"YE maun have heard of Sir Robert Redgauntlet of that Ilk, who lived in these parts before the dear years. The country will lang mind him; and our fathers used to draw breath thick if ever they heard him named. He was out wi' the Hielandmen in Montrose's time; and again he was in the hills wi' Glencairn in the yearsaxteen hundred and fifty-twa; and sae when King Charles the Second -came in, wha was in sic favour as the Laird of Redgauntlet? He was knighted at Lonon court, wi' the king's ain sword; and being a red-hot prelatist, he came down here, rampauging like a lion, with commissions of lieutenancy, and of lunacy for what I ken, to put down a' the Whigs and Covenanters in the country. Wild wark they made of it; for the Whigs were as dour as the Cavaliers were fierce, and it was which should first tire the other. Redgauntlet was aye for the strong hand; and his name is kenn'd as wide in the country as Claverhouse's or Tam Dalywell's. Glen, nor dargle, nor mountain, nor cave, could hide the puir hill-folk when Redgauntlet was out with bugle and bloodhound after them, as if they had been sae mony deer. And troth when they found them, they didna mak muckle mair ceremony than a Hieland man wi' a roe-buckIt was just, Will ye tak the test?'-if not, Make ready-present-fire !'— and there lay the recusant.

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"Far and wide was Sir Robert hated and feared. Men thought he had a direct compact with Satan--that he was proof against steel-and that bullets hopped off his buff-coat like hail-stones from a hearth-that he had a mear that would turn a hare on the side of Carrifragawns-and muckle to the same pur

pose, of whilk mair anon. The best blessing they wared on him was, De'il Scowp wi' Redgauntlet!" He wasna a bad master to his ain folk though, and was weel aneugh liked by his tenants; and as for the lackies and troopers that raid out wi' him to the persecutions, as the Whigs ca'ad these killing times, they wad hae drunken themsels blind to his health at ony time.

"Now ye are to ken that my gudesire lived on Redgauntlet's grund-they ca' the place Primrose-Knowe. We had lived on the grund, and under the Redgauntlets, since the riding days, and lang before. It was a pleasant bit; and I think the air is callerer and fresher there than onywhere else in the country. It's a' deserted now; and I sat on the broken door-cheek three days since, and was glad I couldna see the plight the place was in; but that's a wide o' the mark. There dwelt my gudesire, Steenie Steenson, a rambling, rattling chiel' he had been in his young days, and could play weel on the pipes; he was famous at Hoopers and Girders'-a' Cumberland couldna touch him at Jockie Lattin'..and he had the finest finger for the back-lill between Berwick and Carlisle. The like o' Steenie wasna the sort that they made Whigs o'. And so he became a Tory, as they ca' it, which we now ca' Jacobites, just out of a kind of needcessity, that he might belang to some side or other. He had nae illwill to the Whig bodies, and likedna to see the blude rin, though, being obliged to follow Sir Robert in hunting and hosting, watching and warding, he saw muckle mischief, and maybe did some, that he couldna avoid.

6

Now Steenie was a kind of favou

rite with his master, and kenn'd a' the folks about the castle, and was often sent for to play the pipes when they were at their merriment. Auld Dougal Mac Callum, the butler, that had followed Sir Robert through gude and ill, thick and thin, pool and stream, was specially fond of the pipes, and aye gae my gudesire his gude word wi' the Laird; for Dougal could turn his master round his finger.

"Weel, round came the Revolution, and it like to have broken the hearts baith of Dougal and his master. But the change was not a'thegether sae great as they feared, and other folk thought for. The Whigs made an unca crawing what they wad do with their auld enemies, and in special wi' Sir Robert Redgauntlet. But there were ower mony great folks dipped in the same doings, to make a spick and span new warld. So Parliament passed it a' ower easy; and Sir Robert, bating that he was held to hunting foxes instead of Covenanters, remained just the man he was. His revel was as loud, and his hall as weel lighted, as ever it had been, though maybe he lacked the fines of the nonconformists, that used to come to stock larder and cellar; for it is certain he began to bekeener about the rents than his tenants used to find him before, and it be hoved them to be prompt to the rent-day, or else the laird wasna pleased. And he was sic an awsome body, that naebody cared to anger him; for the oaths he swore, and the rage that he used to get into, and the looks that he put on, made men sometimes think him a devil incarnate.

