John Howie of Lochgoin

JOHN HOWIE OF LOCHGOIN 7
Howie in Lochgoin" ; that " he came to Lochgoin and lived
along with his father-in-law till he died" ; that his hardships
began in the winter of 1666, the winter after the battle of
Pentland Hills, and known as "Pentland Hills winter", be-
cause those who had been at that battle "had to flee into
corners and muir places, of which Lochgoin was one; and
in these concealed places they spent their time in prayer and
religious conference in a social way". Lochgoin was admir-
ably adapted as a place of refuge. In the New Statistical
Account of Fenwick, it is said that:
"The Howies of Lochgoin . . . selected one of the
most inaccessible places in the whole country for their resi-
dence. The house is altogether inaccessible on the east to
horsemen, and an active man could not, even though ac-
quainted with the locality, at night cross the moss by which
it is defended, but at the risk of his life; and no stranger
could venture across it with safety, even in day-light, with-
out a guide. On the west, the only direction from which it
can be approached, a sentinel was always stationed in times
of danger, whence he could command an extensive view of
the whole country as far as Ailsa Craig and the hills of
Arran, and thus no body of troopers could reach the house,
before the inmates had time to escape into the morasses. A
situation like this was invaluable as a place of resort to the
Covenanters."
Notwithstanding the difficulty of access in former times,
the soldiers frequently found their way to Lochgoin, and
the inmates had several narrow escapes. On one occasion
old John Howie (the father-in-law of James, and the great-
great-grandfather of the author of The Scots Worthies)
had gone to bed, worn out with an attack of asthma, and
fell asleep. He dreamed that he was at Kilmarnock Cross,
and heard General Dalzell give orders to a party of his men
to go to Lochgoin and search for Pentland rebels. They
compelled him to go with them as guide ; and, after accom-
panying them two miles, one of the soldiers maltreated him
so badly that he awoke. He again fell asleep, and again
dreamed that he was acting as guide to the soldiers; and
that, when they were crossing a water, one of them took