visitors into the room, and swear it was the dearest-papered ane in a' Christendom."

"Surely," said I," the manners of the people of this country must have undergone important changes within your own recollection?" John fastidiously pursed up his mouth, and, after the pause of a minute, replied in an under tone, "Indeed I aften think the change is maistly upon the surface, and that the border bluid is just as predominant as ever. Nae doubt, the natural genius of the folks is sair kept down; and there's nane o' thae forays or deadly feuds that there used to be in ancient times. But weel I wat there's nae want o' bluidwits yet, mair particularly at fairs; and cock-fighting, and horse-couping, and breaking the Shirra's interdicts, and sic like, ha'e just come i' the place o' raids and forays. In my young days, noo, I weel remember there wasna an officer durst execute a poinding, or collect the King's taxes, unless he had a party o' sodgers to back him; and down on the Borders, a deforcement, at this day, is a thing no sae very uncommon. But open stouthrief has been fairly put down since the days o' Jock Johnston, whase very name lang held the kintra in terror. He was the maist stalwart man on a' the Borders, and was the captain of ane band of moss-troopers, wha pricked about in a' directions, sae that it was marvellous if any traveller escaped their elutches. But Jock had some good points about him too, and was weel liked by the hail commonality, wha were pleased to see him keeping up the auld kintra fashion sae manfully. If Jock had met ony ane upon the road wha had ever done him or his a kindness, he was sure to behave like a gentleman, and gied him a pass-word that carried him safely through a' his troopers. When Jock was laying in Drumdrouth Jail, he was waited on, ae market-day, by an honest man, ane Robin M'Kitterick, in Drumholm, wha had often fund him in quarters. Weel, Robin complains to Jock, that he had been robbed o' his pocket-buik in the throng o' the market, and did na doubt it was by some ane o' his confederates. "Like enough," says Jock;

and, without ony bidding, he be gins to fissle amang the straw o' his bed, and turns up mony a guid pocket-buik, no ane of which happened to be Robin's. I ought to ha'e premeesed, it was the custom at that time for prisoners to hang a pock out o' the jail window, for receiving the donations of the charitable; and to the string there was usually tied ane bell, that rung incontinently as aught was dropped into the pock. Jock had ane o' thae pocks, but it was for nae awmes, but just for receiving the booty o' sic o' his ain gang as was stravaigin' about. Weel, as Jock had finished his search, the bell rings; up comes Robin's pocket-buik wi' a' its contents; and the same were handed o'er by Jock to the auld man, every plack and farthing. But Jock, after a', was a graceless reprobate, and as void o' a' religion as he was o' fear. After he was condemned to die, he was ta'en up to the kirk, according to auld custom, ilk Sunday, just as the minister's bell rung-in,-ironed, and guarded by a strong party o' the town's officers. A' ran to see Jock on thae occasions, sae great was his fame; and as the rabble were pressing about to get the best lock, Jock wad yerk them about the shins wi' his shackles; and then took a guid hearty laugh to himsel' at the confusion he had created among them. But the scene which took place at his execution bang'd every thing. When Jock was brought out to the scaffold, he was naewise daunted, but terrible dour at seeing nae hope o' a rescue; and it was wi' meikle ado they got the service concluded wi' ony sort o' decency, for his glunchin' and gloomin'. When a' was in readiness, the hangman tak's haud o' Jock to wyle him on to the ladder; but though his arms was tied behind, he lent him sic a clink, as sent him heels o'er head amang the Provost and Bailies, wha could scarcely keep their stance on the scaffold. The Provost than consulted wi' the minister a bit; and he wad try to convince Jock o' the unreasonableness o' his conduct. Sae the minister claps Jock on the shou’der; and, says he, "Jockie, my man, why wad ye rebel against the will ' Providence? Gang ye're ways up

like a man, and mak' nae mair moos about it. The folk, ye see, ha'e been kept a lang time waiting, and want to get hame; and yonder's a cloud, too, that's wearying to get a loot aff its stamach. Why, my man, wad ye be sae obstinate?' Jock cast sic a look at the body, that folk really thought he wad ha'e struck him. He was nae sae menseless as a' that, however; but, making use o' a terrible aith, Damn ye,' he said, how wad ye like to be hanged yoursel'?' The decent auld man just turned about, and wrung his hands wi' sorrow at Jock's obdurate wickedness. There was then nought left but for a namesake o' Jock's ain, ane Patrick Johnston, the stoutest man in a Drumdrouth, who was employed by the town as smith on the occasion, to tak' a big fore-hammer, and break Jock's right arm fairly through wi't. When he found that he could nae langer gi'e bat for bat, to be sure, he mounted the ladder; but just as he was thrown o'er, the devilish spirit o' him gat the upper hand again; sae he made a glaum at the ladder, but missed the grip, and kicked and spurtled maist awsomely, as he was hanging. It was believed by a' that he gaed out o' the warld cursing the Provost and Bailies, and a' that war' about him."

