Original note.--"Perhaps some may think this anent proof of a shot a
     paradox, and be ready to object here, as formerly, concerning Bishop
     Sharpe and Dalziel--'How can the Devil have or give a power to save
     life?' Without entering upon the thing in its reality, I shall only
     observe, 1st, That it is neither in his power, or of his nature, to
     be a saviour of men's lives; he is called Apollyon the destroyer.
     2d, That even in this case he is said only to give enchantment
     against one kind of metal, and this does not save life: for the lead
     would not take Sharpe or Claverhouse's lives, yet steel and silver
     would do it; and for Dalziel, though he died not on the field, he
     did not escape the arrows of the Almighty."--Ibidem.]

But though this was loudly shouted, yet the awe on the insurgents' minds
was such, that they gave way before Claverhouse as before a supernatural
being, and few men ventured to cross swords with him. Still, however, he
was fighting in retreat, and with all the disadvantages attending that
movement. The soldiers behind him, as they beheld the increasing number
of enemies who poured over the morass, became unsteady; and, at every
successive movement, Major Allan and Lord Evandale found it more and more
difficult to bring them to halt and form line regularly, while, on the
other hand, their motions in the act of retreating became, by degrees,
much more rapid than was consistent with good order. As the retiring
soldiers approached nearer to the top of the ridge, from which in so
luckless an hour they had descended, the panic began to increase. Every
one became impatient to place the brow of the hill between him and the
continued fire of the pursuers; nor could any individual think it
reasonable that he should be the last in the retreat, and thus sacrifice
his own safety for that of others. In this mood, several troopers set
spurs to their horses and fled outright, and the others became so
unsteady in their movements and formations, that their officers every
moment feared they would follow the same example.

Amid this scene of blood and confusion, the trampling of the horses, the
groans of the wounded, the continued fire of the enemy, which fell in a
succession of unintermitted musketry, while loud shouts accompanied each
bullet which the fall of a trooper showed to have been successfully
aimed--amid all the terrors and disorders of such a scene, and when it
was dubious how soon they might be totally deserted by their dispirited
soldiery, Evandale could not forbear remarking the composure of his
commanding officer. Not at Lady Margaret's breakfast-table that morning
did his eye appear more lively, or his demeanour more composed. He had
closed up to Evandale for the purpose of giving some orders, and picking
out a few men to reinforce his rear-guard.

"If this bout lasts five minutes longer," he said, in a whisper, "our
rogues will leave you, my lord, old Allan, and myself, the honour of
fighting this battle with our own hands. I must do something to disperse
the musketeers who annoy them so hard, or we shall be all shamed. Don't
attempt to succour me if you see me go down, but keep at the head of your
men; get off as you can, in God's name, and tell the king and the council
I died in my duty!"

So saying, and commanding about twenty stout men to follow him, he gave,
with this small body, a charge so desperate and unexpected, that he drove
the foremost of the pursuers back to some distance. In the confusion of
the assault he singled out Burley, and, desirous to strike terror into
his followers, he dealt him so severe a blow on the head, as cut through
his steel head-piece, and threw him from his horse, stunned for the
moment, though unwounded. A wonderful thing it was afterwards thought,
that one so powerful as Balfour should have sunk under the blow of a man,
to appearance so slightly made as Claverhouse; and the vulgar, of course,
set down to supernatural aid the effect of that energy, which a
determined spirit can give to a feebler arm. Claverhouse had, in this
last charge, however, involved himself too deeply among the insurgents,
and was fairly surrounded.

Lord Evandale saw the danger of his commander, his body of dragoons being
then halted, while that commanded by Allan was in the act of retreating.
Regardless of Claverhouse's disinterested command to the contrary, he
ordered the party which he headed to charge down hill and extricate their
Colonel. Some advanced with him--most halted and stood uncertain--many
ran away. With those who followed Evandale, he disengaged Claverhouse.
His assistance just came in time, for a rustic had wounded his horse in a
most ghastly manner by the blow of a scythe, and was about to repeat the
stroke when Lord Evandale cut him down. As they got out of the press,
they looked round them. Allan's division had ridden clear over the hill,
that officer's authority having proved altogether unequal to halt them.
Evandale's troop was scattered and in total confusion.

"What is to be done, Colonel?" said Lord Evandale.

"We are the last men in the field, I think," said Claverhouse; "and when
men fight as long as they can, there is no shame in flying. Hector
himself would say, 'Devil take the hindmost,' when there are but twenty
against a thousand.--Save yourselves, my lads, and rally as soon as you
can.--Come, my lord, we must e'en ride for it."

So saying, he put spurs to his wounded horse; and the generous animal, as
if conscious that the life of his rider depended on his exertions,
pressed forward with speed, unabated either by pain or loss of blood.

     [Note:  Claverhouse's Charger. It appears, from the letter of
     Claverhouse afterwards quoted, that the horse on which he rode at
     Drumclog was not black, but sorrel. The author has been misled as to
     the colour by the many extraordinary traditions current in Scotland
     concerning Claverhouse's famous black charger, which was generally
     believed to have been a gift to its rider from the Author of Evil,
     who is said to have performed the Caesarean operation upon its dam.
     This horse was so fleet, and its rider so expert, that they are said
     to have outstripped and coted, or turned, a hare upon the Bran-Law,
     near the head of Moffat Water, where the descent is so precipitous,
     that no merely earthly horse could keep its feet, or merely mortal
     rider could keep the saddle.

