CHAPTER XXXII.

James Gourlay of Cambusnethan.

JAMES GOURLAY belonged originally to the Carse of Gowrie, from which place he removed to Cambusnethan, and occupied the farm of Overtown, situated on the southern boundary of that parish. Nothing further is known of him till the battle of Bothwell Bridge, at which he was present, and rendered to the covenanting party what assistance was in his power. On the disastrous issue of that conflict, Gourlay with the rest sought safety in flight. He directed his steps towards a wood in the neighbourhood, in which he hoped to find concealment. As he ran to the thicket, he found in his way many of the bodies of his associates who had fallen in battle, and over which he stepped with caution as he scoured the slippery field that was dyed with the blood of many of the best and bravest of Scotland's sons. In his flight he was intercepted by a lofty wall that crossed his path, and over which it was his intention to spring. This, however, he found to be impracticable; and as his enemies were in eager pursuit, death or capture seemed inevitable. In the urgency of the moment, however, and when time for deliberation there was none, he pulled from his pocket a large claspknife, the blade of which he thrust into a chink of the wall, and then placing his foot on the projecting haft, he reached the coping, and lighted without injury on the other side. When he was in the act of passing over the wall, and was for a moment resting on its summit, the bullets, it is said, from the muskets of his pursuers rattled against the stones and went whizzing past his ears. In an instant, however, he was out of danger, and was concealed among the thickets of the wood.

In the history of an ancient battle, which was fought in a forest, it is recorded that "the wood devoured more people that day than the sword devoured;" but on this day the

woods afforded a shelter to many from the fierce fury and vengeful sword of their enemies. James Gourlay, however, halted not till he reached the banks of the Clyde, and ob. serving a deep and smooth-flowing part of the majestic river, which was overshadowed by the pliant branches of the trees and shrubs that grew so thickly on its margin, the thought occurred to him, that the best mode of concealment would be to plunge into the stream, and there to stand to the neck in the water under the mantling of the bushes. Accordingly he waded into the pool, and sought an asylum in the deep waters, where he continued till the darkness of the night afforded an opportunity of escape.

It is not said in what place he found refuge for the night; but if he ventured home he could not long remain in obscurity, for parties of dragoons, as history informs us, were scouring that part of the country in search of the Bothwell fugitives on the day after the battle, when Arthur Inglis of Nethertown, his neighbour, fell the victim of their wanton and reckless cruelty. He escaped, however, on the present occasion, with his life; but the affair of Bothwell left him a memento, for his station, during so many hours, in the cold river after the heat of battle, induced a pulmonary affection, which, though it did not shorten his days, afflicted him through life.

There is, in the immediate vicinity of Overtown, a romantic ravine of nearly two miles in length. This ravine, called the Garrion-gill, is deep and bosky, with a sweet rivulet flowing along its rocky bed in the bottom. It forms the southern limit of Cambusnethan, bounding on the parish of Carluke. It is generally believed that this was a retreat of the worthies of Clydesdale during the times of persecution. There is towards the middle of the dell a precipitous and towering projection, with an ancient ruin on the summit. It bears the name of Castle Hill, and was evidently a place of security in feudal times. On both sides of this glen are huge masses of rock, that have obviously undergone the action of fire. The burnt appearance of the rocks is, in the popular opinion, the effect of some powerful conflagration from the brushwood and the protruding seams of coal having been set on fire, for the purpose of scorching the Covenanters from their hiding-places in the dark sides of the ravine. Geologists, however, might probably find another cause for these appearances; but, be it as it may, it is certain that James Gourlay and others often hid themselves in this place, in the gloomy hollows of the rocks that were thickly shaded with the leafy branches of the mantling trees.

The house of James Gourlay was at different times beset by his enemies. On one occasion they made an assault at midnight, and thundering at the door, demanded instant admission. Gourlay sprang from his bed, and having hastily donned his garments, answered his assailants from within, that being fully in their power, he would instantly open the door. Having committed himself to the care of the God in whom he trusted, and summoning all his courage according to the emergency, he quietly unbolted the door on the back part of the dwelling. He was aware that every door and window were guarded by the troopers, but he was determined to make one bold effort for his life. Accordingly, having opened the door with as little noise as possible, he darted in the darkness through the midst of the guards, overthrowing one and pushing aside another, till he found his way to the edge of the ravine, adown which he glided in safety, and escaped their hands.

