Ringan Gilhaize, or, The Covenanters

by John Galt

  CHAPTER LII

  Hitherto the rising at Dalry had been as a passion and a spreading fire.The strength of the soldiers was consumed before us, and their armsbecame our weapons; but when we had gained possession of Dumfries, andhad set a ward over the house where we had seized Turner, I saw that wehad waded owre far into the river to think of returning, and that to goon was safer than to come back. It was indeed manifest that we had beentriumphant rather by our haste than by the achievements of victoriousbattle; and it could be hidden from no man's thought that the power andthe vengeance both of the government and the prelacy would soon be setin array against us. I therefore bethought myself, in that peril of ourlives and cause, of two things which seemed most needful; first, Not tofalter in our enterprise until we had proved the utmost of the Lord'spleasure in our behalf; and second, To use the means under Him which, inall human undertakings, are required to bring whatsoever is ordained topass.

  Whether in these things I did well or wisely, I leave to theadjudication of the courteous reader; but I can lay my hand upon myheart, and say aloud, yea, even to the holy skies, "I thought not ofmyself nor of mine, but only of the religious rights of mysorely-oppressed countrymen."

  From the moment in which I received the blow of the soldier, up till thehour when Turner was taken, I had been the head and leader of thepeople. My sword was never out of my grip, and I marched as it were in apath of light, so wonderful was the immediate instinct with which I wasdirected to the accomplishment of that adventure, the success of whichoverwhelmed the fierce and cruel Antichrists at Edinburgh withunspeakable consternation and panic. But I lacked that knowledge of theart of war by which men are banded into companies and ruled, howevermanifold their diversities, to one end and effect, so that our numbers,having by this time increased to a great multitude, I felt myselfutterly unable to govern them. We were as a sea of billows, that moveonward all in one way, obedient to the impulse and deep fetchings of thetempestuous breath of the awakened winds of heaven, but which oftenbreak into foam, and waste their force in a roar of ineffectual rage.

  Seeing this, and dreading the consequences thereof, I conferred withsome of those whom I had observed the most discreet and considerate inthe course of the raid, and we came to a resolve to constitute andappoint Captain Learmont our chief commander, he having earned anexperience of the art and stratagems of war under the renowned Lesley.Had we abided by that determination, some have thought our expeditionmight have come to a happier issue; but no human helps and means couldchange what was evidently ordained otherwise. It happened, however, thatColonel Wallace, another officer of some repute, also joined us, and hisname made him bright and resplendent to our enthusiasm. While we weredeliberating whom to choose for our leader, Colonel Wallace was in thesame breath, for his name's sake, proposed, and was united in thecommand with Learmont. This was a deadly error, and ought in all timecoming to be a warning and an admonition to people and nations in theirstraits and difficulties, never to be guided, in the weighty shocks andcontroversies of disordered fortunes, by any prejudice or affection sounsubstantial as the echo of an honoured name. For this Wallace, thougha man of questionless bravery, and a gentleman of good account among allwho knew him, had not received any gift from Nature of that spirit ofmasterdom without which there can be no command; so that he was nosooner appointed to lead us on, with Learmont as his second, than hismind fell into a strange confusion, and he heightened disorder intoanarchy by ordering over much. We could not, however, undo the evil,without violating the discipline that we were all conscious our forcesso grievously lacked; but, from the very moment that I saw in whatmanner he took upon him the command, I augured of nothing but disaster.

  Learmont was a collected and an urbane character, and did much to temperand turn aside the thriftless ordinances of his superior. He, seeing howmuch our prosperity was dependent on the speed with which we could reachEdinburgh, hastened forward everything with such alacrity that we wereready on the morrow by mid-day to set out from Dumfries. But the elementof discord was now in our cause, and I was reproached by many for havingabdicated my natural right to the command. It was in vain that I triedto redeem the fault by taking part with Learmont, under thedetermination, when the black hour of defeat or dismay should come uponus, to take my stand with him, and, regardless of Wallace, to considerhim as the chief and champion of our covenanted liberties. But why do Idwell on these intents? Let me hasten to describe the upshot of ourenterprise.

