Note 165 — The Life of William Gordon of Earlstoun.
Reading edition
His son Alexander Gordon here narrowly escaped being taken, by means of one of his tenants, who knowing him as he rode thro' Hamilton, made him dismount, put on woman's cloaths, and rock the cradle. After this he went over to his brother in law Mr. Hamilton, to represent the low case of the united societies to the churches of the Netherlands; he was by them called home, and when returning back a second time, he was apprehended by the enemy and put to the torture, but by means of his friend the duke of Gordon, his life was spared. However, he was sent to the Bass, and from thence (I suppose) to Blackness, where from 1683, he continued till he was liberated at the Revolution.—It is to be lamented, that neither he, after this, nor his son Sir Thomas, fully followed the steps of their ancestors.