But with the day of his marriage came a change. On the previous Sunday
news had been brought to Glasgow of an unusually large and well-armed
conventicle to be held at Blacklock, a moor on the borders of
Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire. Dalziel (who was in church when the
message came, but who did not suffer his duty towards God to interfere
with his duty towards man) put the soldiers on the track at once; but
for the next eight-and-forty hours the country from Hamilton northwards
to the ford of Clyde was scoured in vain. The Covenanters marched fast,
and the country folk, many of them probably still fresh from the Test,
kept their secret well. Claverhouse was sent for in haste from Paisley.
He was in the saddle and away before the bridal party could recover from
their first shock of surprise. But even Claverhouse was foiled. His
lieutenant, however, had better luck. Colonel Buchan, as he was
returning to Paisley by way of Lismahago, came upon an ambuscade of two
hundred Covenanters, whose advanced post fired on and wounded one of the
soldiers.[46] "They followed the rogues," wrote Claverhouse to
Queensberry, "and advertised Colonel Buchan; but before he could come
up, our party had lost sight of them. Colonel Buchan is yet in pursuit
and I am just taking horse. I shall be revenged some time or other of
this unseasonable trouble these dogs give me.
Pages:
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135