their manners may be inferred from that of their language. In an old mystery, imprinted at London, 1654, a mendicant Borderer is introduced, soliciting alms of a citizen and his wife. To a question of the latter, he replies, "Savying your honour, good maistress, I was born in Redesdale, in Northumberlande, and come of a wight riding surname, call'd the Robsons: gude honeste men, and true, savying a little shiftynge for theyr livyng; God help them, silly, pure men.' The wife answers, "What dost thou here, in this countrie? me thinks thou art a Scot by thy tongue."-Beggar. "Trowe me never mair then, good deam; I had rather be hanged in a withie of a cow-taile, for thei are ever fare and fause."-Appendix to Ben Jonson's Sad Shepherd, Edit. 1783, p. 188. From the wife's observation, as well as from the dialect of the beggar, we may infer that there was little difference between the Northumbrian and the border Scottish; a circumstance interesting in itself, and decisive of the occasional friendly intercourse among the Marchmen. From all these combining circumstances arose the lenity of the Borderers in their incursions, and the equivocal moderation which they sometimes observed towards each other in open war.* This humanity and moderation was, on certain occasions, entirely laid aside by the Borderers. In the case of deadly feud, either against an Englishman, or against any neighbouring tribe, the whole force of the offended clan was bent to avenge the death of any of their number. Their vengeance not only vented itself upon the homicide and his family, but upon all his kindred, on his whole tribe; and on every one, in fine, whose death or ruin could affect him with regret.-LESLEY, p. 63; Border Lars, passim Scottish Acts, 1594, c. 231. The reader will find, in the following collection, many allusions to this infernal custom, which always overcame the Marcher's general reluctance to shed human blood, and rendered him remorselessly savage. For fidelity to their word, Lesley ascribes high praise to the inhabitants of the Scottish frontier. Robert Constable (himself a traitorous spy) describes the outlaws, who were his guides into Scotland, as men who would not hesitate to steal, yet would betray no man that trusted in them, for all the gold in Scotland or France. They are my guides," said he; "and outlaws who might gain their pardon by surrendering me, yet I am secure of their fidelity, and have often proved it." Indeed, when an instance happened of breach of faith, the injured person, at the first Border meeting, rode through the field, displaying a glove (the pledge of faith) upon the point of his lance, and proclaiming the perfidy of the person who had broken his word. So great was the indignation of the assembly * This practice of the Marchmen was observed and reprobated by Patten against the perjured criminal, that he was often slain by his own clan, to wipe out the disgrace he had brought on them. In the same spirit of confidence, it was not unusual to behold the victors, after an engagement, dismiss their prisoners upon parole, who never failed either to transmit the stipulated ransom, or to surrender themselves to bondage, if unable to do so. But the virtues of a barbarous people being founded, not upon moral principle, but upon the dreams of superstition, or the capricious dictates of ancient custom, can seldom be uniformly relied on. We must not, therefore, be surprised to find these very men, so true to their word in general, using, upon other occasions, various resources of cunning and chicane, against which the Border Laws were in vain directed. The immediate rulers of the Borders were the chiefs of the different clans, who exercised over their respective septs a dominion partly patriarchal and partly feudal. The latter bond of adherence was, however, the more slender; for, in the acts regulating the Borders, we find repeated mention of" Clannes having captaines and chieftaines, whom on they depend, oft-times against the willes of their landelordes."-Stat. 1587, c. 95, and the roll thereto annexed. Of course, these laws looked less to the feudal superior than to the chieftain of the name, for the restraint of the disorderly tribes; and it is repeatedly enacted, that the head of the clan should be first called upon to deliver those of his sept, who should commit any trespass, and that, on his failure to do so, he should be liable to the injured party in full redress.-Ibidem, and Stat. 1574, c. 231. By the same statutes, the chieftains and landlords, presiding over Border clans, were obliged to find caution, and to grant hostages, that they would subject themselves to the due course of law. Such clans as had no chieftain of sufficient note to enter bail for their quiet conduct, became broken men, outlawed to both nations. From these enactments, the power of the Border chieftains may be conceived; for it had been hard and useless to have punished them for the trespass of their tribes, unless they possessed over them unlimited authority. The abodes of these petty princes by no means corresponded to the extent of their power. We do not find, on the Scottish Borders, the splendid and extensive baronial castles which graced and defended the opposite frontier. The Gothic grandeur of Alnwick, of Raby, and of Naworth, marks the wealthier and more secure state of the English nobles. The Scottish chieftain, however extensive his domains, derived no pecuniary advantage, save from such parts as he could himself cultivate or occupy, Payment of rent was hardly known on