Noo, sir, said Black, turning to Will Wallace, who had stood quietly watching the various actors in the scene just described, yer comradesll be here in a wee while. May I ask what ye expect?
I expect to be imprisoned at the least, more probably shot.
Hm! pleasant expectations for a young man, nae doot. Im sorry that its oot o my power to stop an see the fun, for the sodgers have strange suspicions aboot me, so Im forced to mak mysel scarce an leave Ramblin Peter to do the hospitalities o the hoose. But before I gang awa I wad fain repay ye for the guid turn ye did to my bairns. If ye are willin to shut yer eyes an do what I tell ye, Ill put you in a place o safety.
Thank you, Mr Black, returned Wallace; of course I shall only be too glad to escape from the consequences of my unfortunate position; but do not misunderstand me: although neither a spy nor a Covenantor I am a loyal subject, and would not now be a deserter if that character had not been forced upon me, first by the brutality of the soldiers with whom I was banded, and then by the insolence of my comrade-in-arms to your daughter
Niece; niece, interrupted Black; I wish she was my dauchter, bless her bonny face! Niver fear, sir, Ive nae doot o yer loyalty, though you an yer freends misdoot mine. I claim to be as loyal as the best o ye, but theres nae dictionary in this warld that defines loyalty to be slavish submission o body an sowl to a tyrant that fears naether God nor man. The quastion noo is, Div ye want to escape and wull ye trust me?
The sound of horses galloping in the distance tended to quicken the young troopers decision. He submitted to be blindfolded by his captor.
Noo, Peter, said Andrew, as he was about to lead Wallace away, ye ken what to dae. Gie them plenty to eat; show them the rum bottle, let them hae the rin o the hoose, an say that I bade ye treat them weel.
Ay, was Ramblin Peters laconic reply.
Leading his captive out at the door, round the house, and re-entering by a back door, apparently with no other end in view than to bewilder him, Andrew went into a dark room, opened some sort of doorto enter which the trooper had to stoop lowand conducted him down a steep, narrow staircase.
The horsemen meanwhile had found the cottage and were heard at that moment tramping about in front, and thundering on the door for admittance.
Wallace fancied that the door which closed behind him must be of amazing thickness, for it shut out almost completely the sounds referred to.
On reaching the foot of the staircase, and having the napkin removed from his eyes, he found himself in a long, low, vaulted chamber. There was no one in it save his guide and a venerable man who sat beside a deal table, reading a document by the light of a tallow candle stuck in the mouth of a black bottle.
The soldiers, meanwhile, having been admitted by Ramblin Peter, proceeded to question that worthy as to Andrew Black and his household. Not being satisfied of the truth of his replies they proceeded to apply torture in order to extract confession. It was the first time that this mode of obtaining information had been used in Blacks cottage, and it failed entirely, for Ramblin Peter was staunch, and, although inhumanly thrashed and probed with sword-points, the poor lad remained dumb, insomuch that the soldiers at length set him down as an idiot, for he did not even cry out in his agoniesexcepting in a curious, half-stifled mannerbecause he knew well that if his master were made aware by his cries of what was going on he would be sure to hasten to the rescue at the risk of his life.
Having devoured the porridge, drunk the rum, and destroyed a considerable amount of the farmers produce, the lawless troopers, who seemed to be hurried in their proceedings at that time, finally left the place.
About the time that these events were taking place in and around Blacks cottage, bands of armed men with women and even children were hastening towards the same locality to attend the great conventicle, for which the preparations already described were being made.
The immediate occasion of the meeting was the desire of the parishioners of the Reverend John Welsh, a great-grandson of John Knox, to make public avowal, at the Communion Table, of their fidelity to Christ and their attachment to the minister who had been expelled from the church of Irongray; but strong sympathy induced many others to attend, not only from all parts of Galloway and Nithsdale, but from the distant Clyde, the shores of the Forth, and elsewhere; so that the roads were crowded with people making for the rendezvoussome on foot, others on horseback. Many of the latter were gentlemen of means and position, who, as well as their retainers, were more or less well armed and mounted. The Reverend John Blackadder, the auld minister of Troqueera noted hero of the Covenant, who afterwards died a prisoner on the Bass Rocktravelled with his party all the way from Edinburgh, and a company of eighty horse proceeded to the meeting from Clydesdale.
Preliminary services, conducted by Mr Blackadder and Mr Welsh, were held near Dumfries on the Saturday, but at these the place of meeting on the Sabbath was only vaguely announced as a hillside in Irongray, so anxious were they to escape being disturbed by their enemies, and the secret was kept so well that when the Sabbath arrived a congregation of above three thousand had assembled round the Communion stones in the hollow of Skeoch Hill.
