Thieves a’, thieves a’.
Frae Annadale haughs to Tiverton ha’,
Set your backs unto the wa’,
Raise your brands an’ bang them a’,
Thieves a’, thieves a’. — Scraps.
It is well known through all the south of Scotland that there was once a powerful clan of the surname of Laidlaw, settled in the upper parts of Teviotdale, about the sources of the river Borthwick. Craik was their chief place of abode, but they had likewise all the land in its vicinity, which they held of Scott of Branxholm, on a curious tenure, still preserved by one of their descendants, of
“Twenty stotis, twenty steris,
Twenty domperis, twenty deris,
Twenty coggaris, twenty meris,
Twenty men all the yeris.”
NO INDENT And for this they were to have in possession, from year to year, as long as this motley rental was paid,
“All the Craik and Cribble Law,
Evil Rigg and Metishawe,
Craig’s Hope and Berrye-beile,
Wolf Cleuch and Kaiphill-sheele,
With lefe to hunt, and lefe to brewe,
Lefe to delfe, and lee to plew,
Lefe to selle, and lefe to strayne,
But never lefe to gif agayn.”
This is written in a sort of pass-book — that being the only lease given or required, — and on it there are many subsequent markings quite unintelligible; but there is a codicil with a date of 1537, bearing, that instead of twenty men to be at the laird’s call every day of the year, they were to have fifty men at three days’ warning. Of this curious document I have no copy, but it proves that the Laidlaws were a clan of considerable power at that time, and every family of the name in Scotland can trace their origin from Craik, or its vicinity, to this day. Of their final ejection from that place there remains among the people the following tradition: —
The Laidlaws were known to be a subordinate clan, brought and sustained there by the lairds of Buccleuch. Of course they acknowledged no other chief. But they had always a head of their own name who led them to the field. It appears that for ages this chief’s name continued to be William; and it is generally still the name of the eldest sons, or elder branches of families.
Well, it happened in the course of a great east-border feud that one of these Williams, the captain of the Laidlaws, slew a lady with his own hand who was making her escape with the family heir. It was a rash deed, done in a moment, and dearly repented. The mortally-wounded lady turned her dying eyes upon her ruthless assassin, proclaimed a curse and woful doom upon him, and from that moment Laidlaw’s peace of mind was gone for ever. He was a man advanced in years, having several grown sons and daughters; and on the very day of his return home to Craik, he resigned the leader’s sword and casque to his son William, testifying his resolution of living a life of humility and repentance. It was in vain that his sons and brethren represented to him that it was the chance of war to a mortal enemy, who had slain a member of their own 195 near relations; he only answered them by internal groans, and beckoning to be left in silence.
A short time after this, as Laidlaw was walking at even, down by the partings of Borthwick, he perceived a lady coming from his own house towards him, with a babe in her arms. He did not like her appearance, for she came towards him with such a slow and stately gait; and therefore he changed his course, and took another road home. He walked up the side of the burn where it joins the river, but again perceiving her meeting him there he turned downward, and took a road that lay between two fields of corn. In the mean time she glided across the field, and advanced to meet him on that path likewise.
Laidlaw did not exactly like to make a break through the corn for fear of a woman, though he felt a strong disposition to do so; he therefore put on a resolution, and met her. When she came nigh, she beckoned to him, as one who wished to be addressed; but when he looked at her, he saw that he looked upon the face of a corpse. He saw the wound upon her breast, and then he knew her; and the babe appeared to be dead also. This was too much for the old man. He tried to move off, but could do nothing but stumble and fall; and constantly as he lifted his eyes towards home, he perceived her before him, till at last, losing all power, he wrapped his head in his plaid and threw himself down; and in that position he was found by his sons, about midnight, quite insensible.
He told them next day what he had seen, assuring them that his end was nigh at hand, he having had a visit from beyond the grave; and he charged all his sons, leaving it as a command to them and theirs for ever, never to lift a hand against either a women or child, whatever might be the motive or provocation. Sacredly was this precept kept by the Laidlaws, and many pleasant instances are there on record of their exertions in behalf of their vow. But at this time old Laidlaw’s horrors were but beginning; for his state of mind became such, that he was never left alone, either 196 by day or night, but this apparition of the lady and child appeared to him; and at length, when kept constantly in society, it appeared to those that were with him as well as himself. It was now judged by all requisite to speak to the phantom, but, strange as it may appear, not one of the clan ever could muster resolution at the moment to do it, till the old goodwife of Craik did it herself, asking the lady, in the name of the Most High, what was her business with her and her household?
