? " 
 
 "Alas! Eachin, he is to die!" she answered. "There's 
 nae hope. But how cam' you here ? " 
 
 " Could I remain in Eannoch when my chief was so near 
 his latter end?" said the clansman. "I made my way to 
 this great city, not to seek his presence and condole with 
 him, but to watch his enemies, and to avenge his fate. These 
 three days have I roamed the streets and lanes in hopes of 
 encountering the false Macpherson, or the Saxon captain, 
 that I might strike and lay either or both of them low ; but 
 as yet I have roamed in vain. I know they are in this city, 
 and I am watching." 
 
 "Dinnaharm the Saxon captain," said Marion, earnestly ; 
 " for he has greatly befriended me in my distress, and unless 
 for his kind help I had never seen Gilderoy's face." 
 " Can that be ? " demanded the amazed savage. 
 " It is true, Eachin. A clansman couldna been rnair 
 generous than that Saxon captain has been to me." 
 
 " Wonderful ! and he our foeman ! " said Eachin. " Then, 
 for his good and kind deeds, the blow shall pass by him. 
 But as for Hanald Vourigh when we meet, he dies ! I 
 have searched the city, I have scoured the outskirts, and I 
 have watched that prison door, lest perchance he might come 
 to insult over his victim ; but never have I seen his face. 
 Should he come, by heaven ! the chief's dungeon shall ring 
 with the bloodhound's dying yell ! " He glared around him, 
 and then added " When did you come to this city ? and 
 where is your grandmother ? " 
 
 Marion briefly informed him of her sad adventures. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 261 
 
 "And how fares the chief?" asked Eachin, returning to 
 the theme which was uppermost in his thoughts. " Would 
 that I had the power to force yonder accursed portal ! " 
 
 Before Marion could reply, a richly-dressed lady, followed by 
 two female servants, coming down the street, brushed closely 
 past her, and then turned round with a sudden cry, and caught 
 her by the sleeve. 
 
 "Lady Annabel ! Lady Annabel ! " exclaimed Marion. 
 " Heaven be praised that I have met you at last ! " 
 
 " I thought I was not mistaken," said Annabel ; " and yet 
 it seemed so utterly impossible that you, Marion Mackinnon, 
 should be standing in the High Street of Edinburgh. Ex- 
 plain explain this mystery." 
 
 Marion had again to go over the old story. 
 
 "You have escaped great risks, my dear girl," said 
 Annabel. " But I hope you have seen the last of such 
 troubles. I only arrived in Edinburgh to-day," she added, 
 " and I was not aware that Colonel Campion had preceded me. 
 When I parted with him at the manse of Dunavaig, he 
 intended to spend a fortnight or so with some old brother 
 officers in Fife, previous to going to Edinburgh, and I thought 
 he had not yet crossed the firth. It will be better, I think, 
 that you make my lodgings your home. My lodgings are at 
 the north back of the Canongate. I am going straight there 
 just now, and I suppose you will accompany me. One of 
 my maids can tell the Colonel's people that you are gone 
 with me, and I'll see himself to-morrow, and explain matters. 
 Will you go ? " 
 
 Marion joyfully embraced the offer ; and the lady, under- 
 standing that Eachin was one of the forlorn clansmen of 
 Gilderoy, who had wandered to Edinburgh to watch the fate 
 of his leader, and not recognising in him the furious maniac 
 who had counselled her assassination in Callum Cluny's 
 cottage, invited him likewise to the shelter of her residence. 
 
 " I will be the guardian of Marion," said Eachin. 
 
 "And faithful I ever found you," said Marion. "But," 
 said she, in Gaelic, "you must not endanger this lady and 
 her house by wild deeds against your enemies." 
 
 " Not while her roof shelters me," responded Eachin. 
 " But that will not be long." 
 
 Marion was still dubious about allowing the wild Macraw 
 to follow her ; but she could not well state her dubiety to 
 Annabel, and so she held her tongue. 
 
202 GILDEEOT : 
 
 The party accordingly went down the street, and leaving 
 a message at the Deacon's door, soon reached Lady Annabel's 
 residence an ancient tenement behind the north side of 
 the Canon gate. 
 
 Eachin was left in the kitchen with the rest of the menials 
 of the house, after receiving a solemn caution from Marion 
 as to how he should conduct himself both in speech and 
 behaviour. Lady Annabel gave out that he was one of her 
 own vassals who had followed her from the wilds of Glen- 
 birkie. 
 
 Marion was taken up-stairs to the lady's parlour, where, 
 after supper, she related her tale of woe at greater length 
 than she had done in the open street ; and Annabel exerted 
 herself to soothe the poor wanderer's distress. 
 
 In the course of further conversation Lady Annabel men- 
 tioned that Jasper Hollo would be in Edinburgh in a day or 
 two. He had been prevented attending her from Glenbirkie 
 to the capital by certain pressing matters requiring his pre- 
 sence at Dunavaig. But the most important part of the 
 lady's communications related to the knight of Spierhaughs. 
 Since her return from Hannoch she had been troubled and 
 even endangered by the renewed machinations of Sir John 
 Spiers, who, undeterred by what had already befallen Gilde- 
 roy, appeared to be aiming once more at getting possession 
 of her person. 
 
 " Is he mad? " said Marion. 
 
 " He seems bent on an insane enterprise," responded An- 
 nabel. "But I shall be quite safe in Edinburgh ; and I am 
 glad that my own affairs, which Dunavaig's death threw into 
 temporary confusion, called me hither at this time." 
 
 She did not say it, but doubtless the probability of the 
 early union of herself and Jasper Hollo was exciting the un- 
 scrupulous Sir John to a last desperate effort to prevent so 
 great a fortune being lost to him for ever. 
 
 Before midnight the whole household had retired to rest. 
 Eachin Macraw, the pseudo vassal of Glenbirkie, made his 
 lair in an old lumber-room on the ground floor. A sump- 
 tuously furnished little closet on the second story was as- 
 signed as Marion's bed-chamber immediately over that 
 of Lady Annabel, whose apartments occupied the floor 
 beneath. 
 
 The poor, weary, distracted girl lay down on her soft and 
 tempting couch, and endeavoured to court the sweets of 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 263 
 
 repose. Bat she could not shut an eye. In vain she strove 
 to banish reflection. The darkness, silence, and deep soli- 
 tude of the night-watches brought all her sorrows" in dismal 
 array before her. Thus she lay, now sobbing bitterly, now 
 imploring kind Heaven to have compassion on her wretched- 
 ness, now planning how she might secretly slip away to 
 Dalkeith, where General Monk held his residence, and crave 
 mercy for Gilderoy. But at length exhausted nature gave 
 way, and oblivion came. 
 
 How long she slept was uncertain ; but it could not have 
 been long, because the day had not dawned, when she was 
 awakened by a loud tumult, which, had been for some time 
 mingling with her dreams, and which, to her horror, seemed 
 to proceed from the lower parts of the house itself. She sat 
 up in bewilderment, and listening, heard the familiar clash 
 of swords, mingled with furious voices. 
 
 Springing from her couch in the darkness, she groped for 
 her dress, and hastily putting it on, drew the bolt of the 
 door and, passing out, stole timidly down the dark stair, 
 anxious to see whether all was well with her protectress. 
 The noise now wore away towards the back of the house, 
 and then ceased of a sudden. When she reached the first 
 landing-place, a maid-servant with her clothes huddled on in 
 disorder rushed out of one of the passages carrying a lighted 
 candle, while a heavy foot began to ascend the lower stair. 
 
 On perceiving Marion, the woman cried out that robbers 
 had broken into the house, and that Lady Annabel was lying 
 in a swoon. The footstep on the winding stair below was 
 that of Eachin Macraw, who now came up waving his un- 
 sheathed claymore. 
 
 " I have slain him ! " he exclaimed, holding the point of 
 his weapon to the light, and showing that it was dyed with 
 blood. 
 
 " Slain wha? " demanded the domestic. 
 
 " Their leader," replied Macraw. 
 
 " How mony were o' them? " she continued. 
 
 " There were six or seven of them, as cowardly dogs as 
 ever fled from a sword in a true Highlander's hand," said 
 Eachin, triumphantly. "They are all fled; but their leader 
 he will never tread the streets again." 
 
 "Is he lying dead below ? " questioned the servant with a 
 shriek of wild affright. 
 
 "No, no ; he struggled off with them. But what matter ? 
 
261 G1LDEEOY: 
 
 He cannot go far. He will crawl into some hole, and die 
 there like a rat. Have I done well, Marion? " 
 
 "Well and nobly," answered Marion. "And you're un- 
 wouncled ? " 
 
 "Unwounded," cried Eachin, with a laugh, as he wiped his 
 ensanguined broadsword with an end of his plaid. 
 
 Other members of the household now made their appear- 
 ance from their respective rooms, all in great terror and dis- 
 may. The landlady, a middle-aged dame, with false hair 
 and false teeth, was in great agitation, wringing her hands, 
 and scarcely able to draw one foot after the other, or even 
 to utter an intelligible word. A second female domestic sup- 
 ported her tottering steps. A young student of theology, 
 who boarded in the house, emerged from his dormitory in 
 some out-of-the-way corner, armed with a pair of fire- 
 tongs, and vowing destruction to all interlopers on the 
 premises. 
 
 The landlady's first inquiry, when she was able to articu- 
 late correctly, was about Lady Annabel ; and the damsel with 
 the candle calmed her apprehensions by assuring her that 
 the lady was quite safe, though she had fainted when the 
 noise awoke her, and that she was presently attended by her 
 ow r n servants. 
 
 Eachin, now loudly called on for an explanation of his 
 own share in the extraordinary disturbance, stated that 
 having laid himself down to rest in the old lumber-room, he 
 was fast sinking into slumber, when his attention was aroused 
 by a peculiar rasping sound at the window, which was stan- 
 chioned with iron, and looked into an empty back court or 
 yard. " I did not stir," he said. " The fire had burned low, 
 and threw forth only a dull .glow upon the floor. I never lie 
 down without my broadsword with me, and I had my hand 
 on the basket hilt. The rasping continued, and then one bar 
 after another was snapped and torn out, and a man forced 
 himself through the window. He dropped lightly upon the 
 floor, and whispered to those without * All is quiet all is 
 safe. Come on.' He did not perceive me lying in the dark 
 corner among the straw. I was tempted to rise and cleave 
 him, but I still lay quiet. The back door is close to the win- 
 dow, and he unbarred it, and admitted five or six men. They 
 all wore masks, but one was in a richer dress than the others, 
 and him I set down for their leader. They were gathering 
 round the fire to light a lanthorn, and muttering about * the 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 205 
 
 lady,' and 'her chamber,' and 'stifling her cries/ and so 
 forth, when I sprang up with a yell, and struck amongst 
 them, as I am wont to do in the throng of battle. Some of 
 them wore armour beneath their dresses, as I knew when I 
 struck them. My attack unmanned the villains, for although 
 they drew their swords and closed with me, 'it was but short 
 work, and they all fled by the open back door, but not before 
 I had stabbed the leader." 
 
 " The man in the rich dress ? " said the student. 
 
 " The same," replied Eachin. " Joyful am I, Marion, that 
 I have repaid the Saxon lady for her kindness to you and 
 to myself too." 
 
 " But the villains may return like dogs to their vomit," 
 said the student, " and therefore, I say, we must look to the 
 defence of the house ; for should they return more numerous 
 than before, like the devils that came back into the man 
 that was possessed, our last state would be worse than our 
 first." 
 
 " If you are acquainted with the windings of the back 
 passages, youth," said Eachin, " come with me, and we will 
 endeavour to overtake the miscreants. There must be a trail 
 of blood left behind them. Light a torch, for the night is 
 very dark." 
 
 The whole of the females protested vehemently against 
 undertaking such a hazardous venture. Even the student of 
 theology, valiant as he seemed, put in a strong caveat against 
 it. " We must call the watchmen of the city," he said, " and 
 take unto ourselves armed men of might, for the enemy may 
 be as the sands of the sea-shore for multitude." 
 
 "Kindle a brand, and I will follow up the trail myself," 
 cried Macraw, casting an impatient glance down the stair. 
 " The wounded caitiff in the rich dress had not strength to 
 fly far." 
 
 " You have been a man of war from your youth," said the 
 student, " whereas I spend my days in the studious closet, 
 and therefore I would prove but a poor comrade to you, for 
 I know nothing of war and battles, ambuscades and sur- 
 prises, pursuits and countermarches, beyond what I have 
 read in Homer and Virgil, Caesar and Tacitus, Xenophon 
 and Thucydides, Arrian, and the other classic writers, both 
 in poetry and prose. And to speak my mind openly, my 
 honest friend, in this present great extremity and bamboozle- 
 ment, I'm rather inclined to agree with Tibullus, the Homan 
 poet, where he says 
 
266 GILDEROY: 
 
 Quis furor est atram bellis accerserere mortem ? 
 Imminet, et tacito clam venit ilia pede.* 
 
 But if you will go, there's a candle" taking the candle 
 from the servant, and giving it to the mountaineer "it 
 must serve your turn ; for there are no torches about 
 this house to my knowledge ; but if you pick out the wick 
 with a pin, it will give a good blaze. Nevertheless," he 
 continued, seeing scorn and contempt in Eachin's eyes, " if 
 you constrain me to go, I'm content to gird up my loins and 
 follow you." 
 
 " Lead the way ! " cried Eachin, holding the flaring candle 
 above his head. 
 
 " Never be it said that I could be so presumptuous before 
 so brave a warrior!" said the student, hanging back, but 
 shouldering his tongs. " I could not take it upon me to 
 deprive you of your undoubted right and title to lead the 
 van. I'll be proud to follow you. That's all I bargained 
 for." 
 
 Despite the renewed remonstrances of the women, Eachin, 
 with a hearty execration on Lowland cowardice, ran down 
 the stair, carrying the candle. Immediately the women's 
 remonstrances were changed into screams of affright at being 
 so unceremoniously left in the dark. In this predicament 
 the valorous student saw need to volunteer himself for the 
 defence of the house, instead of venturing abroad on a wild- 
 goose chase. 
 
 Eachin descended to the lumber-room, the scene of the 
 fray, and finding everything dark and still, he unlocked the 
 back door, which he had secured again after the flight of 
 the enemy, and issued forth into a small unfenced yard 
 behind the house, whence he passed into a sort of lane wind- 
 ing amongst ruinous barns and out-houses. The ground was 
 wet with a recent shower of rain, and no trace of blood- 
 drops was at all perceptible. It was a close dark morning, 
 and not a breath of air was stirring. Still on he went, with- 
 out finding a single sign to mark the course taken by the 
 fugitives. He looked anxiously for blood-marks, but none 
 could be seen. 
 
 The winding lane brought him to an old mud-built hovel 
 
 * What madness is it, in distracted broils, 
 To hasten onour Fate by martial toils ? 
 Or Death provoke by seeking high renown ? 
 UncalPd, with silent pace, he comes too soon. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 267 
 
 standing in the midst of an open space, with a light dimly 
 glimmering through one of its window-boles, which was 
 hung with a screen. Eachin's heart beat high when he saw 
 the light, for he thought that now some tidings at least of 
 the marauders would be obtained to guide him in his search. 
 But his heart beat higher when he heard groans proceeding 
 from the hovel. He hastened forward, and driving up the 
 front door, which had been but imperfectly fastened, he burst 
 into the place where the light was burning, and beheld the 
 wounded man in the rich dress lying stretched before him. 
 
 It was a damp, miserable, low-roofed room, with scarcely 
 any furnishings, and full of a rank atmosphere, as though 
 the fresh air of Heaven never entered it. On a litter of dirty 
 straw, spread under the curtained window-bole, lay the 
 wounded stranger. His mask was off, and an oil lamp 
 hanging on a peg in the wall shed its sickly light upon 
 his visage. He groaned heavily, and seemed insensible, and 
 in fact, at the point of death. By his side knelt a poorly- 
 clad young woman, who was endeavouring to stanch, with a 
 handful of rags, the blood that flowed from his breast, and 
 near her stood a squalid, half-naked urchin, eyeing the opera- 
 tion, and apparently ready to scream, but struck dumb with 
 terror. 
 
 WJien Macraw burst in, the woman did not rise from her 
 knees, but looking round she shrieked, and exclaimed that "she 
 wadna suffer murder to be committed in her house as lang as 
 there was law in Edinburgh." The stranger was altogether 
 unconscious of what passed around him ; for he made no 
 motion, not even lifting his eyelids, which were shut. 
 
 Advancing to the woman, Eachin demanded "What 
 gentleman is this P How is he called P " 
 
 " Do you mean his name, man ? " said she. 
 
 "I do. What is it P" 
 
 " Atweel, I dinna ken, for I ne'er speired, and the puir 
 gentleman is past speaking. Wha was it, ken you, that 
 ga'e him siccan a wound P He didna get it here." 
 
 Eachin bent over the stranger, and observed his features 
 closely ; then starting back in wonder, he exclaimed, " Sir 
 John Spiers ! Is not this the hand of justice ? He hung 
 Alistor Mhor upon his black accursed dule-tree, and deluded 
 Gilderoy to his ruin. Thank Heaven, I have met him ! " 
 
 " Oh ! man, what do I ken aboot him, or what he did, or 
 wha he hanged?" cried the young woman, rising to her feet, 
 
268 GILDEEOY: 
 
 and in her hurry and confusion letting the bloody rags and 
 also some gold coins drop from her trembling hands. " I 
 ken naething aboot him nae mair than that bairn at your 
 foot. I had nae hand in the hanging you speak o', sae you 
 maunna wy te me. I'm but a puir widow, left wi' that infant, 
 and without a friend in a' the world. Oh ! man tak' him wi' 
 you ; but dinua wyte me." 
 
 The child was gathering up the gold from the clay floor, 
 reddening its little hands with the blood w r ith which the 
 pieces were wet. 
 
 " From whom had you that money ? " demanded Eachin ; 
 " and who brought Sir John Spiers to your house ? " 
 
 " I was waukened up by a wheen men laying to the door 
 wi' their feet and nieves," replied the female ; " and w T hen I 
 drew the bar they foosh him in, bleeding like a sheep, and 
 laid him doon there, and ga'e me the gowd and bade me 
 dress his wounds. But immediately some tigg took them, 
 and they a' set aff." 
 
 This story looked exceedingly like the truth, and Eachin 
 saw no reason to disbelieve it. "Did you know any of the 
 men? " he asked. 
 
 "Nane o' them," she answered; but there was a sudden 
 flutter in her manner as she answered which Eachin did not 
 observe. 
 
 " Have you any neighbours here ? " 
 
 " No ane at hand," said she, " The nearest house is Mrs. 
 Maxwell's, whaur a great heiress has come to lodge, as I 
 understand. But gude be about us ! " she cried, turning to 
 the wounded knight, " he'll dee upon my hands. He'll bluid 
 to death, and naebody to help him ! What am I to do ? 
 Canna there a man o' skill be gotten to save the life ? " And 
 throwing herself down upon her knees again, she picked up 
 the bunch of rags, and resumed her efforts to arrest the flow 
 of blood, the knight's groans becoming fainter and fainter. 
 
 Eachin looked on for a moment, and then saying " Tend 
 him carefully, good woman, while I hasten for assistance," 
 he quitted the hovel. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 269 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 He has escaped ! 
 
 No ; he bears his death with him. Believe me. 
 
 I saw him struck upon the side. 
 
 Pizarro. 
 
 THE wild Macraw, carrying his caudle in one hand and 
 his broadsword in the other, retraced his way back to 
 Lady Annabel's lodgings, where he found several of the 
 neighbours collected, both men and women. Announcing 
 his important discovery, he demanded aid to secure the 
 wounded knight ; but he was answered that the town-guard 
 had already been sent for, and that it would be the more 
 prudent course to wait their arrival, in order that the business 
 might be gone about under colour of law. In angry impa- 
 tience, Eachin gave vent to a volley of ear-splitting Celtic 
 oaths, vowing that he would wait for no man ; but fortunately 
 a small detachment of the guard now appeared. 
 
 A supply of lights being procured, Eachin took upon 
 himself the task of conducting the party to the scene of 
 action. 
 
 The hovel was soon reached, but the window-bole was 
 dark ; the door stood wide open, showing no light within ; 
 no sound was heard ; everything was silent as the grave. 
 
 " We are baffled ! " exclaimed Eachin, furiously. " We 
 have given the villains time to carry away their master." 
 
 He rushed into the interior, followed by the guard, and 
 his worst suspicions were verified. The place was deserted. 
 There was no wounded knight there were no widow woman 
 and her child. The blown-out lamp hung from the peg in 
 the wall ; the litter of straw lay under the window, bearing 
 the impress of a recumbent body ; the blood-soaked rags 
 were scattered about the clay floor; the scanty wretched 
 furniture of the one wretched apartment of the ruinous 
 hovel was all left just as Eachin had seen it at first. 
 
 " Is this the house ? " cried the sergeant of the guard. 
 " Are you sure about the house ? " 
 
 " It is the very house, and there is the very straw he lay 
 on," answered Eachin. "His followers have carried him 
 
270 GILDEEOY: 
 
 hence. I should have waited by him. I should never have 
 left the place." 
 
 The party passed out again, and spread themselves in 
 active search, but they could light upon no trace whatever. 
 
 It was ascertained, on inquiries, that the hovel had recently 
 come into the occupancy of a man and his wife of the name 
 of Cristal, who apparently belonged to the very lowest 
 grade. The man, it was said, had been a cavalier soldier, 
 and enjoyed an evil reputation, being suspected to make his 
 bread by the worst shifts, but for some weeks back he had 
 disappeared from the locality, leaving his wife and child to 
 provide for themselves, 
 
 Eachin had never known Eoger Cristal, and never heard 
 of his hunt after Gilderoy, and therefore the name awoke no 
 recollections in his mind. 
 
 "You have spoilt this business, Highlandman," said the 
 sergeant. " Did it never strike you, man, that the rogues 
 would come back and carry off their master, as soon as your 
 back was turned ? You should have given the alarm, and 
 stuck to your post until we got up to you. It was very un- 
 soldierly behaviour, man. You would be brought to the 
 halberts for it in any service in Europe." 
 
 Eachin did not speak. 
 
 " I mind well," continued the sergeant, " I mind well, that 
 while serving in Germany, under old Monro, one frosty 
 night I was posted opposite a famous wine-shop in Schudlitz, 
 frequented by all the toss-pots in the town. A drunken 
 squabble arose I heard the clash of tools, and then there 
 was a dreadful shout that some fellow with a mighty long 
 German name was run through the body. Out rushed a 
 band of hallanshakers, yelling like devils ; and out comes 
 the landlord after them, roaring like a bull-calf, and calls me 
 to secure the murderer. What did I know about the mur- 
 derer? Well, I was taken a good deal aback. I just did 
 what you did. Being but one man, I thought it best to run 
 to my nearest comrade. But by the time I got back with 
 him to the wine-shop every bird had flown, dead man and 
 all, and the publican was lying brained to the bargain. By 
 the holy Caesar ! here was a pickle ! And, mark you, there 
 were not people a- wan ting either to say I had done the 
 publican's job for him, out of revenge because he refused me 
 liquor. Next morning I was brought up to the drum-head, 
 before old Monro, and I can tell you, friend, I ran the 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 271 
 
 closest chance of swinging in a hempen cravat for deserting 
 my post." 
 
 Eachin muttered something to himself, and then said 
 aloud " But the stab was deep, and he has not many hours 
 to live." 
 
 " Questionable, questionable," said the sergeant ; " as I 
 remember well when I received a shot at the intaking of a 
 certain dorp in Pomerania " 
 
 " I never deal a weak stroke," interrupted Eachin. " They 
 know that in the north. My arm is an arm of death." 
 
 "A Highland brag," cried the sergeant, disdainfully. 
 " Look, man I'll wager a month's pay and backlying arrears, 
 that you'll not drive my Lochaber axe into that door-post so 
 deep by two inches as I will. Do you take the wager?" 
 
 " Men and brethren," interposed the student of theology, 
 who had followed the party, " let there be no wrangling and 
 vain boasting among us." 
 
 " It's no boast," returned the sergeant ; " I'll prove it in a 
 moment." 
 
 "In my days of sin and darkness, when the old man was 
 strong within me," said the student, " I looked to the 
 pleasing of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of 
 life, and would have done marvellous feats for sinful wagers, 
 tempting Providence, and bringing condemnation upon my- 
 self; but mine eyes were enlightened." 
 
 "I don't want your advice," cried the sergeant. "Con- 
 found you, do you think I don't know what I'm about ? I'll 
 stand to my own wager. I'll keep my own ground. Do 
 you take the wager, Highlander ? No ! Then what was the 
 use of bringing us out here this raw morning, about 
 nobody knows what, and nothing to show us but an empty 
 house and some old rags? Fall in, men, fall in, and let us 
 march to our quarters, and report the affair. Lady Glen- 
 birkie and her man will stand the consequences, if anything 
 comes of it. But, hang me ! if I don't think the whole story 
 a flam!" 
 
