Scottish Text Society publications > Old series > Catholic tractates of the sixteenth century, 1573-1600

XXII
INTRODUCTION.
written, as how to have them smuggled, in sufficient
quantities, across the Channel—a species of contraband
traffic in which a certain Jesuit lay-brother subsequently
exercised, in regard to the English trade, a remarkable
ingenuity and enterprise. The residence of John Hay in
Scotland during the greater part of 1579 may well have
been unknown to Parsons; for Hay had no ecclesiastical
commission or official business. He had simply visited
his native country by permission of his superiors for the
benefit of his health. He landed at Dundee in January,
and was still in Scotland when D’Aubigny arrived there.
He could not, however, resist courting some encounters
with the ministers; and through their hostility he was
compelled to quit the country before the end of September.
But meantime he had kept his eyes open; and, like Parsons,
wrote a long letter to the General1 giving his views upon
the affairs of the nation and the prospects of his Church.
He had been pressed by Lord Adam Gordon to pass the
winter in Scotland, “ because he [Gordon] was in expecta¬
tion of civil war breaking out at an early date,” but this
Hay could not do, as his brother William Hay of Dalgaty
had given “caution” for his departure before the first of
October. “Besides which,” says the Jesuit, “ it would be
necessary to have some books written in the Scottish
language both for moral instruction and for discussing
the controverted points of religion.” He adds, “ I do
not doubt that your Paternity will shortly send me into
Scotland to cultivate that neglected vineyard of the Lord,
and I am certain every Scottish member of the Society
would gladly expose his life to hazard in the hope of
being of use to his afflicted country. For myself, God
1 Printed in Forbes-Leith’s Narratives, pp. 141-165.