In which the resolute and untamed Meg Merrilies evokes both curiosity and memory in the young traveller Brown, whose passage through the wild and suspicious Waste of Cumberland leads him to a perilous encounter with highwaymen resolved by timely courage and sagacity. Guided by the hardy farmer Dinmont and his sagacious galloway, Brown finds refuge at the humble yet cheerful homestead of Charlie’s Hope, where warm welcomes await amidst the pastoral solitude.