 The veterans " fell in " gladly and marched away. Eachin, 
 the student, and other people who had gathered, repaired to 
 Lady Annabel's lodgings to report the utter failure of the 
 search. 
 
 In the morning, after a swoon of long" duration, Annabel 
 was able to hear the strange narration of the night's ad- 
 ventures. Special information was transmitted to General 
 
272 GTLDEEOY: 
 
 Monk, that lie might take steps to discover the guilty knight 
 of Spierhaughs and his accomplices. 
 
 Jasper Eollo arrived in Edinburgh that same day, and 
 came directly to Annabel's residence, where he found Colonel 
 Campion. In the absence of the poor lady, who was indis- 
 posed and confined to her apartment, where she was sedu- 
 lously tended by Marion, the Colonel told him the story 
 'which was now engrossing all tongues in Edinburgh. 
 
 Hollo's amazement was unbounded. He saw Eachin 
 and questioned him closely on the whole circumstances ; but, 
 like Annabel, though he was made aware that Eachin was a 
 follower of Gilderoy, and heard his name, he failed to 
 remember him as the ferocious savage of old Callam's hut. 
 
 " Spierhaughs, I fear, has played his last card," said 
 Hollo, when he and Campion were by themselves. " The 
 desperate game has gone against him." 
 
 " Ah ! Sir John knows his business," answered the Colonel. 
 " Some of Monk's favourites are Sir John's very good 
 friends, and' they can serve him at a pinch." 
 
 " But scarcely at such a pinch as this," replied Hollo. 
 
 " What can you expect at the hands of George Monk ? " 
 
 " Impartial justice. The Governor sets great store by his 
 impartiality ; so do the new judges. This daring crime cannot 
 be overlooked." 
 
 " Sir John's treason was overlooked already. You have 
 not forgotten how my successor acted ? " 
 
 " But we will openly appeal to the Governor for justice." 
 
 " To what purpose ? " said the Colonel. " I know the 
 man. He may deceive others, but me he cannot deceive. I 
 know him. I ever suspected the sincerity of his attachment 
 to the sacred cause of freedom. Ever close and impassable ; 
 what does such caution mean what does it portend ? I tell 
 you, he is sapping the very foundations of the Commonwealth. 
 All the labour of honest, brave, righteous men, in building 
 up the fair and stately fabric of the nation's liberties, he 
 counts as naught. But," he added, " if George Monk flat- 
 ters himself that he can safely pour scorn and contumely 
 upon those who would not count him with the dogs of their 
 fiocks, he is given over to judicial blindness. The time 
 will come the time must come when the inalienable rights 
 of a Christian people shall be vindicated in the sight of 
 the world : yea, the time is at hand, even at the door." 
 
 " It is dangerous, Colonel, to say so much," returned 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 273 
 
 Eollo. " I have warned you already, and I counsel you 
 again, to weigh your words, lest such bold speculations find 
 their way to the ears of the Governor." 
 
 " Why should such as he be suffered to lord it over a free- 
 born people?" said Campion. "What has it availed that 
 1 he blood of the mighty was poured out abundantly as water ? 
 The issue of our great struggle has been the setting up of a 
 Eehoboam, whose little finger has become thicker than the 
 headless tyrant's loins. Is not there strength enough in the 
 nation to cast down this Dagon of the Philistines P Such 
 questions have been asked of me by men of all degrees and 
 all parties since you and I left Eannoch. It was the con- 
 stant resort that was had to me in Fife which kept me so 
 long from Edinburgh. Many men look to me as to a leader 
 on whom they can rely." 
 
 "You have been wronged by the Governmentundeniably 
 wronged," said Hollo. "There is some serious misunderstand- 
 ing, which it should be your endeavour to remove ; but you 
 should not give way to openresentment,whichcandonogood." 
 
 "Would you counsel me to crouch to George Monk ?" 
 cried the Colonel. " He has thrust me aside, and estranged 
 himself from me. I am no dissembler. I cannot conceal mine 
 honest sentiments. Monk ! I despise him ! Every party in the 
 State despises his supremacy, and I know that a rising " 
 
 " A rising ! " echoed Hollo. " Surely you do not brood 
 over a rebellion ? A rising would be madness." 
 
 " And am I never to be vindicated in mine integrity ? " 
 
 " Trust to time for your vindication," said Eollo. " Time 
 is the great comforter, the great redresser, the great avenger. 
 I have faith in Time." 
 
 The Colonel rose from his chair and traversed the apart- 
 ment twice or thrice without speaking, then suddenly bade 
 Eollo adieu, and took his leave. 
 
 " This man must be conciliated by those in power," said 
 Eollo to himself, " otherwise he will breed serious commo- 
 tion. They have thrown him aside because of his wild en- 
 thusiasm ; but they little dream to what that enthusiasm 
 may impel him. He has done me good service, and I thank 
 him from the bottom of my heart. Yet I would gladly 
 avoid him, for he is dangerous ; and I shudder at the horrid 
 supposition God grant it be no more than a supposition ! 
 that in him a chief judge of King Charles stands con- 
 fessed." 
 
 T 
 
274 GILDEROY: 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 Conspiracies no sooner should be form'd 
 
 Than executed. What means Portius here ? 
 
 I like not that cold youth. Cafo. 
 
 AN hour or two after his arrival Jasper Hollo had the 
 pleasure of being received by Lady Annabel, then 
 quite recovered from her womanly weakness, though still 
 depressed in spirits. He informed her that the Rev. Mr. Gil- 
 christ proposed being in Edinburgh immediately to see what 
 should become of Gilderoy. 
 
 The Government authorities, on being fully apprised of 
 the nocturnal outrage, took ready action in the matter, dis- 
 pelling all suspicion of their seeking to screen the chief 
 delinquent from the consequences of his daring folly. The 
 proper officials were sent to Lady Annabel's residence, where 
 they made a thorough investigation ; and every means was 
 set at work to discover the offenders, of whom, as yet, no trace 
 had been obtained. Before night a proclamation was read 
 at the Cross of Edinburgh, offering high rewards for the 
 apprehension of Sir John Spiers of Spierhaughs and his 
 accomplices, including the man. Eoger Cristal and his wife 
 Margaret. 
 
 Some days glided by without the slightest discovery falling 
 out. At the first Lady Annabel had resolved on removing 
 to another residence in the heart of the town, where she 
 would be assured of perfect security ; but, on second 
 thoughts, she changed her mind, all probability of further 
 molestation in any shape being at an end, the more espe- 
 cially as Jasper Eollo, who took up his quarters in the 
 immediate neighbourhood, stationed his two retainers in her 
 lodging every night as a guard. As soon, however, as this 
 arrangement took place, Eachin Macraw disappeared from 
 the house, and never returned, probably because he con- 
 ceived there was no longer need of his services. Meanwhile 
 poor Marion fell alarmingly ill, doubtless from the effects 
 of the toils and dangers which she had undergone during 
 her weary pilgrimage from the north ; but with careful 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITIOK. 275 
 
 treatment and gentle nurture she speedily surmounted the 
 attack. 
 
 During this interval, Colonel Campion, accompanied by 
 his attendants, left Edinburgh, stating that he was going to 
 the country for a few days. After a brief absence, he 
 returned without his attendants, ; and sent a message to 
 Jasper Hollo, craving the favour of a visit from him at a 
 certain hour of the following evening. 
 
 When Jasper called, the Colonel was at home, but engaged 
 with a party of gentlemen ; but on Mrs. Molison announcing 
 the visitor's name, Campion came out of the room and met 
 him in the lobby. 
 
 "A few chosen friends are with me," said the Colonel, 
 " consulting on affairs which deeply concern us all. Will 
 you join us for a spare hour? The opportunity is one 
 which may be turned to very profitable account." 
 
 Jasper had no desire whatever to meet those friends, and, 
 in fact, he had his own suspicions about their character, and 
 the sort of " affairs " which they were assembled to consider. 
 So he excused himself as well as he could ; but the Colonel 
 pressing him, and seeming to take his stinginess in ill part, 
 he gave way, and suffered himself to be ushered into the 
 presence of the conclave. 
 
 The room was lighted by an antique silver candlestick 
 with several foliaged branches, each holding a large waxen 
 candle, which stood on a dark oaken table, around which sat 
 seven men, with wine-bottles and glasses before them. These 
 men were chiefly of a military cast, although not in any 
 uniform. They all wore swords. The closely-cut hair of 
 some showed that they belonged to the Koundhead or 
 Republican party ; and the others, who had flowing locks, 
 might have been set down as cavaliers at heart. Three of 
 them had short pipes in their mouths, and were fast filling 
 the chamber with smoke. 
 
 Hollo's entrance seemed to have interrupted an animated 
 conversation, and, judging from the surly looks of the com- 
 pany, his introduction was unfavourably received. The 
 Colonel resumed his empty seat at the head of the table, and gave 
 Hollo a chair on his right hand, and poured out wine for him. 
 
 " How now, Colonel?" cried one of those who wore their 
 hair in the malignant fashion. "Whose friend is this? 
 Give the name and quality, if you please. Let us have 
 everything open and above board." 
 T 2 
 
276 QILDEEOY: 
 
 " All in good time," answered Campion ; and he explained 
 that Jasper Rollo of Dunavaig and Cairnibee was an es- 
 teemed friend, who had voluntarily served with him during 
 the campaign against the Macgregors of Rannoch. "I 
 have learned to confide in him," he added. " He is of 
 good blood, and has a noble and generous spirit." 
 
 " A fig for good blood ! " exclaimed the other, snapping 
 his finger and thumb. " Can I boast of good blood ? Can 
 you ? Can any of us ? Why do you make a prate about 
 good blood ? My father was a tinker. My mother was a 
 tinker's drab. She was twice branded, and ten times 
 banished from one shire. I was born in a ditch, and my 
 first cradle was the pannier on a donkey's back. Yet, for all 
 that, I won my commission, and I am styled Major Luke. 
 A. fig for good blood ! However, my lad, as the Colonel has 
 given the password for you, and you look like a blade of the 
 true mettle, you are right heartily welcome. Take a glass." 
 And he placed the glass of wine, which the Colonel had 
 filled, near to Eollo. 
 
 From the first moment he set eyes upon them, Hollo did 
 not half like the company, and the more he saw of them the 
 less he liked them. But unwilling to take or give offence, 
 he lifted his glass and was putting it to his lips, when his 
 hand was arrested by Major Luke giving a tremendous 
 thump on the table. 
 
 " Have you no breeding?" cried the major. "You must 
 pledge us, sir. The toast for to-night is " God scatter all 
 monks from out of Zion's sanctuary ! " a right worthy toast 
 as ever passed around among good fellows. All of us have 
 drunk to it, except Colonel Campion, and he drinks no toasts, 
 for they stick in his Puritanical gizzard." 
 
 Jasper had suspected from the outset that all was not 
 right with these men, and now he felt convinced that he was 
 in a meeting of conspirators. 
 
 " The toast is an enigma," he said quietly, " and I am no 
 Oedipus to pretend solving the riddles of the Sphinx. More- 
 over, I marvel that Colonel Campion should tolerate healths 
 and toasts at his own board, seeing that he commonly 
 denounces such as remnants of ancient paganism, which all 
 good Christians should eschew." 
 
 " The Colonel preaches nonsense," cried another member 
 of the party. "Never mind what he preaches. Dost thou 
 think, because the Colonel is virtuous, there shall be no more 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 277 
 
 i 
 
 cakes and ale? Yes, by Saint Anne ; and ginger shall bo 
 Lot i' the mouth too. He that scruples to drink an honest 
 toast is a fool a downright, unmitigated fool. What says 
 Edmund Waller ? 
 
 Wine fills the veins, and healths are understood 
 To give our friends a title to onr blood ; 
 Who, naming me, doth warm his courage so. 
 Shows for my sake what his bold hand would do, 
 
 Honour the toast, and no more silly scrupling." 
 
 But Jasper still hesitated, with the glass in his hand. 
 
 " Do you drink the toast ? " demanded Major Luke, 
 peremptorily. 
 
 " Not without an explanation," answered R.olio. 
 
 " Not without an explanation ? " repeated the Major. 
 
 " And that explanation being satisfactory," added Hollo. 
 
 "The gentleman," cried Major Luke, with another em- 
 phatic thump on the table, "the gentleman will not take 
 the test." 
 
 "Is it a test?" exclaimed Hollo, setting down his glass, 
 and rising from his chair. " If it be a test, I decline it." 
 
 " I leave your friend of good blood and generous spirit in 
 your own hands, Colonel Campion," said the Major, with a 
 bitter sneer. "Regard for you is all that prevents me 
 forcing the test down his throat." 
 
 " A feat you will never perform," cried Eollo. " Hark 
 you, sirrah I have had, ere now, to chastise a bully who 
 became insolent in his cups, and I care not though I should 
 undertake the like sad task again." 
 
 The saucy major and one or two others started up with 
 indignant outcries, and grasped their swords. The rest 
 interfered to preserve the peace. Great clamour and hubbub 
 followed, during which the most of the bottles and glasses 
 were swept off the table, and dashed to pieces on the floor. 
 At length, Campion, in tones of thunder, commanded silence, 
 and the uproar ceased, i 
 
 "Is it thus that ye avouch yourselves worthy of becoming 
 leaders of a great and perilous enterprise ? " he said, gazing 
 fiercely at the Major and his supporters. " This idle 
 drunken wrangle shows me how little dependence may be 
 placed upon your circumspection. I introduced my friend, 
 hoping that the sober speeches of honest men might en- 
 lighten his understanding, and bring him to cast in his lot 
 
278 GILDEROY: 
 
 with us. But he is scarcely seated when ye fall upon him 
 like so many cut-purses." 
 
 " We had no assurance of his good faith," cried Major 
 Luke. 
 
 " His introduction by me should have satisfied all scruples," 
 said Campion. 
 
 " Hush ! there is a strange stir in the house ! " cried one of 
 the men, waving his hand in entreaty. 
 
 That same moment the chamber door was flung open with 
 a force that dashed it back to the wall, and an officer of 
 Monk's troops entered, sword in hand, followed by a party 
 of his soldiers, whose morions, breastplates, and pikes glittered 
 brightly in the wax-lights. The lobby without was also filled 
 with soldiers. The company stood as if petrified. 
 
 The officer glanced sharply around the table, and as soon 
 as his eye caught Colonel Campion, he strode up to him, and 
 laying his left hand on the Colonel's shoulder, delivered 
 himself thus "I arrest you, Edward Campion, in the name 
 of the Lord Protector. "You are my prisoner." 
 
 " For what crime ? " demanded Campion. 
 
 " Conspiracy against the peace and stability of the Com- 
 monwealth, and particularly against the Governor of Scotland, 
 General Monk," was the ready response. 
 
 "And the proofs of such conspiracy?" said Campion. 
 "What and where are they?" 
 
 " They are in the Governor's own hands. Lists of your 
 confederates and expositions of your schemes were found on 
 the persons of your two serving-men, who were apprehended 
 this morning in Fife." 
 
 The Colonel's countenance darkened when he heard this ; 
 but instantly his lip curled with a contemptuous sneer. " It 
 is enough," he said. "George Monk pants for my blood. 
 I know that he has long sought my ruin ; but it is not 
 given unto him to crush me. The Huler of heaven and 
 earth hath not put into Ms hands the power of taking away 
 my life." 
 
 " You will resign to me your sword, Colonel Campion," 
 said the officer. 
 
 " Not to mortal man," cried Campion, sternly. 
 
 " Hah ! say you so ? " exclaimed the officer, stepping back, 
 as if expecting resistance. " Soldiers ! do your duty." 
 
 " Stand fast, soldiers ! " cried the Colonel, " I yield me 
 freely. Here is the sword which you seek." He drew 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 279 
 
 his sword, and pressing the point aslant upon the hearth- 
 stone, he stamped his foot upon the shining blade, and 
 snapping it asunder dashed the hilt to the ground among 
 the fragments of the broken bottles and glasses. " Even in 
 this has George Monk failed to degrade me," he said. " I 
 have fought in the ranks of the Parliamentarian armies from 
 Edgehill to Worcester, and the good old sword which I 
 have broken and flung away rendered essential service to 
 the good old cause. Pick up the splinters and preserve 
 them ; for even the splinters of a patriot's sword are worthy 
 of being treasured as precious relics. Now, I have done 
 and tyranny may work its will. Whither do you lead me ? " 
 
 ' To the castle," replied the officer. 
 
 ' To Monk's presence P " 
 
 ' I cannot tell." 
 
 ' Is Monk in the castle ? " 
 
 ' He was when I came down." 
 
 ' I am ready to confront both him and his subservient 
 council," said Campion. " Know I not how he has been 
 darkly plotting the destruction of those liberties which were 
 purchased at the cost of many a true man's life P I can 
 unmask his machinations. Confront me with him, I pray 
 you." 
 
 " My orders direct me to convey you without loss of time to 
 the castle," said the officer. " They admit of no dallying, as 
 you may well understand." 
 
 "And my friends here are they implicated with me?" 
 inquired the Colonel. 
 
 His " friends " were standing like so many statues, silently 
 eyeing the extraordinary scene. 
 
 " None of these gentlemen are named in your lists, and I 
 have no warrant against any of them," said the officer. 
 " Those named in your papers will all be arrested before 
 to-morrow morning. The Government is conversant with 
 all the ramifications of your plot as well as with the names 
 of all your coadjutors and adherents down to the humblest 
 partizan. All your papers in this house are now seized and 
 in the hands of one of my sergeants. And, gentlemen," he 
 added, addressing the guests, "take this catastrophe as a 
 solemn warning to yourselves. Those who from mean and 
 mercenary motives have been practising upon this man's 
 rebellious humour, may blush for shaine that they have 
 suffered him to proceed thus far." 
 
280 GILDEROY: 
 
 "A new enigma!" exclaimed Campion. "You intimate 
 that I have been betrayed." 
 
 " To be betrayed is the common fate of all conspirators," 
 responded the officer. 
 
 Here Jasper Hollo found speech at last. Addressing the 
 officer, he said, " I beg you to observe that I know nothing 
 of these gentlemen, the Colonel's guests, and am accessory 
 to no conspiracy whatsoever. I came here on the Colonel's 
 simple invitation, utterly ignorant of his schemes." 
 
 To Jasper's great surprise, one of the company asseverated 
 " That is the fact." 
 
 " And I confirm it also," added Campion. 
 
 " Good," said the officer. " My duty here is strictly limited 
 to the arrest of Edward Campion and the seizure of his 
 papers. I have to do with nobody and nothing else. But 
 again I say Let this be a lesson and a warning to all. 
 Edward Campion, we attend you." 
 
 " Friends, farewell ! " said the Colonel. He complacently 
 resigned himself to his captors, and was marched out. 
 
 The house was speedily cleared of the soldiers ; but then 
 the clamour and hubbub recommenced among the guests ; 
 and the door being shut, and Major Luke placing his back 
 against it, Jasper Eollo was prevented from leaving at once, 
 as he wished to do. 
 
 " By all the fiends ! " ejaculated the Major, hoarse in voice and 
 black in the face with fury, " there are traitors amongst us." 
 
 The glare of his eye fell on Hollo, who, supposing himself 
 threatened, drew his sword. 
 
 "You!" cried the Major, "Pshaw! you were not in 
 the secret. It is another than you. Comrades, who can 
 have been so base as to break the compact ? Who ? Name 
 him, and I will search his heart !~" 
 
 The violent throwing open of the door sent the Major stag- 
 gering against the table ; and Mrs. Molison burst in, followed 
 by her worthy spouse, who was a portly, red-faced little man, 
 with a very bald head. 
 
 "Preserve us all!" ejaculated the good lady. "What 
 are they going to make of the Colonel ? and what was he 
 doing P A sergeant and two men searched his bed-closet, 
 and took away every bit of paper they could lay hands on." 
 
 " The short and the lang of it is just this, in one word," 
 cried the Deacon, snorting and puffing with agitation, as he 
 stood in the doorway surveying the company, " this is my 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 281 
 
 Louse, find as lang as ony gentleman behaves himself like 
 a gentleman, and duly pays his lodging-fee, and renders due 
 submission to the powers that rule, I'm well content ; but 
 I'll allow no Gowrie Conspiracy nor Gunpouther Plot within 
 my door. I'm a deacon a man in authority ; and great 
 discredit is likely to fall upon me for this business. It's a 
 black, black business ; and you'll all march to my door, and 
 never dare to darken it again, upon peril of your lives." 
 
 "There is no conspiracy among us, Deacon," said one of 
 the party. 
 
 " Conspiracy or no conspiracy march ! " shouted the 
 Deacon, lashing himself into a passion, which immediately 
 induced a violent fit of coughing. 
 
 " You are grossly insulting, sirrah," said Major Luke. 
 " Remember that although this is your own house " 
 
 " Yes it's my house is't yours ? " cried the Deacon. 
 " Yes, you'll march, bag and baggage or to the Tolbooth 
 you go vagabonds ! Betty, Betty, cry back the soldiers 
 and we'll get the house cleared of the villains." 
 
 " There's no occasion for the soldiers, my love," said his 
 spouse. 
 
 "No occasion! And am I to stand with my thumb in 
 my cheek and allow the house to be taken in over my head ? 
 Euffians ! " 
 
 " The gentlemen are willing enough to go," pursued Mrs. 
 Molison. " Give them time till the mob be off the cause- 
 way." 
 
 " Allow me to pass," said Hollo, for the Deacon was still 
 standing right in the doorway. " I have no connection with 
 these men." 
 
 " Say you so P " retorted the Deacon. " And who are you 
 connected with, then ? My word ! you're as gallows-looking 
 a bird as the warst o' them. But you're welcome to go 
 and take the rest of your pack after you. Murdering 
 scoundrels ! " 
 
 Hollo passed out, and on descending to the street found 
 great uproar and confusion, and the Lawn-market swarming 
 with a noisy crowd. Hastening towards that quarter, he 
 inquired of a man what had happened. 
 
 " The prisoner's broken awa' that's it," was the answer. 
 
 " The prisoner ? Colonel Campion? " 
 
 " Ay, ay the daft Colonel that lodged in Deacon Molison 's. 
 He's broken awa', sir, as sure as a gun. They should hae 
 
282 GILDEKOY: 
 
 Handcuffed him, but as lie was peaceable they took nae 
 dread. As they marched alang the Lawn-market, he drave 
 ower some o' the sodgers, and darted doon a narrow close 
 that leads you to the bank o' the Nor' Loch." 
 
 The people were thronging around the head of a dark 
 close or entry on the north side of the street, which the 
 soldiers had entered in pursuit of the fugitive. It was ex- 
 tremely amusing to hear the various surmises and rumours 
 that passed from mouth to mouth. Some folks would have 
 it that the prisoner had been arrested for conspiring to blow 
 up the castle and afterwards sack the town. Others asserted 
 that he was a cavalier emissary from Holland, who had 
 landed that day at the pier of Leith, bringing with him a 
 great store of arms and ammunition to carry on an insurrec- 
 tion. A third party declared that he had been taken in the 
 very act of preparing tremendous explosive engines to burst 
 open the Tol booth and liberate Gilderoy. 
 
 A few soldiers came running out of the entry, and hurried 
 to the castle, from which in a few minutes a strong detach- 
 ment was sent down to assist in the search going on along 
 the banks of the North Loch, a large stagnant sheet of water 
 lying in the hollow on the north side of the city. As there 
 was a ford across the loch, and no continuation of the city 
 wall along its banks, a person ordinarily acquainted with the 
 locality could meet with few obstacles in making his escape 
 to the open country in that direction. It was now dark night, 
 and the fugitive had never been seen since he disappeared 
 within the murky jaws of the close. 
 
 Eventually the pursuit came to nothing. Colonel Campion 
 had vanished as mysteriously as Sir John Spiers. 
 
 Hollo, who had gone down to the banks of the loch, re- 
 turned with the returning crowd to the High Street, and 
 took his way to his lodgings. A man in a mantle, who ap- 
 peared to have dogged his steps for some distance, now came 
 close up to him, and touching his arm, said, in a low tone 
 " He has escaped, and I'm glad on't." 
 
 Hollo had no wish to interchange sentiments with the 
 stranger, so he gave no answer, but walked on with slightly 
 accelerated pace. The man, however, followed, and continued 
 his talk "I was one of the party in Deacon Molison's," he 
 said. 
 
 Hollo stopped, and looking at him, in the gleam of a 
 lighted window, recognised the conspirator who had corrobo- 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 283 
 
 rated him in disclaiming connection with the company. " I 
 am indebted to you," said he, " for the friendly word you 
 spoke." 
 
