stored away in an old cabinet, which was placed in an out-house. To
these Mr. Crawfurd obtained access, and found among them many letters
written by James Lindsay Crawfurd, whose descendant he pretended to
be. He appropriated them and produced them when the fitting time came.
At Kilbirnie he also introduced himself to John Montgomerie of
Ladeside, a man well acquainted with the family story and all the
vicissitudes of the Crawfurds, and one who was disposed to believe any
plausible tale. The farmer, crediting the pretender's story, spread it
abroad among the villagers, and they in turn fell into ecstacies over
the idea of a poor man like themselves arriving at an earldom,
rebuilding the ancient house of Kilbirnie, and restoring the old
glories of the place. Their enthusiasm was turned to good account. The
claimant was very poor, and stood in need of money to prosecute his
claim, and he made no secret of his poverty or his necessities, and
promised large returns to those who would help him in his time of
need. "Farms," we are told, "were to be given on long leases at
moderate rents; one was to be factor, another chamberlain, and many
were to be converted from being hewers of wood and drawers of water to
what they esteemed the less laborious, and therefore more honourable,
posts of butlers and bakers, and body servants of all descriptions."
These cheering prospects, of course, depended upon the immediate faith
which was displayed, and the amount of assistance which was at once
forthcoming. Therefore, each hopeful believer exerted himself to the
utmost, and "poor peasants and farmers, cottagers and their masters,
threw their stakes into the claimant's lucky-bag, from which they were
afterwards to draw 'all prizes and no blanks.'" Men of loftier
position, also, were not averse to speculate upon the chances of this
newly-discovered heir. Poor John Montgomerie gave him every penny he
had saved, and every penny he could borrow, and after mortgaging his
little property, was obliged to flee to America from his duns, where,