Walter Scott and Mr. Train, was at length drawing to a close; but at no period had it been more interesting or voluminous than within the last two or three years of the baronet's death. The edition of the novels with notes, already alluded to, was undertaken in 1829; and from that period, until its completion, Mr. Train was zealous in his service. His professional duties, however, stood greatly in the way, and some of his contributions did not reach Abbotsford in time for the press. Among these were interesting sketches of Andrew Gemmell, alias Edie Ochiltree, and of Marshall, King of the Randies. Both of these characters were well known in Galloway. Gemmell was twenty years a soldier, twenty a garrison foggie, and twenty a wandering mendicant. He was a native of Old Cumnock, in Ayrshire, where many of his descendants yet reside. Train gives the history of one of them.* Mr. The last of Mr. Train's communications was carried to Abbotsford by the compiler of the present narrative, who was then in his sixteenth year, while on a visit to a friend in Kelso. I can never fail to remember that visit, brightened as it was by the kindness of the gifted minstrel in his own abode, and enhanced by the valuable words of fatherly advice which fell from his lips, when he learned that I was about to quit school to enter on the cares of a business life. Alas! soon after this, that minstrel, with an overwrought and broken constitution, left his homestead for the continent on his memorable tour of health; and Mr. Train had not an opportunity of paying a last tribute of respect to his distinguished friend, which admiration for his genius, and gratitude for his kindness, alike prompted him to offer. The death of Sir Walter Scott, as may well be imagined, was an event regretted by no one more deeply than Mr. Train. With the author of Waverley was removed the great stimulus which had urged him on in his antiquarian and traditional researches. He felt indeed a pleasure in such labours on their own account, and he has since continued to prosecute them, though with less relish than he experienced while contributing to the store-house of antiquities at Abbotsford. But although his antiquarian gleanings were made chiefly with this aim, Mr. Train, nevertheless, from time to time, furnished literary contributions to various works of the day. In 1820, he contributed to the Ayr and Wigtonshire Courier, then a highly popular periodical, a “Chronological Account of the Ancient Castle of Ayr,' and several poetical pieces. In the Dumfries Courier, edited by his excellent and much respected friend John M'Diarmid, esquire, appeared several of his poetic effusions; and subsequently in the Glasgow Magazine, conducted by his esteemed friend William Bennett, esquire, now of Duddingston, in the County of Edinburgh, many of his sketches appeared, both in prose and verse. To his friend, Mr. Robert Appendix, Note iv, "Sketch of Andrew Gemmell." Chambers, he sent the lively piece entitled "Mysie and the Minister," which appeared in the thirtieth number of the Edinburgh Journal, and has since made several gleanings in Galloway for a new edition of his popular Rhymes of Scotland, about to be published. More recently, Mr. Train was urged to render his assistance to a History of Galloway, edited by the Rev. William Mackenzie and published by Mr. John Nicholson, bookseller, Kirkcudbright. A quarter of a century had elapsed since he abandoned the idea of undertaking a similar task in conjunction with his highly talented friend, Captain Denniston, of Creetown, as previously stated, and he now zealously lent his aid in promoting the completion of this work.1 Besides this, Mr. Train has completed in MS. a very curious and interesting history," from first to last," of a religious set well known in the south of Scotland by the name of "The Buchanites." In his retreat on the banks of the Carlinwark Loch, Mr. Train continues to keep up an occasional correspondence with a wide circle of literary friends, the oldest of whom, now in the land of the living, is the Rev. Hamilton Paul, minister of the parish of Broughton, in Peeblesshire, to whose patronage Mr, Train ascribes much of the success of several of his early productions. The letters of his old and highly valued friend, William Dobie, esquire, of Grangevale, near Beith, in Mr. Train's possession, extend over a period of upwards of thirty years, and are both numerous and interesting. The talented author of the Contemporaries of Burns, from whose account I have arranged so much of the present Memoir, says: "In glancing back over this imperfect sketch, we are surprised how, amid the constant exercise of harassing professional duty, Mr. Train could devote so much leisure and means to antiquarian inquiries, some of them, as we have seen, both important and difficult. He must have been indefatigable in his labours and frugal in his expenditure. The acquisition of wealth was no object to him; and the manner in which his time and talents were devoted to the service of others, argues the disinterested kindness of his disposition. The vast fund of material, if published by himself, would have added immeasurably to his fame as well as fortune." The following passages from the collective edition-1829-1833-of Sir Walter Scott's Works and from Mr. Lockhart's Life of his Illustrious Father-in-law, edition 1837, 1838, fully bear out this statement.