At this time I was away on a short trip in the Falcon. We touched
at the island of Rousay, and here we learnt that some smugglers in
a strange brig had, two days earlier, made a daring raid upon one
of the small villages, robbing the inhabitants of their most
precious possessions. We heard a similar story at Papa Westray. But
it was not until our return to Stromness that we associated these
piratical raids with Tom Kinlay and his companions.
A few weeks afterwards a Glasgow barque, named the Surprise, put in
at Stromness, and reported having, on passing one of the Outer
Hebrides, rendered assistance to a wrecked vessel, which, though
bearing another name, answered exactly to the description of the
stolen brig. Among the passengers on the Surprise was Captain
Gordon, who had left his ship, the Lydia, at Greenock, and was now
on his way to Leith. He had gone out in the ship's boat to the
wreck. One of the crew was saved, an Orkney man; but the rest were
all lost, including, as we afterwards heard, young Tom Kinlay,
whose career of crime was thus brought to an early termination.
Mrs. Kinlay, who was a gentle and good woman, had much tribulation
to bear up against in the unhappy deaths of her husband and son;
and, having but little of the sympathy of her neighbours, she
resolved to leave the island.
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