The tents were soon pitched by the peasants under the direction of Sergeant Sinclair, straw was laid down in them, and the canvas raised to allow the air to sweep through them.
Very grateful were the weary men for the kindness with which they were received, and even the weakest felt that they should soon recover their strength.
In an hour two men came up from the farm house carrying a huge pot filled with strong soup.

Another brought a great dish of stew.

Women carried wooden platters, bowls of stewed fruit, and loaves of bread; and the soldiers, seated upon the grass, fell to with an appetite such as they had not experienced for weeks.

With the meal was an abundant supply of the rough but wholesome wine of the country.
To the Scottish soldiers after the hardships they had passed through, this secluded valley seemed a perfect paradise.

They had nought to do save to eat their meals, to sleep on the turf in the shade, or to wander in the woods and gardens free to pick what fruit they fancied.