Account of burning the Library at Presshome in the Enzie in 1746.

the RevdReverend Mr
AlexrAlexander Mitchel informed me, that there was
before &and in 1746 an excellent Library at
Presshome in the Enzie, a Part of Banf-
shire; that the said Library belonged to the
Roman CatholicksCatholics in the North of Scotland,
Mr John Gordon, a Priest, being Librarian,
&and dwelling in the said House of Press-
home, one Room of which was compleatlycompletely
fitted up all around with Books, there being
likewise Books in some other Rooms, &and a
good many more Books in Chests, for qchwhich
proper Places had not been yet fitted
up; that there were among them good Edi-tions1798(1798)
tions of the Fathers of the Church, as also
Protestant Authors not a few; &and that, after
the Battle of Culloden, a Command of
Soldiers with an Officer at yrtheir Head came
to Presshome, took down all the Books of
said Library, &and put them in Carts, drag-
ging them to the Burgh of Cullen of
Boyn, at the Cross of which they burntburned
them all to Ashes in Face of the Sun,
&and in Presence of a crowded Mob. So
careful &and exact were they in bringing ymthem
along, that, when any of the Books droptdropped
out of the Carts, the Country People in
the Procession durst not touch them, but
the Soldiers gleaned them up &and replaced
them in the Carts. O sordid, illiberal
Souls! Who would ever imagine, that
such low, dirty Animals knew so much as
a single Letter of the Alphabet! An In-
stance of barbarous, savage Conduct, truly ^more
Hottentot-like1 than any thinganything else!
Mr Mitchel told me, that he had
been frequently in the said Library, &and
that the Books were all in good
Condition. Some short time after burn-
ing said Books the Officer, qowho command-
ed the Party, was shot dead [undesignedly]
on the Spot where he had stood to pre-
side over the Burning of them, which
happened thus. One Campbell, an Officer
(perhaps of Militia) having been put un-
der Arrest for some Malverse2 or oyrother,
happened to see a loaded Musket in yethe
Room in qchwhich he was coop’dcooped up, &and le-vell’d1799(1799)
vell’dveled the piece from a Window at that
Officer, who had been yethe principal In-
strument of his Arrest, &and who was ynthen
standing close by the commanding Offic-
er3 of yethe Book-burning Party just
where the infamous Scene had been acted;
the latter of whom Campbell shot dead,
&and miss’dmissed the One he had aimed at.
A most remarkable Miss, &and as re-
markable the Hit!