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 arms
became our weapons; but when we had gained possession of Dumfries, and
had set a ward over the house where we had seized Turner, I saw that we
had waded owre far into the river to think of returning, and that to go
on was safer than to come back. It was indeed manifest that we had been
triumphant rather by our haste than by the achievements of victorious
battle; and it could be hidden from no man's thought that the power and
the vengeance both of the government and the prelacy would soon be set
in array against us. I therefore bethought myself, in that peril of our
lives and cause, of two things which seemed most needful; first, Not to
falter in our enterprise until we had proved the utmost of the Lord's
pleasure in our behalf; and second, To use the means under Him which, in
all human undertakings, are required to bring whatsoever is ordained to
pass.
Whether in these things I did well or wisely, I leave to the
adjudication of the courteous reader; but I can lay my hand upon my
heart, and say aloud, yea, even to the holy skies, "I thought not of
myself nor of mine, but only of the religious rights of my
sorely-oppressed countrymen."
From the moment in which I received the blow of the soldier, up till the
hour when Turner was taken, I had been the head and leader of the
people. My sword was never out of my grip, and I marched as it were in a
path of light, so wonderful was the immediate instinct with which I was
directed to the accomplishment of that adventure, the success of which
overwhelmed the fierce and cruel Antichrists at Edinburgh with
unspeakable consternation and panic. But I lacked that knowledge of the
art of war by which men are banded into companies and ruled, however
manifold their diversities, to one end and effect, so that our numbers,
having by this time increased to a great multitude, I felt myself
utterly unable to govern them. We were as a sea of billows, that move
onward all in one way, obedient to the impulse and deep fetchings of the
tempestuous breath of the awakened winds of heaven, but which often
break into foam, and waste their force in a roar of ineffectual rage.
Seeing this, and dreading the consequences thereof, I conferred with
some of those whom I had observed the most discreet and considerate in
the course of the raid, and we came to a resolve to constitute and
appoint Captain Learmont our chief commander, he having earned an
experience of the art and stratagems of war under the renowned Lesley.
Had we abided by that determination, some have thought our expedition
might have come to a happier issue; but no human helps and means could
change what was evidently ordained otherwise. It happened, however, that
Colonel Wallace, another officer of some repute, also joined us, and his
name made him bright and resplendent to our enthusiasm. While we were
deliberating whom to choose for our leader, Colonel Wallace was in the
same breath, for his name's sake, proposed, and was united in the
command with Learmont. This was a deadly error, and ought in all time
coming to be a warning and an admonition to people and nations in their
straits and difficulties, never to be guided, in the weighty shocks and
controversies of disordered fortunes, by any prejudice or affection so
unsubstantial as the echo of an honoured name. For this Wallace, though
a man of questionless bravery, and a gentleman of good account among all
who knew him, had not received any gift from Nature of that spirit of
masterdom without which there can be no command; so that he was no
sooner appointed to lead us on, with Learmont as his second, than his
mind fell into a strange confusion, and he heightened disorder into
anarchy by ordering over much. We could not, however, undo the evil,
without violating the discipline that we were all conscious our forces
so grievously lacked; but, from the very moment that I saw in what
manner he took upon him the command, I augured of nothing but disaster.
Learmont was a collected and an urbane character, and did much to temper
and turn aside the thriftless ordinances of his superior. He, seeing how
much our prosperity was dependent on the speed with which we could reach
Edinburgh, hastened forward everything with such alacrity that we were
ready on the morrow by mid-day to set out from Dumfries. But the element
of discord was now in our cause, and I was reproached by many for having
abdicated my natural right to the command. It was in vain that I tried
to redeem the fault by taking part with Learmont, under the
determination, when the black hour of defeat or dismay should come upon
us, to take my stand with him, and, regardless of Wallace, to consider
him as the chief and champion of our covenanted liberties. But why do I
dwell on these intents? Let me hasten to describe the upshot of our
enterprise.
As soon as we had formed, in the manner herein related, something like a
head and council for ourselves, we considered, before leaving Dumfries,
what ought to be done with General Turner, and ordered him to be brought
before us; for those who had suffered from his fell orders and
licentious soldiery were clamorous for his blood. But when the man was
brought in, he was so manifestly mastered by his wine, as his vice often
made him, that we thought it would be as it were to ask a man mad, or
possessed, to account for his actions, as at that time to put the
frantic drunkard on his defence; so we heeded not his obstreperous
menaces, but ordered him to be put into bed, and his papers to be
searched for and laid before us.
In this moderation there was wisdom; for, by dealing so gently by one
who had proved himself so ruthless an agent of the prelatic aggressions,
we bespoke the good opinion even of many among our adversaries; and in
the end it likewise proved a measure of justice as well as of mercy.
For, on examining his papers, it appeared, that pitiless as his
domineering had been, it was far short of the universal cruelty of his
instructions from the apostate James Sharp, and those in the council
with him, who had delivered themselves over as instruments to the
arbitrary prerogatives and tyrannous pretensions of the court. We
therefore resolved to proceed no farther against him, but to keep him as
an hostage in our hands. Many, however, among the commonalty complained
of our lenity; for they had endured in their persons, their gear and
their families, great severities; and they grudged that he was not
obligated to taste the bitterness of the cup of which he had forced them
to drink so deeply.
In the meantime all the country became alive with the news of our
exploit. The Covenanters of the shire of Ayr, headed by several of their
ejected ministers, whom they had cherished in the solitary dens and
hidings in the moors and hills, to which they had been forced to flee
from the proclamation against the field-preachings, advanced to meet us
on our march. Verily it was a sight that made the heart of man dinle at
once with gladness and sorrow to behold, as the day dawned on our
course, in crossing the wide and lonely wilderness of Cumnock-moor,
those religious brethren coming towards us, moving in silence over the
heath, 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 the
Mearns-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 the
course of our route, in such a manner that we could see nothing on the
left beyond it. We were then within less than fourteen miles of Glasgow,
where General Dalziel lay with the King's forces, keeping in thraldom
the godly of that pious city and its neighbourhood. Captain Learmont,
well aware, from the eager character of the man, that he would be fain
to 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 that
the mist would clear away about noon. We accordingly made a pause, and
sat down on the ground; for many were weary, having over-fatigued
themselves in their zeal to come up with the main body, and we all stood
in need of rest.
Scarcely, however, had we cast ourselves in a desultory manner on the
heather, when some one heard the thud of a distant drum in the mist, and
gave the alarm; at which we all again suddenly started to our feet, and
listening, were not long left in doubt of the sound. Orders were
accordingly given to place ourselves in array for battle; and while we
were obeying the command in the best manner our little skill allowed,
the beating of the drum came louder and nearer, intermingled with the
shrill 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, and
having solemneezed us for worship, gave out a psalm.
By the time we had sung the first three verses the drum and fife sounded
so near, that I could discern they played the tune of "John, come kiss
me now," which left me in no doubt that the soldiers in the mist were my
own friends and neighbours; for it was the same tune which was played
when the men of our parish went to the raid of Dunse-hill, and which, in
memorial of that era, had been preserved as a sacred melody amongst us.
Being thus convinced, I stepped out from my place to the ministers, and
said, "They are friends that are coming." The worship was in consequence
for a short space suspended, and I presently after saw my brother at the
head of our neighbours coming out of the cloud; whereupon I went forward
to meet him, and we shook hands sorrowfully.
"This is an unco thing, Ringan," were his first words; "but it's the
Lord'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 a
cheering consolation to hear as blithe an account as could reasonably be
hoped for, I walked with him to our captains, and made him known to them
as my brother.