attack of Newmills,
and that he had come straight to this house of his uncle's
on Sunday morning. In the time he was making this confession
the soldiers found out a house in the hill, under ground,
that could hold a dozen of men, and there were swords and
pistols in it; and this fellow declared that they belonged
to his uncle, and that he had lurked in that place ever
since Bothwell, where he was in arms.... He also gives
account of those who gave any assistance to his uncle; and
we have seized thereupon the goodman of the uppermost
Ploughlands, and another tenant about a mile below that is
fled upon it.... I have acquitted myself when I have told
your Grace the case. He has been but a month or two with his
halbert; and if your Grace thinks he deserves no mercy,
justice will pass on him; for I, having no commission of
justiciary myself, have delivered him up to the
Lieutenant-General, to be disposed of as he pleases."[55]

It is singular that neither Wodrow nor Walker makes any mention of this
nephew, whose presence on that day, taken in connection with his share
in the affair at Newmills,[56] puts the uncle in rather a different
light. There happen also to be one or two affairs known about this John
Brown which are worth noting. For instance, his name is found on a list
of proscribed rebels and resetters of rebels, appended to a royal
proclamation of May 5th, 1684, which will naturally account for his
"having been a long time upon his hiding in the hills," as Wodrow
ingenuously confesses. In other words, this Brown was an outlaw and a
marked man. He was by profession a carrier--"the Christian carrier," his
friends called him, for the fervour and eloquence of his preaching,
which was remarkable even in a neighbourhood where the gift of tongues
was not uncommon. A carrier is an extremely useful channel of
communication; and, in fact, there can be really no doubt that Brown had
been for some time engaged in practices which the most iniquitous
Government in the world could hardly be blamed for thinking
inconvenient. It has been suggested that Claverhouse was at that time
especially on the watch to intercept all communication between Argyle
and Monmouth, and that Brown was employed in carrying intelligence
between the rebel camps. Macaulay refuses this suggestion. He points out
with perfect truth that both Argyle and Monmouth were at that time