HEATHER, THE MARTYR'S FRIEND. 



the Covenanters:" "This cave, the roof of which was 

 the superincumbent mass of the mighty mountain, was 

 capable of accommodating several persons at once. Its 

 entrance, which was narrow, was concealed by a special 

 provision of nature a large bush of Heather growing 

 from the turf on the upper part of the aperture, spread- 

 ing downward like a thick veil, covered the upper half 

 of the opening; and the lower part was screened by a 

 green bracken bush, which, springing from the bot- 

 tom, spread itself like a feathery fan till it met the 

 pendent Heather, and then the two, like the folding 

 doors of an inner chamber, closed the entrance in such 

 a way that no individual in passing could possibly 

 recognize the existence of any such place, however 

 near he might approach it. What a slender barrier 

 sometimes serves as a complete protection to those 

 whom Providence would shield from harm." 



Says Barbour, in his "Unique Traditions of Scot- 

 land," describing the persecutions and romantic refuge 

 of these hunted Covenanters : "Often, in summer, on 

 the edge of a lake, or by the banks of a beautiful 

 stream, hath the Lord's Supper been dispensed in 

 romantic Caledonia. But seldom has the Communion 

 been dispensed under such peculiar circumstances as 

 we now proceed to describe. 



"There runs a small stream in the Parish of Kirk- 

 patrick-Irongray, yet named the Auld Water. * * * 

 Near one of the branches of this mossy stream, and 

 on the side of a heathy hill, may yet be marked a large 

 broad stone, with smaller ones set regularly, as diverg- 

 ing from it. 



148 



