God had been pleased to conceal him from the eyes of those who sought his hurt.

The dragoons pursued their way over the hills towards the farm of Cairn, beautifully situated on the slope of the range of mountains that line the sweet vale of the Nith on the south. At this place they came upon two men in a hollow among the green and flowery braes, engaged, it is supposed, in devotional exercises. The sound of their voices employed in prayer, or in the singing of psalms, probably attracted the notice of the soldiers, and drew them to the spot. The names of the individuals were Hair and Corson. The circumstances in which they were found were enough to insure their death, and therefore, according to the custom of the times, and the license of the troopers, they were without ceremony shot on the spot. They lie interred on the south side of the great road between Sanquhar and New Cumnock, where a rude stone pillar points out their resting-place.

Hair was one of five brothers who occupied the farm of Glenquhary, in the parish of Kirkconnell, of which they were the proprietors. They were ejected from their patrimony, however, on account of their nonconformity, and forced to wander in the desolate places of the country. One of the five brothers was at the battle of Pentland; which circumstance would doubtless render the whole family more obnoxious to the dominant party. It is probable that Hair of Burncrooks, mentioned in a former chapter, and who effected his escape from the dragoons at Glen Aylmer, was one of the same family; and it is equally probable that Hair of Cleuchfoot, and William Hair of Southmains, were, if not of the household of Glenquhary, at least related. In the old churchyard of Kirkconnell, which is situated at the base of the steep green mountains, and near the mouth of this romantic glen, there are to be seen, in its north-west corner, six thrugh stones belonging to this family, indicating the successive generations that, one after another, have been gathered to their fathers. A lineal descendant of this worthy household is at present resident in the farm of Muirfoot, in the parish of New Cumnock, and warmly cherishes, as may be expected, the memory of his witnessing ancestry.

A similar incident to that now related occurred at Craignorth, an abrupt and magnificent mountain near the source of the Crawick, where two Covenanters, named Brown and Morris, were killed by the soldiers. The incident, it is said, befell in 1685-the year in which so many of the worthies were shot in the fields. Two small rivulets descend from the

hill on which they were slaughtered; the name of the one is Brown's Cleuch, and of the other Morris, Cleuch. A more particular account of their death will be found in Chapter XVI. Near the head of Chapman Cleuch, in the neighbourhood of Nether Cog, lies a martyr; but neither his name nor the names of those by whom he was killed are known. More than five hundred persons were shot by the military in the fields, and therefore it is not to be expected that the names of all these individuals, or the circumstances of their death, could be recorded by history, or retained by tradition.

CHAPTER XIII.

Hugh Hutchison- further particulars.

In the last chapter we left Hugh Hutchison in a cave near Dalmellington, in which he had taken refuge from his pursuers, and in which he continued till the danger was past. These men did not rush on martyrdom, nor needlessly expose their lives, for the honour of having it said that they died as witnesses in the cause of truth. They sought to preserve their lives by all honourable means as long as they could; thus proving that they were not actuated by a blind enthusiasm, but by an enlightened zeal. Life was as sweet to them as it was to other men, and therefore it was their care to preserve it; but then, sweet as it was, they were prepared to yield it up at the bidding of Him from whom they received it. In the neighbourhood of his retreat, Hutchison had the happiness to meet with a fellow-sufferer, with whom he lived in concealment for a season. The name of his new associate was John Paterson. This man occupied the farm of Penyvenie, at the bottom of Benbeach, and the ruins of his dwellinghouse are still to be seen on the right hand of the road from Cumnock to Dalmellington. These walls are the venerable remains of a cottage, which, in the suffering period, was a sanctuary to many of the people of God, and a temple consecrated to his worship. Owing to the severity of the times, however, Paterson durst not occupy his dwelling as formerly, but was obliged to seek a hiding-place in the fields. To his retreat in the "Tod Fauld," then, he conducted Hutchison, and here for a considerable time they continued in seclusion and security. Their intercourse in the day of common peril was doubtless such as became witnesses and sufferers in the same cause. Many a sweet hour did the worthies of those times enjoy with God and with one another, in the dreary caves and solitudes of the mountains, when their enemies

foolishly imagined that they had despoiled them of all comfort and enjoyment whatever. Their foes might indeed expel them from their homes, and drive them afar to the lonely deserts, but they could not expel them from their rest in God, nor interrupt that spiritual intercourse with Heaven which to them was sweeter far than all earthly comforts, or than even life itself. "Thy loving-kindness is better than life."

