THE following adventure is said to have befallen Sir Simon Lockhart, whilst fighting against the Saracens in the Holy Land. He made prisoner in battle an Emir of wealth and note. The aged mother of his captive came to the Christian camp to redeem her son from his captivity. Lockhart fixed the price at which his prisoner should ransom himself; and the lady, pulling out a large embroidered purse, proceeded to tell down the amount. In this operation, a pebble inserted in a coin, some say of the lower empire, fell out of the purse, and the Saracen matron testified so much haste to recover it as to give the Scottish knight a high idea of its value. "I will not consent," he said, "to grant your son’s liberty unless the amulet be added to the ransom." The lady not only consented to this, but explained to Sir Simon the mode in which the talisman was to be used. The water in which it was dipped operated either as a styptic, or as a febrifuge, and the amulet besides possessed several other properties as a medical talisman.

Sir Simon Lockhart, after much experience of the wonders which it wrought, brought it to his own country, and left it to his heirs, by whom, and by Clyde-side in general, it was, and is still, distinguished by the name of the Lee Penny, from the name of his native seat of Lee.

The virtues were brought into operation by dropping the stone into water given to the diseased to drink, washing at the same time the part affected. No words were used in dipping the stone, or money permitted to be taken by the servants of Lee. People came from all parts of Scotland, and many places in England, to carry away water to give to their cattle.