against a family of McLarens. It was on this trip that he first saw the country which he describes in the "Lady of the Lake." An escort to a sergeant and six men, from the garrison at Stirling, accompanied him. It is related that the sergeant was a good story teller, and that he knew no end of stories, which he related to his youthful companion. He met on this trip a Mr. Alexander Stewart of Invernayhle, an enthusiastic Jacobite, who had been out with the Pretender in 1715 and 1745. This veteran had had a broadsword duel with Rob Roy, and by the time the youthful apprentice had heard the stories of the sergeant and Alexander Stewart, he had ample material for both song and story run ning through his head, which he afterward utilized in "Rob Roy" and "The Lady of the Lake." It was not until after his call to the bar, in 1792, that he made what he himself called his "raid" into 'the Lidclesdale coun try. There he met the original of Dandie Dinmont and Meg Merrilies, and in his successi"e raids into that border district he gathered the materials for many of the songs and stories with which we are so familiar now. He had his first case at the Jedburgh As sizes. He defended a veteran poacher and sheep stealer, and got him off. "You're a lucky scoundrel," Scott whispered to his client when the verdict was announced. "I'm just o' your mind," quoth the desperado, "and I'll send ye a maukin (viz., a hare) the morn, man." In another case, in the same town, he was not so lucky. The prisoner, whom he de fended for house-breaking, was well aware that he could not get off against the clear evi dence which the crown produced. He took a fancy to his counsel, however, and asked Scott to visit him at the jail before he left the place. Scott complied with his request, and was informed, by the prisoner that he was without money to pay his fee, but that h^ would give him a bit of advice, which nüott be useful to him when he had a house of his
own. "Never keep a large watchdog out of doors," said the prisoner; "we can always silence them cheaply, but tie a little yelping terrier within; and, secondly, put not trust in nice, clever, gimcrack locks; the only thing that bothers us is a huge old heavy one, no matter how simple the construction, and the ruder and rustier the key, so much the better for the housekeeper." Sir Walter told the story some thirty years afterwards at a judge's dinner, and wound it up with a rhyme : "Yelping terrier, rusty key, Was Walter Scott's best Jeddart fee." About the same time he was retained by a solicitor on behalf of a clergyman who was charged before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland with habitual drunken ness, singing of lewd and profane songs, dancing and toying at a penny wedding with a sweetie wife, and, moreover, of promoting irregular marriages as a justice of the peace. Scott devoted a good deal of attention to the case, and was well prepared when his turn came to address the venerable court. He gathered confidence as his argument pro ceeded, and when he came to analyze the evidence touching a certain penny wedding, repeated some of his client's alleged conver sations in a tone so bold and free, that he was called to order with great austerity by one of the leading members of the august assembly. He was much confused by the rebuke, and when a little later he had to recite a stanza of one of his client's ditties, he did it in a faint and hesitating style. He had some student friends in the gallery, who, thinking he needed encouragement, shouted, "Hear! Hear! Encore! Encore!" The grave and reverend gentlemen, after re covering from their astonishment at the im pertinence of the youngsters, had them turned out of the gallery, and Scott had to finish his address as best he could. He joined his