the Borders, till after the Union of 1603. All that the landlord could gain, from the English author above quoted; "There is nothing that is occasione of your adhering to the opinion of Ingland contrair your natife cuntre, bot the grit familiarite that Inglis men and Scottes les had on baith the Boirdours, ilk ane with utheris, in merchandeis, in selling and buying hors and nolt, and scheip, outfang and infang, ilk ane amang utheris, the whilk familiarite is express contrar the lawis and consuetudis bayth of Ingland and Scotland. In auld tymis it was determit in the artiklis of the pace, be the twa wardanis of the Boirdours of Ingland and Scotland, that there should be na familiarite betwix Scottis men and Inglis men, nor marriage to be contrakit betwix them, nor conventions on holydais at gammis and plays, nor merchandres to be maid among them, nor Scottis men till enter on Inglis ground, without the king of Ingland's save conduct, nor Inglis men till enter on Scottis grond, without the King of Scotland's save conduct, howbeit that ther war sure pace betwix the twa realmes. But thir sevyn yeir bygaue, thai statutis and artiklis of the pace are adnuilit, for ther hes been as grit familiarite, and conventions, and makyng of merand Scottis men, bayth in pace and weir, as Scottismen usis ainang theme selfis within the realme of Scotland: and sic familiarite hes bene the cause that the Kyng of Ingland gat intelligence with divers gentlemen of Scotland." Another manner have they [the English Bordereral among them, of wearing handkerchers roll'd about their armes, and letters brouder'd [embroidered) upon their cappes. they said themselves, the use thearof was that ech of them might knowe his fellowe, and theathye the sooner assemble, or in nede to and one another, and such lyke respectes; howbeit thear wear of the army among us (some suspicious men perchance) that thought the used them for collusion, and rather bycaus thei might be knowen to the enemic, as the enemies are knowen to them, (for thei have their markes too,) and so in conflict either ech to spere oother, or gently eche to take other. Indede, men have been moved the rather to thinke so, bycaus sum of their crosses [the English red crosses] were so narrowe, and so singly set on, that a pule of wynde might blow them from their breastes, and that the wear found right often talking with the Skottish prikkers within less than their gad's (spear's] length asunder; and when the perceived thei had been espied, thei have begun one to run at another beit so apparently perlassent [in partey] as the lookers on resembled their chasyng lyke the running at base in an up-chandreis, on the Boirdours, this lang tyme betwix Inglis men badi-h toun, whear the match is made for a quart of good ale, or like the play in Robin Cookes scole, la fencing school, whear, breans the punies mey lerne, thei strike few strokes but by assent and appointment. I hard sum men say, it did mooch augment their suspicion that wey, bycaus at the battail they saw these prikkers so badly demean them, more intending the taking of prisoners, than the surety of victorye; for while oother men fought, thei fell to their prey, that as thear wear but fewe of them but brought home his prisoner, so wear thear many that had six of seven."---PATTEN'S Account of Somerset's Expedition, apud DALYELL'S Fragments, p. 76. It is singular that, about this very period, the same circumstances are severally animadverted upon by the strenuous Scot tehman, who wrote the complaint of Scotland, as well as by Complaynt of Scotland, Edin. 1801, p. 164. Stowe, in detailing the happy consequences of the union of the crowns, observes, "that the Northern Borders became as safe, and peaceable, as any part of the entire kingdome, so as in the fourthe year of the King's reigne, as well gentlemen and others inhabiting the places aforesayde, finding the auncient waste ground to be very good and fruitefull, began to contende in lawe about their bounds, challenging then, that for their hereditarie right, which formerly they disavowed, only to avoyde charge of common defence." those residing upon his estate, was their personal which they were little anxious, as they contained service in battle, their assistance in labouring the nothing of value. On the approach of a superor land retained in his natural possession, some petty force, they unthatched them, to prevent their being quit rents of a nature resembling the feudal casual- burned, and then abandoned them to the foe. ties, and perhaps a share in the spoil which they STOWE'S Chronicle, p. 665. Their only treasures acquired by rapine. This, with his herds of cattle were, a fleet and active horse, with the ornaments and of sheep, and with the black-mail which he ex- which their rapine had procured for the females of acted from his neighbours, constituted the revenue their family, of whose gay appearance the Borderers of the chieftain; and, from funds so precarious, he were vain. could rarely spare sums to expend in strengthening Some rude monuments occur upon the Borders, or decorating his habitation. Another reason is the memorials of ancient valour. Such is the Cross found, in the Scottish mode of warfare. It was at Milholm, on the banks of the Liddle, said to early discovered, that the English surpassed their have been erected in memory of the Chief of the neighbours in the arts of assaulting and defending Armstrongs, murdered treacherously by Lord Soulis, fortified places. The policy of the Scottish, there- while feasting in Hermitage