“I must go where I am commissioned, and do as I am bid,” said the phantom.
“Have you any thing to tell us?” said the goodwife, fearfully.
“Yes,” said the apparition, “I have to inform your husband there, who thinks he has left the lands of Oxnam and Kail without an heir, and without an inhabitant, that in spite of all he hath done, these lands shall still be possessed by the rightful owners. And while he thinks the Laidlaws are secure in their ample possessions, I have to inform him that ere the fourth generation from himself pass away, there shall not be one of the name left in their present habitations.”
“Well, the will of the Lord be done!” said the goodwife. “And who is to effect this?”
“I will effect it,” said the apparition, lifting her pale hand, and shaking it terrifically in the view of the old woman; and, having done this, she glided away, not by the door, but into the closet where the old couple slept. From that day forth, though the lady and child were reported to have been occasionally seen, yet her visits were neither so frequent or obvious; but no Laidlaw durst ever more enter that closet. Even the goodwife, with all her courage, durst never follow the spirit into that recess, and as they believed it still to be an inhabitant of the house, their minds were so much overpowered with awe that they left it altogether, removing to the place where the farm-house at present stands.
This singular event, to which it is now the fashion to refuse belief, at all events served to imbue the character 197 of the Laidlaws with a tinge of superstition, deepening the sombre hues even of that age of imaginary terrors. Their character, as warriors, was a little marked with ferocity, but invincible bravery and determination none could deny to them; but in all that related to beings of a supernatural order they ultimately became the slaves of alarm and distraction, and by degrees there was scarcely a dell in all their remote glens that was not believed to be the haunt of some particular spirit, or even of whole hordes of them; and a woman with a child in her arms would at any time, even at noonday, have caused a Laidlaw to turn out of his way.
Shortly after the period that the above-narrated event happened, a bellandine, or reiving expedition, was proclaimed by the laird, and fifty Laidlaws hastened to his standard. To the great joy of the clan, old Will went at the head of the Laidlaws once more; but, as will appear in the sequel, this proved a dear reiving to them. The men having mustered with considerable strength, they set forth against the rebel Douglas, when a most desperate engagement occurred at a place called Kirkmyllie. The Laidlaws were led by the laird’s eldest son, a young knight of great bravery. They formed his right-hand troop, and at the beginning of the fray they broke in upon the Angus men with such fury, that they could not be supported by the rest of the army, until they were surrounded, and a great number of them cut off. Sir John Johnston, Buccleuch’s brother-in-law, came up first to the rescue, but he came too late. His brave nephew had fallen. Elliot of Lariston had also fallen, as well as old William of Craik himself, with one-half of his whole company. The latter wrought such prodigies of desperate valour that day, and appeared so reckless, that it was manifestly his wish to fall on the field of fame, and yet to sell his life as dear as he could. He was buried on the same field, with thirteen of his kinsmen on either hand, but I have never yet been able to discover where this field of Kirkmyllie is situated.
Fatal as this intrepid onset proved to the heroes that 198 made the assault, it had the effect of turning the day completely against the Douglases. The shock that it gave their left wing was so rapidly followed up by the Johnstons, that it was broken ere ever Buccleuch had begun the attack on the other, and the Douglases were put down with great slaughter. The knight of Buccleuch received great praise from his sovereign for this exploit, and also extensive grants of land, which were far better; and as the Laidlaws had suffered so severely with his beloved son, they became greater favourites than ever. Their present captain was lame, having been wounded in the battle with the Douglases, and the clan was led by his uncle, Wat of Eelrig, commonly called Gurly Wat, from his fierce, unbending temper.
AFTER this, the Laidlaws finding that they were become favourite vassals of their chief, and deeming themselves necessary ones, became troublesome and overbearing neighbours, and many complaints were lodged at Branxholm Castle against them. Among others, there was a bitter animosity rose between them and the Scotts of Hawpasby, who were at that time near kinsmen to the chief, and threats and broken heads were matters of daily occurrence. This must have been a considerable time subsequent to the death of the first William Laidlaw mentioned; as the head, or principal tacksman, was then actually the fourth from him. But as every thing was prospering with the clan, the ghost’s prophecy had worn out of mind.
