of Sir Thomas Kennedy of Cullayne, and also of the actual murder of the lad' Dalrymple. Bannatyne and the younger Mure were found guilty of the latter crime, and all three were sentenced to be beheaded. Bannatyne, however, the accomplice, received the King's pardon, in consequence of his voluntary surrender and confession. The two Mures were both executed. The younger was affected by the remonstrances of the clergy who attended him, and he confessed the guilt of which he was accused. The father, also, was at length brought to avow the fact, but in other respects died as impenitent as he had lived; and so ended this dark and extraordinary tragedy. The Lord Advocate of the day, Sir Thomas Hamilton, afterwards successively Earl of Melrose and of Haddington, seems to have busied himself much in drawing up a statement of this foul transaction, for the purpose of vindicating to the people of Scotland the severe course of justice observed by King James VI. He assumes the task in a high tone of prerogative law, and, on the whole, seems at a loss whether to attribute to Providence, or to his most sacred Majesty, the greatest share in bringing to light these mysterious villanies, but rather inclines to the latter opinion. There is, I believe, no printed copy of the intended tract, which seems never to have been published; but the curious will be enabled to judge of it, as it appears in the next fasciculus of Mr. Robert Pitcairn's very interesting publications from the Scottish Criminal Record. The family of Auchindrane did not become extinct on the death of the two homicides. The last descendant existed in the eighteenth century, a poor and distressed man. The following anecdote shows that he had a strong feeling of his situation. There was in front of the old castle a huge ash-tree, called the Dule-tree (mourning tree) of Auchindrane, probably because it was the place where the Baron executed the criminals who fell under his jurisdiction. It is described as having been the finest tree of the neighbourhood. This last representative of the family of Auchindrane had the misfortune to be arrested for payment of a small debt; and, unable to discharge it, was prepared to accompany the messenger (bailiff) to the jail of Ayr. The servant of the law had compassion for his prisoner, and offered to accept of this remarkable tree as of value adequate to the discharge of the debt. 'What!' said the debtor, "Sell the Dule-tree of Auchindrane! I will sooner die in the worst dungeon of your prison.' In this luckless character the line of Auchindrane ended. The family, blackened with the crimes of its predecessors, became extinct, and the estate passed into other hands. Address to Ranald Macdonald, 719. Alice Brand, 243. Allen-a-dale, 342. An Hour with Thee, 828. Auchindrane, or the Ayrshire Tra- Ballads from the German, 630. Bothwell's Sisters Three, 695. Brooch of Lorn, The, 422. Cadyow Castle, 667. Carle, now the King's Come, 747. Dance of Death, The, 725. Death of Keeldar, The, 755. Dying Bard, The, 704. Farewell, The, 361. Fragment from Ariosto, 772. Francis Osbaldistone's Lines to the Frederick and Alice, 640. of Sir Thomas Kennedy of Cullayne, and also of the actual murder of the lad' Dalrymple. Bannatyne and the younger Mure were found guilty of the latter crime, and all three were sentenced to be beheaded. Bannatyne, however, the accomplice, received the King's pardon, in consequence of his voluntary surrender and confession. The two Mures were both executed. The younger was affected by the remonstrances of the clergy who attended him, and he confessed the guilt of which he was accused. The father, also, was at length brought to avow the fact, but in other respects died as impenitent as he had lived;-and so ended this dark and extraordinary tragedy. The Lord Advocate of the day, Sir Thomas Hamilton, afterwards successively Earl of Melrose and of Haddington, seems to have busied himself much in drawing up a statement of this foul transaction, for the purpose of vindicating to the people of Scotland the severe course of justice observed by King James VI. He assumes the task in a high tone of prerogative law, and, on the whole, seems at a loss whether to attribute to Providence, or to his most sacred Majesty, the greatest share in bringing to light these mysterious villanies, but rather inclines to the latter opinion. There is, I believe, no printed copy of the intended tract, which seems never to have been published; but the curious will be enabled to judge of it, as it appears in the next fasciculus of Mr. Robert Pitcairn's very interesting publications from the Scottish Criminal Record. The family of Auchindrane did not become extinct on the death of the two homicides. The last descendant existed in the eighteenth century, a poor and distressed man. The following anecdote shows that he had a strong feeling of his situation. There was in front of the old castle a huge ash-tree, called the Dule-tree (mourning tree) of Auchindrane, probably because it was the place where the Baron executed the criminals who fell under his jurisdiction. It is described as having been the finest tree of the neighbourhood. This last representative of the family of Auchindrane had the misfortune to be arrested for payment of a small debt; and, unable to discharge it, was prepared to accompany the messenger (bailiff) to the jail of Ayr. The servant of the law had compassion for his prisoner, and offered to accept of this remarkable tree as of value adequate to the discharge of the debt. 'What!' said the debtor, "Sell the Dule-tree of Auchindrane! I will sooner die in the worst dungeon of your prison.' In this luckless character the line of Auchindrane ended. The family, blackened with the crimes of its predecessors, became extinct, and the estate passed into other hands. Address to Ranald Macdonald, 719. Alice Brand, 243. Allen-a-dale, 342. An Hour with Thee, 828. Auchindrane, or the Ayrshire Tragedy, 922. Ballads from the German, 630. Bothwell's Sisters Three, 695. Brooch of Lorn, The, 422. Cadyow Castle, 667. Carle, now the King's Come, 747. Dance of Death, The, 725. Death of Keeldar, The, 755. Dying Bard, The, 704. Farewell, The, 361. Farewell to Mackenzie, 722. Fragment from Ariosto, 772. Frederick and Alice, 640. |