     There is a curious passage in the testimony of John Dick, one of the
     suffering Presbyterians, in which the author, by describing each of
     the persecutors by their predominant qualities or passions, shows
     how little their best-loved attributes would avail them in the great
     day of judgment. When he introduces Claverhouse, it is to reproach
     him with his passion for horses in general, and for that steed in
     particular, which was killed at Drumclog, in the manner described in
     the text:

     "As for that bloodthirsty wretch, Claverhouse, how thinks he to
     shelter himself that day? Is it possible the pitiful thing can be so
     mad as to think to secure himself by the fleetness of his horse, (a
     creature he has so much respect for, that he regarded more the loss
     of his horse at Drumclog, than all the men that fell there, and sure
     there fell prettier men on either side than himself?) No,
     sure--could he fall upon a chemist that could extract the spirit
     out of all the horses in the world, and infuse them into his one,
     though he were on that horse never so well mounted, he need not
     dream of escaping."--The Testimony to the Doctrine, Worship,
     Discipline, and Government of the Church of Scotland, as it was
     left in write by that truly pious and eminently faithful, and now
     glorified Martyr, Mr John Dick. To which is added, his last Speech
     and Behaviour on the Scaffold, on 5th March, 1684, which day he
     sealed this testimony. 57 pp. 4to. No year or place of publication.

     The reader may perhaps receive some farther information on the
     subject of Cornet Grahame's death and the flight of Claverhouse,
     from the following Latin lines, a part of a poem entitled, Bellum
     Bothuellianum, by Andrew Guild, which exists in manuscript in the
     Advocates' Library.]

A few officers and soldiers followed him, but in a very irregular and
tumultuary manner. The flight of Claverhouse was the signal for all the
stragglers, who yet offered desultory resistance, to fly as fast as they
could, and yield up the field of battle to the victorious insurgents.





CHAPTER XVII.

          But see! through the fast-flashing lightnings of war,
          What steed to the desert flies frantic and far?
                                                  Campbell.

During the severe skirmish of which we have given the details, Morton,
together with Cuddie and his mother, and the Reverend Gabriel
Kettledrummle, remained on the brow of the hill, near to the small cairn,
or barrow, beside which Claverhouse had held his preliminary council of
war, so that they had a commanding view of the action which took place in
the bottom. They were guarded by Corporal Inglis and four soldiers, who,
as may readily be supposed, were much more intent on watching the
fluctuating fortunes of the battle, than in attending to what passed
among their prisoners.

"If you lads stand to their tackle," said Cuddie, "we'll hae some chance
o' getting our necks out o' the brecham again; but I misdoubt them--they
hae little skeel o' arms."

"Much is not necessary, Cuddie," answered Morton; "they have a strong
position, and weapons in their hands, and are more than three times the
number of their assailants. If they cannot fight for their freedom now,
they and theirs deserve to lose it for ever."

"O, sirs," exclaimed Mause, "here's a goodly spectacle indeed! My spirit
is like that of the blessed Elihu, it burns within me--my bowels are as
wine which lacketh vent--they are ready to burst like new bottles. O,
that He may look after His ain people in this day of judgment and
deliverance!--And now, what ailest thou, precious Mr Gabriel
Kettledrummle? I say, what ailest thou, that wert a Nazarite purer than
snow, whiter than milk, more ruddy than sulphur," (meaning, perhaps,
sapphires,)--"I say, what ails thee now, that thou art blacker than a
coal, that thy beauty is departed, and thy loveliness withered like a dry
potsherd? Surely it is time to be up and be doing, to cry loudly and to
spare not, and to wrestle for the puir lads that are yonder testifying
with their ain blude and that of their enemies."

This expostulation implied a reproach on Mr Kettledrummle, who, though an
absolute Boanerges, or son of thunder, in the pulpit, when the enemy were
afar, and indeed sufficiently contumacious, as we have seen, when in
their power, had been struck dumb by the firing, shouts, and shrieks,
which now arose from the valley, and--as many an honest man might have
been, in a situation where he could neither fight nor fly--was too much
dismayed to take so favourable an opportunity to preach the terrors of
presbytery, as the courageous Mause had expected at his hand, or even to
pray for the successful event of the battle. His presence of mind was
not, however, entirely lost, any more than his jealous respect for his
reputation as a pure and powerful preacher of the word.

"Hold your peace, woman!" he said, "and do not perturb my inward
meditations and the wrestlings wherewith I wrestle.--But of a verity the
shooting of the foemen doth begin to increase! peradventure, some pellet
may attain unto us even here. Lo! I will ensconce me behind the cairn, as
behind a strong wall of defence."

"He's but a coward body after a'," said Cuddie, who was himself by no
means deficient in that sort of courage which consists in insensibility
to danger; "he's but a daidling coward body. He'll never fill
Rumbleberry's bonnet.--Odd! Rumbleberry fought and flyted like a fleeing
dragon. It was a great pity, puir man, he couldna cheat the woodie. But
they say he gaed singing and rejoicing till't, just as I wad gang to a
bicker o' brose, supposing me hungry, as I stand a gude chance to be.--
Eh, sirs! yon's an awfu' sight, and yet ane canna keep their een aff frae
it!"

