In 1685, Alexander ‘Prophet’ Peden was in a cave in Galloway. He was not alone…
Illustration of Hogg’s Memoirs of a Justified Sinner. Artist John Bellany. Tate collection.
‘About this Time [in 1685], he and John Clark, who ordinarily was called Little-John, were in a Cave in Galloway: They had wanted Meat and Drink long; he said, John, better be thrust thro’ with the Sword, than pine away with Hunger: The Earth and the Fulness thereof, belongs to my Master, and I have a Right to as much of it as will keep me from fainting in his Service; go to such a House, and tell them plainly, that I have wanted Meat so long, they will willingly give it.
John said, Sir, I am not willing to leave you in this Place your alone, for some have been frighted by the Devil in this Cave: No, no, John, you need not fear that, I will take my Venture of him for a Time. John went, and the People willingly gave him some Meat; when he came back, he said, John, It is very hard living in this World, incarnate Devils above the Earth, and Devils beneath the Earth; the Devil has been here since ye went away; I have sent him off in haste, we’ll be no more troubled with him this Night.’ (Walker, BP, I, 67-8.)
John Clark, aka. Little John, was probably the Societies’ activist of the same name who was known to Patrick Walker, who recorded the story. Clark lived in Carsphairn parish in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway. The cave, or dugout, if it existed, may have been near to Clark’s home at Moorbrock.
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Filed under: 1685, Alexander Peden, Carsphairn parish, Covenanters, Galloway, Glenkens, John Clark, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, Scottish History, The Devil, Wonders Tagged: Alexander Peden, Carsphairn, Covenanters, Galloway, History, Scotland, Scottish History, The Devil 
