, the record has not been written, yet we have
been told by a man whose name we may not divulge, but who is an
unquestionable authority on the subject, that soon after the persecution
about which we have been writing had ceased, a farmer of the name of
Black settled down among the "bonnie hills of Galloway," not far from
the site of the famous Communion stones on Skeoch Hill, where he took to
himself a wife; that another farmer, a married man named Wallace, went
and built a cottage and settled there on a farm close beside Black; that
a certain Ru Peter became shepherd to the farmer Black, and, with his
wife, served him faithfully all the days of his life; that the families
of these men were very large, the men among them being handsome and
stalwart, the women modest and beautiful, and that all of them were
loyal subjects and earnest, enthusiastic Covenanters. It has been also
said, though we do not vouch for the accuracy of the statement, that in
the Kirk-session books of the neighbouring kirk of Irongray there may be
found among the baptisms such names as Andrew Wallace and Will Black,
Quentin Dick Black, and Jock Bruce Wallace; also an Aggie, a Marion, and
an Isabel Peter, besides several Jeans scattered among the three
families.

It has likewise been reported, on reliable authority, that the original
Mr. Black, whose Christian name was Andrew, was a famous teller of
stories and narrator of facts regarding the persecution of the
Covenanters, especially of the awful killing-time, when the powers of
darkness were let loose on the land to do their worst, and when the
blood of Scotland's martyrs flowed like water.

Between 1661, when the Marquis of Argyll was beheaded, and 1668, when
James Renwick suffered, there were murdered for the cause of Christ and
Christian liberty about 18,000 noble men and women, some of whom were
titled, but the most of whom were unknown to earthly fame. It is a
marvellous record of the power of God; and well may we give all honour
to the martyr band while we exclaim with the "Ayrshire Elder":--

"O for the brave true hearts of old,
That bled when the banner perished!
O for the faith that was strong in death--
The faith that our fathers cherished.

"The banner might fall, but the spirit lived,
And liveth for evermore;
And Scotland claims as her noblest names
The Covenant men of yore."

THE END.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Hunted and Harried, by R.M