Accordingly, strong curiosity on the part of Morton and Cuddie, together
with the heated enthusiasm of old Mause, detained them on the spot from
which they could best hear and see the issue of the action, leaving to
Kettledrummle to occupy alone his place of security. The vicissitudes of
combat, which we have already described, were witnessed by our spectators
from the top of the eminence, but without their being able positively to
determine to what they tended. That the presbyterians defended themselves
stoutly was evident from the heavy smoke, which, illumined by frequent
flashes of fire, now eddied along the valley, and hid the contending
parties in its sulphureous shade. On the other hand, the continued firing
from the nearer side of the morass indicated that the enemy persevered in
their attack, that the affair was fiercely disputed, and that every thing
was to be apprehended from a continued contest in which undisciplined
rustics had to repel the assaults of regular troops, so completely
officered and armed.

At length horses, whose caparisons showed that they belonged to the
Life-Guards, began to fly masterless out of the confusion. Dismounted
soldiers next appeared, forsaking the conflict, and straggling over the
side of the hill, in order to escape from the scene of action. As the
numbers of these fugitives increased, the fate of the day seemed no
longer doubtful. A large body was then seen emerging from the smoke,
forming irregularly on the hill-side, and with difficulty kept stationary
by their officers, until Evandale's corps also appeared in full retreat.
The result of the conflict was then apparent, and the joy of the
prisoners was corresponding to their approaching deliverance.

"They hae dune the job for anes," said Cuddie, "an they ne'er do't
again."

"They flee!--they flee!" exclaimed Mause, in ecstasy. "O, the truculent
tyrants! they are riding now as they never rode before. O, the false
Egyptians--the proud Assyrians--the Philistines--the Moabites--the
Edomites--the Ishmaelites!--The Lord has brought sharp swords upon them,
to make them food for the fowls of heaven and the beasts of the field.
See how the clouds roll, and the fire flashes ahint them, and goes forth
before the chosen of the Covenant, e'en like the pillar o' cloud and the
pillar o' flame that led the people of Israel out o' the land of Egypt!
This is indeed a day of deliverance to the righteous, a day of pouring
out of wrath to the persecutors and the ungodly!"

"Lord save us, mither," said Cuddie, "haud the clavering tongue o' ye,
and lie down ahint the cairn, like Kettledrummle, honest man! The
whigamore bullets ken unco little discretion, and will just as sune knock
out the harns o' a psalm-singing auld wife as a swearing dragoon."

"Fear naething for me, Cuddie," said the old dame, transported to ecstasy
by the success of her party; "fear naething for me! I will stand, like
Deborah, on the tap o' the cairn, and tak up my sang o' reproach against
these men of Harosheth of the Gentiles, whose horse-hoofs are broken by
their prancing."

The enthusiastic old woman would, in fact, have accomplished her purpose,
of mounting on the cairn, and becoming, as she said, a sign and a banner
to the people, had not Cuddie, with more filial tenderness than respect,
detained her by such force as his shackled arms would permit him to
exert.

"Eh, sirs!" he said, having accomplished this task, "look out yonder,
Milnwood; saw ye ever mortal fight like the deevil Claver'se?--Yonder
he's been thrice doun amang them, and thrice cam free aff.--But I think
we'll soon be free oursells, Milnwood. Inglis and his troopers look ower
their shouthers very aften, as if they liked the road ahint them better
than the road afore."

Cuddie was not mistaken; for, when the main tide of fugitives passed at a
little distance from the spot where they were stationed, the corporal and
his party fired their carabines at random upon the advancing insurgents,
and, abandoning all charge of their prisoners, joined the retreat of
their comrades. Morton and the old woman, whose hands were at liberty,
lost no time in undoing the bonds of Cuddie and of the clergyman, both of
whom had been secured by a cord tied round their arms above the elbows.
By the time this was accomplished, the rear-guard of the dragoons, which
still preserved some order, passed beneath the hillock or rising ground
which was surmounted by the cairn already repeatedly mentioned. They
exhibited all the hurry and confusion incident to a forced retreat, but
still continued in a body. Claverhouse led the van, his naked sword
deeply dyed with blood, as were his face and clothes. His horse was all
covered with gore, and now reeled with weakness. Lord Evandale, in not
much better plight, brought up the rear, still exhorting the soldiers to
keep together and fear nothing. Several of the men were wounded, and one
or two dropped from their horses as they surmounted the hill.

Mause's zeal broke forth once more at this spectacle, while she stood on
the heath with her head uncovered, and her grey hairs streaming in the
wind, no bad representation of a superannuated bacchante, or Thessalian
witch in the agonies of incantation. She soon discovered Claverhouse at
the head of the fugitive party, and exclaimed with bitter irony, "Tarry,
tarry, ye wha were aye sae blithe to be at the meetings of the saints,
and wad ride every muir in Scotland to find a conventicle! Wilt thou not
tarry, now thou hast found ane? Wilt thou not stay for one word mair?
Wilt thou na bide the afternoon preaching?--Wae betide ye!" she said,
suddenly changing her tone, "and cut the houghs of the creature whase
fleetness ye trust in!--Sheugh--sheugh!--awa wi'ye, that hae spilled sae
muckle blude, and now wad save your ain--awa wi'ye for a railing
Rabshakeh, a cursing Shimei, a bloodthirsty Doeg!--The swords drawn now
that winna be lang o' o'ertaking ye, ride as fast as ye will."

