He stood by the Queen at the battle of Langside under a thorn tree, along with Lords Herries and Livingstone and a small guard; and watched the progress of the fight with breathless anxiety and suspense. When the small party saw

that their hopes were blighted by the victory of the Regent, they lost no time in placing the Queen on horseback, and conveying her, by a circuitous route, through Ayrshire, Nithsdale, and Galloway, to the abbey of Dundrennan. Mary, in a letter written to her uncle, the Cardinal Lorraine, during the journey, which lasted two days, states :—

"I have suffered injuries, calumnies, hunger, cold, and heat; flying, without knowing whither, four score and twelve miles without once pausing to alight, and then lay on the hard ground, having only sour milk to drink and oatmeal to eat, without bread; passing three nights with the owls."

Fleming crossed the Solway with the Queen; and after she surrendered herself to Queen Elizabeth, he returned to Dumbarton Castle, which he held against the Regent Murray, who first besieged and then blockaded it. On 18th November, 1569, "sentence of forfaultour wes pronouncit aganis Lord John Fleming and John Fleming of Boghall, for the keiping and halding the castle of Dumbartane aganis the Kingis majestie."

This sentence was confirmed by the Scottish Parliament in 1571, and the Act then passed states, among other things

"And thairfoir decernis and ordanis, all and sundrie, ye landis, guidis, movable and vnmovable; als weil landis, as offices, and vther thingis quhatsomever; pertening to thame, and everye ane of thame; to be confiscatt to our sourane Lord, and to remane in propertie wt his heynes, for ewir. And thair persones, to underlye ye panes of tressone; extreme and just punisment, distinatt of ye lawes of yis Realme.

Quhilk dome, wes pronouncit be ye mowth of Andro Lindsay, dempstar of ye said Parliament."

The estates of Lord Fleming were, by this sentence, transferred to the Crown, and were held by it for eight years.

Queen Elizabeth, at this juncture, sent an army into Scotland at the instigation of the King's faction, and under the command of Sir William Drury, which, during the spring of 1570, committed great havoc in Clydesdale on the estates of the adherents of Queen Mary. The devastation at Hamilton was such as had hardly ever been paralleled in Scotland before; and the ruthless soldiery "herrit all the Monkland-my Lord Fleming's boundis, my Lord Livingston's boundis, together with al their puir tennantis. and friendis, in sic maner that nae heart can think thereon bot the same must be dolorous."

Sir William, after perpetrating these enormities, had the audacity to repair to Dumbarton in the month of May, and request a parley with the governor respecting the Archbishop of St. Andrews, who had taken refuge in the castle. Lord Fleming, justly enraged at the outrages which Sir William had committed, saluted him with a bullet discharged from one of the great guns on the ramparts. This was considered a grievous outrage by the King's party, and gave rise to a lengthy ballad, entitled, "The Tressoun of Dumbartane," which was printed in black letter at Edinburgh by Robert Lekpreuik in 1570. It says

The General raid with mony Demylance,
Doun to Dumbarton, doand na man ill.
Quhair furious Fleming schot his ordinance,
Willing to wraik him, wanted na gude will.

Now fairwell Fleming, bot foul are thy deedis,
The General this schedul at schort to the sends,
Thou sall heir ma novells as furder proceedis,
Bot not to thy sythment as sum men intends.

C

The garrison of Dumbarton began ere long to be straitened for want of provisions; but early in the morning of the 15th December the Laird of Bord, taking advantage of the darkness, succeeded in conveying into the castle several "ky" and "laides of meill" vastly to the displeasure of the Regent, who sharply rebuked his captains that they "tholit the said furnischings to pas to ye castel." At the Regent's death the blockade was broken up, and two large ships with provisions and military stores arrived from France for the use of the garrison, which were duly transferred to the castle.

The Regent Murray having been killed a short time. previously at Linlithgow; the Earl of Lennox, his successor, was anxious to get possession of Dumbarton Castle for the infant King; but Lord Fleming stoutly held it for Queen Mary. The Regent, by way of punishment, sent a strong party of soldiers to both Biggar and Cumbernauld, and not only levied heavy contributions in money from the tenants, but committed much wanton destruction. At that period there were not only herds of deer in the forest of Cumbernauld, but also wild cattle, long known in Scotland as "the white kye," and now only to be seen at Hamilton Palace.

