f Hopcailzow:
And of art and part of theftuously taking _Blackmaill_, from the poor
Tenants of Eschescheill." Then follows the significant
word--"Beheaded."[79]

The King, therefore, when he passed the castle of Tushielaw with his
retinue, on his way to Teviotdale to meet Johnie Armstrong, must have had
the satisfaction of knowing that Adam Scott had gone "where the wicked
cease from troubling."

He had sent a loving letter, written with "his ain hand sae tenderly," to
the laird of Gilnockie, requesting him to meet his "liege lord" at a place
called Carlenrig on the Teviot, some nine miles above Hawick. Various
accounts have been given by historians, both ancient and modern, as to the
means adopted by the King to bring about Armstrong's capture and
execution. Leslie, for example, informs us that "all this summer the King
took great care to pacify the Borders with a great army, and caused
forty-eight of the most noble thieves, with Johnie Armstrong, their
captain, to be taken and hanged on growing trees." He says that "George
Armstrong, brother of the said Johnie, was pardoned and reserved alive,
_to tell on the rest_, which he did, and in course of time they were
apprehended by the King, and punished according to their deserts."[80]
Pinkerton, who evidently bases his account largely on the information
supplied by Leslie, enters more fully into particulars. He alleges that
"by the assistance of George, his brother, who was pardoned on condition
of betraying the others, John Armstrong, the chief of the name, whose
robberies had elevated him to opulence and power, was captured and
suffered the fate of a felon."[81] These statements, definite though they
are, ought not to be lightly accepted, as the strongest reasons may be
advanced against this supposition. In the first place, we ought to
remember that, however many sins and shortcomings the Border reivers may
be accused of, breach of faith can hardly be reckoned one of them.
"Hector's Cloak" was a phrase of peculiar opprobrium. It was regarded as
the symbol of meanness and perfidy. That this one instance of betrayal
should have been so long remembered, and so thoroughly detested, is an
unmistakable indication that the Border thieves, bad as they were in many
respects, were not without a high sense of honour in matters of this kind.
It is hardly conceivable, therefore, that Armstrong's brother could have
been guilty of his betrayal. Strong proof would require to be forthc