188 Notes and Sketches. 



continued at Collieston till 1807, when, at his own 

 request, he was appointed to Stonehaven, the in- 

 spiring motive being zeal against the contrabandists. 

 He had broken up their trade at Collieston, and they 

 yet flourished at Stonehaven. A five years' residence 

 there sufficed to make him " a complete terror to 

 these depredators," and to reduce their nefarious 

 traffic to limited dimensions ; and accordingly, in 

 1812, again on his own application, he was removed 

 inland to the Skene Eide, where he might intercept 

 the Highlanders on their way to the Aberdeen market. 

 The experiences of Gillespie, while in this situation, 

 where he remained up to the date of his trial, seem 

 to have been much according to his taste. The " first 

 engagement worthy of notice " occurred, he tells us, 

 on a certain night, when, in the attempt to intercept 

 a cart of whisky, single-handed, the four " notorious 

 delinquents " in charge of it fell upon him with 

 bludgeons, mauling him unmercifully. To prevent 

 the possibility of his prize which turned out to be 

 eighty gallons of whisky escaping him, he pulled 

 out a loaded pistol, and wounded the horse. And he 

 takes credit to himself for so commanding his temper 

 as to resist the temptation to subject one or more of 

 his assailants to similar treatment. With the assist- 

 ance of people who had been alarmed by the report of 

 the pistol, a full victory was gained, and the two prin- 

 cipals in the assault in due course stood their trial, 

 and received sentences of several months' imprison- 

 ment. A few similar encounters convinced Gillespie of 

 the utility of a properly-trained dog to accompany him 

 in his nightly excursions ; and he accordingly procured 

 one " of the bull kind ; " from a famed breed. Under 

 proper training, the dog by and by learnt to seize the 

 Highlanders' horses " one by one, " till, by tumbling 

 them, or making them " dance about," the kegs they 

 carried were spilt off their backs : the dog's owner and 

 the smugglers, meanwhile, carrying on the struggle for 



