appointed First Commissioner of the Treasury, with a yearly pension of £1000. After taking an active share in the Civil War at the Restoration he was deprived of the office of Chancellor, and fined 12,000 pounds Scots. He died in 1652, and is interred in the queir of Loudoun Kirk. The third Earl of Loudoun was a Privy Councillor in 1697, and was appointed in 1704 one of the Commissioners of the Treasury, and made a Knight of the Thistle. In the following year he was appointed joint Secretary of State for Scotland, and named one of the commissioners for the Union. In 1708 he was appointed keeper of the great seal in Scotland, with a pension of £2000 a year. In 1715 he was made Lord Lieutenant of Argyleshire, and served as a volunteer under the Duke of Argyle at Sheriffmuir. He was also one of the sixteen Scots representative peers from 1707 to 1731. His countess was a remarkable woman, having greatly improved the grounds around her residence at Sorn Castle, where she died in her hundredth year. Their only son John-the fourth Earl of Loudoun was a distinguished military officer, and sat as a representative peer for forty-eight years. He was a staunch royalist, and in 1745 raised a regiment of highlanders for the service of government, and on the breaking out of the rebellion of that year joined Sir John Cope, under whom he acted as adjutant-general. After taking part in the highland campaign, he was appointed captain-general and governor-in-chief of the province of Virginia, and was constituted commander-in-chief of all the British forces in America. Although thus busily engaged abroad, he was the first agricultural improver of the district of Loudoun. In 1740 he commenced operations by making roads through the parish and causing a bridge to be built over the Irvine. He was also a vigorous planter and encloser, and was the first to introduce foreign trees into the West of Scotland; in fact, he may be said to have bequeathed to Loudoun braes that sylvan beauty for which they are so justly celebrated. During his time ten entire swivel brass cannon marked with the Campbell arms were discovered near to the castle, buried some two feet below the surface of the ground, but how they came to be there was never ascertained. This enterprising nobleman died in 1782, aged seventy-seven years.

N

After lingering about Loudoun Castle for some time I entered the principal avenue and leisurely strolled in the direction of Newmilns. Now the path would pass through a strip of wood and be darkened by the foliage of stately trees, then it would emerge into the open glade and wind along a verdant bank, or down a dell and over a burnie, bickering amongst the brackens. At a shady nook by the side of a little streamlet, a good half-mile distant from the castle, I diverged from the path, passed over the brow of a well-wooded bank, and arrived at the brink of a broad gully which partly encircled a rugged and almost unascendable mound. Descending the chasm, I with difficulty reached the bottom and passed through a luxuriant crop of nettles and up the opposite bank, a feat accomplished by laying hold of whatever would assist my ascent. Gaining the summit, several half-buried blocks of masonry and portions of foundations made known that I stood on the site of the old castle of Loudoun a building which was anterior to any portion of the present magnificent structure. Regarding its history there is nothing authentic known, but it is preserved in the traditional mind that it was burned by the clan Kennedy during a fray. This is very probable, and is partly borne out by the fact that a family on the estate, who have occupied their farm for centuries, claim descent from a noble liegeman, who at the risk of life and limb dashed into the burning pile in spite of chief and clansmen and dragged forth the charter chest of the Loudoun family and bore it off in triumph. This family tradition is somewhat strengthened by history, for a deadly feud existed between the Campbells of Loudoun and the Kennedies of Carrick about the year 1527. During a foray which the former made into the territory of the latter, the Earl of Cassillis was slain, but to avenge his death the Kennedies entered the district of the Campbells on several occasions and laid it waste by fire and sword; therefore it is possible that during one of these raids the old castle was attacked and left a smoking ruin. ballad, from which I make the following extract, was at one time very popular in the district, but as it ascribes the burning of the castle to "Adam o' Gordon and his men," it is probably an adaptation, for it is well known that the wandering minstrels of old, by changing the names of per

A

sons and places, adapted their lays to suit similar incidents in different localities:

Out then spake the Lady Margaret,

As she stood upon the stair-
The fire was at her goud garters,
The low was at her hair-

"I would give the black," she says,
"And so would I the brown,
For a drink o' yon water

That runs by Galston toun."

Out then spake fair Annie,

She was baith gimp and sma', "O row me in a pair o' sheets, And tow me doun the wa'."

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"O hold thy tongue, thou fair Annie,
And let thy talkin' be,

For thou must stay in this fair castle,
And bear thy death with me."

