Biggar and the House of Fleming

254 BIGGAR AND THE HOUSE OF FLEMING.
of Wigton, a daughter of Henry Lord Ker, and widow of John
Fleming, Earl of Wigton. These meetings were largely at-
tended by the inhabitants of Biggar and the country round,
and addressed by various outed ministers, among whom may
be mentioned James Greig, confined by an Act of the Privy
Council to Carstairs ; John Menzies, formerly minister at Car-
laverock, but then living at Crawford ; and Patrick Anderson,
formerly of Walston, and confined at that time to Longdreghorn.
So daring a contravention of the Act to which we have referred,
of course attracted the attention of the tyrants who conducted
public affairs in Scotland, and, therefore, the following persons
were, at the instance of John Nisbet of Dirleton, his Majesty's
advocate, summoned to appear before the Lords Commissioners
and Lords of the Privy Council at Edinburgh, on the 25th of
July 1672, viz., Anna, Countess of Wigton, James Crichton,
John Kello, James Brown, John Dalziel, John Henderson,
John and Laurence Tait, James Brown, wright, John Tod,
mason, Alexander Gardiner, tailor, John Nisbet, and Alexander
Smith, all residing in Biggar ; — James Paterson, Carwood ;
James Crichton, Westraw ; William Cleghorn, Edmonston ;
Alexander Story, there ; William Thomson, Boghall ; Malcolm
Brown, Edmonston ; James Cuthbertson, there ; Peter Gillies,
Skirling Waukmill ; John Robertson, procurator, Lanark ;
John Watson, notar, Carnwath ; Thomas Crichton, Wolfclyde ;
James Glasgow, Whitcastle ; John Tweedie, Edmonston ;
Robert Lohean, Skirling ; William Forrest, there ; John New-
bigging, Carstairs ; John Hutchison, Harelaw ; John Lochie,
Ravenstruther ; Malcolm Gibson, Wester Pettinain ; Ronald
Spence, Thankerton ; James Thomson, Muirhouse of Thanker-
ton ; and James Adam in Netkerwarnhill. All of these per-
sons, with one or two exceptions, obeyed the summons, and
appeared in Edinburgh on the day appointed. The first per-
son brought before the Privy Council was John Robertson of
Lanark. He admitted that he had been at the conventicles
held at Boghall ; and being commanded to declare upon oath all
that he knew regarding the persons who were present at these
meetings, and the business that was transacted, he refused to
do so, and therefore was ordered to be carried to prison, and
there to remain until he should receive further sentence. The
Privy Council very likely saw that it would be a difficult and