The times were sadly degenerate; Border men all too quickly
were becoming soft and effeminate.
Yet in Eskdale there was one patriot, at least, who boasted himself that
as his fathers had been, so was he. Willie Armstrong of Gilnockie was
that man--"Christie's Will," he was commonly called, a great-grandson of
the famous Johnnie, and not unworthy of his descent. Had he lived when
Johnnie flourished, there might indeed have been two Armstrongs equally
famous. As it was, Willie spent his days at constant feud with the law,
and even the strong walls of Gilnockie were not for him always a secure
shelter. Once it befell that the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, the
Earl of Traquair, visiting Jedburgh, there found Willie lying in the
"tolbooth."
"Now, what's broucht ye to this, Gilnockie?" the Earl inquired.
"Oh, nocht but having twa bit tethers in my hand, my lord," said Willie.
But: "Weel, I wadna say but there micht mebbes hae been twa cowt at the
tae end o' the tethers," he admitted, on being pressed by the Earl.
Now, it happened that Willie was well known to Lord Traquair--had, in
fact, more than once been of considerable service to his lordship; and
it was no failing of the Earl to desert a friend in trouble, if help
might be given quietly and judiciously.
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