Sentinels were posted on all the surrounding heights. One of these sentinels was the farmer Andrew Black, with a cavalry sword belted to his waist, and a rusty musket on his shoulder. Beside him stood a tall stalwart youth in shepherds costume.
Yer ain mother wadna ken ye, remarked Andrew with a twinkle in his eyes.
I doubt that, replied the youth; a mothers eyes are keen. I should not like to encounter even Glendinning in my present guise.
As he spoke the rich melody of the opening psalm burst from the great congregation and rolled in softened cadence towards the sentinels.
Chapter Three.
The True and the False at Work
The face of nature did not seem propitious to the great gathering on Skeoch Hill. Inky clouds rolled athwart the leaden sky, threatening a deluge of rain, and fitful gusts of wind seemed to indicate the approach of a tempest. Nevertheless the elements were held in check by the God of nature, so that the solemn services of the day were conducted to a close without discomfort, though not altogether without interruption.
Several of the most eminent ministers, who had been expelled from their charges, were present on this occasion. Besides John Welsh of Irongray, there were Arnot of Tongland, Blackadder of Troqueer, and Dickson of Rutherglengodly men who had for many years suffered persecution and imprisonment, and were ready to lay down their lives in defence of religious liberty. The price set upon the head of that notour traitor, Mr John Welsh, dead or alive, was 9000 merks. Mr Arnot was valued at 3000!
These preached and assisted at different parts of the services, while the vast multitude sat on the sloping hillside, and the mounted men drew up on the outskirts of the congregation, so as to be within sound of the preachers voices, and, at the same time, be ready for action on the defensive if enemies should appear.
Andrew Black and his companion stood for some time listening, with bowed heads, to the slow sweet music that floated towards them. They were too far distant to hear the words of prayer that followed, yet they continued to stand in reverent silence for some time, listening to the soundBlack with his eyes closed, his young companion gazing wistfully at the distant landscape, which, from the elevated position on which they stood, lay like a magnificent panorama spread out before them. On the left the level lands bordering the rivers Cairn and Nith stretched away to the Solway, with the Cumberland mountains in the extreme distance; in front and on the right lay the wild, romantic hill-country of which, in after years, it was so beautifully written:
Andrew Black and his companion stood for some time listening, with bowed heads, to the slow sweet music that floated towards them. They were too far distant to hear the words of prayer that followed, yet they continued to stand in reverent silence for some time, listening to the soundBlack with his eyes closed, his young companion gazing wistfully at the distant landscape, which, from the elevated position on which they stood, lay like a magnificent panorama spread out before them. On the left the level lands bordering the rivers Cairn and Nith stretched away to the Solway, with the Cumberland mountains in the extreme distance; in front and on the right lay the wild, romantic hill-country of which, in after years, it was so beautifully written:
O bonnie hills of Galloway oft have I stood to see,
At sunset hour, your shadows fall, all darkening on the lea;
While visions of the buried years came oer me in their might
As phantoms of the sepulchreinstinct with inward light!
The years, the years when Scotland groaned beneath her tyrants hand!
And twas not for the heather she was called the purple land.
And twas not for her loveliness her children blessed their God
But for secret places of the hills, and the mountain heights untrod.
Who was the old man I found in what you call your hidy-hole? asked Wallace, turning suddenly to his companion.
Im no sure that I have a right to answer that, said Black, regarding Will with a half-serious, half-amused look. Hooever, noo that yeve taen service wi me, and ken about my hidy-hole, I suppose I may trust ye wi a my secrets.
I would not press you to reveal any secrets, Mr Black, yet I think you are safe to trust me, seeing that you know enough about my own secrets to bring me to the gallows if so disposed.
Ay, I hae ye there, lad! But Ill trust ye on better grunds than that. I believe ye to be an honest man, and thats enough for me. Weel, ye maun ken, its saxteen year since I howkit the hidy-hole below my hoose, an wad ye believe it?theyve no fund it oot yet! Not even had a suspeecion ot, though the sodgers hae been sair puzzled, mony a time, aboot hoo I managed to gie them the slip. An monys the puir body, baith gentle and simple, that Ive gien food an shelter to whae was very likely to hae perished o cauld an hunger, but for the hidy-hole. Among ithers Ive often had the persecuited ministers doon there, readin their Bibles or sleepin as comfortable as ye like when the dragoons was drinkin, roarin, an singin like deevils ower their heids. My certies! if Clavers, or Sherp, or Lauderdale had an inklin o the hunderd pairt o the law-brekin that Ive done, its a gallows in the Gressmarkit as high as Hamans wad be ereckit for me, an my heed an hauns, may be, would be bleachin on the Nether Bow. Humph! but theyve no gotten me yet!
