But the last of the Armstrongs who paid the penalty of death for his misdeeds was _Willie of Westburnflat_. It is said that a gentleman of property, having lost twelve cows in one night, raised the country of Teviotdale, and traced the robbers into Liddesdale, as far as the house of Westburnflat. Fortunately, perhaps, for his pursuers, Willie was asleep when they came, and consequently without much difficulty they secured him, and nine of his friends. They were tried in Selkirk, and though the jury did not discover any direct evidence against them to convict them of the special fact, they did not hesitate to bring in a verdict of guilty, on the ground of their general character as "notour thieves and limmers." When sentence was pronounced, Willie sprang to his feet, and laying hold of the oaken chair on which he had been sitting, broke it in pieces, and called on his companions who were involved in the same doom, to stand behind him and he would fight his way out of Selkirk with these weapons. But, strange to relate, they held his hands, and besought him to let them _die like Christians_. They were accordingly executed in due form of law. This incident is said to have happened at the last circuit court held in Selkirk.[107] Willie Armstrong, as he stood under the gallows-tree, might appropriately have sung the lines composed by _Ringan's Sandi_, a relative of his own, who was executed for the murder of Sir John Carmichael, the warden of the Middle Marches-- This night is my departing night, For here nae langer must I stay; There's neither friend nor foe o' mine, But wishes me away. What I have done through lack of wit, I never, never can recall; I hope ye're a' my friends as yet; Good night, and joy be with you all! XIV. UNDER THE BAN. The Cardinal rose with a dignified look, He called for his candle, his bell, and his book! In holy anger, and pious grief, He solemnly cursed that rascally thief! He cursed him at board, he cursed him in bed; From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head; He cursed him in sleeping, that every night He should dream of the devil, and wake in a fright; He cursed him in eating, he cursed him in drinking, He cursed him in coughing, in sneezing, in winking; He cursed him in sitting, in standing, in lying; He cursed him in walking, in riding, in flying; He cursed him in living, he cursed him in dying! Never was heard such a terrible curse! But what gave rise to no little surprise, Nobody seemed one penny the worse. THE JACKDAW OF RHEIMS.