but which then
held their quiet course through moors and sheepwalks, mingle before they
join the Clyde. The only ford by which the travellers could cross was
guarded by a party of militia. Some questions were asked. Fullarton
tried to draw suspicion on himself, in order that his companion might
escape unnoticed. But the minds of the questioners misgave them that the
guide was not the rude clown that he seemed. They laid hands on him.
He broke loose and sprang into the water, but was instantly chased. He
stood at bay for a short time against five assailants. But he had no
arms except his pocket pistols, and they were so wet, in consequence of
his plunge, that they would not go off. He was struck to the ground with
a broadsword, and secured.

He owned himself to be the Earl of Argyle, probably in the hope that his
great name would excite the awe and pity of those who had seized him.
And indeed they were much moved. For they were plain Scotchmen of humble
rank, and, though in arms for the crown, probably cherished a preference
for the Calvinistic church government and worship, and had been
accustomed to reverence their captive as the head of an illustrious
house and as a champion of the Protestant religion But, though they
were evidently touched, and though some of them even wept, they were not
disposed to relinquish a large reward and to incur the vengeance of
an implacable government. They therefore conveyed their prisoner
to Renfrew. The man who bore the chief part in the arrest was named
Riddell. On this account the whole race of Riddells was, during more
than a century, held in abhorrence by the great tribe of Campbell.
Within living memory, when a Riddell visited a fair in Argyleshire, he
found it necessary to assume a false name.

And now commenced the brightest part of Argyle's career. His enterprise
had hitherto brought on him nothing but reproach and derision. His great
error was that he did not resolutely refuse to accept the name without
the power of a general. Had he remained quietly at his retreat in
Friesland, he would in a few years have been recalled with honour to
his country, and would have been conspicuous among the ornaments and
the props of constitutional monarchy. Had he conducted his expedition
according to his own views, and carried with him no followers but such
as were prepared implicitly to obey all his orders, he might possibly
have effected something great. For what he wanted as a captain see