castle. Such also is fore, deterred them from erecting upon the Borders that rude stone, now broken, and very much defabuildings of such extent and strength, as, being once ced, placed upon a mount on the lands of Haughtaken by the foe, would have been capable of re-head, near the junction of the Kale and the Teviot. ceiving a permanent garrison. To themselves, the The inscription records the defence made by Hobbie woods and hills of their country were pointed out Hall, a man of great strength and courage, against by the great Bruce, as their safest bulwarks; and an attempt of the powerful family of Ker, to possess the maxim of the Douglasses, that, "it was better themselves of his small estate.ll to hear the lark sing, than the mouse cheep," was The same simplicity marked their dress and arms. adopted by every Border chief. For these combined Patten observes, that in battle the laird could not reasons, the residence of the chieftain was com- be distinguished from the serf; all wearing the monly a large square battlemented tower, called a same coat-armour, called a jack, and the baron bekeep or peel, placed on a precipice, or on the banks ing only distinguished by his sleeves of mail and his of a torrent, and, if the ground would permit, sur-head-piece. The Borderers, in general, acted as rounded by a moat. In short, the situation of a light cavalry, riding horses of a small size, but asBorder house, encompassed by woods, and rendered tonishingly nimble, and trained to move, by short almost inaccessible by torrents, by rocks, or by bounds, through the morasses with which Scotland morasses, sufficiently indicated the pursuits and ap- abounds. Their offensive weapons were, a lance of prehensions of its inhabitants.-" Locus horroris et uncommon length; a sword, either two-handed, or vasta solitudinis, aptus ad prædam, habilis ad ra- of the modern light size; sometimes a species of pinam, habitatoribus suis lapis erat offensionis et battle-axe, called a Jedburgh-staff; and, latterly, petra scandali, utpote qui stipendiis suis minime dags or pistols. Although so much accustomed to contenti, totum de alieno, parum de suo, posside- move on horseback, that they held it even mean to bant-totius provincia spolium." No wonder, appear otherwise, the Marchmen occasionally acted therefore, that James V., on approaching the castle as infantry; nor were they inferior to the rest of of Lochwood, the ancient seat of the Johnstones, is Scotland in forming that impenetrable phalanx of said to have exclaimed, "that he who built it must spears, whereof it is said, by an English historian, have been a knave in his heart." An outer wall, that sooner shall a bare finger pierce through the with some light fortifications, served as a protection skin of an angry hedge-hog, than any one encounter for the cattle at night. The walls of these fortresses the brunt of their pikes." At the battle of Melrose, were of an immense thickness, and they could for example, Buccleuch's army fought upon foot. easily be defended against any small force; more But the habits of the Borderers fitted them particuespecially, as, the rooms being vaulted, each story larly to distinguish themselves as light cavalry; and formed a separate lodgement, capable of being held hence the name of prickers and hobylers, so freout for a considerable time. On such occasions, quently applied to them. At the blaze of their beathe usual mode adopted by the assailants, was to con fires, they were wont to assemble ten thousand expel the defenders, by setting fire to wet straw in horsemen in the course of a single day. Thus rapid the lower apartments. But the Border chieftains in their warlike preparations, they were alike ready seldom chose to abide in person a siege of this nafor attack and defence. Each individual carried his ture; and I have scarce observed a single instance own provisions, consisting of a small bag of oatof a distinguished baron made prisoner in his own meal, and trusted to plunder, or the chase, for eking house.§-PATTEN'S Expedition, p. 35. The common out his precarious repast. Beaugué remarks, that people resided in paltry huts, about the safety of nothing surprised the Scottish cavalry so much as to see their French auxiliaries encumbered with baggage-wagons, and attended by commissaries. Before joining battle, it seems to have been the Scottish practice to set fire to the litter of their camp, while, under cover of the smoke, the hobylers, or Border cavalry, executed their manoeuvres.There is a curious account of the battle of Mitton, fought in the year 1319, in a valuable MS. Chronicle of England, in the collection of the Marquis of Douglas, from which this stratagem seems to have decided the engagement. wer thus lastyd, the kynge went agane into Skot"In meyn time, while the londe, that hitte was wonder for to wette, and bysoner in his castle of Fairnihirst, after defending it bravely against Lord Dacres, 21th September, 1523. The rude strains of the inscription little correspond with the gallantry of a "As for the humours of the people, (i. e. of Teviotdale,) they were both strong and warlike, as being inured to war, and daily incursions, and the most part of the heritors of the country gave out all their lands to their tenants, for military attendance, upon rentals, and reserved only some few mainses for their own sustenance, which were laboured by their tenants, besides their service. They paid an entry, a berauld, and a small rental-duty; for there were no rents raised here that were considerable, till King James went into England; yea, all along the Border."