* 1 Sce Mr. Mackenzie's preface to the History of Galloway. 2 Contemporaries of Burns and the more Recent Poets of Ayrshire, Edinburgh, edition 1840, p. 300. * Appendix, Note v, "Acknowledgments by Sir Walter Scott." APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. NOTE I.-PAGE 3. ELCINE DE AGGART. "Lang was she kent on Carrick shore, These stanzas are founded on a tradition still remembered in Ayrshire. When the Spaniards. in the year 1588, attempted to invade England, the ships which escaped the vigilance of Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake, were overtaken by a violent hurricane; and, as is well known, were wrecked among the rocks of the Hebrides, or on the western shores of Scotland. When some of them appeared first in the Clyde, it is reported that Elcine de Aggart, an old lady, who was honoured in Carrick with the title of witch, and who, it would appear, made no scruple in turning her skill in the black art to the advantage of her country in the hour of danger, seated herself upon a promontory, holding a ball of blue yarn in one of her hands, which may truly be called the thread of Fate, as by a mysterious application of it, she was understood to have absolute control over the destiny of mortals, either individually or collectively, as she pleased. She had likewise, in common with other members of the same order, complete power over the elements; so that, opposed to such a powerful opponent, it was impossible for the invaders to escape irretrievable destruction. As the vessel bore up the channel, the tempest increased, and the weird sister sung as follows: "Why gallops the palfrey with lady Dunure? Who takes away Turnberry's kine from the shore? Although the proud Dons are now passing the Moil,1 That in Fairyland grew, Old Elcine de Aggart has taken in hand, To wind up their lives ere they win to our strand. That heaven may favour this grand armament, Made in Elfland when new, Old Elcine de Aggart will all countermand, And wind up their lives ere they win to our strand. They bring with them nobles our castles to fill; They bring with them ploughshares our manors to till; Or any whom they may refractory find; But this mighty clue, Of the indigo hue, Which few, like de Aggart, could e'er understand, Will baffle their hopes ere they win to our strand. 1 The Cape of Cantyre is thus named. Was ever the sprite of the wind seen to lower, That in Fairyland grew, Old Elcine de Aggart has wound to an end Their thread of existence, though far from the strand. I sigh for their dames, who may now take the veil; Made when Elfland was new, Who will not give praise, in her own native land, Come back on your palfrey my Lady Dunure, Of the indigo hue, Old Elcine de Aggart has at her command, -Strains of the Mountain Muse, pp. 109, 112. NOTE II.-PAGE 4. GRIERSON OF LAGG. In the persecution that succeeded the restoration of Charles the Second, who vainly hoped, under the less offensive garb of prelacy, to restore the Catholic religion to its pristine splendour in this country, the hero of the foregoing poem (Sir Archibald) was no inferior actor. Many stories similar to those related of him are told of the most obnoxious of the persecutors, from which I have selected the following, recorded of the famous Grierson of Lagg, who, although represented by his contemporaries as having acted like a demon while upon earth, posterity allows to have performed one act of justice after his decease. A man in the parish of New Abbey, who had the lease of a farm from the Laird of Lagg, called on him one day to pay a considerable arrear of rent which had been due; Mr. Grierson took the money, but not being able to write a receipt, desired the farmer to call next day, and be should have it; but ere the sun rose again he had breathed his last. When the funeral was over, the poor man waited on the young laird, and simply stated the transaction with his father. The young gentleman very plausibly informed him that, should he admit of such verbal declarations in lieu of vouchers, he might subject himself to impositions which the whole of his property could not cover; and although he doubted not but that he had spoken truth, yet without payment was made immediately, he would seek redress by legal measures. As the poor man was returning home very disconsolate, a person came up with him in a wood through which he had to pass. They travelled on in silence for some time, when the stranger observed that he appeared to be very low-spirited, and begged that he would