Claverhouse, it may be easily supposed, was too busy to attend to her
reproaches, but hastened over the hill, anxious to get the remnant of his
men out of gun-shot, in hopes of again collecting the fugitives round his
standard. But as the rear of his followers rode over the ridge, a shot
struck Lord Evandale's horse, which instantly sunk down dead beneath him.
Two of the whig horsemen, who were the foremost in the pursuit, hastened
up with the purpose of killing him, for hitherto there had been no
quarter given. Morton, on the other hand, rushed forward to save his
life, if possible, in order at once to indulge his natural generosity,
and to requite the obligation which Lord Evandale had conferred on him
that morning, and under which circumstances had made him wince so
acutely. Just as he had assisted Evandale, who was much wounded, to
extricate himself from his dying horse, and to gain his feet, the two
horsemen came up, and one of them exclaiming, "Have at the red-coated
tyrant!" made a blow at the young nobleman, which Morton parried with
difficulty, exclaiming to the rider, who was no other than Burley
himself, "Give quarter to this gentleman, for my sake--for the sake," he
added, observing that Burley did not immediately recognise him, "of Henry
Morton, who so lately sheltered you."

"Henry Morton?" replied Burley, wiping his bloody brow with his bloodier
hand; "did I not say that the son of Silas Morton would come forth out of
the land of bondage, nor be long an indweller in the tents of Ham? Thou
art a brand snatched out of the burning--But for this booted apostle of
prelacy, he shall die the death!--We must smite them hip and thigh, even
from the rising to the going down of the sun. It is our commission to
slay them like Amalek, and utterly destroy all they have, and spare
neither man nor woman, infant nor suckling; therefore, hinder me not," he
continued, endeavouring again to cut down Lord Evandale, "for this work
must not be wrought negligently."

"You must not, and you shall not, slay him, more especially while
incapable of defence," said Morton, planting himself before Lord Evandale
so as to intercept any blow that should be aimed at him; "I owed my life
to him this morning--my life, which was endangered solely by my having
sheltered you; and to shed his blood when he can offer no effectual
resistance, were not only a cruelty abhorrent to God and man, but
detestable ingratitude both to him and to me."

Burley paused.--"Thou art yet," he said, "in the court of the Gentiles,
and I compassionate thy human blindness and frailty. Strong meat is not
fit for babes, nor the mighty and grinding dispensation under which I
draw my sword, for those whose hearts are yet dwelling in huts of clay,
whose footsteps are tangled in the mesh of mortal sympathies, and who
clothe themselves in the righteousness that is as filthy rags. But to
gain a soul to the truth is better than to send one to Tophet; therefore
I give quarter to this youth, providing the grant is confirmed by the
general council of God's army, whom he hath this day blessed with so
signal a deliverance.--Thou art unarmed--Abide my return here. I must yet
pursue these sinners, the Amalekites, and destroy them till they be
utterly consumed from the face of the land, even from Havilah unto Shur."

So saying, he set spurs to his horse, and continued to pursue the chase.

"Cuddie," said Morton, "for God's sake catch a horse as quickly as you
can. I will not trust Lord Evandale's life with these obdurate men.--You
are wounded, my lord.--Are you able to continue your retreat?" he
continued, addressing himself to his prisoner, who, half-stunned by the
fall, was but beginning to recover himself.

"I think so," replied Lord Evandale. "But is it possible?--Do I owe my
life to Mr Morton?"

"My interference would have been the same from common humanity," replied
Morton; "to your lordship it was a sacred debt of gratitude."

Cuddie at this instant returned with a horse.

"God-sake, munt--munt, and ride like a fleeing hawk, my lord," said the
good-natured fellow, "for ne'er be in me, if they arena killing every ane
o' the wounded and prisoners!"

Lord Evandale mounted the horse, while Cuddie officiously held the
stirrup.

"Stand off, good fellow, thy courtesy may cost thy life.--Mr Morton," he
continued, addressing Henry, "this makes us more than even--rely on it, I
will never forget your generosity--Farewell."

He turned his horse, and rode swiftly away in the direction which seemed
least exposed to pursuit.

Lord Evandale had just rode off, when several of the insurgents, who were
in the front of the pursuit, came up, denouncing vengeance on Henry
Morton and Cuddie for having aided the escape of a Philistine, as they
called the young nobleman.

"What wad ye hae had us to do?" cried Cuddie. "Had we aught to stop a man
wi' that had twa pistols and a sword? Sudna ye hae come faster up
yoursells, instead of flyting at huz?"

This excuse would hardly have passed current; but Kettledrummle, who now
awoke from his trance of terror, and was known to, and reverenced by,
most of the wanderers, together with Mause, who possessed their
appropriate language as well as the preacher himself, proved active and
effectual intercessors.

"Touch them not, harm them not," exclaimed Kettledrummle, in his very
best double-bass tones; "this is the son of the famous Silas Morton, by
whom the Lord wrought great things in this land at the breaking forth of
the reformation from prelacy, when there was a plentiful pouring forth of
the Word and a renewing of the Covenant; a hero and champion of those
blessed days, when there was power and efficacy, and convincing and
converting of sinners, and heart-exercises, and fellowships of saints,
and a plentiful flowing forth of the spices of the garden of Eden."

"And this is my son Cuddie," exclaimed Mause, in her turn, "the son of
his father, Judden Headrigg, wha was a douce honest man, and of me, Mause
Middlemas, an unworthy professor and follower of the pure gospel, and ane
o' your ain folk. Is it not written, 'Cut ye not off the tribe of the
families of the Kohathites from among the Levites?' Numbers, fourth and
aughteenth--O! sirs! dinna be standing here prattling wi' honest folk,
when ye suld be following forth your victory with which Providence has
blessed ye."