John now rose to depart, and as I learnt that his way was towards the town, I proposed to accompany him. As we journeyed along, I endeavoured to engage him insensibly in a conversation respecting the past and present condition of his native Burgh. "It appears to me," I observed, "that the state of Dubslacks, at one time, must have been prosperous and flourishing, as the town itself is unquestionably ancient, and there must have been some overwhelming cause to reduce it to its present obscurity." "There is nae cause that I ken o'," said John, "excepting that the kintra has got mair peaceable and settled; and anither, whilk I'll speak to hereafter. The castle was ane place o' great strength, and afforded a protection to the Burgh, whilk thus became a city o' refuge to a' wha suffered under oppression. It was there, too, that our Borderers brought maist o'

VOL. XIV.

their plunder, whilk they carried awa' frae the English; and, besides being protected, it wad be in some measure supported, nae doubt, by the sogers wha garishioned the castle. An' o'er an' aboon a' this, as there war' few shops, or publics, kept in thae days, in landwart toons, the Burgh wad be the only place whar people could safely traffic in. We read in ancient buiks o' fairs at Dubslacks; and o' ane in particular, whar that haliket devil, George Douglas, wha was then outlawed, set upon the chapmen and sweety-wives wi' a party o English; but the Scots that war there soon rallied, and chased the rievers across the Border wi' great slaughter.

"But the greatest misfortune, continued John, "that ever befel Dubslacks, was the withdrawing frae it the Itinerant Courts. In my younger days, and till within these thretty years or so, the Shirra, for the convenience o' the lieges, used to hald his Court here at stated periods. It was really a pleasure, in a simmer's morning, to see the procutors frae Drumdrouth, and a' the towns about, riding into the toon in threes and fours; and after that, ba'ding consultations in the mainstreet wi' their different clients; an' then the bell was rung, and the Court fenced wi' mair solemnity than I ha'e even seen at ony o' our Justiciary Circuits. I wad rather ha'e fasted ony day than missed auld John Dickson, the bar-officer, in the King's name and authority, and in name and authority of the SheriffDepute and his Substitute, (gi'in' them a' their titles at full length,) prohibiting and discharging a his Majesty's lieges, and others, whom it effeired, from troubling or molesting the Court, or taking speech upon them, one for another, without leave asked and given, under the pains o' law. Ye canna imagine what an effect thae words had upon the byestanders ;-it was really wonderfu'! and mony a weel-conducted debate, too, ha'e I listened to within the Shirra-Court at Dubslacks. There was a pley that I mysel' had a hand in, about a right o' feal an' divot, in whilk I had retained Peter Douglas as procutor for the defender. So ae day, the diet upon Peter was called

3 Y

for him to produce his witnesses. But sae was the case," (observed John, with a sly sardonic grin,) "that time hadna been allowed for preparing our witnesses. What we should do sadly perplexed baith o' us for a wee. Howsomever, we determined to set our hearts stoutly to a stey brae; and whan the opposite doer (wha was na'e ither than Tam Charteris) was roaring out for protestation and circumduction, Peter gat on his legs, and averred, that Tam had extrajudicially agreed, the night before, to continue the diet for another fortnight. Tam was confounded at the assertion-as weel he might-and gaped and glowr'd about him like a man i' the dead-thraws. After collecting his wits about him, he assured the Shirra that the statement made frae the ither side was false in toto,-that, de facto, it had no foundation,-that it was a pitiful manœuvre,-a mere stave-off, -a contemptible subterfuge,-a base attempt at procrastination,―he denied it, mordicus,—and, for his part, he wondered how any person, having the pretensions of a gentleman, could set up his face in a Court, and maintain such an abominable whid.' I thought at ae time that Peter was to be fairly put down wi' się a brattle o' words, every ane as hard as a whinstane. But faith he was mettled eneuch, and made a reply whilk Charteris, I'm sure, didna forget in a hurry. My Lord,' he said, the foul and scurrilous language which I have just heard is too disgusting to merit a serious answer. It is enough to make a dog disgorge' (thae were his very words.) But,' said he, when drink's in wit's out, which is the only apology I can imagine for Mr Charteris' extraordinary discourse; and though it is plain that he has brought his temper along with him to the Court, he has certainly left his conscience behind him, in the keeping of Mrs Jalep.' Ye maun ken this was ane o' Tam's cummers. Had ye but seen how the Shirra nickered and leuch, and clawed his elbuc at this oration o' Peter's! However, a' wadna do, since we had nae evidence o' the alleged paction; 'and sae circumduction passed against us. But we put a' to right again in a day or twa, by stapping in a reclaiming

petition, by whilk time we had routh o' witnesses forthcomin'.

