Lairds of Glenlyon

88 THE LAIRDS OF GLENLVON.
induced to go from motives of religious duty and pre-
dilections, and their love of civil liberty ; but the great ma-
jority were young men allured by the love of fame and ad-
venture, for which Britain afforded no field since the union
of the crowns. Of the latter class of adventurous restless
spirits was our hero, James Roy. When or how he found
his way to Germany nobody knows, and what were his for-
tunes there are almost equally obscure. Some years of
absence, during which nothing was heard of him, made his
name forgotten by all who formerly knew him, except the
innkeeper of Weem and his wife. When war with King
Charles broke out in 1639, the Scottish officers serving
abroad were invited home by the Tables. Among the
rest James Roy returned. His gallantry and talents had,
it appeared, raised him from the ranks in the service of
Sweden ; and Leslie, his old commander, was now his
general also.
After the pacification of that year the Scottish forces were
for a short time disbanded. During this period, a gentle-
man on horseback arrived late in the day at the small inn
of Weem. His dress and arms were strange to the inhabi-
tants, who seldom saw anything but Highland lairds riding
about in those days, and they, when they came had always
their "tail on," and left no one in doubt as to name,
station, and business. The stranger, without satisfying in-
quiries, saw his horse stabled and entered the house. He
seemed struck at the appearance of his host, and asked
what had become of such a person, naming his predecessor
in the public. His host, astonished to find the seeming
foreigner acquainted with the inhabitants of Weem, told
him reverses had come upon the old couple, and that