-Account of Rorburghshire, by SIR WILLIAM SCOTT of Harden, and KERR of Sunlaws, apud MACFARLANE'S MSS. The royal castles of Roxburgh, Hermitage, Lochmaben, &c., form a class of exceptions to this rule, being extensive and well fortified. Perhaps we ought also to except the baronial castle of Home. Yet, in 1455, the following petty garrisons were thought sufficient for the protection of the Border; two hundred spearmen, and as many archers, upon the East and Middle Marches; and one hundred spears, with a like number of bowmen, upon the Western Marches. But then the same statute provides, they are neare hand the Bordoure, are ordained to have gud househaldes, and abulzied men as effeiris; and to be reddie at their principal place, and to pass, with the wardanes, quhen and quhair they sall be charged."--Act of James II, cap. 55, Of garrisons It is in these words :to be laid upon the Borders. Hence Buchanan has justly described, as an attribute of the Scottish nation, "Nec fossis, nec muris, patriam, sed Marte tuert." That I I have observed a difference in architecture betwixt the Enghsh and Scottish towers. The latter usually have upon the top a projecting battlement, with interstices, anciently called machicoules, betwixt the parapet and the wall, through which stones or darts might be hurled upon the assailants. This kind of fortification is less common on the South Border. § I ought to except the famous Dand Ker, who was made pri "village Hampden, who, with dauntless breast, The little tyrant of his fields withstool." "Here Hobbie Hall boblly maintained his right, Gainst reil, plain force, armed wi' awles might. Full thirty pleughs, harues'd in all their gear, Could not his valint noble heart make fear! But wi' his sword he cut the foremost's soar In two; and drove baith pleughs and ploughmen home. Soam means the iron links which fasten a yoke of oxen to the 1620, plough. Now Duke of Hamilton, 1830. 31 Bechd the towne of Barwick; but the Skottes went | Irwen. The abbeys, which were planted upon the ever the water of Sold, that was iii myle from the Border, neither seem to have been much respected hoste, and prively they stole away by nyghte, and by the English, nor by the Scottish Barons. They come into England, and robbed and destroyed all were repeatedly burned by the former, in the course that they myght, and spared no manner thing til of the Border wars, and by the latter they seem to that they come to Yorke. And, whan the Englische- have been regarded chiefly as the means of endowmen, that were left at home, herd this tiding, all thoing a needy relation, or the subject of occasional that myght well travell, so well monkys and priestis, plunder. Thus, Andrew Home of Fastcastle, about and freres, and chanouns, and seculars, coine and 1488, attempted to procure a perpetual feu of certain met with the Skottes at Mytone of Swale, the xii possessions belonging to the Abbey of Coldingday of October. Allas, for sorrow for the Englische-hame; and being battled by the king bestowing that men! housbondmen, that could nothing in wer, opulent benefice upon the royal chapel at Stirling, ther were quelled and drenchyd in an arm of the the Humes and Hepburns started into rebellion; see. And hyr chyftaines, Sir William Milton, Ersch- asserting, that the priory should be conferred upon bishop of Yorke, and the Abbot of Selby, with her some younger son of their families, according to stedes, fled and come into Yorke; and that was her ancient custom. After the fatal battle of Flodden, owne folye that they had that mischaunce; for the one of the Kers testified his contempt for clerical passyd the water of Swale, and the Skottes set on immunities and privileges, by expelling from his für three stalkes of hey, and the smoke thereof was house the Abbot of Kelso. These bickerings beso huge, that the Englischemen might not see the twixt the clergy and the barons were usually excited Skottes; and whan the Englischemen were gon by disputes about their temporal interest. It was over the water, tho cam the Skottes, with hir wyng, common for the churchmen to grant lands in feu in maner of a sheld, and come toward the Eng- to the neighbouring gentlemen, who, becoming their lischemen in ordour. And the Englischemen fled vassals, were bound to assist and protect them.# for unnethe they had any use of armes, for the Kyng But, as the possessions and revenues of the benehad hem al almost lost att the sege on Barwick. fices became thus intermixed with those of the And the Scotsmen hobylers went betwene the brigge laity, any attempts rigidly to enforce the claims of and the Englischemen; and when the gret hoste the church were usually attended by the most them met, the Englischemen fled between the hoby-scandalous disputes. A petty warfare was carried lers and the gret hoste; and the Englischemen wer on for years, betwixt James, Abbot of Dryburgh, ther quelled, and he that myght wend over the water and the family of Haliburton of Mertoun, or Newwere saved, but many were drowned. Alas! for mains, who held some lands from that abbey. there were slayn many men of religion, and secu- These possessions were, under various pretexts, lars, and priestis, and clerks, and with much sorwe seized and laid waste by both parties; and some the Ersch-bishope scaped from the Skottes; and, bloodshed took place in the contest, betwixt the lay therefore, the Skottes called that battel the White vassals and their spiritual superior. The matter was, at