"Weel, my gudesire was nae manager-no that he was a very great misguider-but he hadna the saving gift, and he got two terms rent in arrear. He got the first brash at Whitsunday put ower wi' fair words and piping; but when Martinmas came, there was a summons from the grand-officer to come wi' the rent on a day precese, or else Steenie behoved to flitt. Sair wark he had to get the siller; but he was weel

freended, and at last he got the whole scraped thegether a thousand merks— the maist of it was from a neighbour they ca'ad Laurie Lapraik-a sly tod. Laurie had walth o' gear-could hunt wi' the hound and rin wi' the hareand be Whig or Tory, saunt or sinner, as the wind stood. He was a professor of religious music in this Revolution warld, but he liked another sound and a tune on the pipes weel aneugh at a bye-time; and abune a', he thought he had gude security for the siller he lent my gudesire over the stocking at Primrose-Knowe.

"Away trots my gudesire to Redgauntlet Castle wi' a heavy purse and a light heart, glad to be out ofthe Laird's danger. Weel, the first thing he learned at the castle was, that Sir Robert had fretted himself into a fit of the gout, because he did not appear before twelve o'clock. It wasna a'thegether for the sake of the money, Dougal thought; but because he didna like to part wi' my gudesire aff the grund. Dougal was glad to see Steenie, and brought him into the great oak parlour, and there sat the Laird his leesome lane, excepting that he had beside him a great, ill-favoured jack-an-ape, that was a special pet of his; a cankered beast it was, and many an ill-natured trick it played-ill to please it was, and easily angeredran about the whole castle, chattering and yowling, and pinching, and biting folk, especially before ill-weather, or disturbances in the state. Sir Robert ca'ad it Major Weir, after the warlock that was burned; and few folk liked either the name or the conditions of the crea ture-they thought there was something in it by ordinar-and my gudesire was not just easy in mind when the door shut on him, and he saw himself in the room wi' naebody but the Laird, Dougal Mac Allum, and the Major, a thing that hadna chanced to him before.

"Sir Robert sat, or, I should say, lay, in a great armed chair, wi' his grand velvet gown, and his feet on a cradle; for he had baith gout and gravel, and his face looked as gash and ghastly as

Satan's. Major Weir sat opposite to him, in a red laced coat, and the Laird's wig on his head; and aye as Sir Robert grinned wi' pain the jack-an-ape grinned too, like a sheep's-head between a pair of tongs-an ill-faur'd, fearsome couple they were. The Laird's buff-coat was hung on a pin behind him, and his broadsword and his pistols within reach; for he keepit up the old fashion of having the weapons ready, and a horse saddled day and night, just as he used to do when he was able to loup on horseback, and sway after any of the hill-folk he could get speerings of. Some said it was for fear of the Whigs taking vengeance, but I judge it was just his auld custom-he wasna gien to fear onything. The rental-book wi' its black cover and brass clasps, was lying beside him; and a book of sculduddry songs was put betwixt the leaves, to keep it open at the place where it bore evidence against the Goodman of Primrose-Knowe, as behind the hand with his mails and duties. Sir Robert gave my gudesire a look, as if he would have withered his heart in his bosom. Ye maun ken he had a way of bending his brows, that men saw the visible mark of a horse-shoe in his forehead, deep-dinted, as if it had been stamped there.

"Are ye come light-handed, ye son of a toom whistle?' said Sir Robert. Zounds! if ye are

"My gudesire, with as gude a countenance as he could put on, made a leg, and placed the bag of money on the table wi' a dash, like a man that does something clever. The Laird drew it to him hastily-Is it all here, Steenie, man ?'

"Your honour will find it right,' said my gudesire.

Here, Dougal,' said the Laird, gie Steenie a tass of brandy down stairs, till I count the siller and write the receipt.'