This party having passed on, they were immediately beset by another, to
whom it was necessary to give the same explanation. Kettledrummle, whose
fear was much dissipated since the firing had ceased, again took upon him
to be intercessor, and grown bold, as he felt his good word necessary for
the protection of his late fellow-captives, he laid claim to no small
share of the merit of the victory, appealing to Morton and Cuddie,
whether the tide of battle had not turned while he prayed on the Mount of
Jehovah-Nissi, like Moses, that Israel might prevail over Amalek; but
granting them, at the same time, the credit of holding up his hands when
they waxed heavy, as those of the prophet were supported by Aaron and
Hur. It seems probable that Kettledrummle allotted this part in the
success to his companions in adversity, lest they should be tempted to
disclose his carnal self-seeking and falling away, in regarding too
closely his own personal safety. These strong testimonies in favour of
the liberated captives quickly flew abroad, with many exaggerations,
among the victorious army. The reports on the subject were various; but
it was universally agreed, that young Morton of Milnwood, the son of the
stout soldier of the Covenant, Silas Morton, together with the precious
Gabriel Kettledrummle, and a singular devout Christian woman, whom many
thought as good as himself at extracting a doctrine or an use, whether of
terror or consolation, had arrived to support the good old cause, with a
reinforcement of a hundred well-armed men from the Middle Ward.

     [Note: Skirmish at Drumclog. This affair, the only one in which
     Claverhouse was defeated, or the insurgent Cameronians successful,
     was fought pretty much in the manner mentioned in the text. The
     Royalists lost about thirty or forty men. The commander of the
     Presbyterian, or rather Convenanting party, was Mr Robert Hamilton,
     of the honourable House of Preston, brother of Sir William Hamilton,
     to whose title and estate he afterwards succeeded; but, according to
     his biographer, Howie of Lochgoin, he never took possession of
     either, as he could not do so without acknowledging the right of
     King William (an uncovenanted monarch) to the crown. Hamilton had
     been bred by Bishop Burnet, while the latter lived at Glasgow; his
     brother, Sir Thomas, having married a sister of that historian. "He
     was then," says the Bishop, "a lively, hopeful young man; but
     getting into that company, and into their notions, he became a
     crack-brained enthusiast."

     Several well-meaning persons have been much scandalized at the
     manner in which the victors are said to have conducted themselves
     towards the prisoners at Drumclog. But the principle of these poor
     fanatics, (I mean the high-flying, or Cameronian party,) was to
     obtain not merely toleration for their church, but the same
     supremacy which Presbytery had acquired in Scotland after the treaty
     of Rippon, betwixt Charles I. and his Scottish subjects, in 1640.

     The fact is, that they conceived themselves a chosen people, sent
     forth to extirpate the heathen, like the Jews of old, and under a
     similar charge to show no quarter.

     The historian of the Insurrection of Bothwell makes the following
     explicit avowal of the principles on which their General acted:--

     "Mr Hamilton discovered a great deal of bravery and valour, both in
     the conflict with, and pursuit of, the enemy; but when he and some
     other were pursuing the enemy, others flew too greedily upon the
     spoil, small as it was, instead of pursuing the victory; and some,
     without Mr Hamilton's knowledge, and directly contrary to his
     express command, gave five of those bloody enemies quarter, and then
     let them go; this greatly grieved Mr Hamilton when he saw some of
     Babel's brats spared, after that the Lord had delivered them into
     their hands, that they might dash them against the stones. Psalm
     cxxxvii., 9. In his own account of this, he reckons the sparing of
     these enemies, and letting them go, to be among their first
     steppings aside, for which he feared that the Lord would not honour
     them to do much more for him; and says, that he was neither for
     taking favours from, nor giving favours to, the Lord's enemies." See
     A true and impartial Account of the persecuted Presbyterians in
     Scotland, their being in arms, and defeat at Bothwell Brigg, in
     1679, by William Wilson, late Schoolmaster in the parish of Douglas.
     The reader who would authenticate the quotation, must not consult
     any other edition than that of 1697; for somehow or other the
     publisher of the last edition has omitted this remarkable part of
     the narrative.

     Sir Robert Hamilton himself felt neither remorse nor shame for
     having put to death one of the prisoners after the battle with his
     own hand, which appears to have been a charge against him, by some
     whose fanaticism was less exalted than his own.

     "As for that accusation they bring against me of killing that poor
     man (as they call him) at Drumclog, I may easily guess that my
     accusers can be no other but some of the house of Saul or Shimei, or
     some such risen again to espouse that poor gentleman (Saul) his
     quarrel against honest Samuel, for his offering to kill that poor
     man Agag, after the king's giving him quarter. But I, being to
     command that day, gave out the word that no quarter should be given;
     and returning from pursuing Claverhouse, one or two of these fellows
     were standing in the midst of a company of our friends, and some
     were debating for quarter, others against it. None could blame me to
     decide the controversy, and I bless the Lord for it to this day.
     There were five more that without my knowledge got quarter, who were
     brought to me after we were a mile from the place as having got
     quarter, which I reckoned among the first steppings aside; and
     seeing that spirit amongst us at that time, I then told it to some
     that were with me, (to my best remembrance, it was honest old John
     Nisbet,) that I feared the Lord would not honour us to do much more
     for him. I shall only say this,--I desire to bless his holy name,
     that since ever he helped me to set my face to his work, I never
     had, nor would take, a favour from enemies, either on right or left
     hand, and desired to give as few."

