HEATHER, THE MARTYR'S FRIEND. 



"And what was the use of this broad flat stone? 

 And what were the uses of the smaller ones around it ? 

 When Grierson of Lag was hunting the Presbyterians 

 from hill to hill this large stone served as a communion 

 table, and the lesser ones around it served as seats 

 for the communicants ! * * * 



"And often has the Communion been partaken of 

 here. And sometimes, in summer, had the small birds 

 joined the sacramental melody: and the lapwing, as if 

 enamoured, had wheeled soothly around it; and the 

 red-brown heath had smelled sweet beneath the com- 

 municants' feet. But in February, 1685, no birds were 

 to sing around them, and the yet wintry heath was to 

 be dyed with communicants' blood. * * * 



"And shall not the sainted shades of these perse- 

 cuted communicants even the disembodied spirits of 

 the martyrs revisit, at times, this table in the wilder- 

 ness?' And shall not they hover around these heaths, 

 where their martyred dust reposes ?" 



The Covenanter's Tomb 



Far inland, where the mountain's crest 

 O'erlooks the waters of the west, 

 And 'midst the moorland wilderness, 

 Dark moss-cleughs form a drear recess, 

 Curtain'd with ceaseless mists, which feed 

 The sources of the Clyde and Tweed; 

 There injured Scotland's patriot band, 

 For faith and freedom made their stand. 



149 



