unresisting fugitives. One of my ancestors brought from the
battlefield the remnant of the standard; a formidable musquet--
"Gun Bothwell" we afterwards called it; an Andrea Ferrara; and a
powder-horn. I still preserve these remnants of the civil war.

My ancestor was condemned to death in his absence, and his property at
Netherton was confiscated. What became of him during the remainder of
Charles II.'s reign, and the reign of that still greater tormentor,
James II., I do not know. He was probably, like many others, wandering
about from place to place, hiding "in wildernesses or caves, destitute,
afflicted, and tormented." The arrival of William III. restored
religious liberty to the country, and Scotland was again left in
comparative peace.

My ancestor took refuge in Edinburgh, but he never recovered his
property at Netherton. The Duke of Hamilton, one of the trimmers of
the time, had long coveted the possession of the lands, as Ahab had
coveted Naboth's vineyard. He took advantage of the conscription of
the men engaged in the Bothwell Brig conflict, and had the lands
forfeited in his favour. I remember my father telling me that, on one
occasion when he visited the Duke of Hamilton in reference to some
improvement of the grounds adjoining the palace, he pointed out to the
Duke the ruined remains of the old residence of the Naesmyths. As the
first French Revolution was then in full progress, when ideas of
society and property seemed to have lost their bearings, the Duke
good-humouredly observed, "Well, well, Naesmyth, there's no saying but
what, some of these days, your ancestors' lands may come into your
possession again!"

Before I quit the persecutions of "the good old times," I must refer to