     The preceding passage is extracted from a long vindication of his
     own conduct, sent by Sir Robert Hamilton, 7th December, 1685,
     addressed to the anti-Popish, anti-Prelatic, anti-Erastian,
     anti-sectarian true Presbyterian remnant of the Church of Scotland;
     and the substance is to be found in the work or collection, called,
     "Faithful Contendings Displayed, collected and transcribed by John
     Howie."

     As the skirmish of Drumclog has been of late the subject of some
     enquiry, the reader may be curious to see Claverhouse's own account
     of the affair, in a letter to the Earl of Linlithgow, written
     immediately after the action. This gazette, as it may be called,
     occurs in the volume called Dundee's Letters, printed by Mr Smythe
     of Methven, as a contribution to the Bannatyne Club. The original is
     in the library of the Duke of Buckingham. Claverhouse, it may be
     observed, spells like a chambermaid.

     "FOR THE EARLE OF LINLITHGOW. [COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF KING CHARLES
     II.'s FORCES IN SCOTLAND.]

     "Glaskow, Jun. the 1, 1679.

     "My Lord,--Upon Saturday's night, when my Lord Rosse came into this
     place, I marched out, and because of the insolency that had been
     done tue nights before at Ruglen, I went thither and inquyred for
     the names. So soon as I got them, I sent our partys to sease on
     them, and found not only three of those rogues, but also ane
     intercomend minister called King. We had them at Strevan about six
     in the morning yesterday, and resolving to convey them to this, I
     thought that we might make a little tour to see if we could fall
     upon a conventicle; which we did, little to our advantage; for when
     we came in sight of them, we found them drawn up in batell, upon a
     most adventageous ground, to which there was no coming but through
     mosses and lakes. They wer not preaching, and had got away all there
     women and shildring. They consisted of four battaillons of foot, and
     all well armed with fusils and pitchforks, and three squadrons of
     horse. We sent both partys to skirmish, they of foot and we of
     dragoons; they run for it, and sent down a battaillon of foot
     against them; we sent threescore of dragoons, who made them run
     again shamfully; but in end they percaiving that we had the better
     of them in skirmish, they resolved a generall engadgment, and
     imediately advanced with there foot, the horse folowing; they came
     throght the lotche; the greatest body of all made up against my
     troupe; we keeped our fyre till they wer within ten pace of us: they
     recaived our fyr, and advanced to shok; the first they gave us
     broght down the Coronet Mr Crafford and Captain Bleith, besides that
     with a pitchfork they made such an openeing in my rone horse's
     belly, that his guts hung out half an elle, and yet he caryed me af
     an myl; which so discoraged our men, that they sustained not the
     shok, but fell into disorder. There horse took the occasion of this,
     and purseued us so hotly that we had no tym to rayly. I saved the
     standarts, but lost on the place about aight or ten men, besides
     wounded; but he dragoons lost many mor. They ar not com esily af on
     the other side, for I sawe severall of them fall befor we cam to the
     shok. I mad the best retraite the confusion of our people would
     suffer, and I am now laying with my Lord Rosse. The toun of Streven
     drew up as we was making our retrait, and thoght of a pass to cut us
     off, but we took courage and fell to them, made them run, leaving a
     dousain on the place. What these rogues will dou yet I know not, but
     the contry was flocking to them from all hands. This may be counted
     the begining of the rebellion, in my opinion.

     "I am, my lord,

     "Your lordship's most humble servant,

     "J. Grahame.

     "My lord, I am so wearied, and so sleapy, that I have wryton this
     very confusedly."]




CHAPTER XVIII.

               When pulpit, drum ecclesiastic,
               Was beat with fist instead of a stick.
                                                  Hudibras.

In the meantime, the insurgent cavalry returned from the pursuit, jaded
and worn out with their unwonted efforts, and the infantry assembled on
the ground which they had won, fatigued with toil and hunger. Their
success, however, was a cordial to every bosom, and seemed even to serve
in the stead of food and refreshment. It was, indeed, much more brilliant
than they durst have ventured to anticipate; for, with no great loss on
their part, they had totally routed a regiment of picked men, commanded
by the first officer in Scotland, and one whose very name had long been a
terror to them. Their success seemed even to have upon their spirits the
effect of a sudden and violent surprise, so much had their taking up arms
been a measure of desperation rather than of hope. Their meeting was also
casual, and they had hastily arranged themselves under such commanders as
were remarkable for zeal and courage, without much respect to any other
qualities. It followed, from this state of disorganization, that the
whole army appeared at once to resolve itself into a general committee
for considering what steps were to be taken in consequence of their
success, and no opinion could be started so wild that it had not some
favourers and advocates. Some proposed they should march to Glasgow, some
to Hamilton, some to Edinburgh, some to London. Some were for sending a
deputation of their number to London to convert Charles II. to a sense of
the error of his ways; and others, less charitable, proposed either to
call a new successor to the crown, or to declare Scotland a free
republic. A free parliament of the nation, and a free assembly of the
Kirk, were the objects of the more sensible and moderate of the party. In
the meanwhile, a clamour arose among the soldiers for bread and other
necessaries, and while all complained of hardship and hunger, none took
the necessary measures to procure supplies. In short, the camp of the
Covenanters, even in the very moment of success, seemed about to dissolve
like a rope of sand, from want of the original principles of combination
and union.

