On tidings reaching Edinburgh that this important outlaw had been captured, Brigadier George Preston, of Valleyfield, governor of the castle, despatched a sergeant and six troopers of Campbell's Dragoons (the Scots Greys) to Creiff, where they received Greumoch, with strict orders to watch him by day and night until delivered to the civil authorities, and safely lodged in the heart of Midlothian. Being the first of Rob's men who had fallen into their hands, and moreover being that bold outlaw's chief follower and kinsman, it was resolved by rope, by axe, and knife to make a terrible example of him by a public execution--to have him hanged, drawn, and quartered. But in all these barbarities they were nearly anticipated by the burghers of Crieff, who hated the Celts for repeatedly burning their town, and a mob followed the captive, shouting,-- "The wuddy--the wuddy! a tow--a tow! let him fynd the wecht o' himsel by the craig!" (which meant in English--"The gallows--the gallows! a rope--a rope! let him feel the weight of himself by the neck!") So cried the Lowlanders, as Greumoch was conducted by the troopers, not, as the mob expected, to the fatal circle at the Gallow-hill, where the Stewards of Strathearn held their courts of old, but away on the road that led to the south. Bound upon a horse, the sergeant marched his prisoner through the long and lovely valley of the Earn; with carbines loaded, a trooper rode on each side of him, with orders to shoot him down if he attempted to escape. A village near Dunblane formed their first halting place. There one of the troopers, who seemed less rough than his comrades, gave Greumoch a dram, on which the sergeant said,-- "Come, Highlander, I'll teach you a toast.-" "Will you?" asked Greumoch, sullenly. "Yes--you dour-looking Redshank." "Well--my glass is full." "Here's to the health of King George--and to the confusion of his enemies, including Rob Roy, the Pope, the Devil, and the Pretender!" On hearing this offensive speech, Greumoch dashed the glass and its fiery contents full into the eyes of the sergeant and half-blinded him. Inspired with rage, the non-commissioned officer ordered his men to secure the prisoner beyond all chance of escape during the night. The dragoons selected a heavy old-fashioned chair, in which they placed Greumoch, and tied thereto his hands, arms, and legs, lacing about him some twenty yards of rope, the knots of which were tied behind; and now, deeming him secure beyond all hope of flight, they stabled their horses, threw off their accoutrements, applied themselves to the whisky-bottle, and after making very merry, retired to rest in the outer room. When all was dark and still, and poor Greumoch's hands and limbs were fast becoming swollen, benumbed, and stiff--all but powerless, in consequence of the cruel manner in which the soldiers had bound him--he remembered having seen a knife on the table, where the sergeant had left it by chance.