"I would rather be burnt to ashes sma',
And be cast on yon sea foam,

Before I'd give up this fair castle,
And my lord so far from home.

My good lord has an army strong,
He's now gone o'er the sea,
He bade me keep this gay castle
As long as it would keep me.

"I've four-and-twenty braw milk kye
Gangs on yon lily lee,

I'd give them a' for a blast of wind

To blaw the reek from me.'

O pittie on yon fair castle,

That's built o' stone and lime,

But far mair pittie for Lady Loudoun,

And all her children nine.

The scenery in the vicinity of the mound is wild and romantic. After gazing upon it for some time I reluctantly left the spot, and returned to the avenue with my mind made up to go as far as Newmilns, for, as the reader is probably aware, the principal drive through the policies of Loudoun Castle merges into a road which terminates in the ancient village.

CHAPTER XVI.

Loudoun Braes-Newmilns, its appearance, history, and trade-The Radical proclivities of the inhabitants-The old Tower and incidents associated with it-The Parish Church-Norman Macleod-The Churchyard-Interesting Tombstones commemorative of Nisbet of Hardhill and other Covenanting natives of the Parish who suffered during the Persecution-The Workmen's Institute-"The Lass o' Patie's Mill."

BEYOND the site of the old castle the path gradually loses its sylvan beauty and merges into a rough, undulating road which winds over braes that called forth the admiration and awakened the muse of the sweet singer, Tannahill. Since his day they have lost none of their attractions, but appear as verdant and picturesque as they did when he strayed over their heathy summits admiring "Loudoun's bonnie woods," and possibly planning the song which has given them a world-wide celebration. Straying onward, viewing the classical scenery and the finely-wooded slopes of Lanfine, which rise abruptly from the vale lying between it and the Loudoun estate, a walk of some two miles brought me to a turn where the hedge-bordered road ran through a glade and shortly afterwards abruptly terminated at a spot called Bore Brae. From the summit of the brae the spectator looks down upon Newmilns, which lies at his feet in a narrow vale through which the river Irvine winds serpent-like as it passes by the quaint village and through scenery whose magnificence calls forth the admiration of every visitant.

'There as I pass'd with careless steps and slow,
The mingling notes came soften'd from below;
The swain responsive as the milk-maid sung,
The sober herd that lowed to meet their young,
The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool,
The playful children just let loose from school,
The watch-dog's voice that bayed the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind,"

"in sweet confusion" smote my ear as I looked down upon the picturesquely-situated hamlet. No stately building save

*

the Parish Church, which is topped with a beautiful spire, greets the eye, the village being composed nearly wholly of humble, unostentatious buildings, primitive alike in construction and appearance, and totally destitute of architectural beauty. But humble as it is, it has a history which dates back to a very remote period, it having been a place of some little importance when Kilmarnock was an obscure village, and when other towns which surpass it in elegance and importance were almost unknown. A royal charter under the superiority of the Earls of Loudoun was conferred upon it in the reign of James IV., but how it began to be is a matter of uncertainty. Possibly it grew up in the vicinity of grain mills erected on the bank of the river, for its water at this date drives the wheels of not a few as it courses to the sea. The inhabitants have always been noted for their Radical proclivities, and not a few of them have suffered for their enthusiasm in the cause of reform. Several suffered death and many underwent imprisonment for standing up in defence of the Solemn League and Covenant during the troublous times of the persecution; and during the Radical period they were so much dreaded by the Government that a detachment of soldiers was placed in the village to keep them in order, it being considered one of the greatest hotbeds of Radicalism in the country. Newmilns of to-day contains a population of 3028. The inhabitants are mostly engaged in muslin-weaving, and the music of the shuttle has a merry echo in its streets, but it is a wretchedly remunerative employment, the industrious workman being able to earn little over a bare subsistence.

Strolling down Bore Brae, I entered the main street of the village, and found it to be broad and respectable, although somewhat rustic in appearance. Partly concealed behind some houses on its north side, I discovered the oldest building in the place, which consists of a massive square tower of some historic interest, being at one time a residence of the Loudoun family and at another the headquarters of Captain

* Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun had a charter of the lands of Newmilns, with the mill and granary, dated 4th October, 1533.--Paterson's Ayrshire Families.

The Master of Loudoun died in March, 1612. His latter will was made at "the Newmylnes, the sevint day of Merche.' His lady also died the same month and year. Her latter will was made also at "Newmylnes, the penult day of Merche. They seem thus to have resided at the tower of Newmilns.-Ibid.