The habits of these animals were thus described by a writer in the "Quarterly Journal of Agriculture" many years ago:

In browsing their extensive pasture they always keep close together, never scattering or straggling over it-a peculiarity which does not belong to the Kyloe, or any other breed from the wildest and most inhospitable regions of the Highlands. The white cows are remarkable for their systematic manner of feeding. At different periods of the year their tactics are different; but by those acquainted with their habits they are always found about the same part of the forest at the same hour of the day. In the height of summer they always bivouac for the night towards the northern extremity of the forest. From this point they

start in the morning, and browse to the southern extremity, and return at sunset to their old rendezvous; and during these perambulations they always feed en masse. The bulls are seldom ill-natured; but when they are so, they display a disposition more than ordinarily savage, cunning, pertinacious, and revengeful. A poor bird-catcher was attacked by a savage bull, and by great exertion gained a tree before his assailant made up to him. Here he had occasion to observe the habits of the animal. It did not roar or bellow, but merely grunted, the whole body quivering with passion and savage rage; and he frequently attacked the tree with his head and hoofs. Finding all to no purpose, he left off the vain attempt, began to browse, and removed to some distance from the tree. The bird-catcher tried to descend, but this watchful cerberus was again instantly at his post; and it was not till six hours, and after various bouts at bo-peep as above, that he was relieved by some shepherds.

Sometimes, especially when the calves are young and need protection, the bulls and the kine are particularly fierce, and resent even the far-off presence of an intruder. Under such circumstances we have frequently been charged by the white herd. The situation is then not altogether free from peril, but the unique character of the scene is almost worth the risk, as in the charge which these noble-looking animals make you have the advantage of seeing in active and intense operation skill, fury, and bravery. On they come, swift as the wind, making the ground tremble under their heavy tread. Singularly enough, too, not a sound do they utter, but dash forward either in even lines or in one solid, well-formed phalanx, with the young in the centre.

When the gallop is stopped, too, by some unknown signal, it is done with a regularity and precision which could not be surpassed by our finest cavalry. When in this position the large bulls, with shaggy manes, majestic heads, and fiery eyes, standing several paces out from the herd, like commanding officers in front of a squadron, they form a picture of surpassing interest which is not likely to be soon forgotten.

According to Boece, they would eat nothing which the hand of man had touched. King Robert the Bruce hunted the wild bull. Hollingshed says that Bruce, in pursuing a bull, at length overtook it, and was about to thrust his spear into its loins, when it suddenly turned and made a desperate charge. Just in time to save the king's life, one of his followers ran forward, and boldly seizing the animal by the horns, overthrew it by main force. In reward, King Robert bestowed on the intrepid huntsman lands and honours, with the distinguishing name of "Turnbull."

Turnbull's feat seems beyond human strength, but at the present day Highlanders have been known to catch a full-grown colt by the tail as it ran past, and throw it on the ground; and the wild bulls of Bruce's day, although active and savage, cannot be supposed to compare in weight with our modern domestic highly-fed cattle.

It is recorded that the Regent's men killed the deer "and the quhit ky and bullis of the said forest, to the great destructione of policie and hinder of the commanweill."

Notwithstanding the formidable situation of Dumbarton Castle, which was deemed impregnable; it was taken from Fleming by Captain Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill in a most gallant and extraordinary manner.

The strength of the place made Lord Fleming feel more secure than he ought to have felt, considering its importance. He boasted to the King of France that he held in his hands the fetters of Scotland, and this spirit rendered the garrison so confident and negligent that they frequently spent the whole night in riot and festivity in the neighbouring town of Dumbarton, with the same thoughtlessness as if the country had enjoyed the most profound peace.

The plan of surprising the garrison was first suggested to the Regent Lennox, then at Glasgow, by a common soldier who had served in the fortress; but had been disgusted by what he supposed to be ill-usage. While he lived in the garrison his wife used often to visit him, and,