 " 'Twas but right," replied the stranger. " I was shocked 
 to hear Luke insult you in such a fashion ; but Luke is a 
 cowardly insolent dog ; and he and the rest of them, itching 
 for Government pay, lured on the Colonel to his maddest 
 schemes." 
 
 " And betrayed him P " 
 
 " They were forestalled in that," said the stranger. " The 
 Government has its own agents. The Government has eyes 
 and ears for everything. If Major Luke and his friends were 
 worth a straw, they would be arrested ; but they are too 
 contemptible, and Government finds its account by overlook- 
 ing them. The Colonel's brain must have been turned when 
 he consorted with such rascallions. But I'm glad he has 
 escaped, and I trust he will seek safety beyond seas." 
 
 " And is there truth in the heavy charge against him? " 
 
 " Much truth, as you will shortly find. Take care of your- 
 self, Jasper Hollo, and look to what friendships you form in 
 these uneasy times. Good night." 
 
 Having spoken these parting words, the stranger turned 
 quickly on his heel and strode as quickly out of sight. 
 
 " He is a spy ! " muttered Hollo to himself, as he walked 
 homewards. " The Colonel was betrayed by this man alone." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 A brave man knows no malice, but at once 
 
 Forgets in peace the injuries of war, 
 
 And gives his direst foe a friend's embrace. 
 
 Cowper's "Task," 
 
 THERE were now two fugitives from justice against whom 
 the Government fulminated its thunders Sir John 
 Spiers and Colonel Campion ; and over the retreat of both 
 mystery threw her darkest veil. 
 
28'1 GILDEEOY: 
 
 The day after the Colonel's evasion the Rev. Mr. Gilchrist 
 came to Edinburgh, ostensibly on business connected with 
 Lady Annabel's affairs, but simply and solely to watch the 
 fate of Gilderoy. 
 
 The secrets of the conspiracy fomented by Campion began 
 to ooze out publicly, showing that his design was of the 
 wildest character. The army was to be tampered with 
 General Monk seized or assassinated the Government over- 
 turned the authority of Cromwell solemnly abjured and an 
 independent Scottish Commonwealth established on prin- 
 ciples akin to those of the Fifth Monarchy men, who antici- 
 pated the immediate coming of Christ, and the inauguration 
 of the reign of the saints on earth. It did not transpire 
 that he had drawn over many men of influence to his pro- 
 ject ; but several arrests took place among the subordinate 
 officers of the forces stationed in and around the capital.* 
 
 Seing what had befallen the Colonel, it was but natural 
 that Marion should fear that the pass, which she had ob- 
 tained through his intervention with the Governor, might 
 not again avail her, and therefore, on regaining convalescence, 
 she hesitated about venturing to visit Gilderoy a second time, 
 although most eager to do so, lest she should be exposed to 
 insult and danger. But on Mr. Gilchrist being acquainted 
 with her doubts, he applied to one of Monk's officers to 
 whom he was personally known, and was informed that the 
 pass had not been withdrawn, but might still be used by 
 Marion as she found occasion. Anxious himself to visit 
 Gilderoy, he requested to be furnished with the like autho- 
 rity, but the officer told him that it could not then be granted, 
 as orders were strict to exclude every person from Gilderoy 
 till after his trial, except the bearer of the pass already 
 granted. Mr. Gilchrist did not forget to make special in- 
 
 * A servant of Cromwell, but the hope of the Royalist party, and inflexible 
 in denying any immediate intervention of the Lord in public affairs, Monk 
 was necessarily an object of hatred to all religious and political fanatics. This 
 hatred had burst out during the early period of his residence in Scotland. 
 Overton, the major-general of his infantry, a millenarian enthusiast, and 
 leader of the malcontents, had formed the plan of seizing the command of 
 the troops and declaring against Cromwell. The conspirators intended to 
 surprise Monk at Dalkeith, on the 1st of January, 1656. Some wished that he 
 should be killed; but Samuel Gates, a minister, opposed this, threatening to 
 reveal if his murder were contemplated. This opposition caused the post- 
 ponement of the conference to another day. Monk, informed of the pint 
 towards the end of December, arrested Overton and several of his accomplices, 
 and sent them to London. A great many others were cashiered, and Monk 
 took advantage of this occurrence to be more stringent in his army against 
 that fanaticism and independence which were so obnoxious to him, GuizoVs 
 "Life of Monk." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 285 
 
 quiry concerning Judith. The officer, however, could give 
 no better information than that an investigation of the case 
 had been ordered, and was apparently still in progress, as he 
 had not heard of the result. 
 
 At much about the same hour in the evening as on the 
 former occasion, Marion presented herself at the Tolbooth 
 door, and exhibiting her pass, was promptly admitted. The 
 Gudeman expressed surprise that so long an interval had 
 elapsed since her previous visit, which she accounted for on 
 the score of sickness, and, indeed, she still looked thin, pale, 
 and faint. 
 
 " Gilderoy himself is very down-hearted," he said. " He's 
 taking ill, ill with the Tolbooth. I know a great change 
 upon him since he came here ; I know a great change upon 
 yourself, lassie, since I saw you last." 
 
 These words caused Marion to shed tears as .she followed 
 him slowly up the dark steps. Before entering the common 
 hall, however, through which she had to pass to the outlaw's 
 prison, she was led into a small dingy room, evidently the 
 Gudeinan's own den, in which he lay in wait all the daytime. 
 There was no one within. 
 
 " Hark you, lassie," he said, shutting the door, and speak- 
 ing in a suppressed voice, " Gilderoy is so important a pri- 
 soner, and we are so jealous about his safe-keeping, that 
 nobody can be admitted to see him, save yourself, because 
 you have got General Monk's orders. But when you go up 
 the stair to-night, perhaps you'll see what will make you 
 start and wonder perhaps you'll see nothing at all. But 
 whatever you see, lock it as a secret in your own breast, and 
 never speak a word to living creature about it, or the word 
 may cost you and other folk dear." 
 
 " JN"o a word will ever be spoken by me," answered Marion, 
 in exceeding amazement. 
 
 " See that you faithfully stand to your promise," said the 
 jailor, " and it will be the better for yourself, better for 
 Gideroy, better for us all." 
 
 He said no more, but forthwith conducted her to the 
 Highland captive's prison. 
 
 It was still the same grim and gloomy cell, its gaunt pro- 
 portions half-concealed by the grey twilight within, which 
 was all of the blessed light of day that penetrated the nar- 
 row, barred, cobwebbed window. Marion looked inqui- 
 sitively around. She thought there was a larger quantity 
 f straw in the place than what she had observed before 
 
286 GI1DEKOY: 
 
 and much of it was heaped in the darkest corner. But look 
 as she might, she saw absolutely nothing to give occasion for 
 the Gudeman's warning. This utter absence of anything 
 to wonder at afforded her sufficient cause for wonderment. 
 
 The outlaw was on his feet, and leaning on the iron bar 
 to which his chains were affixed by an iron ring which moved 
 freely along it. On seeing Marion he seemed much pleased, 
 and grasping the trembling hand which she held out, he 
 pressed it ardently. She observed, with a thrill of pain, 
 that the horrors of captivity were fast undermining his 
 strength. Formerly he stood straight as a young pine in 
 the Black Wood of Rannoch, but now his shoulders had 
 contracted a decided stoop, and his gait, when he moved, 
 was slow and shambling, as though he bore a heavy burden 
 and so he did ; for the guilt of Dunavaig's slaughter was 
 burden enough. 
 
 " You have not forsaken and forgotten me," he said. "I 
 am abandoned by all the world save you and Ranald 
 Yourigh." 
 
 " Mention not his name," said Marion. 
 
 " Jailor," cried Gilderoy, "I conjure you, never more let 
 me behold the face of that miscreant in this cell, else you and 
 he may never leave it alive." 
 
 " Was Ranald Yourigh here ? " inquired Marion, but with 
 no surprise. 
 
 " He was," replied Gilderoy. " He bribed the jailor there 
 with a portion of his ill-gotten gold to open the door and suffer 
 him to glare in upon me. The door was opened ajar, and he 
 glared in, with his cruel triumphant smile, and made a step 
 towards me " 
 
 The jailor watched him with a suspicious and troubled eye. 
 " Tut, tut, man ! " he interrupted, " what need you grudge a 
 gold piece coming out of Macpherson's purse, and going into 
 my pouch ? And you saw that he could not look you straight 
 in the face like an honest man." 
 
 " Let him come no more," said Gilderoy. 
 
 " He'll not seek, never you fear," responded the Gude- 
 man, with a nod of his head. " Your steady look cowed 
 him yon day." 
 
 " Oh ! James !" cried Marion, breaking in on the jailor's 
 speech. " Is there nae hope that they'll hae mercy ? " 
 
 " Hope, girl? You know not what you speak," said the 
 captive. " They are scarcely to give "me the mockery "of a trial, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 287 
 
 for they had my doom sealed the moment they heard I was 
 taken. I was fore-faulted long ago when the sentence of 
 outlawry was pronounced against me. They have no more 
 to do than to rake up the old sentence, and bid the exe- 
 cutioner perform his part. Let no dream of mercy delude 
 your mind. The time for such a dream is past for ever. It 
 cannot be forgiven that I arrayed my banner against that of 
 the Commonwealth. Tell me how you have fared since you 
 last were here." 
 
 Marion narrated the incidents of the interval her meeting 
 with Lady Annabel Rutherford, the supposed fate of Sir 
 John Spiers, the arrest and flight of Colonel Campion, the 
 arrival of Mr. Gilchrist, &c. ; but she said nothing about 
 Eachin Macraw, for fear of the jailor giving a hint to the 
 authorities that one of the prisoner's followers was in town. 
 
 Gilderoy listened to the recital with much interest, and 
 then, after a long pause, said " Forget that ever I chid you 
 for giving the lady her freedom. Your fault was the fault 
 of innocence and simplicity; and, after all, you are my best 
 and only friend." 
 
 " And a helpless ane," faltered Marion. " Mr. Gilchrist," 
 she added, " desires muckle to see you ance mair." 
 
 " Tell him," said Gilderoy, in a stern tone, " never to 
 cross the black threshold of" this prison house ; for, with 
 what intent would Tie come ? To horrify mine ears with 
 accusations to undermine and destroy all the courage with 
 which it will be my pride to meet death. Tell him to avoid 
 me." 
 
 At this there was a rustling among the heap of straw in 
 the dark corner, and a half-stifled voice articulated " There 
 must needs be penitent preparation for death. Wouldst 
 thou dare eternal wrath and condemnation without hearty 
 acknowledgment of sins and earnest prayer for forgive- 
 ness ? " 
 
 Marion looked to the corner in great affright, and saw 
 the heap of straw tossing aside, as by some inward con- 
 vulsion, and a tall man, in a sad-coloured habit, rising up 
 from amidst it. The voice did not sound altogether strange 
 to her, and speedily she recognized the man, with much 
 astonishment and sorrow Colonel Campion, the proclaimed 
 conspirator ! 
 
 " I would be a partaker in thy guilt," he proceeded, 
 advancing a step or two, " did I not take up my testi- 
 
288 GILDEROY: 
 
 mony in the sight of heaven, and implore thee to prepare 
 by due repentance for the last great change which is at 
 hand. Dost thou not know, hast thou not read, that all 
 wicked men shall be turned into the lowest hell, there to 
 dwell with everlasting burnings ? " 
 
 The jailor frowned, hemmed angrily, and jingled his 
 bunch of keys. 
 
 " Fool ! " said Gilderoy, looking askance at the fanatic. 
 *\Be silent, or quit the den. Day and night your madness 
 lashes itself against me. I have ample cause to hate and 
 curse you. But when I beheld you in evil fortune, hunted 
 by the tyrants whom you served so long and so well, and 
 when I recalled to mind that you befriended this hapless 
 maiden, I freely consented to your concealment here. And 
 is this your gratitude ? " 
 
 "It is," replied Campion, in a calm, subdued tone. 
 " Earnest care and solicitude for the welfare of your soul 
 will not allow me to keep silence." 
 
 " Colonel," said the jailor, " you'll put it out of the power 
 of mortal man to do you a good turn, for you will not keep 
 your ill-scraped tongue quiet. What the devil need you 
 mind what comes of him, or what comes of me, or what 
 comes of anything that's no fashing you ? See what will 
 come of yourself if I put you to the door. Lie down among 
 your straw, and give us peace." 
 
 " I am constrained, even at my own proper peril, to lift up 
 my voice," said the Roundhead, " that so his conscience may 
 be awakened, and his hard and stony heart melted, and he be 
 led to make his peace with offended Heaven." 
 
 "Man of blood and desolation! minion of treason and 
 regicide ! " uttered Gilderoy, " hast thou not a long account 
 to answer for in the final day of reckoning ? " 
 
 " I am ready to meet that day," responded the fanatic. " In 
 that great day, when the books shall be opened, there shall be 
 given unto me a crown of glory that can never fade. It is 
 written that the men whom the prophet Ezekiel saw, in the 
 vision, standing beside the brazen altar, having each his slaugh- 
 ter weapon in his hand, were commanded to go forth into the 
 city, and to smite all whom the man clothed with linen, 
 having the inkhorn by his side, did set apart for destruction. 
 They went forth and obeyed the commandment by filling the 
 court of the temple with the slain. And blessed were they ! 
 I also am an inheritor of the blessing ; for when the same 
 
A SCOTTISH TBA.DITION. 289 
 
 high hand set aside a tyrant for doom, and the same voice 
 called unto me that I should lift my slaughter weapon, and 
 therewith execute judgment, I was not disobedient to the 
 heavenly mandate, but went forth and defiled the very throne 
 of generations of kings ! " 
 
 " This madman has a thousand crimes to answer for ! " 
 said Gilderoy, with a loud rattle of his fetters. ^ " Unless 
 his frenzy abates I must be alone. Such companionship is 
 frightful. 1 '' 
 
 The Colonel, glaring upon the floor, and biting his nails to 
 the quick, receded into his dark corner, and sat down among 
 the straw. 
 
 "The fit's off him," said the jailor. " Such fury cannot 
 last. Now, lassie," continued he, laying his hand on 
 Marion's shoulder, "what you see and hear must go no 
 farther." 
 
 "I've promised," she answered, " and I'll fulfil." 
 
 " For my sake be prudent be secret," said Gilderoy. 
 " He was my mortal foe ; but all that is over, and I would 
 that the wretched man escape." 
 
 " He's no prisoner ? " she said, her tearful eyes dilating 
 with wonder. 
 
 " He's a prisoner by his own will and desire," returned the 
 jailor, with a dry laugh. " You know little of the mysteries 
 of the old Heart o' Mid-Lothian. Sometimes a fellow that 
 the magistrates would give any money to clap under my 
 lock and key comes to my door of his own accord, seeking 
 shelter and protection, because the last place the beagles 
 wad think of searching for him is the Tolbooth, and there he 
 lies snug till he finds means to flit. Do you understand me, 
 lassie?" 
 
 Sooth to say, the girl did not clearly understand at first 
 such a strange and preposterous mode of eluding arrest. 
 But, strange and preposterous as it looked, it was never- 
 theless a mode of which not a few parties are known to 
 have availed themselves in Edinburgh. The keepers of the 
 Tolbooth were never proof against bribes. They took 
 bribes to defeat the ends of justice, both by favouring the 
 escape of prisoners and by concealing persons in the prison 
 from the pursuit of the officers. On more than one noto- 
 rious occasion, while the whole city was strictly searched and 
 every port guarded, while it was known to a certainty that 
 the delinquent sought after was lurking somewhere about 
 
290 aiLDEEOY: 
 
 Edinburgh that very individual, by procuring secret admis- 
 sion to the Tolbooth, lived there securely and at his ease 
 until such time as the heat of pursuit abated, and his 
 friends had provided facilities for his retreat from the 
 town.* 
 
 " But wha will save you ? " cried Marion, with a bursting 
 sigh, as she gazed on the outlaw. 
 
 " You must try to bear up against the many sorrows by 
 which you are beset/' said Gilderoy. 
 
 " How can I bear up ? " she sighed. " How can my 
 heart be licht when there's sic a weary load o' sorrow on 
 it? There's nae mair peace for me on this earth. You 
 winna let me gang to the governor, nor to naebody, that 
 I micht fa' on my knees before them, and beg your life only 
 your life, though you were to be banished far, far frae 
 Scotland, and never tread the Highland heather again a' 
 your days. Surely they couldna ha'e the heart to refuse 
 a simple lass. If I had but the promise o' your life ! " 
 
 " Would you kneel and pray that I might live a life of 
 shame and misery ? " cried the prisoner, while a gleam 
 kindled in his dull eye. 
 
 " I wad save you frae a death o'shame," she stammered. 
 
 " As well might you look for mercy from famished wolves 
 as from those who now have me in their power, and who are 
 yearning for the moment when I shall look my last on earth 
 and sky," said Macgregor. " Never shall it be told that 
 my father's son sought mercy from his sworn foemen. They 
 have beaten down my sword ; but my free spirit they cannot 
 conquer. When you go back to Hannoch, Marion, you will 
 tell the story of my fate ; and perchance, when my head, 
 set upon an iron spike beside that of Great Montrose, is 
 
 * In two very extraordinary instances an escape from justice has, strange 
 as it may appear, been effected by means of the old Tolbooth. At the dis- 
 covery of the Rye House Plot, in the reign of Charles II., the notorious 
 Robert Ferguson, usually styled the " Plotter," was searched for in Edin- 
 burgh, with a view to his being subjected, if possible, to the extreme vengeance 
 of the law. It being known almost certainly that he was in town, the 
 authorities shut the gates, and calculated securely upon having him safe 
 within their toils. The plotter, however, by an expedient worthy of his in- 
 genious character, escaped by taking refuge in the old Tolbooth. A friend of 
 his happened to be confined there at the time, and was able to afford protec- 
 tion and concealment to Ferguson, who, at his leisure, came abroad, and 
 betook himself to a place of safer shelter on the Continent. The same device 
 was practised in 1746 by a gentleman who had been concerned in the rebellion, 
 and for whom a hot search had been carried on in the Highlands. Cham- 
 bers' " Traditions of Edinburgh." 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 291 
 
 picked to the bare white skull by the Lowland ravens, 
 the claymores of the Gregalich will avenge their last chief- 
 tain." 
 
 " Alas ! alas ! I may never see the hills of Hannoch again ! " 
 sobbed Marion, hiding her weeping face in her hands. 
 " But," added she, as the Gudeman gently admonished her 
 that she had overstayed the allotted time, " I will come ilka 
 day to see you, and aiblins some hope may arise." 
 
 She was conducted from the strong room. As she went 
 down the stair she heard a murmuring crooning voice from 
 within a cell on the one side, the door of which was standing 
 partly open. The sound struck her so forcibly that she 
 stood stock still, and clutching the jailor's arm, inquired in a 
 whisper " What woman is that in there ?" 
 
 " In there ? " said he. " Lassie, you made me start, grip- 
 ping me sae short. Wha is she ? Some old j ade they brought 
 over the water from Fife this morning. She had been 
 bewitching the haddock boats, I believe." 
 
 The door was drawn further open, and a turnkey appeared. 
 " I've given the auld witch her supper," he said. " But I 
 think she's clean demented. She does naething but sit 
 and croon to hersel'." 
 
 "Do you ken her name?" asked Marion of the jailor. 
 " Will you let me gang in and see her ?" 
 
 These interrogations, being pronounced in her natural 
 tone, were evidently overheard by the inmate of the cell ; 
 for a shrill and wild shriek issued from within, the half- 
 closed door was pulled back to its full extent, and an aged, 
 ragged, wretched-looking old crone rushed out past the 
 turnkey, and flung herself upon Marion's bosom. It was 
 Marion's grandmother ! It was old Judith, who was thought 
 to have perished in the Fife village ! 
 
 Marion screamed, and embraced her with impassioned 
 ardour, mingling her warm tears of joy with those which 
 now hailed from the poor old woman's eyes. The two men 
 stood transfixed with astonishment. At length the Gude- 
 man found breath to ejaculate " Lassie, have you friends 
 in every hole and bore of the Tolbooth ? " 
 
 " It's my ain bairn ! " cried Judith. 
 
 " Your own bairn ! " cried he. " You old 'witching jade I- 
 hold up, I say ! " 
 
 " It's my ain bairn that I thocht was lost and dead my 
 ain lassie the apple o' my e'e and the joy o' my heart ! " 
 u 2 
 
292 GTLDEROT: 
 
 sobbed the old woman, still clinging to Marion. "But they 
 shall separate me and my lassie nae rnair. We lived the- 
 gither lang, and she maun be wi' me to close my auld e'en 
 when this weary, weary pilgrimage is past and gane." 
 
 " They told me you were dead that the folk in yon ill town 
 took your life," said Marion ; " and sair, sair ha'e I mourned 
 sin syne. Oh ! grandmither ! grandmither ! what's to become 
 o' us in this awfu' time, when everything's black about 
 us ? " 
 
 "It can be but death at lang and last, lassie," returned 
 Judith. " It's life and days o' sorrow that we ha'e maist to 
 fear. It's no death ; for death wad be welcome. It's death 
 that wad put an end to a' our troubles, and gi'e us rest and 
 peace." 
 
 " You must go, lass, you must go," said the jailor. " This 
 is against all law, woman. It's past the hour. The prisoners 
 are all in their own cells, and the common hall is empty. 
 We must close up for the night, or I'll be found fault with." 
 
 "But I canna gang and leave her my ain grandmither. 
 I canna gang awa and leave her here ; and maybe the morn 
 she'll be taken up to the Castle hill, and brunt for a witch, 
 and me see nae mair o' her," cried Marion, in a voice of agony. 
 "Bather put me in there beside her, and keep me there, 
 and I'll be your prisoner cheerfully. Send to the magis- 
 trates, and tell them I'm a blacker witch nor her ; for I 
 baptize cats, and fling strae-wisps into the sea to raise 
 tempests to coup and sink haddock boats ; and I blast corn ; 
 and I elf-shoot cattle ; and I drive puddock-ploughs ower 
 bonny rigs to mak them barren ; and I cast an ill e'e on 
 bairns to gar them dwine and dee in their cradles ; and I 
 raise the deil whiles in the shape o' a black goat, and whiles 
 in the shape o' a muckle bumbee ; and I've spoken wi' dead 
 folk that live in Fairyland ; and I and and tell them a' 
 that, jailor, and I'll confess till't, every word ; and syne 
 they winna find fault wi' you for letting me stay wi' my 
 grandmither." 
 
 " Na, na, bonny lass, I'll do no such thing," returned the 
 Gudeman of the "Tolbooth, with a smile. "Ay, and you 
 mind me, lassie," he added, thoughtfully, "you mind me of 
 a sweet jo I had in my young days. I was a swank fellow 
 then, and she was fair and handsome. And oh! woman, 
 mony's the time we have wandered down the Links of Leith, 
 or by St. Anton's well, in the summer gloamings, picturing 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 293 
 
 out to oursels things that never were to be picturing out 
 the happy days when my apprenticeship would be served, 
 and me a freeman, and her my winsome wife. We might 
 have seen such days had not death stept in; and she has 
 lain mony a year and mony a day under the sod of the old 
 Greyfriars." He stopped, brushed his sleeve across his eyes, 
 and then, assuming a peremptory tone, cried, " Come, come ! 
 you can see your grandmother the morn. But you must go 
 home to-night." 
 
 " Gang hame? " echoed the old woman. " Gang hame to 
 naething but sorrow and desolation ilka house fu' o' mourn- 
 ing, and the sword o' the oppressor flashing ower the braid 
 lands o' Clan Gregor, deadly as a gleam o' lichtning ? Gang 
 hame, and no a friend's face to mak' her welcome? Her 
 best hame, her only hame, is the grave ; and oh ! that her 
 and me baith were there." 
 
 " But how did you escape death in yon ill town ? " in- 
 quired Marion. " Tell me that, for I canna bide langer." 
 She had now overcome her paroxysm of distraction. 
 
 " I canna tell muckle aboot it," said Judith. " When 
 they shot me into a dark, gruesome prison, their evil passions 
 gart them pu' me oot again to get me brunt before the nicht 
 was past. They tied me to a post, and heaped strae and 
 tarry sticks, and coals, and siclike elding aboot me ; but just 
 when they began to set lowe to the pile, the bailie and ither 
 folk o' authority cam' and dispersed the unruly rabble, and 
 put me back into my confinement. They keepit me, I kenna 
 how lang, and syne they brocht me ower the water, and shot 
 me in here. And when was you putten in, my bairn ? " 
 
 " I'm no putten in ava. I'm no a prisoner, grandmither. 
 I only cam' here to see Gilderoy. I'm staying wi' yon 
 Lowland lady." 
 
 " Curses cling to her! Her fair but fause looks were the 
 ruin o' the chief and the clan." 
 
 But here the jailor and his assistant forcibly interfered, 
 and parting Marion and her grandmother, they consigned 
 the latter to her cell and bolted her in. 
 
