midnight
So the night-meeting for religious worship took place beneath the Gleds ' Craig , from the brow or apron of which the minister officiated . Beneath him , huddled together under plaids , stood his devoted and attentive congregation , whilst the moon looked down at intervals on a landscape over which a frosty wind was ever and anon carrying the snow-drift . Beside the speaker were arranged , on chairs and stools , some young women bearing children to be baptised , and the youthful couple about to be united in marriage . The usual service proceeded , and the voice of psalms was heard amidst the solemn stillness of the midnight hour . The children were next baptised from an adjoining well , which presented itself opportunely , like the waters of Meribah , from a cleft of the rock . The young people had just been united , and Peden was in the act of pronouncing the usual benediction , when the tramp of horses ' feet was suddenly heard ; and , in an instant , a discharge of muskets indicated but too surely the nature of the assault . All was challenge , capture , and dispersion ; through which the screams of the young bride and the menacing voice of the curate were distinctly heard .