"
The honest shepherd respectfully accepted this mission; and his wife,
loading her guest's scrip with her choicest fruits and cakes,
accompanied him, followed by the children, to the bottom of the hill.
In this manner, sitting at the board of the lowly, and sleeping beneath
the thatched roof, did Wallace pursue his way through Tweedale and
Ettrick Forest, till he reached the Cheviots. From every lip he heard
his own praises, heard them with redoubled satisfaction, for he could
have no suspicion of their sincerity, as they were uttered without
expectation of their ever reaching the regent's ear.
It was the Sabbath day when he mounted the Cheviots. He stood on one
of their summits, and leaning on his harp, contemplated the fertile
dales he left behind. The gay villagers, in their best attires, were
thronging to their churches; while the aged, too infirm for the walk,
were sitting in the sun at their cottage doors, adoring the Almighty
Benefactor in his sublimer temple of the universe. All spoke of
security and happiness. "Thus I leave thee, beloved Scotland! And on
revisiting these hills, may I still behold thy sons and daughters
rejoicing in the heaven-bestowed peace of their land!"
Having descended into Northumberland, his well-replenished script was
his provider; and when it was exhausted, he purchased food from the
peasantry; he would not accept the hospitality of a country he had so
lately trodden as an enemy.
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