John accordingly surrendered himself, and, loaded with irons, was lodged in the Tolbooth.
In due time he was brought to trial for aiding the escape of a State prisoner, and Cromwell was present as President. Said he—‘There is no doubt that the servant has duly forfeited his life, but his conduct and fidelity, which went to release his master, and perhaps have saved his life, were of so high a character, and so heroic, that if this man were put to death for qualities so valuable and so commendable, and particularly seeing that nothing hurtful resulted to the State from his doings, it would discourage every faithful servant from doing his duty. I therefore propose that, for the sake of justice, John Mackay, the prisoner at the bar, shall be condemned to death; but that, under the circumstances of the case, the punishment shall be remitted, and Mackay shall leave the bar a free man.’
During the time that John Mackay was digesting the speech of Cromwell, the latter was taking a steady look of the former, when he exclaimed to those around him, while he remarked Mackay’s fierce aspect and athletic form—‘May I ever be kept from the devil’s and that man’s grasp.’ On the other hand, John’s remark on Cromwell, whom he had as carefully noticed, was—‘The deil’s no sae doure as he’s ca’ed.’
THE CUMMINGS OF BADENOCH.
The Cummings were always a turbulent and haughty race, who for many generations inhabited the wilds of Strathspey and Badenoch. One of them upon a time claimed the throne of Scotland; and the deceitful wretch, who, after having entered into a mutual bond with Robert the Bruce (the great deliverer of Scotland from English oppression and tyranny, and who for ever established the independence of his country), for the deliverance of their common country, betrayed him to Edward. Bruce, however, managed to get away from the English court, and meeting the deceitful Cumming in the church of the Grey Friars in Dumfries, on the 10th of February 1305, a warm altercation took place, in the course of which Bruce charged the Comyn, as he was called, with treachery to himself and his country. The Comyn returned an insulting answer, when Bruce instantly stabbed him with his dagger on the steps of the high altar. The Cummings and the Shaws were always at feud with each other, the latter, being the weaker, at least in point of numbers, always getting the worst of it; and on one occasion their chief was murdered by their inveterate enemies and oppressors, the Cummings. A general slaughter took place at this particular period; but Shaw’s only child, a boy of only a few months old, escaped, he having fallen into the hands of a devoted female dependent of the family, who, to secure him from danger and to avoid the general carnage, made off across hills and mountains, through moors and forests, to the residence of the laird of Strathardale in the Highlands of Perthshire, whom she knew as an old and trusted friend of her late chief. She arrived, after much fatigue and many hardships, at the ‘Baron’s’ residence; informed him of the cruel fate of her late master, and the flower of his clan; how she escaped with her precious charge, and entreated Strathardale, for the love he bore the late Rothiemurchus, and the long and intimate friendship which had existed between them, to take charge of his youthful son, and save him from the savage clutches of the Cummings. Matters were soon arranged to the satisfaction of both parties, and the faithful woman went home quite satisfied that the youth would be well attended to, and brought up among Strathardale’s own children, as befitted the rightful and youthful heir of Rothiemurchus.
She returned to her own country in due time, found all her old acquaintances and friends slaughtered or trampled upon, and scourged by the blood-thirsty and cruel Cummings; all the ancient possessions of the Shaws ruled by and, apparently, in the everlasting possession of the inveterate enemies of her kith and kin. Years and days passed away, and those days and years added growth and vigour to the young heir, who, until he attained to years of discretion, was carefully kept in the dark as to the real and true nature of his birthright. When at last it was revealed to him, his whole soul seemed to have been roused, and he determined to spend his whole time and all the energies of his body and mind to prepare and carry out a scheme for the recovery of his ancient patrimony, to contest his claim with the proud and haughty house of Cumming, and avenge the cruel murder of his father and kinsmen.
In due time young Shaw decided upon paying a visit to his native district to ascertain the real state of matters, and if possible to wrench from his enemies the heritage which they had so long and so unjustly possessed. Arriving at Rothiemurchus, after a most perilous journey and escorted by a strong body of followers, he lost no time in calling upon his benefactor, Janet Shaw, whose history, antecedents, and devoted conduct to himself in his early days he had learnt from his Perthshire protector. He was directed to her lonely cottage, the door of which he found strongly bolted from the inside. He at once announced himself and begged to be admitted, but his voice was quite strange to Janet’s ear. No amount of entreaty or persuasion would induce her to unbolt the door until she had satisfactory proof that she was not being deceived; for poor Janet had good reason to have little faith in her surroundings. She could not bring herself to believe that her old protégé could be so foolhardy as to appear in the district among the sworn enemies of his race. Shaw, however, continued to insist upon his individuality, and at last Janet told him to exhale his breath through the keyhole and she would thus soon satisfy herself as to his identity. Doubting this singular and delicate mode of recognition on the part of Janet, Shaw requested one of his attendants to supply his place in the first experiment. This done Janet at once firmly and sternly resented the attempt made to deceive her by one who, she said, must be an enemy trying to secure an entrance to her place of abode with no good intention, and told him ‘Bi falbh, bi falbh, a chealgaire, cha’n eil gaoth t’ainealach ach fuaraidh an aite anail mhilis, bhlasda leanaban mo ghaoil’ (Be off, be off, deceitful wretch, the odour of your breath is but cold in comparison with the sweet and savoury breath of my own beloved child). Shaw could no longer trifle with the feelings of one whom he discovered had still continued to take such an interest in him, and he felt vexed that he had acted in, what might be construed by Janet, such a heartless manner. He asked her to give him another chance to meet her in her own way, explained the hoax to her, breathed through the keyhole himself, satisfied the devoted Janet that he was really ‘her own beloved child,’ when, with an exclamation of joy, she unbolted and threw open the door, warmly saluted and received him in her arms, and bedewed him with tears of affection. For the moment his manhood failed him, and the two wept—it is difficult to decide whether most in consequence of the vivid recollections brought up of misfortune and misery in the past, or from a spontaneous outburst of joy in meeting one another in such peculiar circumstances, after such a long, and as Janet believed, permanent separation.