CHAPTER XXIX.

Patrick Laing.

PATRICK LAING was born at Blagannoch, in the year 1641. He was educated by his worthy father in the principles of the Reformation, and his mind seems to have been early embued with religion. His father was subjected to many hardships on account of his adherence to the cause of civil and religious liberty, being frequently spoiled of all his goods, and otherwise exposed to the fury of the oppressor. Patrick lost his mother when he was very young, and after her decease the affections of the father seemed to concentrate wholly on the son. In process of time, however, his father took another wife, by whom he had a numerous family; and Patrick, not finding himself very agreeably situated, resolved to embrace the first favourable opportunity of leaving the place of his nativity. He was now in his eighteenth year, and of a hale and vigorous constitution; and he determined to avail himself of a more stirring occupation than that of a simple and retired shepherd. Accordingly, he directed his attention to the army, and enlisted in the Scots Greys. In this situation he behaved with great propriety, and recommended himself by his dexterity in the sword exercise to his officers, who cherished for him a great esteem, and regarded him as one of the best and bravest soldiers in their troop. Patrick, though in the king's service, was still a Covenanter; for he had enlisted in the army prior to the Restoration, and at a time when the country had not the slightest suspicion that the recall of Charles would be attended by any of those consequences to the Church in Scotland which actually ensued. Though he was a trooper, therefore, he nevertheless cherished all those reforming and covenanting principles in which he had been so sedulously educated, and he lamented that it was his hap to appear as the opponent of a cause

which was so dear to his heart. A short time after his connection with the army, he was sent to Ireland, where he remained for some time, and where, as he frequently said, he uniformly experienced the greatest kindness. It was not long, however, till, Charles having renounced the covenants, and turned persecutor, the company to which Laing belonged was recalled to England; and it being known that many of the party were Covenanters, they were detained in the south, lest, being sent into Scotland, they should leave the ranks, when they found they were to be employed in warring against their brethren who conscientiously adhered to the cause of the covenants. Laing, when he saw the real posture of affairs, continued in the army with great reluctance, and often deliberated with himself how he would act in case of being despatched, with his fellow-soldiers, to harass those who were suffering for the truth's sake.

An anecdote, of rather an amusing description, is told of him respecting an encounter which he had with an Italian bully during the time that his regiment lay in London. The Italian had visited England for the purpose of challenging the bravest of her sons to a single combat. No one dared to accept the challenge, till Patrick, hearing of the circumstance, offered to enter the lists with the vaunting foreigner. The affair, it seems, made a great noise, and interested not a few in the higher and more influential circles. The Italian was said to be invincible, and was a man of gigantic stature, and had killed or otherwise disabled all who had dared to oppose him. On the day appointed the combatants met. The Italian appeared on the one end of the stage vapouring and towering in his height, decorated with the cross and with three shining stars, and otherwise accoutred in a manner befitting the character he had assumed. On the other end stood Patrick, a tall, buirdly man, with a martial aspect and a dauntless breast. His features were strong and coarse, and his eyes had a remarkable and perplexing squint. The Italian, like the Philistine of Gath who cursed David by his gods, defied his antagonist in the name of the Pope and of all the saints. Laing, whose blood as a Reformer was stirred at the bare mention of the fooleries and abominations of Popery, advanced with a manly stride to meet his braggart foe. As he stepped forward, the Italian, who had not before seen him, was puzzled at his dubious stare, and, terror-struck at his whole appearance, sprang from the stage, crying that it was a fiend and not a man who had met him, and left Patrick the conqueror without having drawn a sword in the

His mere

strife. This incident acquired him great renown. appearance had put to flight a man who had regularly challenged perhaps the greater part of Europe. The Lord Mayor of London, it is said, bestowed on him some substantial gifts, and his officers became so enamoured of him, that they procured his advancement in the army, at a time when he fondly expected his discharge. The above incident is attributed by some to a man of the name of Douglas, a kinsman of Patrick Laing, and from the same place.

During his residence in England, the persecution was raging in Scotland, and the sufferers were fleeing in every direction for their lives. To escape the incessant harassings of the enemy, a party of the Covenanters had fled over the Border, and sought refuge in the northern parts of England. The report of this circumstance reached the authorities; and Patrick Laing, whose regiment, it appears, happened at the time to be stationed in the same neighbourhood, was sent with a company to apprehend them. This was precisely the trial which he had all along feared might befall him, and now he was called to endure it. To disobey the orders of his superior was as much as his life was worth, and to lend himself as an instrument in persecuting the people of God was what his conscience would not permit. He was not prepared to desert the service, nor was he ready to give a positive refusal to the command of his officers. Accordingly he marched with his little troop in search of the reputed rebels, but contrived so to conduct matters as to allow the party apprehended to escape with great advantage to themselves, and the soldiers returned without accomplishing their errand. It was whispered that the affair was mismanaged, and that the blame rested with Laing. He was accordingly committed to prison, and, being tried, was sentenced to banishment. Every worthy person, and every brave man, lamented his fate, and none expressed for him a warmer sympathy than his own officers. His friends petitioned in his behalf, and a certain English nobleman, who, on account of the affair with the Italian, felt interested in him, exerted himself in his favour, and used every means to accomplish his deliverance. When the day appointed for his transportation arrived, he was still detained in custody, and day after day passed in dreary succession, till the poor prisoner expected to end his life in his cell. Through confinement and disease he was reduced to a mere skeleton, and was at last released from the prison-house in an apparently dying condition. He was then permitted to retire to his native country; and accordingly, whenever his

