Maitland Club > Miscellany of the Maitland Club > Volume 3, Parts 1 and 2

460 BURNING OF AUCHTERARDER. 1710.
father were bigotted Jacobites and Rebells was most instrumentall in the
ruine and burning of the countrey.
The guide's name was John Rebron farmer of a countrey place called
Greenwalls, where severall of those clans had quartered before and some
dayes after the battle of Dumblain, and as he informed they came with
no small difficulty to the said James Maitland's house att Blackfoord be-
twixt twelve and one. When they came one of the horsemen told James
of the order they had from the Pretender for burning of the Countrey,
and desired him if he had any friends in that place he would acquaint
them with it, that they might save their cattle and throw their household
plenishing (or furniture) out of doors.
When they came to that part of the road which is about half a mile
to the northward of Gleneagles, some of the clans who had quartered
there about the time of the battle of Dumblain, proposed to go to it, but
the storm blew so strong and the snow was so deep that the rest did not
aggree to it ; so they went on their way to Blackfoord.
When they came to James Maitland's house they halted, fed their
horses, and then they sent out parties to all the houses of this town or
village. A considerable party of them with one or two of the horsemen att
their head went to the house of Jane Edie a widow woman, which lyes
in the middle of that town and is one of the largest in it ; she seeing them
a coming shut her door and called to see what they wanted, telling them
that if they would not plunder and destroy what she had she would will-
ingly allow them to come in. To this they gave her no return, but
threatned to shoot in att the windowes, and fell a breaking of the door,
and very soon forced it open, and immediatly after takeing what was most
valuable and portable sett the house on fire by sheaves of corn brought
from the barn yard, and being a lofted house and much wood in it was
very soon reduced to ashes. While this was a doing they sent about 100
men to the west end of the town to the house of James Brice, one of the
men of most distinction of this place, and who had from the very begin-