length, thought of sufficient importance to For smaller predatory expeditions, the Borderers be terminated by a reference to his Majesty; whose had signals, and places of rendezvous, peculiar to decree arbitral, dated at Stirling, the 8th of May, each tribe. If the party set forward before all the 1535, proceeds thus: "Whereas we have been admembers had joined, a mark, cut in the turf, or on vised and know the said gentlemen, the Halliburthe bark of a tree, pointed out to the stragglers the tons, to be leal and true honest men, long servants direction which the main body had pursued. Their unto the saide abbeye, for the saide landis, stout men warike convocations were, also, frequently disguised, at armes, and goode Borderers against Ingland; under pretence of meetings for the purpose of sport. We doe therefore decree and ordain, that they sall The game of foot-ball, in particular, which was be repossess'd, and bruik and enjoy the landis and anciently, and still continues to be, a favourite Bor-steedings they had of the saide abbeye, paying the der sport, was the means of collecting together large use and wonte: and that they sall be goode serbodies of moss-troopers, previous to any military vants to the said venerabil father, like as they and exploit. When Sir Robert Carey was Warden of their predecessours were to the said venerabil the East Marches, the knowledge that there was a father, and his predecessours, and he a good master great match at foot-ball at Kelso, to be frequented to them." It is unnecessary to detain the reader by the principal Scottish riders, was sufficient to with other instances of the discord which prevailed excite his vigilance and his apprehension. Previous anciently upon the Borders, betwixt this spiritual also to the murder of Sir John Carmichael, (see shepherd and his untractable flock. Notes on the Raid of the Reidswire,) it appeared at the trial of the perpetrators, that they had assisted at a grand foot-ball meeting, where the crime was concerted. Battell. The Reformation was late of finding its way into the Border wilds; for while the religious and civil dissensions were at the height in 1568, Drury writes to Cecil,-"Our trusty neighbours of Teviotdale are holden occupied only to attend to the pleasure and calling of their own heads, to make some diversion in this matter." The influence of the reformed preachers among the Borderers, seems also to have been but small; for, upon all occasions of dispute with the kirk, James VI. was wont to call in their assistance.-CALDERWOOD, p. 129. : These vassals resembled, in some degree, the Vidames in France, and the Vogten, or Vizedomen, of the German abbeys; but the system was never carried regularly into effect in Britain, and this circumstance facilitated the dissolution of the religious houses. § This decree was followed by a marriage betwixt the abbot's Upon the religion of the Borderers there can very little be said. We have already noticed, that they remained attached to the Roman Catholic faith rather longer than the rest of Scotland. This probably arose from a total indifference upon the subjeet; for we no where find in their character the respect for the church, which is a marked feature of that religion. In 1528, Lord Dacre complains heavily to Cardinal Wolsey, that, having taken a notorious freebooter, called Dyk Irwen, the brother and friends of the outlaw had, in retaliation, seized a man of some property, and a relation of Lord Dacre, called Jeffrey Middleton, as he returned from a pilgrimage daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, and Walter Halliburton, one of the to St. Ninian's in Galloway; and that, notwith-family of Newmains. But even this alliance did not secure peace standing the sanctity of his character as a true pil- the marriage was an only daughter, named Elizabeth Halliburton. between the venerable father and his vassals. The offspring of grim, and the Scottish monarch's safe conduct, As this young lady was her father's heir, the Halliburtons resolved they continued to detain him in their fastnesses, that she should marry one of her cousins, to keep her property in until he should redeem the said arrant thief, Dyk the clan. But as this did not suit the views of the abbot, he carried off by force the intended bride, and married her, at Stirling, to * In the parish of Linton, in Roxburghshire, there is a circle of Alexander Erskine, a brother of the Laird of Balgony, a relation stones, surrounding a smooth plot of turf, called the Tryst, or and follower of his own. From this marriage sprung the Erskines place of appointment, which tradition avers to have been the ren- of Shielfield. This exploit of the abbot revived the feud betwixt dezvous of the neighbouring warriors. The name of the leader him and the Halliburtons, which only ended with the dissolution w out in the turf, and the arrangement of the letters announced of the abbey.-MS. History of Halyburton Family, penes edithis followers the course which he had taken. See Statistical torem. This history of the family, a principal branch of which Account of the Perish of Linton. Sir W. S. himself represented, was printed (not published) by him, with an Introduction and Notes, in 1820.-ED.] 1 See Appendix. 32 We learn from a curious passage in the life of Richard Cameron, a fanatical preacher during the time of what is called the "persecution," that some of the Borderers retained to a late period their inAfter having difference about religious matters. been licensed at Haughhead, in Teviotdale, he was, according to his biographer, sent first to preach in Annandale. "He said, how can I go there? I know what sort of people they are.'