 " Were your grandmother sentenced to die the morn, you 
 might be loth to leave her," said the Gudeman ; " but she's 
 in no such condition. She must first be lawfully tried and 
 condemned. The Fife tricks will not stand law on this side 
 of the water, and the Protector's judges never lay great 
 account by witchcraft at any rate." 
 
294) GILDEEOY: 
 
 The Gudeman led her down the stair, and through the com- 
 mon hall, which was now empty and silent, and then once more 
 into his own little room. "Let me warn you again, lass, to 
 say nothing about what you saw in Gilderoy's prison," he 
 said, earnestly. " It wad be death to the Captain and me 
 were it kent ; and as he was your friend at a pinch, as he 
 tells me, you'll show your gratitude for his kindness by 
 hauding your tongue about him. And if I find you discreet, 
 I'll guide your granny weel as lang's she's here." 
 
 Poor Marion renewed her promise of absolute secresy, and 
 then left the prison. 
 
 When she reached home she astonished her friends by 
 telling how she had so strangely discovered her grandmother ; 
 but, true to her pledge, she never said a word about Colonel 
 Campion. She implored Jasper Hollo and Mr. Gilchrist to 
 exert every means in their power to save Judith from the 
 doom to which, it was to be feared in those witch-burning 
 days, she might be hurried. They assured her no stone 
 would be left unturned in Judith's defence against any 
 accusation brought against her ; and Mr. Gilchrist promised 
 that next day he should make application to General Monk 
 himself in her behalf. " But, indeed," said Eollo, " from the 
 very fact that she has been taken out of the hands of her 
 accusers and brought to Edinburgh, there is good ground to 
 hope for her speedy release." 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 The charge is prepared, the lawyers are met, 
 
 The judges all ranged a terrible show ! 
 I go undismay'd, for death is a debt 
 
 A debt on demand so take what I owe. 
 
 The Beggars' Opera. 
 
 THE Scottish Court of Justiciary (formed of Cromwell's 
 " Commissioners ") sat in judgment on Gilderoy. 
 He presented an uncouth, savage figure when placed in 
 the felon's dock opposite to the solemn bench of Judges 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 295 
 
 arrayed in their robes' of office, his attire being still 
 the tattered blood-stained rags in which he was taken. 
 Scarcely less wild-looking a figure stood beside him in the 
 person of the Doomster, wearing his characteristic livery 
 of black and red. 
 
 The Court was filled to suffocation with spectators. Barons 
 and their ladies, knights and their dames, burgesses and their 
 wives all were there, eager to behold the Highland outlaw, 
 whose daring deeds had filled fame's mouth so long. It was 
 the afternoon ere he was brought to the bar, other capital 
 cases having occupied the previous portion of the sitting. 
 
 When he appeared, he evinced a dauntless courage. Ruin, 
 imprisonment, despair, had passed heavily on him ; his 
 countenance was grisly, thin, and wan, but his eye, lately so 
 sunken and lustreless, had gained a strong unnatural bril- 
 liancy, and his bearing was as proud, and haughty, and 
 defiant as though he stood surrounded by a thousand of 
 Clan Alpine's best claymores. 
 
 Marion had been urgent to witness the trial, but was dis- 
 suaded by Lady Annabel, and Jasper E/ollo was the only 
 one of her friends who was present. 
 
 There was no need to rake up and parade the murder and 
 fire-raising at Dunavaig and the abduction of the heiress of 
 G-lenbirkie. The prisoner was a proclaimed and proscribed 
 outlaw and rebel. The doom of the law had been pronounced 
 against him while yet he was free and the leader of a power- 
 ful band, laughing to scorn the might of his enemies ; and 
 what was there now to do but just to hand him over, in due 
 form, to the hangman ? This mode of procedure saved Lady 
 Annabel and Mr. G-ilchrist the pain of appearing against 
 him as witnesses. 
 
 The sentence was given forth death ! He was to be 
 hanged on the third day thence, upon a gibbet, on the road 
 to Leith. And may the Lord have mercy on his soul ! 
 
 " And this," exclaimed the Doomster, in a harsh and se- 
 pulchral voice, that thrilled through the heart of every one 
 in court, and laying his thick, heavy hand upon the prisoner's 
 head, according to the usual custom, " This I pronounce for 
 doom ! " 
 
 The condemned man seemed struck that moment with a 
 giddiness ; but the weakness soon passed away. A buzz ran 
 round the court. He glared fiercely towards the judges, and 
 then at the gloomy official by his side, and muttered some 
 
296 GILDEROY : 
 
 words between liis teeth, clenched his hands, and drawing a 
 deep sigh, turned his back upon the bar, and was led away. 
 
 As Rollo, having left the court, was making his way 
 through the crowd outside, he was accosted by Ranald 
 Yourigh, whom he had seen but once since he came to 
 Edinburgh. Strange to tell, instead of wearing a triumph- 
 ant expression, the face of the Highlander was dejected 
 and sullen, as though the day's issue had been Gilderoy 's 
 acquittal. 
 
 " Ah, Macpherson ! " said Hollo, " you are getting your re- 
 venge at last." 
 
 " And you'll get your own revenge, likewise," answered 
 Ranald. " Do you know what the Doomster told me ? 
 Gilderoy is to be hung upon the highest gallows that ever 
 was raised in Scotland. That's news to you.'* 
 
 " Unhappy wretch ! I bear no revengeful feeling now," 
 said Rollo. 
 
 " Wherefore shouldna you ? " cried Macpherson, warmly. 
 "Did you see yon dour proud front he set up at the bar? 
 "What a settled haughty defiance was in his look. Folk 
 may say that I am revenged ; but how can I be revenged 
 until his spirit break ? It was to break and crush his lofty 
 spirit that I dragged him from the hills ; but still that spirit 
 defies me ; and I am no more slockened of my vengeance 
 than when he was at the head of his followers in the glen o' 
 battle." Ranald's eyes flashed fire, and he stamped once or 
 twice on the ground. " No, Dunavaig, I'm not slockened, 
 and the memory of my old wrongs still burns at my heart's 
 core. But you are fully avenged. The murderer of your 
 kinsman will die on the gallows within three suns ; and your 
 desperate rival " 
 
 * Are there any tidings of Sir John Spiers ? Not likely." 
 
 1 'There are." 
 
 ' Of what import ? " cried Rollo, " Is he taken ? " 
 
 ' Ay, by the last arrest, your honour," responded Mac- 
 pherson, 
 
 He is dead ? " 
 
 Dead of his wounds." 
 
 When where ? " 
 
 ' The news came in just before Gilderoy was brought into 
 court," said Ranald Vourigh. "The man, Roger Cristal, 
 who tried to beguile me of the honour and profit of laying 
 Gilderoy by the heels, has appeared, and made a full confes- 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 297 
 
 sion, and claimed the reward offered for Sir John's appre- 
 hension, living or dead." 
 
 " This Cristal must have been one of Sir John's accom- 
 plices." 
 
 " The chief man of his band. Sir John engaged him in 
 the North, after the capture of Gilderoy. 
 
 " But where has Sir John died ? " 
 
 " Give me time to tell the story," said Macpherson. " Sir 
 John and his band followed Lady Annabel and yourself 
 to Glenbirkie, and planned various schemes to take her ; but 
 everything failed. She came suddenly to Edinburgh. They 
 followed. It was soon known that her lodging was near by 
 Cristal's own dwelling, where his wife resided. When the 
 Highlandman put them all to flight, the band led or carried 
 Sir John to Cristal's house, that they might get his wounds 
 dressed ; but the approach of the pursuer made them take 
 to their heels. Seeing, however, it was but one man, they 
 did not run far, but watched at a little distance, and when 
 the Highlandman went off they returned, and away with 
 their master out of the town altogether. Some miles south 
 of Edinburgh they got him sheltered in a solitary cottage, 
 and there he lay concealed till his death. As soon as 
 Cristal saw the breath out of him, he came in and confessed, 
 and claimed the reward." 
 
 " Thus, both Spierhaughs and his dupe, Gilderoy, are 
 beneath our feet," said Hollo. " The hand of an avenging 
 God is in this." 
 
 " Soldiers are already despatched to arrest the body and 
 as mony of the band as may be gotten," said Ranald. " The 
 dead and the living will be brought in the morn's morning. 
 And on the third day we shall hae an end of Gilderoy. As 
 soon as I see the last of him, I am for the North. Do you 
 mind how he boasted me in Dunavaig Manse, that I but flee 
 my country for fear of the dirks of his followers ? " 
 
 " And you should not despise the warning," said Hollo. 
 " Desperate men are to be dreaded." 
 
 " Hoot awa' ! " cried Ranald. " Since I brought Gilderoy 
 to the Tolbooth I've been up and down, and ne'er ane fashed 
 me in town or country. The Macgregors daurna cross the 
 Highland line ; and north o' the Highland line the Go- 
 vernor's Guards ha'e effectually cowed them. I'll gang back 
 to Hannoch, and enjoy my triumph ; and wha daur lift a 
 finger against me ? " 
 
298 GILDEEOY: 
 
 And Ranald, with a proud laugh, snapped his finger and 
 thumb in the air. 
 
 " If you gang to the castle the morn," he added, " you'll 
 hear the whole story about Sir John Spiers. Congratulate 
 Lady Annabel for me on the fate of her enemy." 
 
 " But there is nothing heard of Colonel Campion ? " 
 
 " No a cheep," said Ranald. " Depend upon it, he's on 
 the ocean by this time. Gude nicht. I may see you at the 
 castle in the morning." 
 
 With this they separated, and Rollo proceeded to Lady 
 Annabel's residence. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 My heart is sair I darena tell 
 
 My heart is sair for somebody; 
 I could wake a winter nicht 
 
 For the sake o' somebody. 
 I could range the world around 
 
 For the sake o' somebody ! Sums. 
 
 MARION had been sitting alone all day not weeping, 
 not lamenting outwardly, scarcely drawing a sigh, but 
 overcome with something like an atrophy. Devoured by 
 grief, she was yet unable to shed a single tear, though tears 
 might have relieved her. In her own mind, that day, the 
 fate of Gilderoy never for one moment wavered in the 
 balance. She knew what would be the sentence pronounced 
 upon him, and it was at her own request that she was allowed 
 to sit alone and sorrow unseen. 
 
 Shortly after the court rose she was visited by Annabel. 
 
 A wan smile, partaking deeply of despair, irradiated the 
 poor girl's pallid countenance, and a thick, struggling sigh 
 escaped her lips, as she stood up to receive Annabel. The 
 lady took her tenderly by the hand, and, requesting her to be 
 seated, placed herself beside her. 
 
 " He has been sentenced to death ? " said Marion, per- 
 ceiving her benefactress embarrassed. " That's what you ha'e 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 299 
 
 come to tell me. But I expected naething else. What else 
 could I expect? " 
 
 "You must bear this stroke with resignation," said 
 Annabel. "But I have also good news to tell you. I am 
 assured by Mr. Gilchrist, who has been making strong 
 interest, that there is a prospect of your grandmother's 
 speedy release. They will fail to prove anything against 
 her." 
 
 " May God bless you and the minister abundantly, 
 madam ! " cried Marion, as the tears came to her eyes. 
 
 " The minister and Rollo," said Annabel, " have been 
 thinking it would be well were you to leave Edinburgh for a 
 few days until all be over. The third day hence is Gilderoy's 
 dying day." 
 
 " The third day ? " said Marion, pale as death itself. 
 
 " A home in the country and every comfort will be pro- 
 vided for you," continued Annabel ; " and in about a week 
 you could return." 
 
 "It's kind, kind o' you to mak' sic an offer," replied 
 Marion ; " but I canna think o' leaving the town. There's 
 Gilderoy condemned, and no ane to speak a word for him. 
 He winna hear o' me gaun to the Governor and begging his 
 life ; but canna I just gang and beg it, and ne'er let him ken ? 
 Surely the Governor wad hear me. He heard me before 
 when I wanted the pass, and when I told him aboot my 
 grandmither." 
 
 " My dear girl, it would be a fruitless endeavour," said 
 Annabel. 
 
 " But wadna General Monk hear me ? " 
 
 " Probably not. At all events he could not grant your 
 petition. Indeed indeed, you are but clinging to the frailest 
 of all frail hopes. You can do nothing to save Gilderoy." 
 
 " Still I may try, madam I may try, though I should 
 come nae speed. It's but my duty to him. And wha kens 
 but that a blessing may follow my endeavours? The 
 Governor may hear me when he wadna hear better folk." 
 
 " You may make every effort, Marion, but I fear every 
 effort will be in vain," said the lady. " I entreat you not to 
 add to your sorrows by the indulgence of hopes doomed to 
 be blasted. Though you were my own sister I could offer 
 you no better counsel." 
 
 " Oh ! my lady, I ken that were it in your power there 
 wadna lang be sorrow in my heart," responded Marion. 
 
300 GILDEROY : 
 
 " But I canna sit still, and him in the dungeon, doomed to 
 die, and no ane to speak a word for him. Or, I may sit and 
 hand my tongue and it will be a reproach to me a' my 
 days." 
 
 Mr. Gilchrist now came in, and Annabel left him with the 
 heart-broken mourner. 
 
 After speaking for some little time in a consolatory strain, 
 to which Marion listened with sad attention, the Minister 
 said " Bat you cannot stay langer here among all this 
 trouble. Both Lady Annabel and mysel' are of that mind." 
 
 " Minister," answered Marion, looking up wildly but 
 steadily at him, while the tears ran down her cheeks, " I 
 canna quit the town. Though I should ha'e to lie on the 
 bare streets, I'll stay in Edinburgh before a' be ower wi* 
 Gilderoy, and syne you may mak' o' me what you like." 
 
 The kind-hearted Minister took out his pocket-handker- 
 chief, and dried her streaming cheeks with it. " You must 
 endeavour to control this great sorrow," he said, " for all 
 your grief and tears cannot change the course of a wise 
 Providence, and you must learn resignation." 
 
 " God's will be done ! " said Marion, with a bursting sigh. 
 " But, oh, Mr. Gilchrist, it's ill to bear the thocht o' losing 
 a' that we love on earth. You may pray, and you may 
 trust, and you may sit, in your sorrow, and lift up your 
 waefu* e'e to the heaven aboon, and try to learn resignation ; 
 but there's a sair breaking heart that winna heal, and a tear 
 that winna dry, and bitter, racking thochts that you can nae 
 mair get quit o' than you can get quit o' your ain shadow. 
 And what can I do but just sit doon, as I am sitting, and 
 greet my fill, and let my weary, weary heart break ? " 
 
 Mr. Gilchrist then offered up a fervent prayer, suitable to 
 the circumstances. It seemed to exert a soothing influence 
 upon the mind of the sufferer ; but the influence was evan- 
 escent. When the Minister left her, she sat lamenting, like 
 Rachel of old, beyond the power of all comfort. 
 
 She had one more visit from Annabel at the supper-hour, 
 and then she was left alone for the night. The little room 
 darkened. Hour after hour passed away. The house grew 
 gradually still, as the various inmates retired to rest. Marion 
 continued weeping silently in the gloom. The bustle on the 
 streets died away. A profound silence reigned. The moon, 
 breaking for an instant through the thick clouds which 
 obscured the heavens, threw a flash, of silvery radiance on 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 301 
 
 the floor, and the deep-toned bell of St. Giles' Church tolled 
 midnight. The other steeples repeated the solemn tale. 
 
 Marion started from her chair, and casting her plaid about 
 her, softly opened the door and glided out. The house was 
 as still as a sepulchre. She passed noiselessly down stairs, 
 unbolted the outer door and without a moment's reflection 
 rushed from the house, and made for the entry leading under 
 the Canongate houses, to the street. 
 
 But ere she reached the mouth of the passage, a man, who 
 apparently had been skulking within it, advanced towards 
 her. She paused, with a suppressed shriek, and the moon- 
 shine breaking forth again, disclosed to her view the wild 
 Macraw ! 
 
 " You, Eachiri ? " she said, in a whisper, snatching his out- 
 stretched hands, and gazing half doubtfully in his face. 
 
 " Me, Marion," answered the savage, in the like tone. "I 
 am in my duty." 
 
 "I thocht you had fled the town." 
 
 "Nay I cannot fly the town till I have done my duty." 
 
 "But you needna ha'e left the lady's house." 
 
 " Could I stay there and allow the false Macpherson to 
 escape ? " 
 
 "And ha'e you met him ? " she asked, in dread. 
 
 "Never," returned Eachin. "I never met him. Once 
 and again I have seen him, where it was impossible to strike 
 a blow. I have seen him within the castle-gates, which I 
 durst not pass ; at Holyrood, too, in the midst of Monk's 
 soldiers. But his time will come. I had a dream of it, and 
 I saw the red flush of sunset on the sea, and heard the roar 
 of waters " 
 
 " I wonder how you hae been able to conceal yoursel' since 
 you left the house, for the officers were eager to see you 
 again," said Marion. 
 
 " I took pains to do so," he said. 
 
 She now noticed that he wore a different Lowland habit 
 from that in which she first found him ; but his broadsword 
 was still by his side. "But wherefore are you here the 
 nicht?" she inquired. 
 
 " To watch lest evil should befal you in that house," he 
 made answer. "And yet what evil could befal you P For 
 Sir John Spiers is dead of the stab I gave him, and the 
 angry ghost of Alister Mhor may now rest in peace. My 
 brain seems on fire a fury has seized upon me since Gilderoy 
 
302 GILDEEOY: 
 
 was doomed. I wandered hither, in the silence and solitude 
 of night, that I might be near to one who loves the chief. 
 Ah ! Marion and he must die ! " 
 
 He was speaking aloud and excitedly ; but she put her 
 hand on his mouth, and checking him, pointed to the house 
 behind her. He then withdrew into the dark entry, and she 
 followed. 
 
 " Why are you abroad ? " he asked. 
 
 She told him that she had stolen out of the house with the 
 settled intention of proceeding to Dalkeith, and there en- 
 deavouring to procure an audience of General Monk, that 
 she might crave mercy for Gilderoy. 
 
 The eyeballs of the savage glowed and shot fire in the 
 gloom, as, clenching his hand, he said " It will disgrace us 
 to crave favour from the foeman. But were there five score 
 of the Gregalich at my back, soon would I rescue the chief 
 from the fangs of the Saxon bloodhounds." 
 
 " I could bear a' disgrace if I saved his life," returned 
 Marion. " I'll gang to Dalkeith." 
 
 " Hear but one word," said Eachin. " Daughter of Grey 
 Colin, you seek to save Gilderoy ; but it will not be done." 
 
 "Dinna prophecy ill," interposed Marion. 
 
 " It will not be done," repeated Eachin. " We cannot save 
 him ; but let us avenge him, while vengeance is within our 
 reach. Hearken to my words. How many of the chief's 
 enemies sleep beneath yonder roof? " and he waved his hand 
 toward Annabel's residence. 
 
 " Enemies, Eachin ? What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Need you ask me, girl? " said Eachin, grasping her arm 
 tightly. " To whom do we owe the desolation of Hannoch 
 and the fall of Gilderoy ? To the Sassenach dame, with her 
 sparkling eyes and witching face. And must she live and 
 thrive, and Gilderoy die?" Surely his old madness was 
 returning upon him in a spring-tide flood. " She is within 
 my reach. I value not her lover's retainers who guard her 
 here. This sword would soon avenge all our wrongs. Let 
 there be lamentation in yonder house of splendour, as well as 
 in the heather-thatched huts of Eannoch ! " 
 
 " God help you, Eachin ! " faltered Marion, striving, but 
 in vain, to release her arms from his grasp. " Wad you slay 
 her that befriended me that befriended yoursel' ? Eachin, 
 what dread fu' thocht is this ? " 
 
 " What you remind me of is as nothing when weighed 
 
A SCOTTISH TEAPITION. 303 
 
 against the miseries which that false woman has brought 
 upon Rannoch and upon us all," said the savage. " Where 
 are my children? my gallant sons? Lost to me for ever! 
 They fell contending against her friends. Why do you plead 
 for her? Think of my children trampled under foot of the 
 Sassenach. Think of the chief doomed to die upon a 
 gallows." 
 
 " Eachin Macraw," said Marion, " Gilderoy wad curse you 
 for sic thochts. Come awa', and let us try to save Gilderoy ; 
 but we'll never save him by slaughtering the innocent and 
 helpless." 
 
 " Not a mortal eye would behold me," said the mountaineer. 
 " The door is open. I remember the ways of the house. 
 Though we left every chamber swimming in blood, we could 
 escape." It was indeed a maniac fury that was working in 
 his brain. 
 
 Marion began to sob and to weep. Growling between his 
 teeth, he took away his hand from her arm ; but immediately 
 she seized his hand, and led him into the Canongate. 
 
 Gloom and deep silence reigned in the street. The moon 
 was again obscured ; a gale was rising, and the thick clouds 
 were flying towards the open sea, where they would lower 
 over the waves and the struggling ships. 
 
 " Oh, for fire and faggot to force my way through the 
 prison door! " ejaculated Eachin. 
 
 The dull clank of an iron chain harsh voices shouts for 
 help the clank of the chain again and again hurried foot- 
 steps redoubled shoutsfar up the High Street. 
 
 " Gilderoy has burst the prison ! " exclaimed Eachin. 
 
 Drawing his broadsword, and brandishing it above his 
 head with an unearthly yell, he rushed away frantically up 
 the lonely street. But soon the Netherbow Port, with its 
 tower and spire relieved against the sky, barred his progress. 
 
304 GILDEROY: 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Untie these bands from off my hands, 
 
 And bring to me my sword ; 
 And there's no a man in all Scotland 
 
 But I'll brave him at a word. Sums. 
 
 WHEN Gilderoy was conducted back to his cell, after 
 hearing his sentence, his fetters were refastened, and 
 he, throwing himself down among the straw, seemed to 
 abandon himself to despair. The Gudeman of the Tolbooth, 
 touched with a rough pity, forbore saying a single word, and 
 took his departure. Even the Roundhead, concealed in his 
 dark corner, so far respected the feelings of his doomed 
 mate as to maintain silence. 
 
 But eventually the outlaw's heavy dejection passed away. 
 Pride 'and scorn resumed their wonted supremacy, and he 
 arose from his couch with scarcely a trace of emotion on his 
 wan and worn countenance. 
 
 The Colonel, who had also left his concealment, now 
 addressed him " And so you. know your fate at last? " 
 
 Macgregor, half suspicious that the speaker intended 
 insult, darted upon him a look of indignation ; but he found 
 he had misunderstood the Colonel. 
 
 " What was their sentence? " continued the latter. 
 
 "The gallows on the third morning." Gilderoy's voice 
 faltered, in spite of himself, as he said this. " But the day 
 of Clan Alpine's vengeance cannot be far distant." 
 
 "Your clan failed you in your greatest need," said 
 Campion. "And how can you expect that the tidings of 
 your death will stir them into action, after they have been 
 trodden down by Monk's soldiery ? " 
 
 Gilderoy deigned no reply, and there was a long silence. 
 The glow of sunset was now on the cobwebbed bars of the 
 window. 
 
 " Do you believe," resumed the Colonel, " that your sur- 
 viving clansmen would rise again at your summons, were you 
 to appear in Rannoch ? " 
 
 " Mock me not," answered Macgregor, sternly. " You 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 305 
 
 know that I shall never more set foot in Rannoch. 'Tis an 
 ungenerous gibe and may heaven forgive you ! " 
 
 "I speak not in mockery, but in sober seriousness," said 
 Campion, sinking his voice to a lower key than was usual or 
 at all necessary ; for even very loud talking in the strong- 
 room could scarcely be heard outside the great thick door. 
 "In any case, this will be our last night together, for many 
 parties will have recourse here to-morrow, and my friend 
 the jailor is to provide me another place of concealment in 
 the morning. He would have had me away to-night, but I 
 craved him to forbear that I might take farewell of you. I 
 did so for your sake, Macgregor, because, look you you can 
 escape." 
 
 * Escape ! " echoed the outlaw, in surprise and doubt, 
 
 'Yea, escape." 
 
 'How?" 
 
 ' Hear me to an end." 
 
 ' Whether would you aid my escape or prevent it ? " 
 
 ' Can you doubt which ? Hear me to an end, I say, then 
 judge for yourself." 
 
 "I asked you how I could escape," said Gilderoy. 
 " The very thought seems prompted by madness. These 
 chains " 
 
 "These chains need be little hindrance," returned Cam- 
 pion. " I am possessed of a file by which they may be cut 
 asunder." 
 
 " But the bolts and bars and ponderous doors that inter- 
 pose between me and the open street ? " said Gilderoy, 
 incredulously. " That window is too narrow to allow of my 
 passage." j 
 
 "Every obstruction to your free passage through the 
 prison may be removed," responded Campion. " With the 
 aid of my file I can cut your chains, and when the jailor 
 brings in our extra food which will be late, according to 
 his habit since I came here cannot we throw ourselves 
 upon him, bind him down, and snatch his keys? I have 
 been scheming and revolving all this in my mind ; for I 
 think your liberty may prove beneficial to a noble cause." 
 