On another occasion he was seized by the troopers, and conveyed as their prisoner toward Hamilton. When the party had forded the Clyde, which in those days had no bridge at the place, they halted at a house by the way-side, and having locked up their horses and their prisoner in the same place, they went either to regale themselves in a small ale-house, or in pursuit of some other person. During their absence, which was rather long continued, it occurred to Gourlay that now was the time to attempt his escape. With this idea he mounted one of the horses, and having placed his feet on the animal's back, he reached the joists above, and, with all the expedition possible, tore an opening in the thatch, through which he made his way to the roof, from which he descended unnoticed, and hasted to the river, which he forded, and hid himself among the bushes, and thus eluded the grasp of his foes.

From the defeat at Bothwell till the Revolution-a period of about nine years James Gourlay sustained many hardships, and was exposed to much danger. He had a place in the Garrion-gill, at a short distance from his own house, to which he retired in more hazardous times. His wife, Mary Weir, a virtuous woman, and a crown to her husband, prepared a thick woollen covering for him, when, by day or night, he had occasion to "lodge solitary in the woods." It is said that this good woman, in the absence of her husband, occasionally laboured in the field for the support of her household, with a sucking infant bound in a plaid on her back.

The days of persecution, however, ceased at length, and James Gourlay was permitted to return to his house in peace. There lived in Garrion-hough, a person who, in order to save himself, had taken the test, and who, for his officiousness in informing against the friends of the covenant, had acquired the nickname of Beadle. This individual, a low, sneaking, and time-serving character, came to Gourlay when times were changed, and professed a great deal of kindness. He held out his hand in token of friendship, but honest James Gourlay thrust it away with indignity, and seizing him by the collar, pushed him out of the apartment where they had happened to meet; after which occurrence he was no more troubled with the hollow pretensions of friendship from so worthless a man.

James Gourlay lived many years after the persecution, and having approached the age of threescore and ten, he was brought to his grave in peace; and his ashes, with those of his honoured spouse, repose in the old churchyard of Cambusnethan. The hallowed spot is marked by an antiquated grave-stone, the inscription on which is partially obliterated. It retains the names of the deceased, and the date 1714.

The descendants of this worthy man are numerous in the neighbourhood of Cambusnethan, especially two families of Gourlay and Gibb.

The preceding account of James Gourlay was communicated by his great grandson, a member of the Secession congregation in Cambusnethan, who in his youth resided with his grandfather, William Gourlay, eldest son of James Gourlay the Covenanter. He is now on the border of fourscore years, but he remembers, with the freshness of youthful impression, the events and incidents narrated to him by his ancestor.

James Gourlay is mentioned by Wodrow. "I find," says the historian, "March 14th, James Forrest, younger, John Collin, James Gourlay, &c., were before the committee for public affairs; and, as they say in their joint testimony before me, the chancellor, after a long speech aggravating their rebellious principles, reset, &c., declared to them that they were banished to West Flanders, never to return, on pain of death."

That James Gourlay here mentioned is the same with the subject of the foregoing sketch is more than probable, when we consider that his name is coupled with that of James Forrest, who belonged to Cambusnethan; for we find, in another part of the historian, the following statement: "James

Forrest, in Oldyards, in the parish of Cambusnethan, and his son, with his nephew, Robert Gourlay, were seized by a party of soldiers. After some time's imprisonment, they were banished to West Flanders." Robert Gourlay was, in all likelihood, a relation of James Gourlay, unless we suppose that Robert has been written by mistake for James; but this supposition is not likely, as tradition says nothing about the banishment of James-an incident which would not readily have been forgotten.

As a sequel to this brief account of James Gourlay, we may here give the story of John Mathison. John Mathison rented the farm of Rosehill in Closeburn, in Nithsdale; but his adherence to the cause of the covenant exposed him to many hardships and much suffering in woods and caves, to which he was obliged to resort for safety. He is expressly mentioned by Wodrow in connection with other three cove nanting brethren, who in 1684 were sentenced to be transported to the plantations. He is probably the same person mentioned by Patrick Walker, under the title of Captain John Mathison, the frequent companion of the venerable Peden in his wanderings in Nithsdale.