-But,' Mr. Welch said, 'go your way, Ritchie, and set the fire of hell to their tails.' He went; and, the first day, he preached upon that text, How shall I put thee among the children, &c. In the application, he said, 'Put you among the children! the offspring of thieves and robbers! we have all heard of Annandale thieves. Some of them got a merciful cast that day, and told afterwards, that it was the first field-meeting they ever attended, and that they went out of mere curiosity, to see a minister preach in a tent, and people sit on the ground."-Life of Richard Cameron.* Cleland, an enthusiastic Cameronian, lieutenantcolonel of the regiment levied after the Revolution from among that wild and fanatical sect, claims for the wandering preachers of his tribe the merit of converting the Borderers. He introduces a cavalier haranguing the Highlanders, and ironically thus guarding them against the fanatic divines: "If their doctrine there get rooting, Dayly experience makes it appear; For instance, lately on the Borders, Where there was nought but theft and murders, Slight of hand in fortunes getting, Their designation, as ye ken. Was all along the Taking Men. Now, rebels more prevails with words, Than drawgoons does with guns and swords, Cleland's Poems, 1697, p. 30. The poet of the Whigs might exaggerate the success of their teachers; yet it must be owned, that the doctrine of insubordination, joined to their vagrant and lawless habits, was calculated strongly to conciliate Border hearers. But though the church, in these frontier counties, attracted little veneration, no part of Scotland teemed with superstitious fears and observances more than they did. "The Dalesmen," says Lesley, never count their beads with such earnestness as when they set out upon a predatory expedition." Penances, the composition betwixt guilt and conscience, were also frequent upon the Borders. Of this we have a record in many bequests to the church, and in some more lasting monuments; such as the tower of Repentance, near Hoddam Castle, in Dumfries-shire, and, according to vulgar tradition, the church of Linton, in Roxburghshire. In the *This man was for a short time chaplain in the family of Sir Walter Scott of Harden, who attended the meetings of the in- "Where every river gives name to a dale." This small church is founded upon a little hill of sand, in which no stone of the size of an egg is said to have been found, although the neighbouring soil is sharp and gravelly. Tradition accounts for this, by informing us, that the foundresses were two sisters, upon whose account much blood had been spilt on that spot; and that the penance imposed on the fair causers of the slaughter, was an order from the Pope to sift the sand of the hill, upon which their church was to be erected. This story may, perhaps, have some foundation; for in the churchyard was discovered a single grave, containing no fewer than fifty skulls, most of which bore the marks of having been cleft by violence. of Appendix to this introduction, No. IV., the reader peace, bewill find a curious league, or treaty twixt two hostile clans, by which the heads of each became bound to make the four pilgrimages of Scotland, for the benefit of the souls of those of the opposite clan, who had fallen in the feud. These were superstitions, flowing immediately from the nature of the Catholic religion; but there was, upon the Border, no lack of others of a more general naSuch was the universal belief in spells, of ture. which some traces may yet remain in the wild parts of the country. These were common in the days of "This conceit the learned Bishop Nicolson, who derives them from the time of the Pagan Danes. was the more heightened, by reflecting upon the natural superstition of our Borderers at this day, who were much better acquainted with, and do more firmly believe, their old legendary stories, of fairies and witches, than the articles of their creed. And to convince me, yet farther, that they are not utter strangers to the black art of their forefathers, I met with a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who showed me a book of spells and magical receipts, taken, two or three days before, in the pocket of one of our moss-troopers; wherein, among many other conjuring feats, was prescribed a certain remedy for an ague, by applying a few barbarous characters to the body of the party distempered. These, methought, were very near akin to Wormius's Ram Runer, which, he says, differed wholly in figure and shape from the common runa. For, though he tells us that these Ram Runer were so called, Eo quod molestias, dolores, morbosque hisce infligere inimicis soliti sunt magi; yet his great friend, Arng. Jonas, more to our purpose, says, that-His etiam usi sunt ad benefaciendum, medicandum tam animi quam corporis morbis ; atque ad ipsos cacodæmones pellendos et fugandos. I shall not trouble you with a draught of this spell, because I have not yet had an opportunity of learning whether it may not be an ordinary one, and to be met with, among others of the same nature, in Paracelsus, or Cornelius Agrippa."-Letter from Bishop Nicolson to Mr. Walker; ride Camden's Britannia, Cumberland. Even in the editor's younger days, he can remember the currency of certain spells, for curing sprains, burns, or dislocations, to which popular credulity Charms, however, ascribed unfailing efficacy.