Now it so happened at this time, that though there was peace on the border nominally, yet frays on a small scale were never more frequent; and, among others, the Laidlaws made a desperate moonlight raid 199 into Cumberland, and drove from thirty to forty fine bullocks from the lands of Musgrave of Longwell. Musgrave complained to the English warden, who gave him men, and ordered a pursuit, and these troopers traced the cattle till they came to the house of Walter Scott, of Hawpasby, whom they charged with the theft, threatening to carry off himself and every thing that he possessed. Scott declared himself true man and leel, and proffered, if one of Musgrave’s beasts was found with him, to yield up to them all the cattle he possessed. But it so happened, that either through chance or design, two of the cattle were actually found on the lands of Hawpasby.
On this discovery being made, Scott fell to accusing the Laidlaws, and assured the Englishmen that they were the thieves, else those cattle could not have been there, and proffering, at the same time, to assist Musgrave in the recovery of his own. Musgrave showed him an order from Scroop, signed by a depute of the Lord Maxwell’s, to reive, harry, burn, and destroy the thieves, wherever they were found. This pleased Hawpasby exceedingly, as he thought he now had a fair and safe opportunity of rooting out his inveterate foes, or, at all events, of harrying them completely. So he took Musgrave in, and told him that they were a hardy and dangerous race, who kept a watch over their herds and flocks every night; that at the sound of a horn, a hundred men would appear, well armed, in the course of half an hour; and that it was, therefore, absolutely necessary to deal with them by stratagem. “But I know a secret,” added Scott, “that is not known to every one, and will take in hand to drive every watcher from his charge before eleven at night, and then your men and my own must be expeditious, and leave not one hoof or horn on all the fair possessions of the Laidlaws.”
The proposal pleased the Englishmen well. The neighbouring Scotts were called together, and joined with the pursuers, and after dark they marched off in a body, Walter Scott of Hawpasby going about a mile 200 before them to clear off the watchers, as he had promised. First clothing himself in a white sheet from head to foot, he then tied a white gauze napkin over his face, put a woman’s kerchief on his head, and took a pillow below his arm for a baby. This last was said to have been a masterpiece of its kind. It had a piece of white tape worked straight round it for a neck, a child’s cap on its head, and, with its smooth white face, was as feasible a ghost of a bairn as could well be conceived. They went to the farthest watcher first, on the east end of the Crib-law. His name was Alexander, who, as soon as he saw this unearthly-looking lady and child approaching him in the bright moonlight, left his charge and fled like a wild deer, uttering exclamations of horror and short fervent prayers all the way. Scott likewise ran, keeping as it were between him and the house, which drove the poor fellow away on the wings of terror nobody knew where; for though many were the sublime sounds heard and forms seen by the Laidlaws in the cloud of mist or the moonlight glen, yet all this only made their hairs stand on end, or excited to a strain of devotion; but the ghost of a lady and a child was to them the acmé of every thing horrible in nature, the bane and terror of their whole race; and some say, though I hardly believe it, that the poor scared man ran on to the end of his life, without looking back to Craik or any thing that belonged to him.
The Englishmen and their allies now seized on this forestand of cattle, and drove them off to the southward. The next watcher they found on a spot which has often been pointed out to the writer of this. It was near to the point where the farms of Wolf-Cleugh Craik and Craik Hope now meet. His name was David Laidlaw, one of the stoutest and bravest of his race, but a man well advanced in years. When this old borderer perceived the gigantic and hideous form of the lady and child approaching, he was seized with the same indescribable terror as his relative, and casting every thing from him ran towards the valley in the utmost terror. Tooting-horn, sword, and all were left behind, and, in 201 the plenitude of his fear, instead of running homeward, he ran in the contrary direction, not knowing what he did. But this was not the way the ghost wanted him to run, because in doing so he came infallibly upon the drove, and would of course discover and disarrange the whole plans of the English.
In order to prevent this the ghost now exerted itself with all its might to keep between David Laidlaw and the Aittes Burn, which the drove was then crossing; but in doing this it overshot the mark, for though David was the prey of superstition he was a man of shrewd common sense; and on climbing a brae on the south side of the cleuch that falls into Aittes Burn, something struck David’s organs of hearing, which riveted him in one moment to the spot. This was no less a phenomenon than the sound of the ghost’s puffing and blowing at a furious rate. “Hurray!” cried David Laidlaw, his fear changing into the height of rage and indignation. “Hurray! D—n—n on it,” shouted he again, and springing down the brae like a bolt of lightning he came full drive on the object of his former terror with such force that he overthrew, down-hill, the ghost and himself at the same time.