 Gilderoy stood trembling with the excitation into which 
 this startling prospect cast him, so that his chains rattled 
 loudly against each other. 
 
 " I have been pondering on the attempt," proceeded the 
 Houndhead ; " and if you are willing to be guided by me, 
 
306 GILDEROY: 
 
 you shall have life and freedom you shall uplift your 
 banner and draw your sword on the hills of the Highlands 
 once more." 
 
 "Guide me as you please," returned Macgregor, with 
 eager intensity. "Produce your file. Free me of my 
 chains. You may guide me as you please in all honourable 
 ways ; and the claymores of the Gregalich will be at your 
 command." 
 
 " Hear me/' urged Campion. " I desire to strike a blow 
 against this hypocritical, arbitrary, and tyrannical Govern- 
 ment under which these unhappy nations groan. I lack 
 friends, comrades men of brave hearts and ready hands, 
 who will go through with their work. Hitherto I was beset 
 with traitors secret minions of the Government, who 
 betrayed all for filthy lucre." 
 
 " Let the royal standard be unfurled again, and clan after 
 clan will rise in their strength to support it," said Gilderoy. 
 " Highlanders long to retrieve the disasters of Lochgarry. 
 The glorious example of Lochiel and his Camerons is not 
 lost upon them." 
 
 "It is the public interest the good old cause which I 
 mean to uphold," said the Colonel. 
 
 "And what other but the public interest, the good old 
 cause, can a true Highlander uphold?" said Gilderoy. 
 " What cause is better or older than that of rightful king 
 and national independence ? The Clan Gregor fought in the 
 field of Bannockburn, under Bruce's banner of freedom, and 
 their swords flashed in every battle since when the stake 
 was national honour and national liberty." 
 
 " Never shall my sword be drawn in the interest of any 
 royal tyrant on earth," rejoined the Roundhead. "The 
 mission assigned me by Providence was the bringing down 
 of the strongholds of tyranny and the building up of the fair 
 fabric of freedom. Unless I follow out that mission, I have 
 neither courage nor power." 
 
 " For what, or for whom, will you fight ? " demanded the 
 outlaw. " The king is on one side, the usurper on the other. 
 You are adverse to both." 
 
 " To both," answered Campion. " My desire is to over- 
 throw the usurper's authority, and to establish a free and 
 paternal government, under which the land may have rest. 
 From what I have observed, and from what I have been told 
 since I left the Highlands, I am persuaded, nay, convinced, 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 307 
 
 that there is power around us to effect such a revolution. 
 That power needs but to be called into energetic action. 
 A successful revolt in Scotland would call up the inert might 
 of England to imitate the glorious example. To link the 
 cause with the name of any man would only provoke ruin. 
 Good men are jealous of the young man, Charles Stuart, 
 pledge himself as he may, for he comes of a race of deceivers, 
 and he will be a deceiver to the end." 
 
 " He is the rightful crowned king of the realm," inter- 
 rupted Gilderoy, " and it is the duty of every true-born Scot 
 to vindicate his rights at all hazards." 
 
 " Will you mar your fortune by a blind, unreasoning ad- 
 hesion to the cause of a wretched exile ? " said the Colonel, 
 with some passion. " Must the assertion of allegiance to 
 that crownless outcast stand betwixt you and your freedom ? 
 He whom you call your rightful king has not disdained in 
 his extremity, when few friends are left him, to bid high for 
 my sword. Missives have been placed in my hands by the 
 emissaries of Charles Stuart, pledging to me honours and 
 wealth, would I but raise his standard against the usurper." 
 
 "Embrace the king's offers, and return to your alle- 
 giance." 
 
 " How can I return ? Ah, you little know, and Charles 
 Stuart's partisans little know, how great a gulf lies betwixt 
 that young man and Edward Campion. Yea, it is a gulf im- 
 passable. But I am ready to league even with the malig- 
 nants, if our common cause be the public interest. Should 
 we succeed in overturning Cromwell's domination, let free 
 Parliaments be summoned that the people themselves may 
 judge and decide what forms of government shall be esta- 
 blished in the nations. But come, what need we debate 
 theories of government ? If I cut your chains away, and 
 enable you to gain your freedom, will you second me in my 
 enterprise ? " 
 
 " Not against the king," said Gilderoy. 
 
 " You seek liberty, do you not ? " 
 
 " Of all the blessings which Fate could bestow, give me to 
 stand once more on the Moor of Hannoch a free man." 
 
 " I am placing before you the issues of life and death," 
 said Campion. " I offer you life and freedom, and the 
 chance of regaining your lost power; but upon condition 
 that you bind yourself, by solemn vow, to draw your sword 
 and strike, at my bidding, against any principality or power, 
 x 2 
 
308 GILDEEOY: 
 
 any enemy, any tyrant whatsoever against all whom I may 
 denounce as public enemies. Ponder it well, Macgregor ; 
 weigh life and death in the balances ; for now must the die 
 be cast." 
 
 " [Rather than accept life and freedom at the cost of honour, 
 I am prepared to meet death, even a death of shame," re- 
 turned Gilderoy. " Not all the terrors with which I may be 
 surrounded shall shake the firm-rooted resolution of my 
 soul. Standing, as I do, at the foot of the gallows, I tell 
 you frankly that I will rather submit to my sentenced doom 
 than draw my sword against my king. What ! would you 
 have a scion of the ancient line of Scotland's sovereigns, a 
 descendant of King Alpin #nd King Gregor, to turn against 
 a rightful Scottish king ? " 
 
 " Spoken like a Highlander ! " ejaculated the Roundhead. 
 " Had you spoken otherwise I should have doubted your 
 faith. But how say you about drawing your sword against 
 the usurper ? " 
 
 " I am at your will and pleasure in that feud," responded 
 Gilderoy. " Ready am I to shed my last drop of blood in 
 the attempt to break the usurper's yoke from off our necks." 
 
 " Then raise your hand, and swear so," said the Colonel. 
 
 " I swear ! " said the freebooter, lifting his fettered hand. 
 " Place the sword within my grasp, and you shall see how 
 faithfully and devotedly will I perform my vow." 
 
 " I am satisfied," said Campion. " When the jailor enters, 
 keep your attention on me. I will draw him into conversation 
 for a few minutes ; but as soon as I pronounce the words 
 ' We must to sleep ' spring upon him, and throw him down." 
 
 " But I am still chained. Where is the file you spoke of ? " 
 
 "It is ready." 
 
 With these words the Colonel produced a small file, and 
 immediately set to cut through the strong chain which secured 
 his companion to the iron bar so often referred to. Selecting 
 what appeared to be the weakest link near to the prisoner's 
 body, he set to work with a will, muffling the rasping sound 
 of the file as much as he could. The task was a laborious 
 one ; for the link, comparatively weak as it seemed, was 
 pretty thick. But steady, dogged perseverance overcomes all 
 difficulties. His implement was good, and he made rapid 
 progress. At length the link was cut through in two places, 
 and the intermediate portion fell out; but in the _ same 
 moment an unlucky turn snapped the file into several pieces ! 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 309 
 
 A wild, and almost blasphemous malediction burst from 
 the Colonel's lips. " The arch-enemy is striving against us," 
 he said, with intense bitterness. 
 
 " 'Tis the hard fate which has ever pursued me," answered 
 Gilderoy. " Have you another file ? " 
 
 " No other," replied Campion. He groped anxiously among 
 the straw to recover the broken bits of the file, but soon 
 found that each of them was too small to be of use. " What 
 is to be done ? You are but half freed. Your limbs are 
 still fast fettered. Must we relinquish our good design, and 
 so give a fresh triumph to Satan ? 
 
 Gilderoy detached the broken chain, and stood so far free. 
 " I can escape with the fetters on me," he said. " Although 
 fettered, I have still the use of my limbs. Fate shall not 
 thwart us. Courage, comrade ! Are you armed in any 
 way ? " 
 
 " I have a pair of small steel pistols here," returned the 
 Colonel, clapping his hand on his breast. " But I trust there 
 will be no need for them. [Remember that, unless circum- 
 stances absolutely require the sacrifice, the jailor's life must 
 be held sacred, for he has befriended me in my distress 
 although, I may say, his kindness has been bought with a 
 price." 
 
 "I bear the man no malice I have no wish to take the 
 man's life," said Gilderoy. " But we must escape I must 
 escape, >no matter at what sacrifice." 
 
 " No man's life must be regarded when our enterprise is 
 at stake," said Campion. " I only caution you against using 
 needless violence. The jailor has stood my friend, and there- 
 fore I fain would spare the effusion of his blood. We may 
 bind and gag him ; but unless his death be absolutely neces- 
 sary to our escape, break not, I beseech you, into the house 
 of life. He undertook, upon the promise and pledge of a 
 high reward, to afford me safe concealment here until ar- 
 rangements should be made by certain of my secret friends 
 for my escape ; and I would not wish to have that man's 
 blood upon my conscience." 
 
 " I hope he will delay his coming beyond the usual time," 
 said Gilderoy ; " for the later the hour the greater our chance. 
 But what is to be our course after we quit the prison ? " 
 
 " Leave that to me. I know this city and I know where 
 to find friends. Once we are outside of the Tolbooth, our 
 course will be easy and plain." 
 
310 GILDESOT: 
 
 * 
 
 " Wlicn shall I be relieved of my fetters ? " 
 " You shall be relieved of them. Never fear." 
 " Comrade," said Gilderoy, striding through the cell, un- 
 trammelled by the curbing chain, " you have recalled all the 
 high and daring hopes of my better days. I seem to feel the 
 Highland breezes blowing through my locks. I hear, in 
 fancy, the shouts of clansmen welcoming me back to 
 Hannoch." 
 
 " The hopes of enslaved, down-trodden nations centre in 
 our enterprise," responded the Roundhead. " Thousands of 
 true men await my signal to rise and regain their rights. 
 Tyranny now totters to its fall. We shall not fail. Be of 
 stout courage, Macgregor ; for this night you meet the grand 
 crisis of your fate." 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 The guards are gain'd one moment all were o'er 
 Corsair ! we meet in safety or no more ; 
 If errs my feeble hand, the morning cloud 
 Will hover o'er thy scaffold, and my shroud. 
 
 Byron's " Corsair." 
 
 fTlHE Gudeman's expected visit to the strong room was 
 J- unusually delayed that night. It was close on midnight 
 when he came. As may be readily conjectured, [since the 
 Colonel became his lodger a double quantity of provisions 
 was required for that particular cell a circumstance which, 
 of course, had to be kept out of the knowledge of such of 
 the^ subordinates of the Tolbooth as were not altogether in 
 the jailor's confidence ; consequently, he was in the practice 
 of supplying the extra allowance at a late hour, when the 
 prison was quiet. 
 
 When the heavy door was opened, and the strong light of 
 a lantern flashed into the cell, the Colonel was lying hidden 
 among the straw in his accustomed corner ; but Gilderoy, 
 with the appearance of having been startled from sleep, 
 stood leaning on the bar a position which he had taken with 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 311 
 
 the view of concealing the fracture of the chain which had 
 been put together again to deceive cursory and unsuspecting 
 observation. As if awakened by the opening of the door, 
 the Colonel raised his head through the heap of straw, and 
 then left his lair, and came forward to the bar. 
 
 The jailor, little thinking of any plot against him, set 
 down his lantern inside the threshold, so as that it might 
 cast its glare on the two men, and then brought in a small 
 basket of bread, which he silently handed to the Colonel, 
 who promptly disposed of it among the straw. When this 
 had been done, the jailor seemed disposed to withdraw at 
 once without ever opening his lips. 
 
 " How goes the night, Gudeman P " inquired the Colonel, 
 in a clear whisper. 
 
 " Blowy blowy, and not much moon," answered the 
 jailor. And he looked about him in an uncertain, weary 
 way, and then came into the cell again, and gave a heavy 
 yawn, and closed the door partly behind him as was his 
 wont. " It's time I were sound in my bed," he added ; " for 
 I've been hindered to-night making way for your conceal- 
 ment in the morning, Colonel. You must be ready to flit by 
 sunrise." 
 
 " At any hour you choose, my good and trusty friend," 
 replied Campion. " I desired to spend this night with Mac- 
 gregor, that I might impart to him those counsels which one 
 in his sad position " 
 
 "Ay, ay, and he'll never heed you," interrupted the jailor. 
 "In at the one ear and out at the other. If you could 
 counsel and instruct him how to cheat the gallows, it would 
 be more to his purpose ; but that beats you, with all your 
 skill." 
 
 " No word from without ? " said the Colonel. 
 
 " No," returned the jailor. " But your friends are work- 
 ing. They'll manage by-and-by." 
 
 A short pause, and then Campion said, " The wind seems 
 loud." 
 
 " It's rising louder, and the moon playing at hide-and- 
 seek among the clouds," responded the jailor. " We'll have 
 rain." 
 
 " Little stir on the streets ? " proceeded the Colonel. 
 
 "None at all; but think of the hour. You'll hear mid- 
 night strike presently. Everybody is bedded but ourselves. 
 Gilderoy, man, you have nothing to say to me to-night ? 
 
312 GILDEROY: 
 
 Dog on't, man ! I have no manner of concern with your 
 misfortunes, farther than what my duty lays upon me ; and 
 I'm sure I have never stretched a single point against you." 
 
 Gilderoy roused himself, and answered that he had no 
 cause of complaint, but that, on the contrary, he had been 
 treated kindly, so far as was in the Gudeman's power : 
 "for which kindness," he added, "I can offer you no return 
 than empty thanks." 
 
 " You have given me better than thanks," said the jailor, 
 " for you've helped to hide the Colonel, and that's a service 
 of great price." 
 
 " How Gtill the prison is," said Campion, as if anxious to 
 change the topic ; " not a sound to be heard !" 
 
 " Little wonder," said the jailor. " The folk are all asleep, 
 and the keys hang at my belt. An' you were going out just 
 now, Colonel, there would never an eye light on you. But 
 3 r oiir time has not yet come; though it's my earnest prayer 
 that it may come speedily." 
 
 "It will," rejoined the Colonel. "And now," added he, 
 stretching out h'is arms, " we must to rest" 
 
 The signal had scarcely been given when Gildercy, dis- 
 engaging and letting fall the severed chain (which he had 
 hitherto sustained at the flaw in one hand), darted under- 
 neath the iron bar, and threw himself upon the jailor, whom 
 the unexpected and impetuous shock prostrated backwards 
 on the floor. The heary crash, with which mingled the 
 rattle of chains and keys, shook the cell ; but not a cry was 
 given, not a word uttered. 
 
 With unerring aim, although encumbered by the fetters, 
 Gilderoy had clutched the man by the throat with both 
 hands, never foregoing his tenacious and strangling grip 
 when he fell above him. The lantern was knocked over, 
 and the light speedily extinguished, so that the struggle 
 went on in darkness, which was but feebly relieved by a 
 gleam of the moon. But the struggle did not last more 
 than a few minutes. The outlaw's hold was so strong and 
 inflexible, like that of a vice, that though the jailor was pos- 
 sessed of more than an ordinary share of personal strength, 
 and could easily have shaken him off in a fair encounter, he 
 was soon lying helpless and suffocating. Confused in the 
 dark, Campion had as yet been unable to lend his con- 
 federate the slightest assistance -, but, indeed, it was not 
 required. 
 
A SCOTTISH T3ADITION. 313 
 
 "I have done the work," faltered Gilderoy, who now 
 felt that his antagonist was bereft equally of sense and 
 motion. 
 
 " Have you killed him ? " asked Campion. 
 
 "No, no," replied Gilderoy, as he cautiously relaxed his 
 desperate grasp. "But he will scarcely come to himself for 
 the next quarter of an hour. I have secured the keys ; " and 
 he sprang to his feet with the bunch of keys jingling in his 
 hand. 
 
 "Give me the keys," said Campion. "I will manage 
 them better." 
 
 Gilderoy gave him the keys. 
 
 "I hear footsteps ! " said Campion. "Hush ! listen." 
 
 " Footsteps !" echoed the outlaw. " Never !" 
 
 " I do," persisted the Colonel. " Some one comes this 
 way." 
 
 " Then he comes to his death," returned Gilderoy. "Where 
 are your pistols ? " 
 
 " There," said the Colonel, thrusting one of his pistols into 
 the outlaw's hand. " By heaven ! those footsteps again ! 
 What was that ? A light'? " 
 
 A streak of light suddenly shot into the cell from the door, 
 which was all but closed ; a heavy step was heard in the 
 passage without ; the door was pushed open ; a ruddy blaze 
 met the eyes of the confederates ; and a man, apparently 
 one of the turnkeys, carrying a burning flambeau in one 
 hand, and a rusty hatchet in the other, stood before them. 
 
 The first glance showed the man the state of matters, and, 
 raising a shout, he advanced into the cell, brandishing his 
 formidable weapon, and threatening both enemies alike. 
 Careless of the consequences, Gilderoy presented his pistol, 
 and drew the trigger. It missed fire ; but the man being 
 thrown off his guard by the terror of being shot, the Hound- 
 head knocked him down with the bunch of keys. 
 
 Gilderoy, flinging away the pistol, snatched up the hatchet, 
 and the Colonel the torch, and out they rushed, over the 
 prostrate body of the half-stunned turnkey, and down the 
 stair, and through the common hall, and on towards the 
 street door. The intermediate doors had evidently been 
 left unlocked by the jailor when he came up to the strong- 
 room. 
 
 " Fortune is with us ! " said the Colonel. " See you not 
 how the way is opened for our escape ? " 
 
314 GILDEEOT: 
 
 But, of course, the outer door was fast. On reaching it 
 the Colonel handed his torch to Gilderoy, and then applied a 
 key to the lock. It was the wrong key. Another was ap- 
 plied, and another, with the same result. Footsteps and 
 voices again startled the fugitives, and before the proper key 
 could be found, a second turnkey, bearing a light and a 
 drawn sword, appeared on the top of the flight of steps 
 behind them. At the critical moment, when this man was 
 hurrying down with a stentorian shout, he slipped a foot, 
 and fell headlong ; and the Colonel, applying the proper key 
 dragged open the prison door, trampled out the torch, and 
 rushed into the street, followed by Gilderoy. 
 
 Bewildered and dizzy with agitation, the fugitives ran out 
 to the middle of the High Street, and halting there, gazed 
 up and down, as if uncertain about the direction of their 
 flight. But they speedily found that they had yet another 
 battle to fight for their liberty. The two turnkeys emerged 
 from the Tolbooth like raging lions. Neither of them was 
 armed ; for the one's axe was in Gilderoy 's hands, and the 
 other had lost his sword when he fell ; out both flew upon 
 Gilderoy, roaring and yelling for assistance, and closed with 
 him. The axe proved of little service to the outlaw; for 
 though he struck with it at the men as they rushed at him, 
 his blows were avoided, and he was grappled by the throat 
 in the same fashion as he had done to the jailor. The Colonel, 
 seeing himself unattacked, instantly relieved Gilderoy by 
 pulling to the ground one of his antagonists the turnkey 
 who had been knocked down with the keys. 
 
 " Colonel ! Colonel ! " stammered this man, as he lay on 
 the street. "Are you mad? Bin." 
 
 The Colonel did not run, but held him down. In a 
 twinkling the strange uproar alarmed the whole neighbour- 
 hood, and lights began to gleam in the adjacent windows on 
 both sides of the street. Three of the city guards came 
 running to the spot from their station at the Netherbow 
 Port, and more from the guardhouse, all of whom promptly 
 joined in the struggle. " Haud Gilderoy ! " was the un- 
 ceasing cry of the two turnkeys. 
 
 Gilderoy fought under great disadvantage, owing to the 
 restraint of his fetters ; but probably had he been left with 
 a single antagonist he would have mastered him in the end. 
 Against odds, however, he had no chance. He was thrown 
 on the causeway, and held down the turnkey kneeling on 
 his breast. 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 315 
 
 The Colonel fell immediately after. As he lay grappling 
 with his enemies, a bright red flash burst out among the 
 group, and the report of a pistol drowned the tumult. There 
 followed a deep groan, and then a cry of horror. 
 
 " He's shot his brains are blown out ! " exclaimed a 
 voice ; and the men who had been struggling with Campion 
 started up from the ground, and ran back some paces, as 
 if in affright, leaving him lying on his back silent and 
 motionless. 
 
 " Wha had the pistol ? " cried one voice. 
 
 " Wha fired the shot P " cried another. 
 
 " He should been ta'en alive. It was folly to shoot 
 him." 
 
 " Naebody shot him. The pistol was his ain, and his ain 
 hand pointed it to his brow. He has ta'en his ain life. 
 That's the true gate o' it." 
 
 * " Shot himsel' ! Hae mercy on us ! What kind o* a man 
 was he ? What had he done ? " 
 
 " Let me see him. I'm a liar if it is not Colonel Campion, 
 who was apprehended for treason." 
 
 " And did he break into the prison and set Gilderoy free ? " 
 
 "That he did," answered a turnkey. "I suppose the 
 Gudeman has been killed between them ? " 
 
 " Nonsense ! " cried the other. " Campion was never 
 within the door. I heard a fearful crash on the floor, and 
 ran up to the cage, and there was the Gudeman lying dead, 
 and Gilderoy loose. The villain knocked me down with the 
 keys and ran off." 
 
 " I may be wrang," said his companion ; " I was in such 
 a fluster ; but really I thought the twa were in the passage, 
 trying to open the door when I cam' doon upon them." 
 
 " You are wrang, and far wrang," returned the other; 
 " but such a start was enough to derange ony decent man's 
 senses. I saw Gilderoy open the door, and then Campion 
 came forward from the street and seized him by the hand, 
 and wished him joy, and said that everything was prepared, 
 and their friends ready or words to that effect. By my 
 faith, it was a well-laid plot." 
 
 This turnkey showed himself to be the jailor's confidant. 
 
 Gilderoy was dragged back into the prison, and consigned 
 to his former dungeon, on the floor of which the jailor was 
 found sitting in a state of half stupefaction. When the 
 worthy Gudeman came fully to his senses, he improvised a 
 
310 GILDEROY: 
 
 story exactly the same as that of his confidant, the turnkey, 
 which looked so very feasible that nobody for a moment 
 doubted its truth. 
 
 And thus closed the absurd enterprise of Colonel Campion 
 and his condemned confederate. 
 
 ^ Having disposed of Gilderoy, the men examined the con- 
 dition of the Colonel. But he was past all human care. 
 Death, rudely summoned by his own impious hand, had 
 snatched him from all earthly trouble. The body was cold 
 and stiff. The/atal pistol was firmly clutched in his hand. 
 The bullet had passed through his left temple, and a portion 
 of his skull was blown away the blood-dabbled hair half 
 hiding the furrowed wound. But his face was placid, and 
 bore no trace of the fury which possessed him in the last 
 moments. 
 
 Thus strikingly fulfilled was the prediction of the dying 
 Macgregor in the glen of battle. 
 
 There was a visible reluctance amongst the men to 
 touch the cold body of him whom, only some few moments 
 before, they had grappled and fought with so fiercely, for 
 the common people of Scotland always cherished an instinc- 
 tive horror of self-murder ; and at the time of our story the 
 dead bodies of suicides were not only denied the rites of 
 decent sepulture, but were subjected to such savage and 
 gross indignities as being drawn through the public streets at 
 horses' heels, suspended from gibbets, and afterwards cast 
 away like common carrion into a pit or a bog. 
 
 The Colonel's body was left on the street until instructions 
 should come from the proper authorities. 
 
 There was now a crowd of the townspeople men, 
 women, and even children upon the street, but keeping in 
 a wide circle around the corpse ; all the house-windows 
 within view of the spot were open, showing groups of 
 startled faces ; and the buzz and clamour of tongues grew 
 loud and incessant. The confused scene had a peculiarly 
 wild and mysterious aspect as seen by the fluctuating light 
 of the cloudy moon. 
 
 " Is that a Christian way to leave a human creature's 
 body lying ? " cried a feminine voice from amid the con- 
 course. "Is there nothing ye can do but stand and glower 
 and gabble? " 
 
 " "What would you have us to do, Betty ? " returned another 
 feminine voice. " The man was a traitor, and broke into the 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 317 
 
 Tolbooth, and laid hands on his own life. It's no fit that 
 Christian folk should touch him." 
 
 Betty Kelly, with a mantle flung over her arm, now pushed 
 her way through the circle, and approaching the body, gazed 
 at it for a moment, and then taking her mantle in both hands, 
 she opened it out and spread it over the dead man, so as 
 completely to cover him. 
 
 " I know nothing of his misdeeds," she said. " But I can 
 testify that during the different times he lodged in our house, 
 lie was a great professor of religion, according to his light ; 
 and he was always kind and affable to me." The crowd had 
 fallen silent as soon as they saw her advance towards the 
 corpse, so that she spoke in the distinct hearing of all. 
 " That mantle was his own gift to me on the day before he 
 marched for the Highlands." 
 
