but it was then, as it must always continue to be, a place of great historical interest.

The earliest notice of Paisley on record is the description of the station established there during the occupation of the country by the Romans. The "Prætorium” is stated to have embraced within its boundary the compass of a mile, and to have been fortified by three fosses and dykes of earth, including great part of the ground on which the old town now stands; but when Paisley was selected as the site of a great ecclesiastical edifice in

Muir, returned to the Grahams again, and went from them with Margaret, heiress thereof, to James, brother to the Earl of Douglas, in the reign of King James I.

"There were two principal families of this name in the reign of King Alexander III., the one being of Abercorn. Both these are mentioned among the magnates Scotia, in cognition of the debate betwixt Bruce and Baliol anent the Scottish kingdom, as also inserted in that famous letter written by King Robert I. to the pope in the year 1320. These two thereafter were united when Patrick Graham of Eliestoun and Kilbride, second son to Sir Patrick Graham of Kincardine, in the reign of King Robert III., married his only daughter and heiress of David, Earl of Strathern, and by her obtained that Earldom whose son Malise was deprived of the same by King James I. in regard that estate was entailed to heirs-male; but he gave Malise, in lieu of Strathern, the earldom of Monteith, anno 1428, whose posterity continued for nine generations earls thereof. William, the ninth Earl, having no issue, disponed his estate to the Marquis of Montrose, and died anno 1694.

"The first cadet of this family was Sir John Graham of Kilbride, Gartmore's ancestor. And the last cadet of any repute was Walter, ancestor to Graham of Gartur."

1163, no town or even hamlet appears to have been then in existence.

The abbey was founded by Walter, the steward of David I., King of Scotland, and several of the descendants of the founder added to the original endowment by gifts both of money and lands.

By the peculiar sanctity of character attributed to the patron saint of the abbey St. Mirren, this religious establishment soon acquired great celebrity, and pilgrims from all parts of the kingdom were attracted in numbers to its shrine, many of whom eventually made it their permanent residence. In point of wealth and magnificence, this monastery, although the foundation of a private family, rivalled the religious houses founded by royalty at Dunfermline and St. Andrews. Its deer-park was of more than a mile in extent. Its orchards and gardens equalled those of any similar establishment, and the ecclesiastics attached to the monastery were accommodated in a style of splendour in keeping with the general magnificence of the endowment.

This ancient pile was the burying-place of the Stewarts previous to their accession to the throne of Scotland and subsequent to their accession. Elizabeth Mure and Euphemia Ross, consorts of Robert II., were interred there, as well as Robert III.

The abbots of Paisley having always shewn themselves hostile to Edward I., the abbey was burned by

the English army in 1307, but it was subsequently restored in a style surpassing even its original magnificence, and continued to flourish until the Reformation, when its walls were again laid in ruins, and its revenues secularized in favour of the ancestors of the Abercorn family.

Surrounded by such venerable relics as these at a period of life when the mind is most susceptible of impressions, it is not surprising that the subject of this memoir should have imbibed a love for the legends of bygone days. This was a taste which grew with his years, and in after life few people excelled him in a knowledge of the history of his native country and its antiquities.

He received the rudiments of his education at the grammar school of Paisley. At a subsequent period he was removed to the High School of Edinburgh; and having completed his education at the College of Edinburgh, he was sent to France, where he acquired a proficiency in the French language, which often proved useful to him in after life.

When it became necessary for him to choose a profession, he gave the preference to a military life, and having obtained an ensigncy, by purchase, in the 31st Regiment, on the recommendation of Sir Adolphus Oughton, he joined the additional companies of the regiment in Edinburgh Castle in the year 1777.

In the same year, the war with America caused an augmentation of the army, and several regiments were levied in Scotland. By raising a quota of men he was promoted to a lieutenancy in the 76th Highlanders, and, in April 1779, succeeded to the captain-lieutenancy of the regiment.

The following account of the various events at this period of his life has been left in his own handwriting.

CHAPTER THE SECOND.

Raising of 76th and 80th Regiments-Arrival in America.

THE late 76th and 80th Regiments were raised in North Britain in the beginning of the year 1778. The first consisted of 1000 Scotch Highlanders, and the other of the same number of Scotch Lowlanders, divided into ten companies, with the usual number of officers and noncommissioned officers. Lord Macdonald having patronized the Highland regiment, recommended most of the officers, who were nominally to raise a quota of men for their commissions. Such of them as were doing duty with regiments from which they were promoted, began to enlist men, and marched with their parties to Inverness, in the north of Scotland, the place appointed for the assembling of the regiment; there were also some officers appointed from half-pay, who enlisted men in the Highlands, but the most of the subalterns were connections of his Lordship's family. A Highland chieftain in those days was still invested with considerable power and influence, and this influence his Lordship made use of, by directing a body of men of a certain age and description to be sent from his extensive estates in the Island of