purpose, and the
Craiglands-croft was the place appointed for this probation of
soldiership.

On the morning of the appointed day the country folk assembled far and
near, and Nahum Chapelrig, at the head of the lads of his clachan, was
the first on the field. The sight to my young eyes was as the greatest
show of pageantry that could be imagined; for Nahum had, from the time
of the covenanting, been gathering arms and armour from all quarters,
and had thereby not only obtained a glittering breastplate for himself,
but three other coats of mail for the like number of his fellows; and
when they were coming over the croft, with their fife and drum, and the
banner of the Covenant waving aloft in the air, every one ran to behold
such splendour and pomp of war; many of the women, that were witnesses
among the multitude, wept at such an apparition of battles dazzling our
peaceful fields.

My father, with my five brothers, headed the Covenanters of our parish.
There was no garnish among that band. They came along with austere looks
and douce steps, and their belts were of tanned leather. The hilts of
many of their swords were rusty, for they had been the weapons of their
forefathers in the raids of the Reformation. As my father led them to
their station on the right flank of Nahum Chapelrig's array, the crowd
of onlookers fell back, and stood in silence as they passed by.

Scarcely had they halted, when there was a rushing among the onlookers,
and presently the townsmen, with Hepburn on horseback, were seen coming
over the brow of the Gowan-brae. They were scant the strength of the
country folk by more than a score; but there was a band of sailor boys
with them that made the number greater; so that, when they were all
drawn up together forenent the countrymen, they were more than man for
man.

It is not to be suppressed nor denied, that, in the first show of the
day, Hepburn got far more credit and honour than old sedate Bannerman;
for his lads were lighter in the heel, glegger in the eye, and brisker
in the manoeuvres of war: moreover, they were all far more similar in
their garb and appearance, which gave them a seeming compactness that
the countrymen had nothing like. But when the sham contest began, it was
not long till Bannerman's disciples showed the proofs of their master's
better skill to such a mark, that Hepburn grew hot, and so kindled his
men by reproaches, that there was like to have been fighting in true
ear