 " Tak' care, Betty," cried a man, laughing, " that they 
 dinna blame you for being a conspirator alang wi* him." 
 
 "They'll never be so daft, friend," she answered, "knowing 
 that I'm sillerless, and therefore no able to pay a fine." 
 
 Having thus spoken, she made her way towards her own 
 abode, which, as will be recollected, was in immediate prox- 
 imity to the prison. She was encountered at the stair-foot 
 by Mrs. Molison herself, in excessive agitation. 
 
 " Whatna daft-like thing have you been about ? " cried 
 the latter, in shrill but stammering accents. 
 
 " Didna you see ? " inquired Betty, with the most pro- 
 voking calmness. 
 
 " Yes, I saw and you've ruined us entirely ; for they'll 
 swear we were art and part with him." 
 
 " You art and part with him ! " ejaculated Betty, lifting her 
 hands in wonder. " No mortal man could ever suppose that 
 either you or Deacon Molison had the spunk to be art and 
 part with anybody of the kind. If you were come of quality, 
 woman, they might suspect you. But what are you, or the 
 Deacon, that you should be supposed capable of meddling with 
 affairs of State ? A bonny story, indeed, if Mrs. Deacon 
 Molison were to be proved a conspirator and made a State 
 prisoner ! My word ! it would be enough to put conspira- 
 tors and State prisoners out of fashion." 
 
 " Go up the stair and to your bed ! " cried her mistress, in 
 a rage. "It's well for you that the Deacon is in Dalkeith 
 this night on Town's business, or I fear he would shut the 
 door in your face for ever and aye." 
 
318 GILDEROY: 
 
 " And do you think that I would not do my duty though 
 all the doors in this world were to be shut in my face?" 
 responded Betty. And so saying, she very composedly 
 walked up the stair. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIL 
 
 Wha wadna ha'e shared that lady's joy 
 
 When watching the wounded hind, 
 Rather than those of the feast and the dance, 
 
 Which her kind heart resign' d ? James TLogg. 
 
 IT was broad daylight when Marion found herself re- 
 clining on her own bed in Lady Annabel's lodging. 
 How she came there she could not divine. A maid-servant 
 was laving her brow and hands with cold spring water. 
 Annabel and Mr. Gilchrist were standing by. 
 
 In an instant most of the occurrences of the past day 
 and night rushed, in painful distinctness, across the poor 
 girl's recollection. " Oh ! " exclaimed she, with a burst of 
 anguish, while she clasped together her chill, dripping hands 
 "oh, that I had slept and never wakened! Oh, that I 
 had died when I leaned me down on the doorstep ! " 
 
 "These are sinful thoughts," said Mr. Gilchrist. "The 
 indulgence of them is ingratitude to Him who is the author 
 of our lives and the wise dispenser of our fortunes. An 
 awfu' example of the power of Satan has been made manifest 
 on the High Street of Edinburgh this morning enough to 
 gar a Christian man's bluid rin cauld." 
 
 " Whaur was you a' nicht, lassie ? " inquired the domestic. 
 "Naebody in this house heard the noise that was on the 
 street ; but I dinna ken how I happened to waken sae early 
 I wakened a haill hour before my usual time, and then I 
 found the outer door standing aff the sneck, and you lying 
 on the step in a faint. When the mistress cam to ken o* 
 it, she near gade out o' her judgment; for, as she weel 
 observed, we might a' been murdered in our beds. Whaur 
 was you a' nicht, lassie ? And what gart you faint ? You've 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 319 
 
 lain in the faint for hours. Tell the lady and the Minister 
 a' the truth." 
 
 "You were out of doors, Marion," said Annabel. " Will 
 you tell us why you left the house ? " 
 
 "It's your bounden duty, ray woman, to mak' a clean 
 breast of the matter," added the Minister, "and I obtest 
 you to do sae without any reservation whatever." 
 
 Marion at once narrated her adventure, but carefully kept 
 out of view Eachm's proposal of assassination. With the 
 exception of that dark episode, she made a clean breast of 
 everything. It appeared that she lost sight of Eachin near 
 the Netherbow, upon which she wandered back to the house, 
 and swooned at the door. 
 
 "Aweel, Marion, my lass," said Mr. Gilchrist, "a mair 
 daft-like thing I never heard tell o' than for you to go out 
 in the dead o' nicht, in a strange town, thinking to mak' 
 intercession for Gilderoy." 
 
 " Poor girl," said Annabel. " Looking at her distress, we 
 cannot blame her. This is not a time to chide." 
 
 " Blame her ! what for no ? " said the Minister, sternly. 
 "I want specially to ken, Marion, whether you had any 
 hand in helping Gilderoy to break the prison ? " 
 
 " Has he broken the prison? " cried Marion. 
 
 " I suppose you ken that he broke the prison," returned 
 Mr. Gilchrist. 
 
 " We heard a noise far up the street, as I said, but I 
 didna ken what it meant. Has Gilderoy escaped, or is he 
 slain ? " 
 
 She was prepared to hear that Gilderoy had perished in 
 the desperate attempt. But Mr. Gilchrist told her the 
 story, so far as was then known in the city. " And I can 
 plainly see, '\ he added, "that if it were kent you was on the 
 street at the time o' the hurry, you wad be laid up in the 
 Tolbooth yoursel'." 
 
 By the lady's directions some restoratives and light viands 
 were brought in for Marion's use, and she was left alone 
 with her. Marion, out of complacency, seeing Annabel so 
 anxious about her welfare, affected to eat a few morsels. 
 
 " Oh, madam, you're owre kind, you're owre gude to 
 me ! " she cried in tears. " I shouldna ha'e come back here 
 ava to bring danger upon you. When I gaed out I had 
 made up my mind never to come back never, never ! for I 
 canna live and a' this sorrow upon my head. But," added 
 
320 GILDEROY: 
 
 she, " will I ever see Gilderoy again ? Winna they lock 
 him up frae a' body's sicht, and forbid a kent face to gang 
 near him? " 
 
 " As to that I shall ask Mr. G-ilchrist," answered the lady. 
 "Indeed, to conceal nothing from you, I am rather afraid 
 they will deem some such precaution necessary." 
 
 " There's nae help on earth," said Marion. " T grieve in 
 vafe. Though I were to greet my e'en blind, w r ad that 
 restore to me the peace and happiness o' langsyne ? They 
 will slay him, and mak' a world's wonder o' him him that 
 they durstna, for their very lives, look in the face when he 
 trod the Highland hills him that spread a name o' renown 
 ower a' the braid Lowlands ! " 
 
 As she spoke, her pallid face brightened, her voice lost its 
 quiver, her eye sparkled, and her bosom heaved as with 
 some proud indignant emotion. 
 
 " I winna shed anither tear," she said, as she rose from 
 the arm-chair in which she had latterly been sitting, and 
 took a few graceful steps through the room ; " I winna shed 
 anither tear to shame his pride. 
 
 Annabel was struck with apprehension lest this mood 
 should indicate a sudden aberration of intellect, and she 
 grasped Marion's hand, and entreated her to sit down. 
 
 "Yes, yes, madam by-and-by," said Marion. "But my 
 heart must settle, and my mind clear. I ha'e done foolishly, 
 I maun confess ; for he told me, wi' his ain lips, no to speak 
 a word in his behalf. Earnestly did he warn me against 
 craving his life, and it was my ain fault that I disregarded 
 his words. I see my folly now. His enemies will work their 
 will though an angel were to come down frae Heaven and mak' 
 intercession for him. They will tak' his life they will wash 
 their guilty hands in the bluid o' a gallant chief; but he 
 winna yield, and they canna bend the proud spirit o' Gilderoy. 
 Thae fause usurpers they kenna the power o' a true woman's 
 word. I am o' his ain kith and kin, and for the sake o' our 
 kinship I will rouse Highland hearts and Highland clay- 
 mores to vengeance." Suddenly this stormy mood passed 
 away. " Oh, madam," she continued, " and maun he perish ? 
 Will there be no pity no rerneid ? Maun I gang back to the 
 north, and wander ower the grey hills and brown muirs, and 
 never behold his face ? " 
 
 "If you would take some rest," said Annabel. "This 
 agitation will kill you." 
 
A SCOTTISH TKADITION. 321 
 
 " Do you think they will allow me to see him ? to Bpeak 
 to him for the last time P " 
 
 "It is questionable," replied Annabel, "and you must 
 prepare yourself for a refusal ; but we can see what Mr. 
 Gilchrist thinks about it." 
 
 In a short time Marion grew more composed, and at the 
 lady's solicitation betook herself to rest. 
 
 Annabel then saw Mr. Gilchrist, and mentioned Marion's 
 anxiety about visiting Gilderoy. The Minister owned his 
 doubts as to whether permission would be granted, but pro- 
 mised to do everything in his power to promote the poor girl's 
 wishes. 
 
 " But I find," said he, " that your landlady is greatly 
 offended at last nicht's adventure, and has ta'en up an ill 
 opinion o' Marion a'thegither." 
 
 He had just said so when the incensed landlady herself 
 made her appearance in a high state of excitement. Making 
 a very stiff courtesy to Annabel, she drew herself up in the 
 middle of the floor, and opened her guns at once : 
 
 " I'm come, madam, to take the first word of flyting, 
 and all about that Highland gipsy that you brought into my 
 house. It's no wise-like nor creditable either to a widow 
 woman of my degree to have my house made a beggars' 
 barracks." 
 
 " Good Mrs. Maxwell," answered Annabel, " the poor girl 
 is no beggar, and I consider it my duty to befriend her in 
 her misfortunes. She befriended me in mine." 
 
 " I give you all manner of credit, madam, for your kind 
 intentions," replied Mrs. Maxwell ; " but I wonder you 
 never think that folk will be surprised to see a lady of your 
 quality taking up with Highland rogues and limmers. When 
 a beggar body, man or woman, young or old, Highland or 
 Lowland, comes to my door, I give them a piece, or a hand- 
 ful of meal, or a bawbee, with a word of gude counsel ; but, 
 for all that, I never take them inbye, and plant them down 
 at the fireside, cheek-by-jowl wi' mysel'." 
 
 " It appears to me," said Annabel, " that the speediest 
 way of removing your scruples will be my immediately 
 finding another lodging, as I intended before." 
 
 " Mrs. Maxwell's in a fluster," said Mr. Gilchrist. " Let 
 her consider a bit. Dinna tak' her up sae short, madam." 
 
 " 'Deed, sir, I'm in a fluster, and with great occasion," re- 
 turned the landlady. " I should be very sorry, madam, 
 
322 GILDEEOY: 
 
 that you and me had to part, and all on account of a High- 
 land drab ; and perhaps I ha'e spoken a word or twa out of 
 joint. But I'm sure and certain you'll say yourself, madam, 
 that it's not creditable to ha'e such clanjamfry in the house ; 
 and the hussy going out at the dead hour of night, and leav- 
 ing the door open behind her, and then coming back and 
 fainting. It's not to be borne with, though I darefsay it wad 
 mak' no great wonder in the Highlands.*' 
 
 "The lassie canna be left destitute, Mrs. Maxwell," said 
 Mr. Gilchrist. " We must mak' some provision for her." 
 
 " You would do her a gude turn to set her to some honest 
 handiwork," rejoined Mrs. Maxwell, "and not let her go 
 back to the Highlands, able to do nothing else but keep 
 house to a band o' kilted robbers." 
 
 " There need be no more words about it," said Annabel. 
 " She is under my protection at present, and " 
 
 " I do not wish to offend you, madam," interrupted Mrs. 
 Maxwell ; " and I'm speaking for the sake of your own good 
 name as much as for the sake of mine. I really think it's 
 far, far below your dignity, madam, to have dealings with 
 the friends of the cateran that's lying in the Tolbooth under 
 sentence of death." 
 
 " But the girl acted a noble part when my life was in 
 danger," said Annabel. " And to make a long story short, 
 I am ready to find another landlady." 
 
 " You have no occasion to quit the house,* madam ; but 
 you may hear a word of reason," said Mrs. Maxwell. " Ever 
 since that lassie crossed my doorstep, there's been^ nothing 
 here but fright and fighting ruffians breaking into the 
 house, and ruffians being murdered. That's what I cannot 
 suffer." 
 
 " Well, but the girl had nothing to do with the breaking 
 into the house," said Annabel. " The house would have been 
 broken into although she had never entered it." 
 
 " At ony rate it's queer," said Mrs. Maxwell, " that as 
 soon as she comes to my house, ruffians break into it ; and, 
 as soon as she slinks out, ruffians break out of the Tolbooth. 
 There's surely some uncanny thing about her. No wonder 
 her grandmither is in danger of being burnt for a witch." 
 
 "Mrs. Maxwell," said the Minister, "I cautioned you 
 already against letting it be kent that Marion was on the 
 street through the nicht. I earnestly caution you again ; 
 for an idle thoughtless word may breed great trouble. It's 
 
A SCOTTISH TBADITION. 323 
 
 possible that the officers o' justice may mat' inquiry. In 
 that case, your duty is to tell the truth. But, unless that 
 necessity arises, let the matter be kept secret." 
 
 "You may rely on my discretion, sir," responded Mrs. 
 Maxwell. " And I hope, madam," she continued, turning 
 submissively to Annabel, " that you'll be put to no more 
 trouble through your kindness. Your kindness to that lassie 
 has been greater than ever I heard tell of. I'll say no more, 
 only trusting you'll not take amiss " 
 
 " Nothing shall be taken amiss, Mrs. Maxwell, if you just 
 let the subject drop." 
 
 The discussion closed here ; but notwithstanding Mrs. 
 Maxwell's submission (which was enforced by the dread of 
 losing her lady lodger), she did not look, in retiring, as if 
 quite satisfied with the lame and impotent result. 
 
 Shortly after this little tiff, Jasper Eollo arrived with all 
 the news and rumours of the hour concerning Gilderoy and 
 Campion. He had called at the house before, and gone away 
 to gather what he could. What he had gathered was some- 
 what disconcerting. 
 
 It was found that Gilderoy had used a file in cutting the 
 chain, although, however, no file or fragment of a file could 
 be discovered in the cell, owing doubtless, we may remark, 
 to the cunning precaution of the jailor. The fact that a file 
 had been used led to the inevitable conviction that it had 
 been introduced into the prison by a friendly hand ; and the 
 young girl from Rannoch, the kinswoman of Gilderoy, and 
 the protegee of Colonel Campion, was of all persons the most 
 obnoxious to suspicion. In such circumstances it was very 
 likely that the authorities would take cognisance of Marion. 
 As for Gilderoy himself, he had declared that no earthly 
 consideration could induce him to throw light on his connec- 
 tion with Campion ; but he had absolved his kinswoman from 
 all participation in the plot. 
 
 Annabel hurried to Marion's room, and asked her whether 
 she knew anything of the file, or anything of the plot which 
 had been frustrated. " Do not fear to confide to me your 
 secret, if secret you have," said the lady ; " for by confiding 
 it to me you will best enable us to defend you from the conse- 
 quences of any indiscretion of which you have been guilty." 
 
 Marion, in the most solemn manner, asseverated that she 
 had done nothing whatever to connect herself with the plot, 
 and that she had had no previous knowledge of it. This 
 Y 2 
 
S2i GILDEKOY: 
 
 asseveration was perfectly consistent with truth, although 
 she did not as yet feel herself at liberty to reveal the un- 
 suspected fact of Colonel Campion's concealment in the Tol- 
 booth, which furnished the key to the mysteries of the whole 
 affair. Her ingenuous earnestness fully convinced Annabel 
 of her truth. 
 
 Scarcely had Annabel rejoined Hollo and the Minister, 
 when two of the principal officers of justice were ushered in, 
 announcing themselves as being commissioned to examine 
 Marion Mackinnon, who lay under suspicion of having 
 assisted Gilderoy in his attempt to escape. 
 
 " The Governor bids us say that he should be very sorry 
 to cause pain to Lady Glenbirkie, considering what she has 
 suffered at the hands of Gilderoy and his confederates," 
 added one of them; "and therefore, in place of at once or- 
 dering the arrest of the young girl now under her protection, 
 he has instructed us to make investigation, the result of 
 which we trust will be to remove every shadow of suspicion." 
 
 The lady expressed her hearty thanks for the Governor's 
 favour, and besought the officers not to deal harshly with the 
 poor girl, seeing the extreme distress into which she had been 
 cast by the accumulated misfortunes of her kindred. "My 
 friends here as well as myself are convinced of her perfect 
 innocence," she said ; " because we fail to perceive how and 
 where she could have found opportunity to assist in any plot." 
 
 Marion was then brought in, pale, trembling, and in tears. 
 
 The officers went about their business strictly, but with 
 every forbearance. They questioned Marion at great length, 
 and seemed pleased with, her answers. It was rather dan- 
 gerous ground when they inquired about Colonel Campion ; 
 but she contrived, without committing the slightest prevari- 
 cation, to keep her secret intact. She enumerated her dif- 
 ferent visits to the Tolbooth, and on none of these occasions, 
 either while going or returning, had she seen or heard. of 
 Colonel Campion. One circumstance, however, told much 
 in her favour, and it was this that during the past three 
 days she had not visited the Tolbooth at all, having been 
 prevented on the first two days by a recurrence of her sick- 
 ness, and on the third by the dissuasion of her friends. 
 
 Annabel, Eollo, Mr. Gilchrist, Mrs. Maxwell each had a 
 good word to put in for Marion ; and as the officers had no 
 inkling of the midnight adventure, it was never brought 
 above board. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 325 
 
 "We will make our report, " said one of the officers, ad- 
 dressing Annabel. " But I may tell you frankly that our 
 opinion goes to clear the girl. Gilderoy asserts that she gave 
 him no aid of any kind; and the jailor of the Tolbooth is 
 most positive that she could have introduced nothing with- 
 out his observation. If we could but get at the bottom of 
 Colonel Campion's share in the plot, the whole mystery 
 would be unravelled ; but that is still wrapped in darkness." 
 
 " At this moment," said Annabel, " the poor girl is torn 
 with anxiety to learn whether she can again be allowed to 
 visit the prisoner, and, for the last time, under any pre- 
 cautions and restrictions that may be deemed requisite." 
 
 " That is a business for the governor to deal with," replied 
 the officer. " An order has come out that none save clergy- 
 men be admitted to the prisoner ; and I hardly conceive it 
 can be relaxed. But you may try." 
 
 The officers then took their leave ; and Marion sank in a 
 paroxysm of agony at the thought that she should see Gil- 
 deroy no more. 
 
 But, in this fresh perplexity, Mr. Gilchrist stood Marion's 
 friend. 
 
 Finding that her examination had not criminated her in 
 the eyes of the authorities, he made strenuous application in 
 the proper quarter, and succeeded in obtaining in her favour 
 a relaxation of the order respecting admission to the Tol- 
 booth, permitting her to visit Gilderoy at noon on the follow- 
 ing day, being the day previous to the execution ; and he 
 resolved to accompany her on that occasion procuring for 
 himself the necessary authority as a clergyman. 
 
 Marion was overjoyed to hear that she should once more 
 behold her lover : but, sooth to say, she did not appear at all 
 satisfied of the necessity or propriety of being attended by 
 Mr. Gilchrist. 
 
 " You ken what he said already," she urged. " He bade 
 me forbid you to come near him ; and what will he say when 
 he sees my disobedience ? Oh ! Mr. Simon, dinna gar me 
 do sic a thing, and him to die sae soon." 
 
 The Minister, however, eventually overcame her remon- 
 strances. 
 
326 GILDEEOY: 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIII. 
 
 Oh, Gilderoy ! bethought we then 
 
 So soon, so sad to part, 
 When first in Roslin's lovely glen 
 
 You triumph'd o'er my heart? 
 
 Ah ! little thought I to deplore 
 
 Those limbs in fetters bound ; 
 Or hear, upon the scaffold floor, 
 
 The midnight hammer sound. Campbell. 
 
 AT the Lour of noon, next day, Marion and Mr. Gilchrist 
 repaired together to the Tolbooth. 
 
 The name of Gilderoy was in everybody's mouth on the 
 street. The ballad-singers and speech-criers were making 
 capital stock of it. An old blind man, led by a dog, was 
 chanting a rugged ditty, purporting to be " Gilderoy 's La- 
 ment." A brawny fellow in the garb of a sailor, with a 
 handful of printed papers, was loudly advertising " The true 
 History of the Life and Adventures, Trial and Sentence, of 
 that notorious Highland Kogue, called Gilderoy, from the 
 Moor of R.annoch, with a particular account of the Plot laid 
 by Colonel Edward Campion to break open the Tolbooth and 
 burn the good town of Edinburgh." A little further on, a 
 wretched cripple was announcing "A Hare Discovery of the 
 Courtship between the Highland Bobber, Gilderoy, and a 
 famed Lady of Quality presently living in the Canon gate, 
 together with an account of their meetings in prison, and 
 complete copies of their Love Letters all very proper to be 
 read by gallants and young maidens." A crowd was col- 
 lected about the spot where Colonel Campion died the 
 causeway being still darkly stained with his blood. 
 
 The Minister and his trembling companion pressed forward 
 to the Tolbooth door, and on showing their papers of 
 authority found admittance. 
 
 It was the Gudeman himself who received them. He 
 looked much excited and out of sorts, smelt strongly of 
 usquebagh, had a napkin tied loosely about his head, and 
 wore in his belt a pair of unwieldy pistols. He had never seen 
 Mr. Gilchrist before, but he made a reverence to him, knowing 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 327 
 
 from the terms of the pass that he was a clergyman, and he 
 recognised Marion with a cunning smile. 
 
 " Wasna that a fearful story, lass, that befel here since 1 
 saw you last ? " he said. " Your braw lover dashed my 
 head against the hard stane floor, and nearly brained me. 
 Sorrow be on him ! I would have thought nothing of it had 
 I been overstepping my duty with him riding on the top of 
 my commission ; but he could have no crow to pluck with 
 me on that score." 
 
 Marion was so agitated that the few words she uttered 
 in answer were unintelligible. 
 
 " And how is the prisoner ? " inquired Mr. Gilchrist. 
 
 " Brawly, sir ; that is to say, he has got an extra chain 
 put on him to keep him right. He has never crossed words 
 with me since the broil ; for I suppose he is ashamed of his 
 conduct. But I'm wary of him now. See, there's twa 
 pistols at my waist, each of them panged to the muzzle with 
 powder and ball ; and ' wha daur meddle wi' me P ' as the 
 auld sang says." 
 
 " Has there been no more discovered about the manner in 
 which Colonel Campion broke into the prison ? " pursued 
 Mr. Gilchrist. 
 
 " Don't say ' broke into the prison,' sir ; for that was out 
 of his power ; the matter remains a dead mystery, and I'm 
 able to give you no enlightenment about it," said the jailor, 
 with some confusion, and a sly glance at Marion, " The 
 Colonel has gone to his account, and there let him rest. He 
 was a strange man all his days, and he came to a strange 
 end, from the like of which may we all be kept." 
 
 "Somebody had supplied G-ilderoy with the means of 
 escape," said the Minister. " I fear that he had a file." 
 
 " So it is thought ; but the file was never found." 
 
 " It couldna ha'e been supplied by this lassie ? " 
 
 " Her hoot, fy ! I would have seen it, sir. She had no 
 more hand in the pie than yourself, though I hear they were 
 questioning her yesterday." 
 
 "That they were; but they seemed satisfied of her 
 innocence." 
 
 " So they ought, so far as my knowledge goes ; and they 
 might have taken my word without much more ado. What 
 could hinder a file or other instrument being flung in at the 
 window ? I've known the like done before in the dead of 
 night. It's a deep mystery, as I said, and it'll remain a 
 
328 GILDEROY: 
 
 mystery ; for Gilderoy refuses to tell a word ; and you need 
 not trouble yourself bidding him confess." 
 
 " But what o' my grandmither ? " said Marion. 
 
 " There's no fear of her," returned the Gudeman. " No- 
 thing worth turning over can be proved against her. She'll 
 be set free, I suppose, very shortly. But come away and 
 you'll see Gilderoy." 
 
 He forthwith led the way upstairs. 
 
 As they reached the door of the cell in which Judith was 
 confined, they heard her crooning a Highland song. Marion 
 was about to petition for another interview with the old 
 woman; but the Gudeman, suspecting as much from her 
 looks, seized her arm, and hurried her past. 
 
 The door of Gilderoy 's cell was thrown open, and Mr. 
 Gilchrist and Marion entered. The jailor followed, and 
 shutting the door, placed his back against it, and carelessly 
 passed his hand over the pistols in his belt. 
 
