Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-17


serted there are more furnaces here than
anywhere else on earth in the same area,
and the shafts are so near the smokestacks
that one can almost shovel the coal into
the furnaces from the mine.
At first we pass through agricultural
belt and then enter the bleak Cheviot
hills. upon which are pastured immense
fiocks of peculiar kind oe sheep. which
produce the wool that gives the name
| to a fabric so familiar to American wear
ers. The Cheviot hills are the great
divide between the two countries and
have been barrier to commerce as well
as in war.
Marvellous Braes.
The first place of importance is Lanark,
which was the home of William Wallace.
the patriot. 1t was there he was out
lawed for killing an Englishman who in
suited his wife He escaped to rocky
glen in the Cheviot hills and became an
outlaw and then the leader of Scottish
independence.
Dumfries. where Burns lived. is little
farther on. and across the river is an
Gent Maxwelltown. the Maxwelton whose
braes were so bonnie and where Annie
Laurie gave her promise true.
MaXwelltown was the home Of Robert
f,ttttFSCn, Tie nero OF SIT w dl(SI StOtt .
"Old Mortality" and Caerlaverock church.
yard contains his grave. Patterson was
once man of strong character and great
| physical energy. but his health and mind
were broken by hardships and exposure.
and he spent his old age going about the
cemeteries picking the lichen and the rust
out of the inscriptions upon the graves
of the covenanters who died in that ter
rible struggle. There is a statue erected
by later generation which represents
1-nr hn 10 10 Inv
Walter Scott.
Country of the Covenanters.
This was the country of the covenanters.
and here We're developed those sterling and
stubborn adherents OF the Protestant COW
enant whom no persecution could weaken.
and who welcomed martyrdom in order
to exhibit the triumph of their faith. One
Of the most impressive features of their
history was the coventicals. or hill preach
ing. of the non-conformists in the hid
den places of the Cheviot hills, because
they were not permitted to worship God
in public without following the forms
that had been laid down by the king and
his advisers and were unwilling to take
what was known as the "abjuration
OATH the effect Of which was to de-
nounce the covenant and pledge them
selves to adopt the ritual of the Church
of England. Death without trial was
the penalty suffered by those who refused
to take that oath. and thousands of mar
tyrs accepted it rather than submit to
the dictatiOn of a sovereign who told
them how they must say their prayers.
The region included in the persecution
of the covenanterS ia comparatively a
small part Of Scotland-the counties of
Ayr, Lanark. WigtOwn. kirkcudbright
and Dunfries-and there for several years
the covenanters were compelled to hold
their Sunday services hidden among the
rocks and the forests Scouts were posted
to give warning of the approach of troop
ers, who were led by the ferocious Clay
erhOusa, and who.
Moved by the devil and the Laird Of Lee.
Dragged men to death with gun and sword.
Effect of Religious Persecution.
rock served for pulpit. whence the
minister, who was always an outlaw and
a fugitive and who lived in caves and
glens. poured forth his impassioned har-
argues. His hearers gathered closely
around him-first the women and chill
dren and then the men in circle for
defense, their Bibles in one hand and their
guns in the other. 1t is said the min
listers lived praying and preaching, died
praying and fighting, and in the meantime
baffled pursuit the best they could by
hiding in the boys and brush, where they
were fed by the ravens like the prophets,
because when they were discovered they
died No mercy or consideration was
given them.
One of the great preachers of the
Covenanters was Alexander Pedeno, the
most famous and striking figure of those
terrible times. He lived for fourteen years
in the caves of the mountains. a grim,
eloquent fanatic. who had the reputation
of prophet and whose predictions often
came true in the most extraordinary man
ner.
There was never the vale since him."
says one of the old writer's. land it's a
like afOre. For he was as wild as pea
bag, fiersome to look at. fiersOme to hear
His face was like the Day of Judgment:
the voice of him was like solans and
dinnled in folks Tugs: and the words of
him were like Goals of fire.
A Young Heroine.
In a little cemetery at Wigtown is a
memorial to remind posterity of Mar
garet Wilson. a girl OF eighteen, who by
command of the terrible Claverhouse was
tied to stakes on the beach and permitted
to drown in the rising tide of the Sol
way: in the presence of two thousand
of her neighbors and fellow townspeo-
pie. because she refused to take the
adjuraton oath and say God save the
king"
That child was made of stern stuff and
was full of heroic zeal when, on the,
18th of May. 1869, she was dragged be-
fore the commander of the kings forces
and commanded to take the oath She
refused to do so. They took her out
with another woman and tied them to
stakes in the water. which gradually COW
cred her while the entire community, as
sembled upon the banks. praying. sing
ing psalms. scouting words of cheer and
hope. at the same time pleading with
her to yield and save her life. Before
she was quite dead CIaverhouse pulled
her out of the water and held her up
and in G cd hnr
the king She answered. painting for
for the salvation of his majesty
Say God save the king said Mai
Withdraw. who was attending to the Job
Dear Margaret, say God save the
king pleaded the bystanders.
The young fanatic had recovered her
strength by that time and answered with
perfect composure:
Il pray that God will save him. if he
repents. for it is his salvation | DESIRE
''She has said it. She has said it SIR
cried the sympathetic neighbors, where
upon Maj. Windram returned to her and
offered to release her If she would take
the abjuration oath. The girl looked I'm
to him with a determined face and renljed
deliberately:
Il will not. I am one of Christ's chill
dren: let me CO.. Whereupon Withdrawn
thrust her down into the water again and
held here there until she finished her
course with joy" as the inscription upon
her monument declares.
Robert Burns at Dumfries.
Robert Burns lived at Dumfries the lat