The affair now became exceedingly serious; desperate and deadly struggle commenced, but Laidlaw being unarmed and stripped, had the advantage. Hawpasby endeavoured again and again to draw his sword, and by these efforts lost the chances of his superior strength and youth; for David clung to him so closely, that he could make no use of his arms. At length the incensed yeoman pinned Scott to the earth, and fixed on his throat with both hands, insomuch that he had only time and pwoer to call out, in a half-stifled voice, “It is I, David Laidlaw; it is I.” But these were the last words he ever spoke, for Laidlaw handled him so roughly and clutched him so hard about the thorax and windpipe that he died in a few minutes after the other quitted hold of him.
By this time the cry of war was raised, and bullocks’ horns sounded loud and long from the top of every hill. 202 David now hasted back to his charge, and found his plaid, his sword, and his sounding-horn, but the cattle which he watched had entirely disappeared. Great was his perplexity and his indignation, for he never perceived the enormity of his neighbours’ offence till then. So far from being sorry at having killed the ghost, he now wished him alive only that he might kill him over again. The Laidlaws assembled to the amount of one hundred and twelve, pursued the prey, and on their way, at the head of Raphy-grain, met with a body of the Scotts returning under Scott of Langshaw. They attacked this body at once, and slew Langshaw and other seven; nor would one of them have made his escape if the inveterate Laidlaws had had time to pursue them. The Englishmen being deserted by the Scotts as soon as they entered the border territory under the protection of the Lord Maxwell, fell an easy prey to the incensed Laidlaws. The skirmish was fought at a place called to this day the bloody-sike, where but a few were slain on either side, for the Englishmen being taken at a disadvantage soon fled. The Laidlaws had likewise been joined by a body of Potts about the break of day. Musgrave himself was taken prisoner, whom they carried to Craig Hope; and because he would not make over to them a right to all the cattle they had taken from him, and as many more, they cut off his head and buried him on the hill. The Scotts afterwards raised a huge cairn over his grave.
Great then was the outcry against the Laidlaws, both by the Scotts and the English borderers. Two gentlemen of the name of Scott had been slain, both of them related to Buccleuch, and one of them to the house of Thirlstone likewise, and the whole clan cried for vengeance. The cause was heard by the great and judicious Sir Walter, who strove hard to save his old faithful and hardy vassals, and, citing their original bargain, of
“Leave to steal and leave to strain,
But never leave to give again;”
NO INDENT he fairly told his kinsman that “he judged them the 203 greatest aggressors, and if the Laidlaws had acted as they had done in joining with the English foragers to harry his own vassals, he would have punished them severely; but it was against his maxims of border government to punish any set of men for defending their own.”
But the English nobles raised such an outcry against Sir Walter at court, that he was actually taken into custody by King James the Sixth, as I believe, and compelled not only to give David Laidlaw up to the English, but to turn the whole clan from off his territories. He is reported to have expostulated and striven hard against the arrangement, but was at last compelled to submit, and the whole sept was dismissed from Buccleuch’s property, after possessing it as long as he had done himself. He suffered no man, however, to molest them, and they being men rich in flocks and herds, scattered themselves over the neighbouring counties, and took extensive possessions from other proprietors, but all of them, to this day, trace their origin from Borthwick-head. The clan is numerous and respectable, and are still generally noted for hot violent tempers, and uncommon strength and agility of frame.
Thus was the prediction of the ghost literally fulfilled in all its parts; for in the course of the fourth generation there was not one of the Laidlaws left in their former extensive possessions. And as to the ghost having effected it, that was certainly not literally fulfilled; but the whole bore such an analogy to the first superstitious belief, and the death of Hawpasby, who personated the ghost, being one of the primary causes of their dismission, it must, upon the whole, be allowed that few prophecies have been more fully and satisfactorily accomplished.
The Scotts got possession of their lands, and retain a part of them to the present time, but for nearly a century no Laidlaw was admitted on the property. Still there seems to have existed a bond of friendship between the chief and his old trusty vassals; for it is certain, when that same Sir Walter, who expelled them, 204 raised a regiment to assist the Prince of Orange against the Spaniards, that fifty of the Laidlaws at once joined his standard, as usual, though all from the lands of other gentlemen.
After the death of the Duke of Monmouth, however, and the great convulsions that then shook the kingdom, a few families again got possessions under their old hereditary chief; still it is quite apparent that they are not half so numerous on that extensive property as the adjoining districts to the northward. The whole of them still cleave to the pastoral life — as the learned say, Multis terribilis cavito multos.