Burley, who had now returned from the pursuit, found his followers in
this distracted state. With the ready talent of one accustomed to
encounter exigences, he proposed, that one hundred of the freshest men
should be drawn out for duty--that a small number of those who had
hitherto acted as leaders, should constitute a committee of direction
until officers should be regularly chosen--and that, to crown the
victory, Gabriel Kettledrummle should be called upon to improve the
providential success which they had obtained, by a word in season
addressed to the army. He reckoned very much, and not without reason, on
this last expedient, as a means of engaging the attention of the bulk of
the insurgents, while he himself, and two or three of their leaders, held
a private council of war, undisturbed by the discordant opinions, or
senseless clamour, of the general body.

Kettledrummle more than answered the expectations of Burley. Two mortal
hours did he preach at a breathing; and certainly no lungs, or doctrine,
excepting his own, could have kept up, for so long a time, the attention
of men in such precarious circumstances. But he possessed in perfection a
sort of rude and familiar eloquence peculiar to the preachers of that
period, which, though it would have been fastidiously rejected by an
audience which possessed any portion of taste, was a cake of the right
leaven for the palates of those whom he now addressed. His text was from
the forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, "Even the captives of the mighty shall
be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I
will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy
children.

"And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they
shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh
shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty
One of Jacob."

The discourse which he pronounced upon this subject was divided into
fifteen heads, each of which was garnished with seven uses of
application, two of consolation, two of terror, two declaring the causes
of backsliding and of wrath, and one announcing the promised and expected
deliverance. The first part of his text he applied to his own deliverance
and that of his companions; and took occasion to speak a few words in
praise of young Milnwood, of whom, as of a champion of the Covenant, he
augured great things. The second part he applied to the punishments which
were about to fall upon the persecuting government. At times he
was familiar and colloquial; now he was loud, energetic, and
boisterous;--some parts of his discourse might be called sublime, and
others sunk below burlesque. Occasionally he vindicated with great
animation the right of every freeman to worship God according to his own
conscience; and presently he charged the guilt and misery of the people
on the awful negligence of their rulers, who had not only failed to
establish presbytery as the national religion, but had tolerated
sectaries of various descriptions, Papists, Prelatists, Erastians,
assuming the name of Presbyterians, Independents, Socinians, and
Quakers: all of whom Kettledrummle proposed, by one sweeping act, to
expel from the land, and thus re-edify in its integrity the beauty of
the sanctuary. He next handled very pithily the doctrine of defensive
arms and of resistance to Charles II., observing, that, instead of a
nursing father to the Kirk, that monarch had been a nursing father to
none but his own bastards. He went at some length through the life and
conversation of that joyous prince, few parts of which, it must be
owned, were qualified to stand the rough handling of so uncourtly an
orator, who conferred on him the hard names of Jeroboam, Omri, Ahab,
Shallum, Pekah, and every other evil monarch recorded in the Chronicles,
and concluded with a round application of the Scripture, "Tophet is
ordained of old; yea, for the King it is provided: he hath made it deep
and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood: the breath of the
Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it."

Kettledrummle had no sooner ended his sermon, and descended from the huge
rock which had served him for a pulpit, than his post was occupied by a
pastor of a very different description. The reverend Gabriel was advanced
in years, somewhat corpulent, with a loud voice, a square face, and a set
of stupid and unanimated features, in which the body seemed more to
predominate over the spirit than was seemly in a sound divine. The youth
who succeeded him in exhorting this extraordinary convocation, Ephraim
Macbriar by name, was hardly twenty years old; yet his thin features
already indicated, that a constitution, naturally hectic, was worn out by
vigils, by fasts, by the rigour of imprisonment, and the fatigues
incident to a fugitive life. Young as he was, he had been twice
imprisoned for several months, and suffered many severities, which gave
him great influence with those of his own sect. He threw his faded eyes
over the multitude and over the scene of battle; and a light of triumph
arose in his glance, his pale yet striking features were coloured with a
transient and hectic blush of joy. He folded his hands, raised his face
to heaven, and seemed lost in mental prayer and thanksgiving ere he
addressed the people. When he spoke, his faint and broken voice seemed at
first inadequate to express his conceptions. But the deep silence of the
assembly, the eagerness with which the ear gathered every word, as the
famished Israelites collected the heavenly manna, had a corresponding
effect upon the preacher himself. His words became more distinct, his
manner more earnest and energetic; it seemed as if religious zeal was
triumphing over bodily weakness and infirmity. His natural eloquence was
not altogether untainted with the coarseness of his sect; and yet, by the
influence of a good natural taste, it was freed from the grosser and more
ludicrous errors of his contemporaries; and the language of Scripture,
which, in their mouths, was sometimes degraded by misapplication, gave,
in Macbriar's exhortation, a rich and solemn effect, like that which is
produced by the beams of the sun streaming through the storied
representation of saints and martyrs on the Gothic window of some ancient
cathedral.

He painted the desolation of the church, during the late period of her
distresses, in the most affecting colours. He described her, like Hagar
watching the waning life of her infant amid the fountainless desert; like
Judah, under her palm-tree, mourning for the devastation of her temple;
like Rachel, weeping for her children and refusing comfort. But he
chiefly rose into rough sublimity when addressing the men yet reeking
from battle. He called on them to remember the great things which God had
done for them, and to persevere in the career which their victory had
opened.

