n the army, and
meeting an untimely death early in the revolutionary war.

JOHN LINDSAY CRAWFURD--CLAIMING TO BE EARL OF CRAWFURD.

In 1808, George Lindsay Crawfurd, twenty-second Earl of Crawfurd and
sixth Earl of Lindsay, died without issue, and his vast estates
descended to his sister, Lady Mary Crawfurd. After the death of the
earl various claims were advanced to the peerage, one of them being
preferred by a person of the name of John Crawfurd, who came from
Dungannon, in the north of Ireland. When this claimant arrived at Ayr,
in January 1809, he gave himself out as a descendant of the Hon. James
Lindsay Crawfurd, a younger son of the family, who had taken refuge in
Ireland from the persecutions of 1666-1680. At first he took up his
abode at the inn of James Anderson, and from his host and a weaver
named Wood he received a considerable amount of information respecting
the family history. From Ayr he proceeded to visit Kilbirnie Castle,
once the residence of the great knightly family of Crawfurd. The house
had been destroyed by fire during the lifetime of Lady Mary's
grandfather, and had not been rebuilt--the family taking up their
residence on their Fifeshire estates. At the time of the fire,
however, many family papers and letters had been saved, and had been
stored away in an old cabinet, which was placed in an out-house. To
these Mr. Crawfurd obtained access, and found among them many letters
written by James Lindsay Crawfurd, whose descendant he pretended to
be. He appropriated them and produced them when the fitting time came.
At Kilbirnie he also introduced himself to John Montgomerie of
Ladeside, a man well acquainted with the family story and all the
vicissitudes of the Crawfurds, and one who was disposed to believe any
plausible tale. The farmer, crediting the pretender's story, spread it
abroad among the villagers, and they in turn fell into ecstacies over
the idea of a poor man like themselves arriving at an earldom,
rebuilding the ancient house of Kilbirnie, and restoring the old
glories of the place. Their enthusiasm was turned to good account. The
claimant was very poor, and stood in need of money to prosecute his
claim, and he made no secret of his poverty or his necessities, and
promised large returns to those who would help him in his time of
need. "Farms," we are told, "were to be given on long leases at
moderate rents; one was to be factor, another chamberlain, and many
were to be conve