Strai hsim:v Fkncibles .\r Di.miriks i\ 1795. •'•^ 



25. The Coinniissioners appointed by the Act advertised 

 for men on April 7. They offered 20 guineas to Seamen and 

 15 guineas to Landsmen and secured their number, " \erv 

 good looking men," by the beginning of May. On April 

 28th an Act compelling the Burghs and Counties to supply 

 men was passed. The local proportions were as follows : 

 Count) of Dumfries, 41 ; Burgh of Dumfries, 11 ; Annan, 2; 

 Lochmaben, i ; Sanquhar, 1 ; the Stewartrv of Kirkcud- 

 bright, 27; Burgh of Kirkcudbright, 3; County of Wigtown, 

 49; Burgh of Wigtown, 2; Whithorn, i ; \ew-(jallowav, i ; 

 and Stranraer, 4. In consequence of this Act the Magis- 

 trates of Dumfries on May 12th advertised a bounty of 15 

 guineas to \'olunteers, stating that : — 



" As this expense falls ultimately on the Heritors and 

 Traders of this burgh, who are in use of paying the supply, 

 it is expected they will make every exertion to assist the 

 Magistrates in procuring the complement of niEn on the 

 terms offered, because, in case these men are not obtained, 

 they will be assessed at the rate of 25I. for each man 

 deficient." 



This threat to the Heritors and Traders was entirely 

 discounted, however, by the succeeding paragraph : — 



" X.B. — There is a Comprehending Act just passed 

 authorising Magistrates to take up \'agrants and Idle 

 Persons for the Service of the Xavy and it would be ad- 

 visable for persons falling within this description to avail 

 themselves of the Bounty now offered — for this Act will cer- 

 tainly be enforced and no Bounties allowed." 



At the end of a month neither the genial persuasion of 

 the heritors nor traders, the temptation of the bounty, nor 

 the threat of losing it had had the desired effect, and John 

 O'Neil and his sons, it was decided, were fit subjects for 

 impressing. It may be that the burgh authorities had an 

 old standing grudge against O'Xeil, for he had given them 

 trouble before in a manner singularly similar to his later 

 offence. On Sunday, October 20th, 1793, a party of the 

 Breadalbane Fencibles, which arrived in Dumfries on June 

 9th, 1793, had been sent out to search for deserters. They 

 wanted to search O' Neil's house, and O'Xeil promptly fired 