From their place of concealment our two worthies descended, as frequently and regularly as circumstances permitted, to the farm-house, by turns, to their meals. One morning, when Paterson had stolen cautiously from his retreat to go to his house to breakfast, leaving his companion in the hiding-place till his return, a circumstance occurred which wellnigh proved fatal to them both. It had been agreed on between Paterson and his friends, that when danger was apprehended, they should cry in his hearing, "The nowt's i' the corn." This watchword was unknown to Hutchison. It happened, on the morning alluded to, when Paterson was in his house at breakfast, that an individual at some distance, who saw three dragoons approaching, hastened to the lurkingplace to give the preconcerted warning, not knowing that Paterson was at the moment in the cottage. Hutchison heard the cry, and not being aware that the words implied a sense different from their literal import, sprang from his concealment to drive the cattle from the corn-field. He no sooner issued into the open field than he discovered his mistake, for he saw three troopers marching with all speed towards the dwelling-house. He ran forward, with the intention, no doubt, of giving warning to his friend within, but durst not enter, as the party was close at hand; and going past the end of the house, which intercepted him from the view of the horsemen, he plunged into the heart of a large willow bush, and there secreted himself.

Meanwhile the soldiers drew near, and John Paterson, who was at breakfast, observed their approach. He instantly rose from the table, and grasping his trusty sword, presented himself in the attitude of self-defence at the door. His affectionate wife, whom solicitude for her husband's welfare prompted to expose herself to danger, followed close at his back. The soldiers, in order to overpower their victim, made a simultaneous onset; but Paterson with undaunted breast and powerful arm, brandished his glittering glaive above his head, and dealt his blows so lustily that he disabled two of his opponents, and laid them stunned, but not dead, at his

feet. The third, a stalwart dragoon, yet unscathed, approached the valiant Covenanter, who so bravely maintained his position before the door, with a view to cut him down, and the more easily, as he was already exhausted by the stiffness of the conflict; but his wife, who, like a guardian angel, was hovering near him, hastily untied her apron, and flung it over the soldier's sword-arm, by means of which the weapon was entangled, so that Paterson made his escape without injury to himself. It was sometime before matters were adjusted on the battle-ground, and before the prostrate soldiers recovered themselves, and by this time the fugitive was beyond their reach. Meanwhile Hutchison was ensconced in the bush, to which the soldiers as they retired approached, and went round it beating it with their swords, as if they expected to start the timid hare from its lair in the interior, or to rouse from their nests the domestic fowls, which in their raids among the peasantry they sometimes did not scruple to destroy or carry off. Hutchison lay trembling and perspiring, expecting every moment to be dragged from his retreat, and murdered by the infuriated soldiers on the spot. No incident, however, occurred; they left the place, and Hutchison remained undiscovered. When they were gone, and no further danger was apprehended, Paterson left his hiding-place, and returned with a throbbing heart to inquire after the state of his household; and having satisfied himself on this point, his next care was to search for Hutchison, whom he found in the heart of the bush. In this seclusion Hutchison chose to remain the whole day, and it was not till evening began to close in that he would consent to leave the covert. This caution, on the part of Hutchison, was not without its reason, for the troopers sometimes returned when least expected. It was his intention now to return to Daljig in the evening, considering that his danger with Paterson appeared to be as great as it could be at home. At the earnest entreaty of his friends, however, he remained with them during that night; and on the morrow, as no apprehensions of the speedy return of their enemies were entertained, he agreed to assist his friend in the operations of haymaking. With buoyant spirits, while they inhaled the balmy breath of June, and with arms strong for labour, each with his scythe cleared with ample sweep the space around him, leaving the dewy grass mixed with its “fresh meadow blooms,” in long files or swraithes of sweetly scented hay behind them. Shortly after high noon, Hutchison had retired to the house to dinner, while Paterson, in case of danger, kept his place