"There was ane curious circumstance about that same petition. As it had to be signed by our client himsel', it was drawn up in Dubslacks, here, by a lawyer we had at that time o' the name o' John Crawford. John, to shaw aff his education, wad refer to the authority o' Erskine; and as his copy o' the buik was but the abridgement, the mislear'd creature set down, in the margin o' his paper, the words Vide wee Mr Erskine.' When the process cam' again to be advised, the ShirraSubstitute, wha was na'e ither than John Warsh, asked him what Mr Erskine he meant ?-he cou'dna mean the Professor, for he could assure him that that Mr Erskine was a bigger man than either o' themsel's ;-there was sic a laugh raised against lawyer John, by the hail Court, (even the lookers-on, though the Court had been fenced, cou❜dna contain their mirth,) that if he had haen either mense or fye-for-shame about him, as he never had in his lifetime, he wa'd never again ha'e held up his head. But, faith, after that, the chield was obliged to haud up his head before the Heigh Court of Justiciary, for the forcible abduction o' Bailie Waters, (whase vote was very precarious,) at a general election; for whilk offence he had to dree six month's penance (if living on the best o't, at the expence o' his employers, could be ca'd penance to a man like Jock) in the Tolbooth o' the Canongate. But that story wa'd tak' a simmer's day in the telling o't.

"This Shirra Warsh I was speaking o' was a clever man, and a ‍guid lawyer. But, oh, he liked mischief and fun in his heart! After haʼding his court at Dubslacks, he used to tak' the road o'er the hills, sax miles out o' his gate, to the Clauchin o' Dabton-a' the procutors following him like a string o' wild-geese. In the Clauchin there was ane famous ale-house, i' thae days, kept by ane widow Kellock, whar' a' the Members o' Court used to dine in a body -the bar-officers serving on them as waiters; and as soon as the drink had flown to their heads, they took to the floor and danced bull-reels -coram judice, as they used to ex

press it while the Shirra himsel' kept them at it by playing the fiddle. Nae doubt sic conduct was very disparaging to a Judge; and as little doubt but it led to meikle mischief, for, after thae ploys, it was days before ony o' them could be said to be in liege pourtie again."

As we proceeded along the margin of the loch, John began to exhibit some symptons of uneasiness; and upon his approaching a dike which intercepted our course, he drew the tails of his coat leisurely aside, and, without saying a word, seated himself upon a verdant knoll, by an aged thorn, which threw its shrivelled and moss-covered branches towards the loch, as if avidous of moisture. This movement, on the part of Mr John, I construed into an invitation to follow his example; and accordingly seated myself at such a distance as evinced both a moderate degree of respect, and a consciousness of some claim to his farther acquaintance. "This loch," said John," is of marvellous depth; and I've often thought it was ane daft saying o' auld Sir James Grierson, when it was proposed by the heritors to drain it, that the cheapest way o' accomplishing that wad' be to coup a cargo o' Jamaica rum into it *. He meant it, nae doubt, as a skit upon the Dubslacks folks, wha were never famous for their sobriety. But little did he ken the depth o' the loch whan he spoke sae racklessly. There's a pool yonder, wast o' the kirk, whilk has never yet been fathomed by man, and whilk, in recent times, was the scene o' ane most horrible tragedy. Ane Jamie Wood, in our town, whase wife was come o' maist respectable folks, and in her young days was reckoned the lo’esomest lass in a' the kintra side ;-this Jamie Wood, casting aff a' fear, baith o' God and man, took up wi' a Mrs French, who, by a' accounts, had driven her ain guidman to a rash and untimely end. She was a cleanshanked, strapping hissey;-but, oh! her face had an expression sae devilish, that any man in his right senses wad' ha'e shunned her as a fiend incarnate. But she managed,

for a', to throw her cantrips o'er Jamie, wha was sae bewitched, that he wad' ha'e sacraficed baith soul and body at her bidding. His puir wife, i' the meantime, dreed meikle dool an' sorrow wi' his barbarous usage, but she never compleened, though every ane could see that grief was wasting the unhappy woman doon to a shadow. The approaches o' death, however, war' o'er slaw for the impatience o' Jamie and his harlot, wha conspired to bereave the meek innocent creature o' her wretched life.

