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lay morals-第21章

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se; then  we are not obliged to fight for it。  They say;〃 said he;  〃that Dukes; Earles; and Lords are coming with the King's  General against us; bot they shall be nothing bot a threshing  to us。〃  This grace did more fullie satisfie me of the folly  and injustice of their cause; then the ale did quench my  thirst。' (5)

Frequently the rebels made a halt near some roadside  alehouse; or in some convenient park; where Colonel Wallace;  who had now taken the command; would review the horse and  foot; during which time Turner was sent either into the  alehouse or round the shoulder of the hill; to prevent him  from seeing the disorders which were likely to arise。  He  was; at last; on the 25th day of the month; between Douglas  and Lanark; permitted to behold their evolutions。  'I found  their horse did consist of four hundreth and fortie; and the  foot of five hundreth and upwards。 。 。 。 The horsemen were  armed for most part with suord and pistoll; some onlie with  suord。  The foot with musket; pike; sith (scythe); forke; and  suord; and some with suords great and long。'  He admired much  the proficiency of their cavalry; and marvelled how they had  attained to it in so short a time。 (6)

At Douglas; which they had just left on the morning of this  great wapinshaw; they were charged … awful picture of  depravity! … with the theft of a silver spoon and a  nightgown。  Could it be expected that while the whole country  swarmed with robbers of every description; such a rare  opportunity for plunder should be lost by rogues … that among  a thousand men; even though fighting for religion; there  should not be one Achan in the camp?  At Lanark a declaration  was drawn up and signed by the chief rebels。  In it occurs  the following:

'The just sense whereof ' … the sufferings of the country …  'made us choose; rather to betake ourselves to the fields for  self…defence; than to stay at home; burdened daily with the  calamities of others; and tortured with the fears of our own  approaching misery。' (7)

The whole body; too; swore the Covenant; to which ceremony  the epitaph at the head of this chapter seems to refer。

A report that Dalzell was approaching drove them from Lanark  to Bathgate; where; on the evening of Monday the 26th; the  wearied army stopped。  But at twelve o'clock the cry; which  served them for a trumpet; of 'Horse! horse!' and 'Mount the  prisoner!' resounded through the night…shrouded town; and  called the peasants from their well…earned rest to toil  onwards in their march。  The wind howled fiercely over the  moorland; a close; thick; wetting rain descended。  Chilled to  the bone; worn out with long fatigue; sinking to the knees in  mire; onward they marched to destruction。  One by one the  weary peasants fell off from their ranks to sleep; and die in  the rain…soaked moor; or to seek some house by the wayside  wherein to hide till daybreak。  One by one at first; then in  gradually increasing numbers; at every shelter that was seen;  whole troops left the waning squadrons; and rushed to hide  themselves from the ferocity of the tempest。  To right and  left nought could be descried but the broad expanse of the  moor; and the figures of their fellow…rebels; seen dimly  through the murky night; plodding onwards through the sinking  moss。  Those who kept together … a miserable few … often  halted to rest themselves; and to allow their lagging  comrades to overtake them。  Then onward they went again;  still hoping for assistance; reinforcement; and supplies;  onward again; through the wind; and the rain; and the  darkness … onward to their defeat at Pentland; and their  scaffold at Edinburgh。  It was calculated that they lost one  half of their army on that disastrous night…march。

Next night they reached the village of Colinton; four miles  from Edinburgh; where they halted for the last time。 (8)


(1) A CLOUD OF WITNESSES; p。 376。 (2) Wodrow; pp。 19; 20。 (3) A HIND LET LOOSE; p。 123。 (4) Turner; p。 163。 (5) Turner; p。 198。 (6) IBID。 p。 167。 (7) Wodrow; p。 29。 (8) Turner; Wodrow; and CHURCH HISTORY by James Kirkton; an  outed minister of the period。



THE PENTLAND RISING  CHAPTER IV … RULLION GREEN



'From Covenanters with uplifted hands; From Remonstrators with associate bands; Good Lord; deliver us!' ROYALIST RHYME; KIRKTON; p。 127。


LATE on the fourth night of November; exactly twenty…four  days before Rullion Green; Richard and George Chaplain;  merchants in Haddington; beheld four men; clad like West… country Whigamores; standing round some object on the ground。   It was at the two…mile cross; and within that distance from  their homes。  At last; to their horror; they discovered that  the recumbent figure was a livid corpse; swathed in a blood… stained winding…sheet。 (1)  Many thought that this apparition  was a portent of the deaths connected with the Pentland  Rising。

On the morning of Wednesday; the 28th of November 1666; they  left Colinton and marched to Rullion Green。  There they  arrived about sunset。  The position was a strong one。  On the  summit of a bare; heathery spur of the Pentlands are two  hillocks; and between them lies a narrow band of flat marshy  ground。  On the highest of the two mounds … that nearest the  Pentlands; and on the left hand of the main body … was the  greater part of the cavalry; under Major Learmont; on the  other Barscob and the Galloway gentlemen; and in the centre  Colonel Wallace and the weak; half…armed infantry。  Their  position was further strengthened by the depth of the valley  below; and the deep chasm…like course of the Rullion Burn。

The sun; going down behind the Pentlands; cast golden lights  and blue shadows on their snow…clad summits; slanted  obliquely into the rich plain before them; bathing with rosy  splendour the leafless; snow…sprinkled trees; and fading  gradually into shadow in the distance。  To the south; too;  they beheld a deep…shaded amphitheatre of heather and  bracken; the course of the Esk; near Penicuik; winding about  at the foot of its gorge; the broad; brown expanse of Maw  Moss; and; fading into blue indistinctness in the south; the  wild heath…clad Peeblesshire hills。  In sooth; that scene was  fair; and many a yearning glance was cast over that peaceful  evening scene from the spot where the rebels awaited their  defeat; and when the fight was over; many a noble fellow  lifted his head from the blood…stained heather to strive with  darkening eyeballs to behold that landscape; over which; as  over his life and his cause; the shadows of night and of  gloom were falling and thickening。

It was while waiting on this spot that the fear…inspiring cry  was raised: 'The enemy!  Here come the enemy!'

Unwilling to believe their own doom … for our insurgents  still hoped for success in some negotiations for peace which  had been carried on at Colinton … they called out; 'They are  some of our own。'

'They are too blacke ' (I。E。 numerous); 'fie! fie! for ground  to draw up on;' cried Wallace; fully realising the want of  space for his men; and proving that it was not till after  this time that his forces were finally arranged。 (2)

First of all the battle was commenced by fifty Royalist horse  sent obliquely across
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