  As soon as we had formed, in the manner herein related, something like ahead and council for ourselves, we considered, before leaving Dumfries,what ought to be done with General Turner, and ordered him to be broughtbefore us; for those who had suffered from his fell orders andlicentious soldiery were clamorous for his blood. But when the man wasbrought in, he was so manifestly mastered by his wine, as his vice oftenmade him, that we thought it would be as it were to ask a man mad, orpossessed, to account for his actions, as at that time to put thefrantic drunkard on his defence; so we heeded not his obstreperousmenaces, but ordered him to be put into bed, and his papers to besearched for and laid before us.

  In this moderation there was wisdom; for, by dealing so gently by onewho had proved himself so ruthless an agent of the prelatic aggressions,we bespoke the good opinion even of many among our adversaries; and inthe end it likewise proved a measure of justice as well as of mercy.For, on examining his papers, it appeared, that pitiless as hisdomineering had been, it was far short of the universal cruelty of hisinstructions from the apostate James Sharp, and those in the councilwith him, who had delivered themselves over as instruments to thearbitrary prerogatives and tyrannous pretensions of the court. Wetherefore resolved to proceed no farther against him, but to keep him asan hostage in our hands. Many, however, among the commonalty complainedof our lenity; for they had endured in their persons, their gear andtheir families, great severities; and they grudged that he was notobligated to taste the bitterness of the cup of which he had forced themto drink so deeply.

  In the meantime all the country became alive with the news of ourexploit. The Covenanters of the shire of Ayr, headed by several of theirejected ministers, whom they had cherished in the solitary dens andhidings in the moors and hills, to which they had been forced to fleefrom the proclamation against the field-preachings, advanced to meet uson our march. Verily it was a sight that made the heart of man dinle atonce with gladness and sorrow to behold, as the day dawned on ourcourse, in crossing the wide and lonely wilderness of Cumnock-moor,those religious brethren coming towards us, moving in silence over theheath, like the shadows of the slowly-sailing clouds of the summer sky.

  As we were toiling through the deep heather on the eastern skirts of theMearns-moor, a mist hovered all the morning over the pad of Neilston,covering like a snowy fleece the sides of the hills down almost to thecourse of our route, in such a manner that we could see nothing on theleft beyond it. We were then within less than fourteen miles of Glasgow,where General Dalziel lay with the King's forces, keeping in thraldomthe godly of that pious city and its neighbourhood. Captain Learmont,well aware, from the eager character of the man, that he would be fainto intercept us, and fearful of being drawn into jeopardy by the mist,persuaded Wallace to halt us some time.

  As November was far advanced, it was thought by the country folk thatthe mist would clear away about noon. We accordingly made a pause, andsat down on the ground; for many were weary, having over-fatiguedthemselves in their zeal to come up with the main body, and we all stoodin need of rest.

  Scarcely, however, had we cast ourselves in a desultory manner on theheather, when some one heard the thud of a distant drum in the mist, andgave the alarm; at which we all again suddenly started to our feet, andlistening, were not long left in doubt of the sound. Orders wereaccordingly given to place ourselves in array for battle; and while wewere obeying the command in the best manner our little skill allowed,the beating of the drum came louder and nearer, intermingled with theshrill war-note of the spirity fife. />
  Every one naturally thought of the King's forces; and the Reverend Mr.Semple, seeing that we were in some measure prepared to meet them,stepped out in front with all his worthy brethren in the camp, andhaving solemneezed us for worship, gave out a psalm.

  By the time we had sung the first three verses the drum and fife soundedso near, that I could discern they played the tune of "John, come kissme now," which left me in no doubt that the soldiers in the mist were myown friends and neighbours; for it was the same tune which was playedwhen the men of our parish went to the raid of Dunse-hill, and which, inmemorial of that era, had been preserved as a sacred melody amongst us.

  Being thus convinced, I stepped out from my place to the ministers, andsaid, "They are friends that are coming." The worship was in consequencefor a short space suspended, and I presently after saw my brother at thehead of our neighbours coming out of the cloud; whereupon I went forwardto meet him, and we shook hands sorrowfully.

  "This is an unco thing, Ringan," were his first words; "but it's theLord's will, and HE is able to work out a great salvation."

  I made no answer; but inquiring for my family, of whom it was acheering consolation to hear as blithe an account as could reasonably behoped for, I walked with him to our captains, and made him known to themas my brother.