§ against spiritual enemies, were yet more common than those intended to cure corporeal complaints. This is not surprising, as a fantastic remedy well suited an imaginary disease. There were, upon the Borders, many consecrated wells, for resorting to which the people's credulity is severely censured by a worthy physician of the seventeenth century, who himself believed in a shower of living herrings having fallen near Dumfries. Many run superstitiously to other wells, and there obtain, as they imagine, health and advantage; and there they offer bread and cheese, or money, by throwing them into the well." In another part of "In the the MS. occurs the following passage: bounds of the lands of Eccles, belonging to a lineage of the name of Maitland, there is a loch called the Dowloch, of old resorted to with much superstition, as medicinal both for men and beasts, and that with such ceremonies, as are shrewdly suspected to have been begun with witchcraft, and increased afterwards by magical directions: For, burying of a cloth, or somewhat that did relate to the bodies of men and women, and a shackle, or tether, belonging to cow or horse, and these being cast into the loch, if they did float, it was taken for a good omen of recovery, and a part of the water carried to the patient, though to remote places, without saluting or speaking to any they met by the way; but, if they did sink, the recovery of the party was hope Among these may be reckoned the supposed influence of Irish earth, in curing the poison of adders, or other venomous reptiles, This virtue is extended by popular credulity to the natives, and even to the animals of Hibernia. A gentleman, (who was educated to medicine, by the way,) bitten by some reptile, so as to occasion a great swelling, seriously assured the Editor, that he ascribed his cure to putting the affected finger into the mouth of an Irish mare. less. This custom was of late much curbed and restrained; but since the discovery of many medicinal fountains near to the place, the vulgar, holding that it may be as medicinal as these are, at this time begin to re-assume their former practice."Account of Presbytery of Penpont, in Macfarlane's MSS. by the ordinary judges, but by a set of country gentlemen, acting under commission from the Privy Council.§ Besides these grand articles of superstitious belief, the creed of the Borderers admitted the existence of sundry classes of subordinate spirits, to whom were assigned peculiar employments. The chief of these were the Fairies, concerning whom the reader will find a long dissertation in this volume. The Brownie formed a class of beings, distinct in habit and disposition from the freakish and mischievous elves. He was meagre, shaggy, and wild in his appearance. Thus Cleland, in his satire against the Highlanders, compares them to "Faunes, or Bronies, if ye will, Or Satyres come from Atlas Hill." The idea, that the spirits of the deceased return to haunt the place, where on earth they have suffer ed, or have rejoiced, is, as Dr. Johnson has observed, common to the popular creed of all nations.* The just and noble sentiment, implanted in our bosoms by the Deity, teaches us that we shall not slumber for ever, as the beasts that perish. Human vanity, or credulity, chequers, with its own inferior and baser colours, the noble prospect, which is alike held out to us by philosophy and by religion. We feel, according to the ardent expression of the poet, that In the daytime, he lurked into remote recesses of we shall not wholly die; but from hence we vainly the old houses which he delighted to haunt; and, and weakly argue, that the same scenes, the same in the night, sedulously employed himself in dispassions, shall delight and actuate the disembodied charging any laborious task which he thought spirit which affected it while in its tenement of clay. might be acceptable to the family, to whose service Hence the popular belief, that the soul haunts the he had devoted himself. His name is probably despot where the murdered body is interred; that its rived from the Portuni, whom Gervase of Tilbury appearances are directed to bring down vengeance describes thus.-"Ecce enim in Anglia dæmones on its murderers; or that, having left its terrestrial quosdam habent, dæmones, inquam, nescio dixerim, form in a distant clime, it glides before its former an secreta et ignota generationis effigies, quos Galli friends, a pale spectre, to warn them of its decease. Neptunos, Angli Portunos nominant. Istis insitum Such tales, the foundation of which is an argument est quod simplicitatem fortunatorum colonorum amfrom our present feelings to those of the spiritual plectuntur, et cum nocturnas propter domesticas opeworld, form the broad and universal basis of the ras agunt vigilias, subito clausis januis ad ignem popular superstition regarding departed spirits; cali fiunt, et ranunculas ex sinu projectas, prunis imagainst which, reason has striven in vain, and uni- positas comedunt, senili rultu, facie corrugata, staversal experience has offered a disregarded testimo-tura pusilli, dimidium pollicis non habentes. Panny. These legends are peculiarly acceptable to niculis concertis induuntur, et si quid gestandum barbarous tribes; and, on the Borders, they were in domo fuerit, aut onerosi operis agendum, ad received with most unbounded faith. It is true, operandum se jungunt, citius humana facilitate that these supernatural adversaries were no longer expediunt. Id illis insitum est, ut obsequi possint opposed by the sword and battle-axe, as among the et obesse non possint."