by her own industry, working in the fields during summer and autumn, and plying the spinning wheel in winter. On one occasion, it being a time of scarcity, they were brought to great straits. It was on a Saturday night, and having but a handful or two of oatmeal in the house for their sustenance on Sabbath, she knew if she could not finish her hasp or hank of yarn that night, and have it ready for sale on Monday, her children could not break their fast that day. Having no time-piece in the house, she knew nothing of the lateness of the hour, although it was past midnight. She was still plying her wheel with all her might, when she was startled by a tap at the window, and a voice that addressed her in these words-"Poor carcase of clay, why breakest thou the Sabbath-day? She felt not in the least afraid, but opened the door and looked out. She saw something of undefinable shape moving across the meadow in the direction of an old crumbling wall, almost hidden by brambles and long grass. She felt herself impelled to follow, till at last it stopped, and stooping down it drew a stone from the wall. She was near enough to see a quantity of gold and silver coins fall out. and said "Take this and be hidden for ages by those who knew not how to use it; for the future, trust in God, and break not the Sabbath. She immediately began to gather it up in her apron ; when she had done, she looked up again, but there was nothing to be seen, her visitor, whether spiritual or mortal, had vanished. She went back to her children with her treasure, which was sufficient to rear

Then the shape spoke, not afraid; it has been

and maintain them in comfort for the remainder of her life.

I heard this relation from the lips of an old woman, an inhabitant of Langloan, whose mother lived beside the widow, who gave her in confidence the particulars of the story I have here related; and which must have taken place about the middle of the last century. The incidents were real, the treasure was real, and the service it did to the widow and her children was real; but whether the night visitor was of angelic nature or of mere mortal mould she never could say.

I have now brought these somewhat desultory sketches to a conclusion. The incidents and stories they embody had been familiar to the ear as "household words" in the families of my grand-parents and my own. In many of them these relatives acted as principals or accessories; and where they did not, the actors were known to them. I have made no attempt at arrangement or classification in these sketches. Few of them having particular dates, and the material not being of a statistical kind, I shall only say that the facts here related range over the whole of the last century and part of the present; and the descriptions of the manners, customs, and modes of thinking and speaking, living and labouring, are drawn from the real life of the peasantry of Scotland during these periods, more particularly in the secluded and moor land districts.

LOCAL SKETCHES.

LEGEND OF THE AUL' KIRK STANE,

IN CONNECTION WITH THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF OLD MONKLAND.

Or the "Aul' Kirk Stane" I can give no account but that which is supplied by the legendary lore of the district.

Sixty years ago, entering the modern parish church of Old Monkland for the first time, I saw inside the steeple door a pretty, large round stone, of a pale reddish hue. Its upper surface was chipped all over, apparently by a hammer, in the process of detaching small pieces from it. It now lies outside the church, in the corner of an unrailed tomb on the north side of the steeple, and is broken into two pieces, few knowing or caring anything about the "Stane," or its legend, which runs thus.

Some centuries ago we know not how many—a man, whom no one knew, who came from no one knew where, was seen wearily wending his way along the low grounds at the bottom of the slight ascent on which stands the modern parish church of Old Monkland. He carried a round stone of considerable size and weight, which he laid down at the door of a farm-house, and went in to rest a little. He had not been long within when he heard the farmer call to a lad, bidding him go to "Sedgie Ha"" (a field near by), and bring home the

horse. On hearing the name of the field, the stranger started to his feet, took up his stone, and went with the lad to the place indicated; and, setting down the stone, said that his journey was ended and his penance accomplished, which was to carry that stone from whence he came until he heard the name of a certain place pronounced; he had heard it now, and that was the place where he had to build a church, and endow it at his own expense. This was immediately set about and accomplished. (The legend ends here.)

The ancient parish church of Old Monkland, which stood near the present entrance gate of the old churchyard, must have been the one indicated by the legend. I have been informed by a very old man, who used to attend Divine service in the ancient church when a boy, that though he did not remember the style of architecture, form, or size of the church, yet he had a distinct remembrance of seeing behind the large entrance door a stone basin, said to have been used for holding holy water, when the Catholics possessed the church, and the identical stone I have mentioned as the "Aul' Kirk Stane" lying on the ground beside it.

The walled burial-place of the defunct family of the Douglasses, of Rosehall, occupies the place of an aisle in the old church. Suitable circumstances and opportunity are wanting in my case for searching out the real date of the erection of this ancient church, but the following extract may throw some light on its antiquity. It is taken from the "Registrum de Neubotil:"—"In 1509 the Vicar of Cadder gives 20s a-year to the Priest of the Monkland, and also 10s yeirlye to the Curate of

the Monkland, to be tayn of the samyn place, to comment his saule to the parishionaris, and to pray for him daily in their mess (mass); and to compeir in the circle of Monkland on Salmes' Day (All Saints' Day) eftir, and thair to say exequias mortuorum, with mess on the requium on the morn for his faderis saule, his maderis saule, and his ain saule." This old church was taken down about 1790, and the present one built on the rising ground, about gun-shot distance from the site of the old-pile; and the legendary stone, which had been preserved in its ancient shrine, was transferred to the new church, and laid in the place where I first saw it, and for many years afterwards it was known by the name of "The Aul' Kirk Stane." The small pieces chipped off the stone, which have been mentioned, were broken off, and kept as relics by persons of the Roman Catholic denomination.

When the old Church was taken down, a startling discovery was made which created much speculation. Embedded in a part of the wall was found a human skeleton, very large boned, and tall. There was a sort of stone collar round the neck, of a bluish, grey colour, with a number of strange characters graven on it, which puzzled many learned men to whom it was submitted. An old man in our village, named John Gentles, and a baker in the town of Hamilton, were, with great perseverance and skill, able, so far, to decipher the inscription as to find that the name of the man had been Thomas Fleming. There was more lettering on the stone, but I am not informed what they made of it.