And I sincerely hope they never will, remarked Wallace; but you have not yet told me the name of the old man.
I was comin to him, continued Black; but wheniver I wander to the doins o that black-hearted Cooncil, Im like to lose the threed o my discoorse. Yon is a great man i the Kirk o Scotland. They ca him Donald Cargill. The adventures that puir man has had in the coorse o mair nor quarter o a century wad mak a grand story-buik. He has no fear o man, an hes an awfu stickler for justice. Ise warrant he gied ye some strang condemnations o the poors that be.
Indeed he did not, said Wallace. Surely you misjudge his character. His converse with me was entirely religious, and his chief anxiety seemed to be to impress on me the love of God in sending Jesus Christ to redeem a wicked world from sin. I tried to turn the conversation on the state of the times, but he gently turned it round again to the importance of being at peace with God, and giving heed to the condition of my own soul. He became at last so personal that I did not quite like it. Yet he was so earnest and kind that I could not take offence.
Ay, ay, said Black in a musing tone, I see. He clearly thinks that yer hert needs mair instruction than yer heed. Hm! maybe hes right. Hooever, hes a wonderfu man; gangs aboot the country preachin everywhere altho he kens that the sodgers are aye on the look-oot for him, an that if they catch him its certain death. He wad have been at this communion nae doot, if he hadna engaged to preach somewhere near Sanquhar this vera day.
Then he has left the hidy-hole by this time, I suppose?
Ye may be sure o that, for when there is work to be done for the Master, Donal Cargill doesna let the gress grow under his feet.
Im sorry that I shall not see him again, returned the ex-trooper in a tone of regret, for I like him much.
Now, while this conversation was going on, a portion of the troop of dragoons which had been out in search of Andrew Black was sent under Glendinning (now a sergeant) in quest of an aged couple named Mitchell, who were reported to have entertained intercommuned, i.e. outlawed, persons; attended conventicles in the fields; ventured to have family worship in their cottages while a few neighbours were present, and to have otherwise broken the laws of the Secret Council.
This Council, which was ruled by two monsters in human form, namely, Archbishop Sharp of Saint Andrews and the Duke of Lauderdale, having obtained full powers from King Charles the Second to put down conventicles and enforce the laws against the fanatics with the utmost possible rigour, had proceeded to carry out their mission by inviting a host of half, if not quite, savage Highlanders to assist them in quelling the people. This host, numbering, with 2000 regulars and militia, about 10,000 men, eagerly accepted the invitation, and was let loose on the south and western districts of Scotland about the beginning of the year, and for some time ravaged and pillaged the land as if it had been an enemys country. They were thanked by the King for so readily agreeing to assist in reducing the Covenanters to obedience to Us and Our laws, and were told to take up free quarters among the disaffected, to disarm such persons as they should suspect, to carry with them instruments of torture wherewith to subdue the refractory, and in short to act very much in accordance with the promptings of their own desires. Evidently the mission suited these men admirably, for they treated all parties as disaffected, with great impartiality, and plundered, tortured, and insulted to such an extent that after about three months of unresisted depredation, the shame of the thing became so obvious that Government was compelled to send them home again. They had accomplished nothing in the way of bringing the Covenanters to reason; but they had desolated a fair region of Scotland, spilt much innocent blood, ruined many families, and returned to their native hills heavily laden with booty of every kind like a victorious army. It is said that the losses caused by them in the county of Ayr alone amounted to over 11,000 pounds sterling.
The failure of this horde did not in the least check the proceedings of Sharp or Lauderdale or their like-minded colleagues. They kept the regular troops and militia moving about the land, enforcing their idiotical and wicked laws at the point of the sword. We say idiotical advisedly, for what could give stronger evidence of mental incapacity than the attempt to enforce a bond upon all landed proprietors, obliging themselves and their wives, children, and servants, as well as all their tenants and cottars, with their wives, children, and servants, to abstain from conventicles, and not to receive, assist, or even speak to, any forfeited persons, intercommuned ministers, or vagrant preachers, but to use their utmost endeavours to apprehend all such? Those who took this bond were to receive an assurance that the troops should not be quartered on their landsa matter of considerable importancefor this quartering involved great expense and much destruction of property in most cases, and absolute ruin in some.