"But they werena weel out of the room, when Sir Robert gied a yelloch that shook the castle rock. Back ran Dougal-in flew the livery-men-yell

on yell gied the Laird, ilk ane mair awfu' than the ither. My gudesire knew not whether to stand or flee, but he ventured back into the parlour, where a' was gaun hirdy-girdie-naebody to say come in,' or gae out.' Terribly the Laird roared for cauld water to his feet, and wine to cool his throat; and Hell, hell, hell, and its flames, was aye the word in his mouth. They brought him water, and when they plunged his swoln feet into the tub, he cried out it was burning; and folks say that it did bubble and sparkle like a seething canidron. He flung the cup at Dougal's head, and said he had given him blood instead of burgundy; and sure aneugh, the lass washed clottered blood off the carpet the next day. The jack-an-ape they ca'ad Major Weir, it jibbered and cried as if it was mocking its master; my gudesire's head was like to turn-be forgot baith siller and receipt, and down stairs he banged; but as he ran, the shrieks came faint and fainter; there was a deep-drawn shivering groan, and word gaed through the castle, that the Laird was dead.

"Weel, away came my gudesire, wi' his finger in his mouth, and his best hope was, that Dougal had seen the money-bag, and heard the Laird speak of writing the receipt. The young Laird, now Sir John, came from Edinburgh, to see things put to rights. Sir John and his father never gree'd weelhe had been bred an advocate, and afterwards sat in the last Scots Parliament and voted for the Union, having gotten, it was thought, a rug of the compensations-if his father could have come out of his grave, he would have brained him for it on his own hearth-stone. Some thought it was easier counting with the auld rough Knight than the fair-spoken young ane-but mair of that anon.

"Dougal Mac Callum, poor body, neither grat nor graned, but gaed about the house looking like a corpse, and directing, as was his duty, a' the order of the grand funeral. Now, Dougal looked aye waur and waur when night was

coming, and was aye the last to gang to his bed, whilk was in a little round just opposite the chamber of dais, whilk his master occupied while he was living, and where he now lay ina state as they ca'ad it, well-a-day! The night before the funeral, Dougal could keep his awn counsel nae langer; he came doun with his proud spirit, and fairly asked auld Hutcheon to sit in his room with him for an hour. When they were in the round, Dougal took ae tass of brandy to himsel, and gave another to Hutcheon, and wished him all health and lang life, and said that, for himsel, he wasna lang for this world; for that, every night since Sir Robert's death, his silver call had sounded from the state chamber, just as it used to do at nights in his lifetime, to call Dougal to help to turn him in his bed. Dougal said, that being alone with the dead on that floor of the tower, (for naebody cared to wake Sir Robert Redgauntlet like another corpse,) he had never daured to answer the call, but that now his conscience checked him for neglecting his duty; for though death breaks service,' said Mac Callum,

it shall never break my service to Sir Robert; and I will answer his next whistle, so be you will stand by me, Hutcheon.'

"Hutcheon had nae will to the wark, but he had stood by Dougal in battle and broil, and he wad not fail him at this pinch; so down the carles sat over a stoup of brandy, and Hutcheon, who was something of a clerk, would have read a chapter of the Bible; but Dougal would hear naething but a song of Davie Lindsay, whilk was the waur preparation,

When midnight came, and the house was quiet as the grave, sure aneugh the silver whistle sounded as sharp and shrill as if Sir Robert was blowing it, and up got the two auld serving-men, and tottered into the room where the dead man lay. Hutcheon saw aneugh at the first glance; for there were torches in the room, which shewed him the foul fiend, in his ain shape,

sitting on the Laird's coffin! Over he cowped as if he had been dead. He could not tell how lang he lay in a trance at the door, but when he gathered himself, he cried on his neighbour, and getting no answer, raised the house, when Dougal was found lying dead within two steps of the bed where his master's coffin was placed. As for the whistle, it was gaen anes and aye; but many a time was it heard on the top of the house in the bartizan, and amang the auld chimnies and turrets, where the howlets have their nests. Sir John hushed the matter up, and the funeral passed over without mair bogle-wark.

ap

"But when a' was over, and the Laird was beginning to settle his affairs, every tenant was called up for his arrears, and my gudesire for the full sum that peared against him in the rental-book. Weel, away he trots to the Castle, to tell. his story, and there he is introduced to Sir John, sitting in his father's chair, in deep mourning, with weepers and hanging cravat, and a small walking rapier by his side, instead of the auld broadsword that had a hundred-weight of steel about it, what with blade, chape, and basket-hilt. I have heard their communing so often tauld ower, that I almost think I was there myself, though I couldna be born at the time. However my grandfather in a half flattering, half conciliating tone, addressed the Laird, who, during the commencement of the conversation, often sighed deeply, and hypocritically lifted his napkin to his eyes. My grandfather had, while he spoke, his eye fixed on the rental-book, as if it were a mastiff-dog that he was afraid would spring up and bite him.

