[74] According to Pinkerton and other authorities, Henry did not finish his work till 1470. It is therefore more probable that the curiosity of James was excited by the original narrative of Blair; a book which, from his long captivity in England, he had perhaps heard little about, till his return to Scotland. The rehearsal, therefore, of the heroic achievements of his illustrious countryman, may have produced all the excitement which the Editor of the Perth edition supposes, though not made by the Minstrel. [75] “A little south of the village, there is a conical height called Kin-hill, which is evidently artificial, and seems to have been a military work. There are the remains of a ditch or rampart of a circular form, which proves that it is not of Roman origin. It is probably of later date, and appears to have been the place from which Sir William Wallace sallied forth on the night when he took by surprise the _Peel of Gargunnock_.”--_Stat. Acc._ xviii. 116, 117. [76] The concealing of money and other valuables in the earth, appears to have been a very common practice in Scotland, during the calamitous periods of her history; and many an instance has been recorded of little depôts coming to light; which it is very probable were composed of the hard-earned plunder of the military adventurer, whose ambition, avarice, or duty, called him off to other fields, where he and his secret perished together. From the many notices we have seen of the discovery of hidden treasures, we shall select the following, as alluding more particularly to the period embraced in our narrative. We cannot, however, agree with the learned Editor in the opinion, that the coins in question were hidden by the soldiers of Edward; they held the country by too precarious a tenure to make such deposits. It is more likely to have been the share of booty belonging to some patriot Scot, who had afterwards fallen in the cause of his country’s independence. “There was lately found, on the farm of Mr Rankine of Whitehall, parish of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, by a person employed in turning up the ground with a spade, about two feet from the surface, a small vase, of an antique form, similar to those in the Englefield Collection, and of very coarse materials, containing about a hundred silver pennies of Alexander III. of Scotland, and Edward I. of England, in good preservation, having the head and characters distinctly legible. The English coins were more numerous than the Scotch. Those of Alexander represent him in profile, as do all the coins of his reign, and have round the head, _Alexander Dei Gra:_; and on the other side, _Rex Scotorum_, with a cross extending to the edge, and a spur level in each of the quarters. This coin is No. 33, first page of plates appended to Adam de Cardonnel’s _Numismata Scotiæ_. Those of Edward represent him in full face, with _Edw. Ang._; _Dus Hyb._; and on the reverse of the different coins,