The Mason's Wife

Walter McWilliam asks his grandmother, Sarah McWilliam where she grew up. She then tells her story, from when she helped her mother, Mary Foulkes, a midwife. Through midwifery she meets her future husband, Robert McWilliam, a stonemason from Scotland. His wife, Agnes, dies after giving birth to their third child; the baby also dies a few days later. Sarah takes on the role of nanny to Robert's two children and finally marries him, giving him four more children. The family move up to Scotland, where two more children are born. Robert dies after getting into a fight defending his daughter Mary's honour, leaving a devastated Sarah in Scotland. The story ends with the parish of Robert's birth, Kirkmaiden, paying Lesmahagow to keep Sarah off the streets.