 The dank odour of the cell was oppressive, as the day 
 happened to be close and sultry. A beam of sunshine 
 struggled through the cobwebbed grating, the grim shadow 
 of which it threw on the floor. The prisoner was reclining 
 on his straw. He was far more heavily ironed than before, 
 and presented a most forlorn and savage aspect. He rose 
 from his wretched pallet, and with a dark scowl at Mr. Gil- 
 christ, and another at Marion, he exclaimed " How dare 
 you bring this man here? Did not I command you to 
 forbid him ? I have refused to have dealings with any of 
 his quality." 
 
 " She acted faithfully according to your directions, James," 
 said Mr. Gilchrist. " If there be blame, it doesna rest on 
 her shouthers." 
 
 " Then, why did you disregard my command ? " cried 
 Gilderoy." 
 
 "On the plea of auld acquaintance," responded Mr. Gil- 
 christ. " Nane can be more sorry than mysel' to find you 
 in this condition." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " exclaimed the prisoner. " Let me meet my 
 doom in peace." 
 
 " It's no to upbraid you that I've come here," said the 
 Minister. "When I look back it seems but yesterday, 
 though it's twa lang years, since I travelled down to the 
 Tolbooth o' St. Johnstoun, and sat days and nights wi' your 
 brither ; and you may weel suppose that I ha'e crossed the 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 329 
 
 threshold o' Edinburgh Tolbooth this day wi' a sair, sair 
 heart. Minding on auld langsyne, I winna desert your 
 faither's son in his extremity, though my single-hearted 
 friendship be met wi' the bitterest scorn.'* 
 
 The outlaw suddenly clashed his fetters together, and 
 broke into a groan a groan of anguish and despair. 
 
 " You are welcome, you are welcome," he faltered, with 
 eyes cast to the ground. " But what comfort can your 
 presence or your words impart ? What hope can you hold 
 forth? Can you hide from my sight the ghastly form of 
 Dunavaig, mangled by my clansmen's dirks ? Mr. Simon," 
 he continued, in a steadier tone, as though he had succeeded 
 in conquering the momentary weakness, " my brain is con- 
 fused, and I scarce know what I say. But I thank you for 
 your friendly offices, and I will now bid you farewell." 
 
 " I am ready to watch wi' you all night," returned Mr. 
 Simon. " You will require some spiritual guide in your last 
 hours." 
 
 " Pray for me ; but leave me to myself," said the prisoner. 
 " When you go back to your quiet home near the foot of the 
 Grampians, bear witness for me that I die confident in the 
 hope that Clan Gregor will yet upraise the ancient banner 
 which has been trampled in the dust. And for my sake, 
 Mr. Simon, and for the sake of your long friendship with my 
 father's house, watch over the hapless girl by your side, and 
 endeavour to shield her from fresh misfortunes. Watch over 
 her, I beseech you, with all the watchfulness of a father, for 
 she is dearer to me than all the world beside." 
 
 Marion had been weeping silently and unseen ; but now 
 her tears flowed forth in a flood, and she made no attempt to 
 check or conceal them. She tremblingly approached the 
 outlaw, with her beautiful hair loose and spreading over her 
 shoulders. He took both her hands between his, and pressed 
 them to his heart. 
 
 "Dearest," he said, " soon shall I be beyond the reach of 
 all sorrow, misery, and dishonour; and my last request is 
 that you will ever think of me as of one who loved you 
 fondly. Oft and again had I dreams of peace and happiness, 
 when you should be a chieftain's lady, and the power and 
 glory of the Gregalich should be established by my hand. 
 Vain, delusive dreams broken and past for ever never to 
 be recalled ! Yet those airy visions beguiled many a weary, 
 drooping hour, and served to blunt the edge of many a sore 
 
330 GILDEEOT: 
 
 calamity. Earewell, Marion, and believe that my latest 
 thoughts shall be of thee, and of the happier days when we 
 both were dreamers." 
 
 Marion had no power of speech. Misery was at its height. 
 There was a swimming in her brain, and she tottered and 
 sank, but his arms saved her from falling. 
 
 " She has fainted ! " cried the jailor. 
 
 " Would that she were dead ! " ejaculated Gilderoy. " For, 
 where on earth can she ever again find the peace which she 
 has lost ? Watch over her, I pray you, Mr. Simon, and the 
 blessing of Heaven will reward the friend and comforter of 
 the orphan ! " 
 
 The spasm which had overwhelmed Marion now gave way. 
 Her soul came back to the whole sense of its nnguish. She 
 breathed freely, and opening her eyes gazed into her lover's 
 face. 
 
 " Tell them in Eannoch, when you return, that it was my 
 last and dying injunction that every nerve should be strained 
 to redeem the fortunes of the clan," he said. " The race of 
 their ancient chiefs ceases with me ; but Alister of the Hock 
 bears kindred to our line by his mother's side, and he should 
 be chosen in my stead. There was an estrangement betwixt 
 us, for which cause he never drew sword under my banner ; 
 but I forgive the past, and it is my will that he should 
 succeed me. Let the clan act as one man, and Alister of the 
 Rock may yet redeem their fortunes." 
 
 "If I return, your words shall be told to them," said 
 Marion, " and I doubtna that you will be obeyed." 
 
 "It wad be mair befitting your condition, James," said 
 Mr. Gilchrist, " were you to send word to your followers 
 enjoining them to dwell at peace wi' a* the world, and to 
 turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into 
 pruning-hooks, that feud and bloodshed might cease, and 
 ilka man sit under his ain vine and fig-tree, making naebody 
 around him afraid." 
 
 " It is to the strong hand that they must look for their 
 best security," responded the chief; "and with my latest 
 breath would I urge them to war with their oppressors until 
 they shall have retrieved their lost rights." 
 
 Abruptly changing the subject, he inquired about old 
 Judith and Lady Annabel. Marion surprised him greatly 
 by the discovery that her grandmother was still alive and 
 imprisoned in the Tolbooth. She made grateful mention of 
 
A SCOTTISH TEADITION. 331 
 
 the kindness which she continued to experience from the 
 lady. 
 
 "A blessing will follow her," said Gilderoy. "Mr. 
 Simon, thank her heartily in my name. May Heaven pros- 
 per her!" 
 
 The conversation went on disjointedly for some time 
 longer, until Mr. Gilchrist hinted that it was time the inter- 
 view should close. 
 
 " I dinna hurry you," said the Gudeman. " There's great 
 allowance when a man's condemned." 
 
 The mention of parting and parting for the last time 1 
 renewed poor Marion's agony ; and after a few convulsive 
 sobs she fainted in the prisoner's arms. But her swoon 
 was short, and when she recovered she was calm fearfully 
 calm, not a tear falling, not a tremor passing through her 
 frame and in a low, unfaltering voice she bade Gilderoy 
 farewell. 
 
 " I ha'e but a'e wish," she said. " Suffer Mr. Gilchrist to 
 watch wi' you." 
 
 " Mr. Gilchrist will lead you home, and then he may 
 return," answered Gilderoy. " It will be some consolation 
 to have a friend beside me to the last." 
 
 Marion's pallid cheeks brightened for a moment with the 
 flush of gladness, and the Minister shook Gilderoy by the 
 hand. 
 
 " And mark me, dearest," said Gilderoy ; " one injunction 
 I had almost forgotten. Remind the clan of Ranald Yourigh. 
 May every man and stripling's hands be raised against him 
 and his!" 
 
 Marion then requested that a lock of his hair might be 
 given to her. He joyfully consented ; and by means of the 
 jailor's knife a long red lock was severed, which she depo- 
 sited in her bosom. And then they bade each other an 
 eternal adieu. She was all calmness at the moment when 
 she imprinted the last kiss upon his hand. 
 
 Throughout the interview not a word was spoken about 
 the escape from the Tolbooth and the mystery surrounding 
 Colonel Campion. 
 
 Marion became half-insensible as the Minister led her 
 from the cell. She leaned heavily on him as they went down 
 the stair, and tears were again bedewing her cheeks ; but 
 the crooning song of her grandmother seemed to recall her to 
 full consciousness. 
 
332 GILDEROY: 
 
 They had jusfc quitted the Tolbooth when a man on the 
 street accosted Mr. Gilchrist, and they stopped. 
 
 " You've been seeing him, Mr. Simon," said the man. 
 "And what now? Has he confessed the plot? Can he 
 escape the vengeance o' Macpherson ? No, though a* the 
 captains in Scotland were banded wi' him." 
 
 Mr. Gilchrist felt Marion shrinking on his arm and feebly 
 essaying to draw him away. " Forbear to glory in hatred 
 and revenge, Ranald Vourigh," he answered. " He will 
 soon appear before a judgment-seat where neither you nor 
 I could stand without confusion o' face, unless we were 
 partakers in the saving grace which is freely offered to a* 
 repentant sinners." 
 
 " The baptism the baptism ! " replied Macpherson. " You 
 canna forget that you sprinkled the water upon his face in 
 the kirk. But can I forget the ruin that his father brought 
 upon me ? No ! And the morn he'll hang as high as Haman, 
 and I'll be standing at the gallows' foot. We'll see the morn ! " 
 And with a loud ferocious laugh he passed on. 
 I t" Lassie," said the Minister, " you maunna speak to your 
 folk against that man. Leave him to the will o' Providence." 
 
 "Though I should never speak a word against him, his 
 doom is certain," answered Marion. "Eachin Macraw is 
 hunting for him day and nicht." 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 "Tls most just 
 
 That thou turn rascal. 
 
 Timon of Athens. 
 
 songs all day long songs of the land of 
 ^-J the heather and the cataract, songs of feud and foray, 
 of mourning for the departed, of triumph for victory won 
 and bloodthirsty vengeance slockened sat Judith of Ean- 
 noch in her gloomy cell in the grim old " Heart of Mid- 
 lothian" crooning songs, and careless of the fate which fero- 
 cious superstition might have in store for her careless, 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 333 
 
 though the state might already be set, and the faggots piled, 
 for her judicial murder in the face of day. 
 
 The cell door opened with a jarring crash which stilled 
 her song, and a beam of the blessed sunlight, yellow as gold, 
 striking across the stair from a narrow loophole in the wall, 
 showed her the bulky form of the Gudeman of the Tolbooth 
 standing in the entrance. He held in his left hand a written 
 paper, which he glanced at for an instant, and then waved it 
 beckoningly towards her. 
 
 " Rise, you old skirling limmer ! " he cried, in his deep, 
 gruff voice. " Your time's come." 
 
 " Thank you for that word ! " ejaculated the wretched 
 captive, as she started with alacrity from the dirty straw on 
 which she had been squatted at the wall. " I am ready." 
 
 " Come away, then, and give us peace of you," said the 
 jailor. 
 
 " Is it to trial or to death that you summon me ? " inquired 
 Judith. 
 
 " You're no like a woman thinking of trial and sentence," 
 said the jailor. "Ranting and singing from morning till 
 night, you're ill-prepared, I doubt, to take your stand for 
 death or life before the Lords of Justiciary." 
 
 " Death is what I seek," cried the suspected witch. " Death 
 is what I canna find." 
 
 She came forward to him, drawing her plaid about her 
 shrunken shoulders with one hand, and parting the grey, 
 snaky elf-locks that straggled over her brow and eyes with 
 the other. " Joyful is the hour," she said, " that brings me 
 to the close o' a weary, weary journey." 
 
 The Gudeman put his arm within hers, and led her slowly 
 down the stair, and through the common hall, which was 
 then ringing with the oaths, ribaldry, and laughter of its 
 habitues. They went still on, and reaching the strong outer 
 door of the prison, the Gudeman unbolted it and dragged 
 it open, letting in the golden lustre of the sunset and the 
 Babel noise of the busy street. Judith now observed that 
 one of the jailor's satellites had followed him from the hall. 
 
 At this moment half a dozen soldiers of the Town Guard 
 marched up to the door with a prisoner a little, deformed 
 man, wearing a dark threadbare cloak and a steeple-crowned 
 hat. 
 
 " We deliver up our charge, Gudeman," said the sergeant, 
 who headed the party. " There's the warrant for his com- 
 
334 GILDEROY: 
 
 mittal," handing the jailor a folded paper. " Heuben Kin- 
 noway by name and surname, sometime practising the calling 
 of a witchfinder in the town of Parton and sherifFdom of 
 Fife, accused of attempted murder by means of poison. This 
 is the man." 
 
 " And my enemy," said Judith, glaring with a red and 
 glittering eye at the prisoner. " But, like me, he is on his 
 way to death." 
 
 " Not to death, hag ! " cried Heuben, vehemently. " For 
 the man still lives, and will live : and they oppress the 
 honest and upright they malign the innocent and the poor. 
 But thou art doomed ! " 
 
 " Ay, to freedom : that's the doom pronounced upon her," 
 responded the jailor, with a loud laugh. " Nothing can be 
 found against her, except your own havers, which are not worth 
 heeding. So the order for her liberation here it is. see 
 came to me scarcely ten minutes since; and she's a free woman." 
 
 Judith had thus escaped thanks to the humanity and 
 intelligence which characterized the Lord Protector's chief 
 officials in Scotland. These officials were generally averse to 
 the witch persecution, though they could not venture, in 
 every instance, to oppose the strong current of popular 
 superstition and fanaticism. " There is much witchery up 
 and down our land," says a zealous son of the Covenant, 
 Robert Baillie : " the English be but too sparing to try it, 
 but some they execute." Judith, apparently, had had the 
 good fortune to be taken cognizance of in a " too sparing " 
 moment. 
 
 " Thus they pervert the laws of God and man," cried the 
 Witchfinder, now foaming at the mouth, and his meagre 
 visage, so fell and uncouth by nature, wearing the cast of 
 despair, while he convulsively raised his hands from beneath 
 his mantle, showing that they were manacled together at the 
 wrists. " 'Tis thus they filch from me the fruits of my 
 patient toil ; 'tis thus they rob me of my daily bread ; and 
 when they have rendered me poor and starving, they blacken 
 my name with imputed crime." 
 
 Judith, utterly overcome by her sudden reverse of fortune, 
 was gasping for breath, and clinging helpelessly to the Grude- 
 man's arm. 
 
 " And what are the particulars of the charge against this 
 man, did you say ? " inquired the jailor, opening the folded 
 paper which the sergeant had given him. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 335 
 
 " Attempting to poison Boger Cristal, who won the reward 
 offered for the discovery of Sir John Spiers of Spierhaughs," 
 answered the sergeant. " It seems they were old acquaint- 
 ances, and meeting together this morning, after Roger had 
 got his money, they went about drinking ; and at last this 
 man, conceiving the idea of robbing his friend, administered 
 poison to him. [Roger is still in life, but the doctors de- 
 spair of his recovery." 
 
 "A falsehood! a brazen falsehood!" cried the Witch- 
 finder. " What is Roger Cristal a broken man, a highway 
 robber, a spy that he should be suffered to swear away 
 an innocent man's life ? I never touched plack nor farthing 
 of his money." 
 
 " There is murder in your eye," said Judith ; " and the 
 gallows awaits you as surely as it awaits the young and 
 gallant Gilderoy." 
 
 " Hag of infamy ! " yelled the Witchfinder. " The Evil 
 Spirit, thy master, hath rescued thee for the present ; but 
 he will desert thee in the end." 
 
 " To the dark dungeon with him?" cried Judith; " that 
 the ghosts of those whom he hath slaughtered for filthy gain 
 may arise and curse him to his face. Night after night have 
 I heard them whispering to each other : * Patience, sister ; 
 patience, brother. He is on his doleful way ; and the tree 
 is felled, and the hemp spun.' " 
 
 A few street loungers had followed the soldiers to the 
 Tolbooth door, but the prolonged colloquy gave occasion 
 for a considerable crowd to assemble, who now began laugh- 
 ing and jeering. 
 
 The G-udeman turned to his satellite, saying : " You ken 
 Luckie Maxwell's in the Canongate ? Take this old woman 
 to that house, and state that you leave her there under the 
 protection of Lady Glenbirkie ; for that's the order sent 
 to me." 
 
 Judith went away with the man, silent and acquiescent as 
 a child. People stared to see the strange pair pass along, 
 and the youngsters dogged them with mocks and gibes. 
 
 The evening was calm and lovely ; for 
 
 " The weary sun had made a golden set, 
 And by the bright track of his fiery car, 
 Gave token of a goodly day to-morrow." 
 
 But the morrow was destined to see the end of Gilderoy. 
 
336 GILDEEOY: 
 
 On Mrs. Maxwell's house being reached, the turnkey 
 delivered his message and his charge to the landlady in 
 person. 
 
 " A prisoner from the Tolbooth; " ejaculated the good 
 dame. " Is my house to become the common howf of all 
 such clanjamfry ? But, I suppose, I must just submit." 
 
 Lady Annabel was speedily brought. 
 
 " Take me to Marion ! " cried Judith. " Let me clasp the 
 dear bairn to my heart before I die ; and I will bless you, 
 madam, I will bless you with my latest breath, though upon 
 your head rests the ruin of Gilderoy and the clan ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XLY. 
 
 Of Gilderoy sae fear'd they were, 
 
 Wi* irons his limbs they strung; 
 To Edinburgh led him there, 
 
 And on a gallows hung. 
 They hung him high aboon the rest, 
 
 He was sae bold a boy ; 
 There died the youth whom I lo'ed best, 
 
 My handsome Gilderoy. 
 
 Old Ballad. 
 
 SUNRISE found the old Scottish capital all astir. It was 
 the morning on which the Rannoch freebooter was to 
 expiate his guilt. 
 
 Hundreds of people from the surrounding country districts 
 flocked into the city to witness the execution. Troops of 
 horse and companies of infantry paraded slowly through the 
 principal streets. Trumpets blew and drums beat in every 
 quarter. The town had not seen so great a commotion in 
 connection with an execution since the day when a dastardly 
 faction embrued their hands in the blood of the gallant 
 Montrose. 
 
 The feelings and sentiments of the crowds on this occasion 
 were as varied as their very features. Some good folks could 
 not conceal their exultation that so famous a malignant was 
 to suffer. Others rejoiced that the Highland cateran, who 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 337 
 
 had " lived a life of start and strife," was at last to receive 
 the due reward of his crimes. Some, admiring his devotion to 
 the Royalist cause in the north, regretted the fall of so brave 
 and resolute a partisan. By others he was commiserated for 
 his youth and daring. Stories were current that he had been 
 betrayed by false friends, and when criminals are represented 
 as the victims of treachery, they are usually held in high 
 favour by the multitude. 
 
 The place of execution was on the road from Edinburgh 
 to Leith, known by the name of Leith Walk at least such 
 is the appellation by which it is now known ; but at the time 
 we write of, it was a new thoroughfare along a mound of 
 earth which had been thrown up, by direction of General 
 Leslie, for the defence of the capital, when threatened by 
 the advance of Cromwell's host, previous to the battle of 
 Dunbar. This road, however, did not become the principal 
 thoroughfare between Edinburgh and Leith until after the 
 middle of the following century. Here the scaffold was 
 erected, and, singular to relate, the gibbet reached to the 
 unprecedented height of fifty feet, as if to mark emphatically 
 the desperate character of the marauder who was to suffer 
 upon it. 
 
 As the morning advanced, the sun shone out with cloud- 
 less splendour. The concourse around the gibbet gradually 
 augmented, with much confusion, quarrelling, jesting, and 
 laughter. Every accessible point whence a good view could 
 be obtained was thronged with eager, patient gazers. As 
 usual on such occasions, a considerable proportion of the 
 spectators were females, old and young, many of them car- 
 rying children in their arms. The High Street continued to 
 be more and more crowded, particularly in the vicinity of 
 the Tolbootb, which was strongly guarded by soldiers. Every 
 window of the tall tenements was filled with faces. 
 
 It was now nearly the hour when the prisoner should be 
 brought forth. 
 
 " Maybe, after a'," cried one of the impatient spectators 
 near the prison, " the Highland rogue will get a respite. I 
 ha'e seen the like before. Maybe they ha'e gotten him, on 
 promise o' his life, to confess a' he kens concerning Colonel 
 Campion and his plots." 
 
 A man in tartan, a little back among the crowd, gazed 
 fiercely on the speaker, saying" He shall die this day, 
 
338 GULDEEOY: 
 
 though I should break through yonder door, and stab him 
 wi' my dirk ! " 
 
 " Gae awa wi' you, you dour-looking, bluidy-minded 
 villain ! " cried a tawdry, bare-headed matron. " Sae bonny 
 a lad, and to be hanged for nae mair, as they tell me, than 
 rinning away wi* a bonny lass. A fell country, and fell-like 
 laws, when the men-folk maun be beheaded and hanged for 
 hauding a wark wi' the lasses. Shame fa' you, man, for your 
 ill-will to ane o' your ain clan." 
 
 " You dinna ken, gudewife, what murder stained his 
 savage hand," returned the Highlander. 
 
 " What murder ? Haud your tongue. I ken brawly," 
 retorted the sympathetic dame. " There was the auld fool 
 the lass lived wi', that wanted to buckle till her himsel' 
 foul fa' him ! What signifies for him ? He should just ha'e 
 let her gang wi' the lad she liked best, and he wad been 
 sitting canty enough in his ain hoose enoo, in place o 1 lying 
 in the heart o' the cauld yird." 
 
 The death-bell tolled from the stone crown of St. Giles 
 Church, and there was a sudden momentary outcry among 
 the people, and then a deep silence in the street. The bell 
 tolled on, its slow and doleful notes wafted by the wind over 
 all the town, and away down towards Leith, warning the 
 expectant thousands congregated around the gibbet that the 
 tragedy was about to open. 
 
 The Tolbooth door was flung wide, and the melancholy 
 procession emerged from the dim twilight of the prison into 
 the bright sunshine of the autumn morn. The figure of 
 Gilderoy soon met the gaze of countless eyes. Forth he 
 came, stately and fearless. He met a breathless stillness ; 
 but soon voices were heard pitying his ignominious fate, and 
 among them a harsh voice shouted out taunts and execrations, 
 but it was instantly drowned in an indignant roar, and the 
 multitude heaved like a swelling stream as the procession, 
 guarded by foot and horse, began to wend its way down the 
 street. 
 
 The deportment of Gilderoy was just what might have 
 been expected of him by those who saw him appear before 
 the High Court. His heavy fetters had been knocked off, 
 and there was no other bond about him but the rope that 
 pinioned his arms. Haggard and hairy of visage, clad in 
 his ragged habiliments, which bore many a stain of his 
 blood, and with his long red locks floating on the wind, he 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 339 
 
 looked wild and wretched ; but his bearing was resolute and 
 proud. By his side walked the Minister of Dunavaig (the 
 only clergyman whom the prisoner had suffered to attend 
 him), intently engaged in imparting to him religious in- 
 struction. The executioner walked behind. 
 
 The gigantic gibbet loomed into the prisoner's view, but 
 he met it with a proud smile ; and soon he stood in its 
 shadow, and saw the rope dangling above him in the wind. 
 
 He ascended the scaffold with a firm step and an undaunted 
 mien preceded by soldiers and the executioner, and followed 
 by Mr. Gilchrist, certain officials and more soldiers. Pro- 
 found silence prevailed, disturbed only by the striking of the 
 rope against the gallows and the ladder. Then a strong 
 voice arose in earnest prayer, which was listened to by the 
 multitude with uncovered heads ; and then a psalm was sung 
 in which many joined. 
 
 Two figures were seen ascending the ladder the hangman 
 and his victim. Half-way up, Gilderoy stopped, and in a 
 clear, unshaken voice began to address the multitude. But 
 a sudden roll of drums compelled him to forbear. And then 
 he looked his last on earth and sky. 
 
 The dense crowd heaved tumultuously, and pressed upon 
 the military guard around the scaffold. The soldiers had to 
 meet the pressure by using their muskets and pikes. Women 
 were shrieking and swooning. Stones and turf began to fly 
 about the hangman's ears. And from that tall gibbet hung 
 the lifeless form of Gilderoy, swaying with the wind ! 
 =& # * # # % 
 
 The Firth of Forth was all a-glow with the setting sun. 
 The water was dotted with boats, which, laden with people 
 who had been in Edinburgh that morning witnessing the 
 execution, were making across at Queensferry to the Fife 
 side. 
 
 In one of the boats, which had just left the shore, sat the 
 same man in tartan who had exposed himself to the reproaches 
 of the matron in the High Street. He sat in the bows, with 
 his sheathed broadsword resting betwixt his knees, and his 
 hands crossed upon the basket-hilt. 
 
 A farmer, who sat near him, after silently eyeing him for 
 some moments, observed " Your countryman made a brave 
 end this morning. He was so young, and so fearless, that I 
 was amaist wae to see him come to sic a fate." 
 
 " His doom was just," answered the Highlander, sternly. 
 z 2 
 
340 GILDEEOY : 
 
 " Nae doubt, nae doubt," said the other. " But did you 
 ever see sic courage in the face o' death ? " 
 
 "Courage?" echoed the Highlander, with an angry vehe- 
 mence. " It was but the courage o' despair ; for I ken that 
 Gilderoy was at heart a coward. He proved himseF a coward 
 when we met in battle." 
 