-Otia. Imp. p. 980. In every unconverted Scandinavians. Prayers, spells, and respect, saving only the feeding upon frogs, which exorcisms, particularly in the Greek and Hebrew lan- was probably an attribute of the Gallic spirits alone, guages, were the weapons of the Borderers, or rather the above description corresponds with that of the of their priests and cunning men, against their aerial Scottish Brownie, whose very name is a corruption, enemy. The belief in ghosts, which has been well in all probability, of Portunus. But the Brownie, termed the last lingering phantom of superstition, although, like Milton's lubbar fiend, he loves to still maintains its ground upon the Borders. stretch himself by the fire, does not drudge from the hope of recompense. On the contrary, so delicate is his attachment, that the offer of reward, but particularly of food, infallibly occasions his disappearance for ever. We learn from Olaus Magnus, that It is unnecessary to mention the superstitious belief in witchcraft, which gave rise to so much cruelty and persecution during the seventeenth century. There were several executions upon the Borders for this imaginary crime, which was usually tried, not * See Rasselas. ↑ Non omnis moriar.-HOR. One of the most noted apparitions is supposed to haunt Spedlin's Castle near Lochmaben, the ancient baronial residence of the Jardines of Applegirth. It is said that, in exercise of his territo nal jurisdiction, one of the ancient lairds had imprisoned, in the Massy More, or dungeon of the castle, a person named Porteous. Being called suddenly to Edinburgh, the laird discovered, as he entered the West Port, that he had brought along with him the key of the dungeon. Struck with the utmost horror, he sent back his servant to relieve the prisoner, but it was too late. The wretched being was found lying upon the steps descending from the door of the vault, starved to death. In the agonies of hunger, be had gnawed the flesh from one of his arms. That his spectre should haunt the castle, was a natural consequence of such a tragedy. Indeed, its visits became so frequent, that a clergyman of eminence was employed to exorcise it. After a contest of twentyfour hours, the man of art prevailed so far as to confine the goblin to the Massy More of the castle, where its shrieks and cries are still heard. A part, at least, of the spell, depends upon the preservation of the ancient black-lettered Bible, employed by the exorcist. It was some years ago thought necessary to have this Bible rebound; but as soon as it was removed from the castle, the spectre commenced his nocturnal orgies, with ten-fold noise; and it is verily believed that he would have burst from his confinement, had not the sacred volume been speedily replaced. A Mass John Scott, minister of Peebles, is reported to have been the last renowned exorciser and to have lost his life in a Cuntest with an obstinate spirit. This was owing to the conceited rashness of a young clergyman, who commenced the ceremony of laying the ghost before the arrival of Mass John. It is the nature, it seems, of spirits disembodied, as well as embodied, to increase in strength and presumption, in proportion to the advantages which they may gain over the opponent. The young clergyman losing courage, the horrors of the scene were increased to such a degree, that, as Mass John approached the house in which it passed, he beheld the slates and tiles flying from the roof, as if dispersed with a whirlwind. At his entry, he perceived all the wax tapers (the most essential instruments of conjuration) extinguished, except one, which already burned blue in the socket. The arrival of the experienced sage changed the scene he brought the spirit to reason; but unfortunately, while addressing a word of E advice or censure to his rash brother, he permitted the ghost to obtain the last word; a circumstance which, in all colloquies of this nature, is strictly to be guarded against. This fatal oversight occasioned his falling into a lingering disorder, of which he never recovered. A curious poem, upon the laying of a ghost, forms article No. V. of the Appendix. § I have seen, penes Hugh Scott, Esq. of Harden, the record of the trial of a witch, who was burned at Ducove. She was tried in the manner above mentioned. When the menials in a Scottish family protracted their vigils around the kitchen fire, Brownie, weary of being excluded from the midnight hearth, sometimes appeared at the door, seemed to watch their departure, and thus admonished them :-"Gang a' to your beds, sirs, and dinna put out the wee grieshoch [embers."] It is told of a Brownie, who haunted a Border family, now extmet, that the lady having fallen unexpectedly in labour, and the servant, who was ordered to ride to Jedburgh for the sage femme, showing no great alertness in setting out, the familiar spirit slipt on the great cont of the lingering domestic, rode to the town on the laird's best horse, and returned with the midwife en croupe. During the short space of his absence, the Tweed, which they must necessarily ford, rose to a dangerous height. Brownie, who transported his charge with all the rapidity of the ghostly lover of He plunged in Lenore, was not to be stopped by this obstacle. with the terrified old lady, and landed her in safety where her services were wanted. Having put the horse into the stable, (where it was afterwards found in a woful plight,) he proceeded to the room of the servant, whose duty he had discharged; and, finding |