Agnews of Lochnaw

432 THE EASY- BOOT. [1685.
of the wemen, may as weel doubt the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ."
Mr. Mark Napier, the warm admirer of Claverhouse (whom
he bombastically calls the Great Dundee) ! and the vilifier of all
those who contributed to bring about the " glorious Eevolution of
1688" — assumes as his premises that implicit reliance may
be placed on all Claverhouse's writings and despatches, whilst
all Whig and Presbyterian authors are to be utterly disbelieved.
Hence he not only doubts the drowning of the women upon
Wigtown sands, but he doubts every tale or incident at variance
with his preconceived ideas. As an instance how an earnest man
may bring himself to doubt almost anything — incredible as it
may appear, Mr. Napier doubts whether " the hoot" (the most
dreaded of all tortures) hurt so very much after all ! That we
may not misstate him, we copy his own words : —
" The boot used in Scotland was not made of iron but of
staves of wood clumsily put together. Sometimes a thin leg
escaped suffering. The Scotch boot was a mere flea-bite com-
pared to the iron embrace of the English scavenger's daughter."
Comment on this would be ridiculous ! Satisfactory as it
would be to believe that many good men suffered little from the
boot, and that the two poor martyrs died peaceably in bed,
ordinary mortals cannot by a mere volition of the will believe
only that which happens to be convenient. Mr. Napier's doubts
are about as likely to influence opinion in Galloway as are the
subtler scepticisms of Bishop Colenso. Hard words cannot de-
molish faith in the unbroken tradition of 200 years ; as to winch
most persons will be disposed to agree with the shrewd saying of
Lord Hailes, that — "A lie may live for a day or a year, but it
will hardly pass from father to son for near a century." 1
1 Mr. Napier is certainly not choice in his language. We firmly believe that
the terrible Claverhouse would have written of those who differed from him in
far more courtly phrase. According to Mr. Mark Napier, Cameron and Cargill
are "those brandy saints," and " Camerons and cut-throats ;" Cameronians are
"truculent things." Scots "Worthies is "a low and vile compilation;" The
Cloud of Witnesses "fanatical rubbish;" Wodrow "a knave," "a fool," "a
vulgar glutton of coarse and canting gossip," " an idiot ;" and WodroAv's writings