[A composite volume : containing The ballads and songs of Ayrshire ...

\ He might as weU die on the gallows as anywhere else. As predicted by
j
;
;
at several miles distance, and the collie was sure to separate it from the
\ rest—driving it away round the hills, apart from his master altogether, l
\ so as to prevent suspicion, till they met at a convenient spot heyond obser- I
\ vation. Sheep-lifting was then a more heinous crime in the eye of the law
|
I
than it is at present,
and few found guilty of the offence escaped the gal-
|
I
lows. Gilchrist being a native of Auchinleok parish—or at least of the !
neighbourhood — probably caused Boswell to take a greater interest in his
^
fate ; and, as already stated, he twice succeeded in pleading his cause so
j
well that no condemnation followed. The last time, however, he seriously
I
warned him to refrain from his mal-pi"actices in future ; for it was not at
all probable he could be again so fortunate. Gilchrist thanked his bene-
\ factor for his advice ; but in the genuine spirit of a freebooter, candidly
I
admitted that he could not forbear the lifting of sheep. It had become
natural to him, he said,
and if he must be hanged he could not help it,
Boswell, the third time did not prove canny for honest Gilchrist. He \
> was tried, condemned, and executed. The portrait of him at Auchinleck j
\ was taken while he lay in prison. He seems to have been a person of ^
\ considerable intellect ; but the eye wears an expression of determination \
characteristic of the man.
m^t ^m\z of uou^oun ^!n.
You'l marvel when I tell ye o'
Our noble Burly, and his train
When last he march'd up thro' the land,
Wi* sax-and-twenty westland men.
Than they I ne'er o' braver heard.
For they had a' baith wit and skill
They proved right well, as I heard tell,
As they cam' up o'er Loudoun Hill.
Weel prosper a' the gospel lads,
That are into the west countrie ;