lau to admitt a mannis denyall againis his auin preceiding confession in sa farr as he deponis contra suum caput allanerlie speciallie his deposition being freelie geuin without torture and not to the exemaris onlie bot being uillinglie repetit be him self to the erl of marr and sindrie other noble gentlemen be uaye of discourse besydis his causing aprehend and with his auin mouth accusing the deid doer and his brekking uarde thairefter and that ioined uith are other murther and uillfull remaining at the home sensyne and of lait his offers be the bishop of brichen and sindrie others to my self of tua thousande crounis to me and tenn thousande markis to the pairtie and to be baneist the cuntrey during the pairteis will and last nou quhat he lies confest sen his aprehension baith to the bailleis and ministeris of this toune lett thaime selfis beare recorde according to thaire consciences as to my earnistness in this turne as godd sall iudge me it is onlie in respect of the odiousnes of the deid and the infamie that uill redounde to oure haill nation thairthrouch gif sa abominabill a cryme be not als notoriouslie punished.[24] JAMES R. His Maties. direction xi Martij writtin with his maiesties awin hand. Indorsed by Lord Binning. ---------------------------- TAM GIFFEN. ABOUT the middle of the last century, Thomas, or as he was popularly called, “Tam Giffen,” resided, or I may rather say wandered, in the parishes of Kilbirnie, Beith, and Dunlop, as a mendicant. He is reported to have been a stout-built man, of something more than middle age, of a sourish turn of mind; and was in the habit of giving laconic, mysterious answers to those who dared to ask him questions. Much superstition abounded in the country at that time; and “Tam’s” aspect, which was remarkably forbidding, together with his strange disposition, soon attracted the awe-stricken attention of the simple peasantry, who went so far as to call him a _Warlock_. Tam, with the shrewdness of a crafty mind, made use of this folly and superstitious fear for his own aggrandisement; and few, after a time, dared refuse him an alms, from his “uncanny” notoriety. Of the many strange and unaccountable stories still related of him. I will narrate the following:—