"Your garments are dyed--but not with the juice of the wine-press; your
swords are filled with blood," he exclaimed, "but not with the blood of
goats or lambs; the dust of the desert on which ye stand is made fat with
gore, but not with the blood of bullocks, for the Lord hath a sacrifice
in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. These were not
the firstlings of the flock, the small cattle of burnt-offerings, whose
bodies lie like dung on the ploughed field of the husbandman; this is not
the savour of myrrh, of frankincense, or of sweet herbs, that is steaming
in your nostrils; but these bloody trunks are the carcasses of those who
held the bow and the lance, who were cruel and would show no mercy, whose
voice roared like the sea, who rode upon horses, every man in array as if
to battle--they are the carcasses even of the mighty men of war that came
against Jacob in the day of his deliverance, and the smoke is that of the
devouring fires that have consumed them. And those wild hills that
surround you are not a sanctuary planked with cedar and plated with
silver; nor are ye ministering priests at the altar, with censers and
with torches; but ye hold in your hands the sword, and the bow, and the
weapons of death. And yet verily, I say unto you, that not when the
ancient Temple was in its first glory was there offered sacrifice more
acceptable than that which you have this day presented, giving to the
slaughter the tyrant and the oppressor, with the rocks for your altars,
and the sky for your vaulted sanctuary, and your own good swords for the
instruments of sacrifice. Leave not, therefore, the plough in the
furrow--turn not back from the path in which you have entered like the
famous worthies of old, whom God raised up for the glorifying of his
name and the deliverance of his afflicted people--halt not in the race
you are running, lest the latter end should be worse than the beginning.
Wherefore, set up a standard in the land; blow a trumpet upon the
mountains; let not the shepherd tarry by his sheepfold, or the seedsman
continue in the ploughed field; but make the watch strong, sharpen the
arrows, burnish the shields, name ye the captains of thousands, and
captains of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens; call the footmen like the
rushing of winds, and cause the horsemen to come up like the sound of
many waters; for the passages of the destroyers are stopped, their rods
are burned, and the face of their men of battle hath been turned to
flight. Heaven has been with you, and has broken the bow of the mighty;
then let every man's heart be as the heart of the valiant Maccabeus,
every man's hand as the hand of the mighty Sampson, every man's sword as
that of Gideon, which turned not back from the slaughter; for the banner
of Reformation is spread abroad on the mountains in its first
loveliness, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

"Well is he this day that shall barter his house for a helmet, and sell
his garment for a sword, and cast in his lot with the children of the
Covenant, even to the fulfilling of the promise; and woe, woe unto him
who, for carnal ends and self-seeking, shall withhold himself from the
great work, for the curse shall abide with him, even the bitter curse of
Meroz, because he came not to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
Up, then, and be doing; the blood of martyrs, reeking upon scaffolds, is
crying for vengeance; the bones of saints, which lie whitening in the
highways, are pleading for retribution; the groans of innocent captives
from desolate isles of the sea, and from the dungeons of the tyrants'
high places, cry for deliverance; the prayers of persecuted Christians,
sheltering themselves in dens and deserts from the sword of their
persecutors, famished with hunger, starving with cold, lacking fire,
food, shelter, and clothing, because they serve God rather than man--all
are with you, pleading, watching, knocking, storming the gates of heaven
in your behalf. Heaven itself shall fight for you, as the stars in their
courses fought against Sisera. Then whoso will deserve immortal fame in
this world, and eternal happiness in that which is to come, let them
enter into God's service, and take arles at the hand of his servant,--a
blessing, namely, upon him and his household, and his children, to the
ninth generation, even the blessing of the promise, for ever and ever!
Amen."

The eloquence of the preacher was rewarded by the deep hum of stern
approbation which resounded through the armed assemblage at the
conclusion of an exhortation, so well suited to that which they had done,
and that which remained for them to do. The wounded forgot their pain,
the faint and hungry their fatigues and privations, as they listened to
doctrines which elevated them alike above the wants and calamities of the
world, and identified their cause with that of the Deity. Many crowded
around the preacher, as he descended from the eminence on which he stood,
and, clasping him with hands on which the gore was not yet hardened,
pledged their sacred vow that they would play the part of Heaven's true
soldiers. Exhausted by his own enthusiasm, and by the animated fervour
which he had exerted in his discourse, the preacher could only reply, in
broken accents,--"God bless you, my brethren--it is his cause.--Stand
strongly up and play the men--the worst that can befall us is but a brief
and bloody passage to heaven."

Balfour, and the other leaders, had not lost the time which was employed
in these spiritual exercises. Watch-fires were lighted, sentinels were
posted, and arrangements were made to refresh the army with such
provisions as had been hastily collected from the nearest farm-houses and
villages. The present necessity thus provided for, they turned their
thoughts to the future. They had dispatched parties to spread the news of
their victory, and to obtain, either by force or favour, supplies of what
they stood most in need of. In this they had succeeded beyond their
hopes, having at one village seized a small magazine of provisions,
forage, and ammunition, which had been provided for the royal forces.
This success not only gave them relief at the time, but such hopes for
the future, that whereas formerly some of their number had begun to
slacken in their zeal, they now unanimously resolved to abide together in
arms, and commit themselves and their cause to the event of war.