"I wuss ye joy, Sir, of the headseat, and the white loaf and the braid lairdship. Your father was a kind man to friends and followers; muckle grace to you, Sir John, to fill his shoon-his boots, I suld say, for he seldom wore shoon, unless it were muils when he had the gout.'

"Aye, Steenie,' quoth the Laird, sighing deeply, and putting his napkin

to his face, 'his was a sudden call, and he will be missed in the country; no time to set his house in order-weel prepared God-ward, no doubt, which is the root of the matter-but left us behind a tangled hesp to wind, Steenie.-Hem! hem! We maun go to business, Steenie; much to do, and little time to do it in.'

"Here he opened the fatal volume; I have heard of a thing they call Doomsday-book-I am clear it has been a rental of back-ganging tenants.

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Stephen, said Sir John, still in the same soft, sleekit tone of voice Stephen Stevenson, or Steenson, ye are down here for a year's rent behind the hand-due at last term.'

66

Stephen. Please your honour. Sir John, I paid it to your father.' "Sir John. Ye took a receipt then, doubtless, Stephen; and can produce it ?'

"Stephen. Indeed I hadna time, an it like your honour; for nae sooner had I set doun the siller, and just as his honour, Sir Robert, that's gaen, drew it to him to count it, and write out the receipt, he was ta'en wi' the pains that removed him.'

“That was unlucky,' said Sir John, after a pause. But ye maybe paid it in the presence of somebody. I want bat a talis qualis evidence, Stephen. I would go ower strictly to work with no poor man.'

"Stephen. Troth, Sir John, there was naebody in the room but Dougal Mac Callum the butier. But, as your honour kens, he has e'en followed his auld master.'

"Very unlucky again, Stephen,' said Sir John, without altering his voice a single note. The man to whom ye paid the money is dead-and the man who witnessed the payment is dead too -and the siller, which should have been to the fore, is neither seen nor heard tell of in the repositories. How am I to believe a' this?' "Stephen. I didna ken, your honour; but there is a bit memorandum

note of the very coins; for, God help me! I had to borrow out of twenty purses; and I am sure that ilk man there set down will take his grit oath for what purpose I borrowed the money.'

"Stephen.

"Sir John. I have little doubt ye borrowed the money, Steenie. It is the payment that I want to have some proof of.' The siller maun be about the house, Sir John.. And since your honour never got it, and his honour that was canna have taen it wi' him, maybe some of the family may have seen it.'

"Sir John. • We will examine the servants, Stephen; that is but reasonable.'

"But lackey and lass, and page and groom, all denied stoutly that they had ever seen such a bag of money as my gudesire described. What was waur, he had unluckily not mentioned to any living soul of them his purpose of paying his rent. One quean had noticed something under his arm, but she took it for the pipes.

"Sir John Redgauntlet ordered the servants out of the room, and then said to my gudesire, Now, Steenie, ye see you have fair play; and as I have little doubt ye ken better where to find the siller than any other body, I beg, in fair terms, and for your own sake, that you will end this fasherie; for, Stephen, ye maun pay or flitt.'

"The Lord forgie your opinion,' said Stephen, driven almost to his wits' end-' I am an honest man.'

"So am I, Stephen,' said his honour; and so are all the folks in the house, I hope. But if there be a knave amongst us, it must be he that tells the story he cannot prove.' He paused, and then added, mair sternly, If I understand your trick, Sir, you want to take advantage of some malicious reports concerning things in this family, and particularly respecting my father's sudden death, thereby to cheat me out of the money,, and perhaps take away my character, by insinuating that I have