The farm-house of Bar, near the lower extremity of this romantic stream, is particularly mentioned as having been a place of resort to this good man; and the worthy tenant used frequently to remark, that in worldly things he was more than ordinarily prosperous since the time that he opened his door to Patrick Laing, as a sufferer in the cause of Christ; and there can be no doubt that the Lord blesses those who protect and assist his people for his sake. In Cleuchfoot also, a farm about a mile to the west of Sanquhar, which lies on the southern slope of a lofty and green-clad hill which stretches its base to the margin of the Nith, he found a home; and its kindly tenant, John Hair, often contended with the gudeman of Bar which should have him more frequently as an inmate. His company was courted, doubtless, for the excellence of his character, and for his godly and edifying conversation; for, as the word of the Lord was scarce in those days, intercourse with religious people was eagerly sought and highly prized. Patrick could, no doubt, also tell of wars and hairbreadth escapes, and striking incidents, and strange scenes, which would excite the wonderment and interest of the simple and secluded people among whom he now sojourned. Cleuchfoot was a more public place than Bar, lying on the line of the great thoroughfare to Ayrshire, along which parties of soldiers were constantly passing and repassing, and hence his seclusion here may at first sight seem less complete; but then there was in the immediate vicinity of the house a dense thicket, into the heart of which he could plunge at any time, on the slightest warning, besides two deep ravines, formed by the rushing of the mountain torrents, in whose dark and bosky sides he could secrete himself from the most prying eye, and remain in perfect security. In this way did he dispose of himself, wandering secretly from place to place till the Revolution-an event which, though it brought relief to others, made, on the whole, but little alteration in his circumstances, at least for a while.

It appears that at this time a goodly number of soldiers was required for the protection of some of our foreign settlements, and inquisition was made for the best and most likely men to be sent abroad on this errand. Grierson of Lag, who since the happy Revolution had little to do in the way of persecuting the people of God, was appointed to enlist, or otherwise impress into the service, what men he could find in Galloway and Nithsdale. He had his eye particularly on Patrick Laing, whom he hated as a Covenanter, but admired as a soldier, and he resolved to employ every means to get

him into his power. This intention was known to Laing, who found it as necessary now to keep himself in concealment as during the period of the persecution. Lag had reported that Patrick was a deserter, and in this way he obtained authority to apprehend him; and, with all the restlessness and cruelty of the persecutor, he exerted himself to seize his person. One of the last attempts made by Lag to get hold of him, was when he was one day quietly angling in the silvery stream of the Yochan. He saw at some distance three men slowly advancing up the river, and apparently occupied as he was. He began, however, to entertain suspicions of their design, and thought it best to consult his safety in due time. In order, therefore, to test their purpose, while at the same time he would gain some advantage by the movement, he withdrew from the stream, and ascended with all haste the brow of the mountain. No sooner was this perceived by the men, than they commenced a vigorous pursuit, and by this means fairly revealed their purpose. The tract along which he fled was a steep ridge, having on either side a streamlet purling far below. The three pursuers separated; one ascended the ridge behind him, and the other two took each a parallel rivulet, so that unless he should get out to the high lands before all the three, it would be impossible for him to escape. His strength was now fast failing, and his pursuers were gaining ground at every step, and the hope of getting away from them became every moment more faint. In his perplexity he discovered before him a hollow space of spratty ground, in which he resolved to hide himself, and abide the will of Providence. When he reached the place, be plunged to the waist in mud, and in all probability the miry slough would have become his grave, if he had not promptly extricated himself. As he was struggling to free himself from the sinking ground, he observed on one side a place scooped out by the little brook beneath the bank, into which he crept from the view of the men, who were just at hand. When they came to the place, they had no suspicion that the object of their pursuit was hiding below the vaulted turf, and they passed on with all haste in quest of him. He remained in his concealment till the day passed away, and in the dusk of the evening he returned. His deliverance was unexpected, but He in whom he trusted protected him, and heard his prayer in the day of his distress.

After this, to avoid further annoyance, he removed to the north of Scotland, where lived one of his old officers, a pious man, whom he wished to visit. How long he remained in