Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-02-05
King, in great haste, surrounded by
. crowd Of his noblcs, followed IN
process;t,u Gorrowino crovda NJ

AW6t III iSht uabto} suttVuhNSe ~
. crowd Of his noblcs, followed In
procession. Sorrowing crowds Of
people came after III wondering
smazement. Al they moved slowly
on, al incident occurred which ar-
rested universal attention. A young
woman with q child In her arms came
rushing through the crowd, and
throwing herself before the King,
pleaded with him to spare her huss
bands life. though II should be st
the expense of all they POSSESSED.
Her impassioned entreaties were
met with silence. Malcolm was not |
TO he moved from his purpose OF
death. Seeing that her efforts to
move the King were useless, she
made her way TO her husband, and |
throwing her arms around him, de-
clared that she would not leave him
she would 20 and die with him,
Malcolm was somewhat moved by
tho touching scene. Allen Durward,
noticing the favorable moment, ven-
tured to put in the suggestion that it
was pity to hang such q splendid
archer. "A splendid archer, is he?'
replied tho King; then hc shall have
his skill tried So he ordered that
M'Lcod's wife and child be placed on
the opposite side of the river; somc-
thing to serve as q mark was to be
placed OH the child's head. If M'Leod
succeeded in hitting the mark with
out injuring the child, his life was to
be spared, otherwise the sentence
was to DO carried into execution.
Accordingly $50 the legend goes) the
Young wife and child were put across
the river, and placed OH Tomghainn-
heincj according to some, Il little
further down the river, near where n
boat house once stood. The width of
the Dee was to be the distance scpa-
rating M'Lcod from his mark. fle
asked for bow and two arrows, and
having examined each with the
greatest care, lie took his position.
Tho eventful moment came, the
paople gathered round him, and
stood in profound silence. On tho
opposite side of the river his wife
stood, the central figure Of crowd
of eager bystandcrs, tears glistcning
on her checks as she gazed alternate
ly at her husband and child in dumb
emotion. M'Lcod took aim,. but his
body shcSk like all aspen leaf in
the evening breeze. This was a
trial for him far harder than death.
Again hc placed himself in position;
but he trcmbled to such degree he
could not shoot, and turning to the
King, W ho stood near, he said in a
voice scarcely articulate in its sup
pressed agony, This is hard = But
the King rcientcd not, SO the third
time lie fell into the position, and he
almost roarcd, This is hardy Then,
as if all his nervousness had escaped
through the cry, lie let the arrow fly;
it struck the mark. The mother
seized her child, and in transport
of joy seemed 10 devour it will,
kisses; while the pent-up emotion OF
the crowd found vent through &
loud cry of wonder and triumph
which repeated itself again and again
as the echoes rolled slowly away
among the neighboring hills. Ths
King now approached M'Leod, and
after confirming his pardon. inquired
why he, SO sure of hand and keen o.
sight, had asked for two arrows
because replied M'Leod, had
missed the mark, or hurt my wife Of
my child, was determined
not to miss you!' The King
grew pale, and turned away as if un
decided what to do. Ills better
nature prevailed; so he approached
MLeod and with kindly voice anc
manner told him that he would re
ceivc him into his booy-guard, AND
he would be well provided for
Never" answered the .undauntet
Celt. ..tAftcr the painful proof t.
which you have just put my heart
, could never loye you enough to serv
. You faithfully The King in amazu
!, nlent cried out, Thou art Hardy
and as Hardy thou art, SO Hard
thou shalt bep
From that time M'Leod went unde
, the appcllation of Hardy, while hi
descendants were termed the M'Hal
dy's, Mac being the Ga lie word 70
= sou. The date of tho above is tn
:, eleventh century, when the legen
u burst forth in several parts of tn
% world. Here we have it in Scotland
Like many other legends, it probabl
Ii came ori ri all y from India