inform him of the cause, as he might perhaps have it in his power to serve him. The farmer replied, that when he imagined he was in low spirits he was right; but that he was afraid no human aid could be of any service to him: but to gratify him, he would acquaint him with the whole cause of his melancholy; then told him his story, as before stated. The stranger observed that the case was a very singular one, but not so hopeless as he imagined, and said, that if he would go with him a small distance into the wood, he thought something might be done that d would in a great measure obviate his present difficulty. It being near midnight, and very dark, the farmer startled at the proposal, and drew back, when his unknown companion assured him he had nothing to fear, and that, if he followed him, he would re-conduct him to the place where they then stood, in a very short time. The farmer began to consider, that as matters then stood with him, no change could possibly be for the worse, and declared himself ready to proceed. His guide then dashed into the wood, with the mazes of which he seemed to be well acquainted. They soon came to the gate of a majestic castle, which was opened to them by a man who had been many years porter to the Laird of Lagg, but who had been dead several years. In the hall sat Patie Birnie, the famous fiddler of Kinghorn, tuning his violin, in order to play after supper to a large company, who were assembled in an upper apartment of the castle. As the farmer followed his guide, he saw several ladies and gentlemen, with whom he had been formerly acquainted, all of whom had taken a very active part in the persecution; at last he entered a room, where, to his utter astonishment, he saw Lagg seated at a table, with a large bundle of papers before him, and apparently busied in arranging them. His guide then addressed Lagg, and informed him that this was the person he had sent him for; upon which the Laird wrote a receipt for the money he had received on the day of his death, and gave it to the farmer, telling him he had only to go next day and present it to his heir, and inform him that he had received it when he made payment, but that it had escaped his memory. The farmer bowed, and returned with his guide, who soon placed him on his road, wished him good night, and left him. The man went home in a state of mind not easily to be described; and next morning, when reflecting on the whole transaction of the preceding evening, considered it as a hideous phantasm of the brain, till, putting his hand into his pocket, he drew out a receipt, fairly written in the hand of his deceased landlord. His joy then knew no bounds; he instantly set off, and presented his voucher, which was received upon telling his story as directed. It only remains to be stated, that although the most diligent search was made, no castle could be discovered in the wood; nor had the oldest inhabitant of the neighbourhood ever heard of a house being either in the forest or in its purlieu, except the solitary cottage of a peasant. Sir Walter, in one of his notes on Redgauntlet, accounting for the story told by the blind fiddler, says, "I have heard in my youth some such wild tale as that placed in the mouth of the blind fiddler, of which I think the hero was Sir Robert Grierson of Lagg, the famous persecntor." But as the above story was given to Mr. Train by his friend Captain Denniston, it is more than probable that Sir Walter had confounded what he read eighteen years before with the recollection of tales told him in his youth. NOTE III.-PAGE 15. IMAGE OF ST. FLANNING. "When the image," says Mr. Train, "disappeared from the public eye at the Reformation it was taken secretly into the possession of a poor family in the neighbourhood, who in a short time, by frugal industry, became more wealthy than any of their neighbours, but it being at last discovered that they were in possession of the image of the Irish Saint, the im provement in their circumstances was wholly ascribed to the tutelary protection of St. Flanning. "The desire of wealth soon gained so great an ascendancy over religious tenets, that the most stern reformers in the barony claimed as their right to take the image of the Saint at certain periods, or on particular occasions, into their possession; till at length the idol became the joint property of all the people of the community; but out of the bounds of the barony nothing could tempt them to allow it to be taken even a single step. "The peasants of the surrounding country imagined that the people of Saint Flanning were the happiest individuals in the universe. They thought they saw their sheep fatter than those of any other district; their women and children more healthy; and their property increase more rapidly-all which was ascribed to the particular care the Saint had taken of them for preserving his image after almost every other of a similar description in the country had been destroyed. |