 " You've fought wi' him? " 
 
 " Ay, and made him flee," said the man in tartan. " It 
 was my hand that wrought his destruction." 
 
 " Eanald Vourigh ! " ejaculated a husky Highland voice 
 from among the passengers in the body of the boat, " hadst 
 thou but spoken one word in pity for Macgregor's fate, I 
 might have spared thee. Bloodhound of the Saxon op- 
 pressors ! I am here to avenge Macgregor's fate." 
 
 A tall form, wearing hodden grey and a Lowland bonnet, 
 started up on one of the benches, showing the fell visage of 
 Eachin Macraw. The passengers were thunderstruck. 
 
 The threatened man also stood up, with his sword in both 
 hands, ready to draw, and said " Seize him ! He is one of 
 the outlawed Macgregors." 
 
 Quick as thought, Eachin pulled a steel pistol from the 
 breast of his coat, levelled it at his enemy's head, and fired. 
 Eanald fell forward with a piercing cry. 
 
 Eachin would have been overpowered next instant ; but, 
 springing upon the gunwale, he plunged into the sea, and 
 disappeared from sight, leaving his blue bonnet floating on 
 the waves. 
 
 The boat was put aback, and every eye was on the alert ; 
 but no Eachin could be seen. Had he perished after the 
 daring perpetration of his revenge ? 
 
 After some little time, a shrill yell rung over the water 
 from the southern shore, and a tall figure was seen emerging 
 from the surf, and struggling up a desolate part of the beach, 
 waving his right hand above his bare head. The echoes of 
 the triumphant yell had scarcely died away when Eanald 
 Yourigh breathed his last. 
 
A SCOTTISH TRADITION. 341 
 
 CHAPTER XLYI. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 This broken tale was all we knew 
 
 Of her he loved. Byron's " Giaour." 
 
 IVTOW that the fate of our hero, Gilderoy, has been fully 
 -1AI recorded, little need be added respecting the subordi- 
 nate actors in our drama who survived him. 
 
 It appeared that Gilderoy firmly refused to the last to 
 make any disclosure touching his connection with Colonel 
 Campion in the attempted escape ; and his silence, com- 
 bined with that of Marion, who buried the secret in her 
 own breast, saved the Gudeman of the Tolbooth from the 
 consequences of his extraordinary breach of duty. 
 
 Old Judith and her granddaughter were removed from 
 Edinburgh, under the care of Mr. Gilchrist, to a quiet 
 cottage on Lady Annabel's estate of Glenbirkie, as their 
 friends did not judge it expedient that they should return to 
 Eannoch till the commotions were entirely at an end. 
 
 But the poor old woman never saw Rannoch again. In a 
 few weeks she sickened and died. Marion, thus bereft of 
 her only relative, was immediately taken by Lady Annabel 
 into her own household as her chosen companion. 
 
 Judith's denouncer, Reuben Xennoway, never left the 
 Tolbooth but on his way to execution ; for Roger Cristal 
 died of poison which had been administered to him in his 
 drink, and the guilt was clearly brought home to the Witch- 
 finder. 
 
 In the course of the following summer Lady Annabel 
 bestowed her hand on Jasper Rollo. The marriage cere- 
 mony was performed by Mr. Gilchrist. The reader may well 
 imagine that the wedded pair entered upon a life of unal- 
 loyed happiness after all their trials and troubles. 
 
 The Highland maiden remained in the household of her 
 benefactress till after the nuptials, when she went back to 
 Rannoch, and was restored to the small patrimony of her 
 family. The first to bid her welcome was the wild Macraw, 
 
342 GILDESOY: A SCOTTISH TRADITION 
 
 glorying in his revengeful slaughter of "the false Mac- 
 pherson." 
 
 She passed the rest of her days among her own people, 
 occasionally visiting her friends in the low country, though 
 never long absent from her Highland home. She never 
 married. She saw a good old age, and resigned her gentle 
 and chastened spirit in that memorable year when Mar and 
 his Jacobite compatriots set up ] the rebel standard among 
 the Grampians. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 HISTOBICAL AND TBADITIONABY ACCOUNTS OF GILDEROY. 
 
 TTNDEE this heading we have to submit the historical and 
 vJ traditionary gleanings on which the preceding tale has 
 been mainly founded. 
 
 In the first place we extract the following from Chambers's 
 " Domestic Annals of Scotland," vol. ii., p. 96 : 
 
 "July 27, 1636. This was a terrible day for the broken 
 men who had for the last few years been carrying on such 
 wild proceedings in Morayland and other districts bordering 
 on the Highlands. Lord Lorn who soon after, as Marquis 
 of Argyle, became the leader of the Covenanting party had 
 exerted himself with diligence to put down the system of 
 robbery and oppression by which the country had been so 
 long harassed; and he had succeeded in capturing ten of 
 the most noted of the caterans, including one whose name 
 enjoys a popular celebrity even to the present day. This was 
 Gilderoy, or Gillieroy ; such at least was his common appella- 
 tion a descriptive term signifying the Red Lad, but he 
 actually bore the name of Patrick Macgregor, being a member 
 of that unhappy clan which the severity of the Government 
 had driven to desperate courses about thirty years before. 
 Another of the captured men was John Forbes, who seems 
 to have been the fidus Achates of the notorious outlaw, 
 James Grant. - A natural son of Grant was also of the party. 
 These ten men were now brought to trial in Edinburgh. 
 
 " It was alleged of Gilderoy that he and his band had 
 for three years past sorned ( through the haill bounds of 
 
344 APPENDIX. 
 
 Strathspey, Braemar, Cromar, and countries thereabout, 
 oppressing the common and poor people, violently taking 
 away from them their meat, drink, and provision, and their haill 
 guids.' They had taken fifteen nolt from one farm in the 
 Glenprosen; had lain for days at Balreny, eating up the 
 country and possessing themselves of whatever they could 
 lay hands on, and in some instances they had carried off the 
 goodman himself, or the man and wife together, in order to 
 extort money for their ransom. One of the charges leads us 
 to the romantic scenery of Loch Lomond, where there is an 
 island called Inchcailloch (Women's Island), from having 
 been the seat of a nunnery in ancient times. Gilderoy, in 
 company with his brother, John Dhu Eoy, and his half- 
 brother, John Graham, had come to William Stewart's house 
 in this island, and taken from it ' the whole insight, plenish- 
 ing, guids, and geir', besides the legal papers belonging to 
 the proprietor. There had also been a cruel slaughter of one 
 of the Clan Cameron. The other men were taxed with 
 offences of a similar kind. 
 
 " If the doom of the ten caterans was duly executed 
 and we know nothing to the contrary they were all, two 
 days after, drawn backwards on a hurdle to the Cross, and 
 there hanged, Gilderoy and John Forbes suffering on a gal- 
 lows ' ane degree higher* than that on which their companions 
 suffered ; and further, having their heads and right hands 
 struck off for exhibition on the city ports." 
 
 Professor Aytoun, in his " Ballads of Scotland," prefixes an 
 interesting introduction to the ballad of " Gilderoy," which 
 we shall now quote along with the ballad itself. 
 
 " A very different kind of freebooter from gentle Hobin of 
 Sherwood was Gilderoy, or Gillie Hoy (i.e., the Eed Lad), 
 whose memory also has been perpetuated in song. His real 
 name was Patrick MacGregor, to which persecuted and pro- 
 scribed clan the celebrated Hob Hoy also belonged ; and it 
 appears that about the year 1632 he was the leader of a 
 numerous gang of caterans, who spread their depredations 
 far and wide. At his trial, which took place on 7th June, 
 1636, he was charged with various offences and acts of rob- 
 bery and violence, committed not only in the Lennox, or 
 district bordering on Lochlomond, but in the northern parts 
 of Scotland, such as Strathspey and Braemar, and with hav- 
 ing been a common cateran for upwards of three years. Even 
 were we disposed to accept the distinction drawn by Evan 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 Dhu Maccombich, to the effect that ' he that steals a cow 
 from a poor widow, or a stirk from a cottar, is a thief ; he 
 that lifts a drove from a Sassenach laird is a gentleman- 
 drover,' we can hardly dignify Gilderoy by the latter title, 
 inasmuch as he was charged, inter alia, with ' the theftuous 
 steilling of foure hens' pertaining to the gudeman of Cal- 
 quharnie ! Gilderoy and his lieutenants were convicted, and 
 executed at the cross of Edinburgh, the master-cateran re- 
 ceiving the honour of a higher gibbet than his accomplices." 
 
 It is amusing to find that this poor cateran has been made 
 the subject of romance, under the disguise of history, and 
 has been elevated to a high pinnacle of infamy. In a work 
 entitled " Lives and Exploits of English Highwaymen, 
 Pirates, and Robbers, by Captain Charles Johnson," Gilderoy 
 figures as a thief of European celebrity, and is represented as 
 practising his art both in France and Spain. The following 
 extract is worth preserving : 
 
 " He then fled into France, where, being on a solemn day 
 at the Church of St. Denis, in Paris, whilst Cardinal Riche- 
 lieu was celebrating high mass, at which the King was pre- 
 sent, Gilder Roy had his hand in the Cardinal's purse, which 
 was hanging at his side, while he was officiating at the altar. 
 His Majesty perceiving the transaction, Gilder Roy, who 
 was dressed like a gentleman, seeing himself discovered, held 
 up his finger to the King, making a sign to take no notice, and 
 he should see good sport. The King, glad of such an occasion 
 of mirth, let him alone ; and a little after, coming to the 
 Cardinal, he took occasion, in discourse, to oblige him to 
 look into his purse for money, which he missing, began to 
 wonder. The King, knowing which way it went, was more 
 than ordinarily merry ; until, being tired with laughter, he 
 was willing that the Cardinal might have again what was 
 taken from him. The King thought that he who took the 
 money was an honest gentleman, and of some account, as he 
 kept his countenance so well ; but Gilder Roy had more wit 
 than to come near them, for he acted not in jest, but in good 
 earnest. Then the Cardinal turned all the laughter against 
 the King, who, using his common oath, swore by the faith of 
 a gentleman it was the first time that ever a thief had made 
 him his companion. 
 
 " He went from France into Spain ; and being one day at 
 Madrid he went into the Duke of Medina-Celi's house, when 
 that grandee had made a great entertainment for certain 
 
346 APPENDIX. 
 
 foreign ministers. Several pieces of plate were locked in a 
 trunk, and stood in a little room next to a hall where the 
 feast was, in which room many servants were waiting for 
 their masters. Gilder Roy went in a Spanish habit, accoutred 
 in all respects like the steward of the house, and going to 
 those who sat on the trunk, desired them to rise, because he 
 was going to use it ; which they having done, he caused it 
 to be taken up by some porters that followed him in, and got 
 clear off with it." 
 
 But his most notable exploit (according to Captain Charles 
 Johnson, whose inventive genius is not much inferior to that 
 of M. Alexandre Dumas) was performed after he had returned 
 home from his continental tour. We next find Gilderoy 
 engaged in personal combat with the Protector ! 
 
 " When Oliver Cromwell embarked at Donaghadey, in the 
 north of Ireland, and landed at Portpatrick in Scotland, the 
 news thereof came to Gilder Hoy, who was then lurking in 
 the shire of Galloway. Accordingly he met him on the road 
 towards Glasgow. Cromwell having only two servants with 
 him, he commanded him to stand and deliver; but the 
 former thinking three to one was odds, refused to obey. 
 They then came to an engagement, and several pistols were 
 discharged on both sides for nearly a quarter of an hour ; 
 when the bold robber pretended to yield his antagonists the 
 day, by running as fast as he could from them. They pur- 
 sued him very closely for near half an hour, and then 
 suddenly turning upon them, the first mischief he did was 
 shooting Oliver's horse, which, falling on his side as soon as 
 wounded, broke the Protector's leg. As for his servants, he 
 shot one of them through the head, and the other begging 
 quarter, it was granted ; but Oliver being disabled, he had 
 the civility to put him on an ass, and, tying his legs under 
 his belly, sent both of them to seek their fortunes." 
 
 With regard to the origin of the term " Jeddart justice," 
 Captain Charles Johnson thus enlightens us, showing satis- 
 factorily that it is part of the statute law of Scotland, first 
 to execute criminals and afterwards to try them. 
 
 " This insolence caused the legislature to contrive ways 
 and means to suppress the audaciousness of Gilder Roy and 
 his companions, who were dreaded far and near ; and among 
 them one Jennet, a lawyer, promoted the law for hanging a 
 highwayman first, and judging him afterwards ; which law, 
 being approved of, it received the sanction of the Govern* 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 ment, without any contradiction, and was often put in force 
 against many gentlemen of the road." 
 
 This veracious account of Gilderoy, along with the actual 
 minutes of his trial, will be found in the Appendix to 
 " Spalding's Memorialls of the Troubles in Scotland." 
 
 I have not chanced to meet with a copy of the original 
 ballad of Gilderoy, which Mr. Chambers mentions to have 
 seen on a broadside, and of which he has given us the 
 following specimen, being the opening and concluding 
 stanzas : 
 
 " My love he was as brave a man, 
 
 As ever Scotland bred ; 
 Descended from a Highland clan, 
 
 A kateran to his trade. 
 "No woman then, or womankind, 
 
 Had ever greater joy, 
 Than we two when we lodged alone, 
 I and my Gilderoy. 
 * * * * 
 
 " And now he is in Edinburgh town, 
 
 'Twas long ere I came there ; 
 They hang'd him upon a pin, 
 
 And he wagg'd in the air. 
 His relics they were more esteemed 
 
 Than Hector's were at Troy ; 
 I never loved to see the face 
 
 That gazed on Gilderoy." 
 
 The following version, which is the only one now current, 
 was adapted from the original by Sir Alexander Halket at 
 least, such was the general understanding until lately, when 
 it became a mania with some literary antiquaries to attribute 
 the authorship of the great bulk of the Scottish ballads to 
 Sir Alexander's sister, Lady Wardlaw, on the single ground 
 that she was the composer of " Hardyknute." 
 
 Gilderoy was a bonnie boy, 
 
 Had roses till his shoon, 
 His stockings were of silken soy, 
 
 Wi' garters hanging doun : 
 It was, I ween, a comely sight 
 
 To see so trim a boy ; 
 He was my joy and heart's delight, 
 
 My winsome Gilderoy. 
 
348 APPENDIX. 
 
 O sic twa charming e'en he had, 
 
 A breath as sweet as rose ; 
 He never ware a Highland plaid, 
 
 But costly silken clothes ; 
 He gain'd the love of ladies gay, 
 
 None e'er to him was coy ; 
 Ah, wae is me ! I mourn this day 
 
 For my dear Gilderoy. 
 
 My Gilderoy and I were born 
 
 Baith in one toun together, 
 We scant were seven years beforn 
 
 We 'gan so love each ither ; 
 Our daddies and our mammies they 
 
 Were fill'd wi' meikle joy, 
 To think upon the bridal day 
 
 Of me and Gilderoy. 
 
 For Gilderoy that love of mine 
 
 Gude faith, I freely bought 
 A wedding sark of Holland fine, 
 
 Wi' dainty ruffles wrought ; 
 And he gied me a wedding-ring, 
 
 Which I received with joy ; 
 Nae lad nor lassie e'er could sing 
 
 Like me and Gilderoy. 
 
 Wi' meikle joy we spent our prime, 
 
 Till we were baith sixteen, 
 And aft we past the langsum time 
 
 Amang the leaves sae green : 
 Aft on the banks we'd sit us there, 
 
 And sweetly kiss and toy ; 
 While he wi' garlands dec'k'd my hair, 
 
 My handsome Gilderoy. 
 
 O that he still had been con tent J] 
 
 Wi' me to lead his life ! 
 But ah, his manfu' heart was bent 
 
 To" stir in feats of strife. 
 And he in many a venturous deed 
 
 His courage bold wad try ; 
 And now this gars my heart to bleed 
 
 For my dear Gilderoy. 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 And when of me his leave he took, 
 
 The tears that wet mine e'e ; 
 I gied him sic a parting look : 
 
 " My benison gang wi' thee ! 
 God speed thee weel, mine ain dear heart, 
 
 For gane is all my joy ; 
 My heart is rent, sith we maun part, 
 
 My handsome Gilderoy." 
 
 The Queen of Scots possessed nought 
 
 That my love let me want ; 
 For cow and ewe he to me brought, 
 
 And e'en when they were scant : 
 All these did honestly possess, 
 
 He never did annoy 
 Who never fail'd to pay their cess, 
 
 To my love Gilderoy. 
 
 My Gilderoy, baith fair and near, 
 
 Was fear'd in every toun, 
 And bauldly bare awa' the gear 
 
 Of many a lawland loun : 
 For man to man durst meet him nane, 
 
 He was sae brave a boy ; 
 At length with numbers he was ta'en, 
 
 My winsome Gilderoy. 
 
 Wae worth the louns that made the laws, 
 
 To hang a man for gear ; 
 To reive of life for sic a cause, 
 
 As stealing horse or mear ! 
 Had not these laws been made sae strict, 
 
 I ne'er had lost my joy, 
 Wi' sorrow ne'er had wat my cheek, 
 
 For my dear Gilderoy. 
 
 If Gilderoy had done amiss, 
 
 He might have banish'd been. 
 Ah, what sair cruelty is this, 
 
 To hang sic handsome men ! 
 To hang the flower o' Scottish land, 
 
 Sae sweet and fair a boy 
 Nae lady had so white a hand 
 
 4s thee, my Gilderoy. 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 Of Gilderoy sae 'fraid they were, 
 
 They bound him meikle strong, 
 To Edinburgh they took him there, 
 
 And on a gallows hung : 
 They hung him high aboon the rest, 
 
 He was sae trim a boy ; 
 There died the youth whom I lo'ed best, 
 
 My handsome Gilderoy. 
 
 Sune as he yielded up his breath, 
 
 I bare his corpse away, 
 Wi' tears that trickled for his death, 
 
 I wash'd his comely clay ; 
 And sicker in a grave so deep 
 
 I laid the dear-lo'ed boy ; 
 And now for ever I maun weep 
 
 My handsome Gilderoy. 
 
 The introduction to the ballad in Whitelaw's " Book of 
 Scottish Song " furnishes a short account of Gilderoy ; but 
 some of the particulars are erroneous. We give it, however, 
 as it stands. 
 
 " Gilderoy was one of the proscribed Clan Gregor, and a 
 notorious freebooter, or lifter of cattle, in the Highlands 
 of Perthshire, for some time before the year 1638. In 
 February of that year, seven of his accomplices were taken, 
 tried, condemned, and executed at Edinburgh. They were 
 apprehended chiefly through the exertions of the Stewarts of 
 Athol, and in revenge Gilderoy burned several houses be- 
 longing to the Stewarts. This proved his ruin. A reward 
 of a thousand pounds was offered for his apprehension; 
 and he was ultimately taken, along with five more accom- 
 plices, all of whom were hanged at the Gallowlee, between 
 Leith and Edinburgh, in the month of July, 1638. As a 
 mark of undeniable distinction, Gilderoy was hung on a 
 gallows higher than the rest. This is alluded to in the 
 ballad. This ballad itself is said to have been originally 
 composed by his mistress, a young woman belonging to the 
 higher ranks of life, who had been attached to this noted 
 freebooter, aud was induced to live with him. It is to be 
 found in black-letter broadsides at least as old as 1650." 
 
 Mr. James Maidment, in his " Scottish Ballads and Songs," 
 gives what he conceives to have been the original version of 
 he ballad, c onsisting of five very commonplace stanzas, 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 which he found in a collection of Songs bearing the title 
 " Westminter Drollery," published in London, 1671. The 
 insertion of the ballad in that collection shows, as he remarks, 
 " that the fame of this worthy cateran was not confined to 
 his own country, but had reached London, where the fervour 
 of his Lady-love would, no doubt, find the deepest sympathy 
 in the bosoms of those tender damsels who adorned the 
 Court of the Merry Monarch." Mr. Maidment also states 
 that Captain Johnston's fictitious memoir of Gilderoy was 
 taken from an earlier work, " Compleat History of the most 
 Notorious Highwaymen, Foot Pads, &c.," by Captain Alex- 
 ander Smith, published in London, 1713-19. " Gilderoy," 
 he adds, " like Macheath, was deceived by a Delilah, and 
 betrayed to the authorities, but not before he had taken 
 revenge on the unhappy woman for her treachery." 
 
 In addition, we append the beautiful original ballad by 
 Thomas Campbell : 
 
 GILDEKOY. 
 
 The last, the fatal hour is come, 
 
 That bears my love from me : 
 I hear the dead note of the drum, 
 
 I mark the gallows' tree ! 
 
 The bell has toll'd ; it shakes my heart ; 
 
 The trumpet speaks thy name ; 
 And must my Gilderoy depart 
 
 To bear a death of shame ? 
 
 No bosom trembles for thy doom ; 
 
 No mourner wipes a tear ; 
 The gallows' foot is all thy tomb, 
 
 The sledge is all thy bier. 
 
 Oh, Gilderoy ! bethought we then 
 
 So soon, so sad to part, 
 When first in Roslin's lovely glen 
 
 You triumph'd o'er my heart ? 
 
 Your locks they glitter'd to the sheen, 
 
 Your hunter garb was trim ; 
 And graceful was the ribbon green 
 
 That bound your manly limb ! 
 
352 APPENDIX. 
 
 Ah ! little thought I to deplore 
 
 Those limbs in fetters bound ; 
 Or hear, upon the scaffold floor, 
 
 The^ midnight hammer sound. 
 
 Ye cruel, cruel, that combined 
 
 The guiltless to pursue ; 
 My Gilderoy was ever kind, 
 
 He could not injure you ! 
 
 A long adieu ! but where shall fly 
 
 Thy widow all forlorn, 
 When every mean and cruel eye 
 
 Eegard my woe with scorn ? 
 
 Yes ! they will mock thy widow's tears, 
 
 And hate thine orphan boy ; 
 Alas ! his infant beauty wears 
 
 The form of Gilderoy. 
 
 Then will I seek the dreary mound 
 That wraps thy mouldering clay, 
 
 And weep and linger on the ground, 
 And sigh my heart away. 
 
 In " Historical Memoirs of Eob Eoy and the Clan Mac- 
 gregor," by H. Macleay, M.D., published at Glasgow, in 
 1819, the traditional history of Gilderoy is recorded as 
 follows : 
 
 " The long-continued and unjustifiable severities to which 
 the clan had been subjected, rendered them wholly regard- 
 less of the laws ; and as they were seldom permitted to 
 remain in the undisturbed possession of any land which 
 they either accidentally might have retained, or which they 
 rented, they were in a manner forced to form associations 
 for mutual defence, as well as for purposes of spoliation, 
 which their state of outlawry seemed to authorise ; and 
 many of them having consequently become desperate, 
 assimilated into bands, pursuing the loose and unprincipled 
 occupation of banditti. Of this description a confederacy 
 was entered upon in 1630, under solemn engagements and 
 systematic rules ; and conducted by a party of bold and 
 enterprising Macgregors. They had, for some years, con- 
 ducted themselves with such moderation among their own 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 countrymen, that the law, violent and unrelenting as it still 
 continued, could take no hold of them ; and though they 
 persevered in the old system of exacting black-mail, as a 
 recompense for their services in protecting the property and 
 cattle of those who paid such contributions, it was not re- 
 garded as criminal, but was sanctioned by the Government ; 
 and regular charters, which were considered legal, were fre- 
 quently entered into for that purpose. 
 
 " This sect of Macgregors, however, from their vagabond 
 lives, and ill-conducted schemes, had wantonly, or of neces- 
 sity, committed several outrages over the country. They 
 were headed by two brothers, Patrick and James Macgregor, 
 with the denominative title of Gilderoy. But they ulti- 
 mately became so notorious, that the elder brother, with 
 three of his companions, were taken in Athol by John Roy 
 Stewart, a singular character of his day ; and being sent to 
 Edinburgh, were executed. This E/oy Stewart of Kincar- 
 dine, in Strathspey, though intimately connected in marriage 
 with the Macgregors, seemed not to regard such ties ; and 
 the younger brother James, equally despising Stewart for 
 his opposition, set fire to his house, and killed Stewart him- 
 self. Gilderoy was soon after waylaid by the military, and, 
 with seven of his followers, conducted to Edinburgh, and 
 hanged on Leith Walk. This person was the subject of the 
 beautiful Scottish melody of Gilderoy." 
 
 We have only to add that Gilderoy and his adventures 
 form the subject of a spirited Scottish drama, which still 
 retains its place on the stage. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 2 A 
 
COX AND WTMAN', 
 
 CLASSICAL AND GENEBAL PEINTEES, 
 GREAT QUEEH STREET, LINCOLN' S-INN FIELDS, LONDON, W.C, 
 
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 A- 
 
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