time of peace,
at the house of James Bray, Esq., whither the prisoner was conveyed in
irons. He was stripped; and a ring--a pledge of domestic affection--was
torn from his finger before his conviction; he was condemned without any
charge being alleged, and although he had never borne arms; and he was
not permitted to defend himself. Condemned at one o'clock, he was
hurried away to execution on a gibbet at four o'clock, at Middle
Plantation, with one John Baptista, "a common Frenchman, that had been
very bloody." Drummond was a sedate Scotch gentleman, who had been
governor of the infant colony of North Carolina, of estimable character,
unsullied integrity, and signal ability. He had rendered himself
extremely obnoxious to the governor's hatred by the lively concern which
he had always evinced in the public grievances. Sir William Berkley
mentions him as "one Drummond, a Scotchman, that we all suppose was the
original cause of the whole rebellion." When afterwards the petition of
his widow, Sarah Drummond, depicting the cruel treatment of her husband,
was read in the king's council in England, the lord chancellor, Finch,
said: "I know not whether it be lawful to wish a person alive, otherwise
I could wish Sir William Berkley so, to see what could be answered to
such barbarity; but he has answered it before this."[317:A]

Mrs. Afra Behn celebrated Bacon's Rebellion in a tragi-comedy, entitled
"The Widow Ranter, or the History of Bacon in Virginia." Dryden honored
it with a prologue. The play failed on the stage, and was published in
1690; there is a copy of it in the British Museum.[317:B] It sets
historical truth at defiance, and is replete with coarse humor and
indelicate wit. It is probable that Sarah Drummond may have been
intended by "The Widow Ranter." It appears that one or two expressions
in the Declaration of Independence occur in this old play.

On the 24th of January, 1677, six other insurgents were condemned to
death at Greenspring, and executed. Henry West was banished for seven
years, and his estate confiscated, save five pounds allowed him to pay
his passage. William West and John Turner, sentenced to death at the
same time, escaped from prison. William Rookings, likewise sentenced,
died in prison. Richard Lawrence, with four companions, disappeared
from the frontier, proceeding on horseback and armed, through a deep
snow, preferring to perish in the wilderness rather than to share
Drummond's fate. Lawrenc