A BORDER TOWER 249 



in the samen ; ffor gif scho doe not, I am undone, ffor I am 

 all out of ffasbione. Itt is agenst nattural ffavour toe mak 

 me loss my owen ffortun ffor lacke of putting me in ffashion.' 



The Haigs may have disdained dandyism, but they 

 were not behind the ' ffashioun ' of the best Scottish 

 families in occasional disdain of the law of the land. 

 In 1535 Robert Haig was convicted of three separate 

 acts of 'stouthrief and spulzie,' committed against 

 his neighbours the Haliburtons of Mertoun ; having, 

 in the years 1519, 1521, and 1522, driven off horses, 

 cattle, and sheep from their lands. Abduction, 

 again, as students of family history must be aware, 

 was a favourite pastime of country gentlemen of old, 

 and in 1675 Anthony, laird of Bemersyde, shared in 

 an exciting day's sport, assisting in carrying off 

 Jean Home, heiress of Aytoun, and forcibly marry- 

 ing her to ' a poor young boy, George Home, son to 

 Kimmerghame.' Oddly enough, this same laird 

 Anthony some years before had joined what Wodrow 

 termed 'the abominable sect of the Quakers,' and 

 remained attached to that body long enough to 

 graft a new set of names on the family tree. His 

 first six children were named Jacob, Zerubabel, 

 Hannah, another Zerubabel, Lazarus, and Emman- 

 uel; but the names of the three youngest betray 



