It will be observed that he is not held responsible for his conduct
_during_ drunkenness. The punishment is certainly severe, and he must
have been an incorrigible individual if the "thief's hole" did not
suffice, as from later accounts it was such a nuisance that on more than
one occasion a cart load of peats had to be burnt therein to make the
place _sweet_:--
"9th July, A.D. 1622.--In presence of William Paterson, senior, one of
the bailies of the burgh of Inverness:--That day Thomas Paterson, tailor
in Inverness, is become acted, in the Burgh Court books thereof,
voluntarily, of his own free motive and will, that if ever he offend any
person or persons within this burgh, either by word, work, or deed,
before or after drunkenness, that he shall be taken to the thief's hole
within the Tolbooth of Inverness, and there to remain for the space of
twenty days, and thereafter to be taken to the Cross, and there to be
punished as a public offender, and to be banished out of the said burgh
for ever; and if ever he be found in the said burgh after his
banishment, in that case to be taken to the Water of Ness, and to duck
him there, and thereafter to put him in ward until he die. Whereupon
Robert Sinclair asked and took Act.
(Signed) "JAMES DUFF, Clerk."