On a Wednesday night, Jamie returned late frae a Drumdrouth market, where he and Mrs French had met and concerted their measures. The bairnies war' a' put to bed, a guid ingle bleezed on the hearth,-and before it the douce woman had spread out a comfortable supper, whilk she had scraped together, wi' the intent, nae doubt, o' driving awa' the wrath o' her husband, wha' never spared her when drink and Lucky French together ran in his head. When he had finished his supper, he bade her pu' aff his boots; and as she was doing his bidding, wi' mair than becoming humility, he gaed her a drive wi' his foot on the breast, that sent her backwards upon the floor wi' a terrible brange; and as she raised her eyes upwards, as if imploring his mercy, the base inhuman villain struck her sic a blow on the temple, wi' the shaft o' his whip, (whilk was mounted wi' brass,) as set her a-sprawling. The sight that was now before him might ha'e melted the heart o' a savage the wife o' his bosom weltering in gore at his feet, whose voice was never raised to reproach him,wha had bore him a family o' comely bairns, and even now, in the jaws o' death, wadna cry out, frae a dread o' exposing him. There was nae saying but even Jamie might ha'e relented at the sad spectacle; but as he was swithering what he should do, he heard the loun voice o' a woman, through the window, crying on him to complete the murderous work. His uplifted weapon again lighted upon the head o' his sense

less victim, and after repeated strokes, she drew up her legs and surrendered her saul, without a groan, into the hands o' her Maker. Whan the colour o' death had o'erspread her once comely countenance, an eldritch laugh at the window bespoke the joy of the depraved harlot, wha had encouraged the murder; but Jamie, without turning his een in that direction, made nae other reply but by pouring down his hause the hale whisky that had been left in the bottle. His next care was how to dispose o' the corpse, whilk he stript o' every thing but the sark and the mutch, and coost it o'er his back, like a lading o' meal. By this time it was twa in the morning, and the moon and the starns were shining clearly; sae when he got to the door, he looked about him, to see that naething was stirring, but heard only the swattering o' teals in the loch, and the cry of howlets frae the auld kirk steeple. But just as he was aboot to step aff wi' his burden, a man turned the corner and passed close in front o' the door. This was Wattie Scott o' the Cowshaw, wha was coming through the toon that soon i' the morning, on his way to the mill; and as he afterwards told the Fiscal, saw something white looking o'er Jamie's shoulder like the head of a woman. But as he was confused at the time, he only wished Jamie a guid-morning, and passed on. After this, Jamie made a race across the street, and through the kirk-yard, whar' he had to stap o'er the graves o' his murdered wife's forbears, and o' twa fine boys she had bore him in wedlock,-a circumstance that might ha'e quelled the stoutest heart; but graves, or ghaists, or howlets' cries, or the flapping o' the aul' scutheon at the south end o' the kirk, had nae terrors for Jamie. It was man alone that he feared, as if to man alone he had been accountable. God sain us a'! but if I had been him, I wad ha'e thought every starn i' the lift the sleepless e'e o' ane o' the heavenly host watching the murderer's footsteps, and every breath o' wind as announcing the approach o' some minister o' divine justice. But as soon as Jamie had got to the edge o' the loch, he threw his fearfu' burden into the coal black

pool, and the waters closed o'er that body (that had just parted frae an immortal saul) wi' as little remorse as if it had been a sackfu' o' rubbish ; and the waves kept plashing against the shore, and sticks and straws kept drifting about in the pool in the clear light of the moon, just as if naething had happened. But the e'e neither o' God nor o' man was closed upon the unnatural doing. Wattie Scott, after he had passed the door o' Jamie's house, thought a' wasna right, and the mair sae, as he felt his hale flesh beginning to creep; sae taking a turn southward, he heard a splash in the water, and in a minute after, saw Jamie Wood rinning up the loaning that leads frae the loch to the end o' the toon, like a man demented. The same morning, about day-break, the body, whilk had risen frae the bottom to the tap o' the pool, was found by ane honest woman ca'd Becky Mitchell, wha was there for a rake o' water; and whan examined by Dr Black, deep marks o' the whup-shaft war' visible on her forehead.

"Weel, ane wad ha'e thought here was proof sufficient to convict the murderer; but sae it was, that he escaped scart-free at the hands o' the law, though, it is said, he afterwards died a miserable death in England, where he was obliged to flee frae the wrath o' his neighbours. It's true he was tried at Drumdrouth circuit; but sic a mismanaged business was never heard tell o'! In the first place, the King's Advocate-Depute was but a green-horn, and had a voice like a penny trumpet, whilk banished a' sense o' respect frae the audience. The first question that he put to the first witness was, 'Do you know Dubslacks?' as if that ancient Burgh had been some obscure onsteading. This raised a universal laugh, (and nane joined in't mair heartily than Jamie himself;) and put the jurors out o' that solemn deliberate frame o' mind whilk befitted the occasion. In the second place, Wattie Scott contrived to forget a that he had revealed to the Fiscal. Ye maun ken we're puir bodies about here, and the only way that ane can help another, is to gi'e a bit twist to a story in delivering a testimony. And thirdly and lastly, our Dr Black