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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Legend of Montrose, by Sir Walter Scott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Legend of Montrose
+
+Author: Sir Walter Scott
+
+Release Date: February 15, 2006 [EBook #1461]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LEGEND OF MONTROSE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+A LEGEND OF MONTROSE
+
+by
+
+Sir Walter Scott
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+     I.      Introduction to A LEGEND OF MONTROSE.
+     II.     Introduction (Supplement).  Sergeant More M'Alpin.
+     III.    Main text of A LEGEND OF MONTROSE.
+     IV.     Appendix    No. I       Clan Alpin's Vow.
+     No. II      The Children of the Mist.
+     V.      Notes       Note I      Fides et Fiducia sunt relativa.
+     Note II     Wraiths.
+
+     Note: Footnotes in the printed book have been inserted in the
+     etext in square brackets ("[]") close to the place where
+     they were referenced by a suffix in the original text.
+
+
+
+I. INTRODUCTION TO A LEGEND OF MONTROSE.
+
+The Legend of Montrose was written chiefly with a view to place before
+the reader the melancholy fate of John Lord Kilpont, eldest son of
+William Earl of Airth and Menteith, and the singular circumstances
+attending the birth and history of James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, by
+whose hand the unfortunate nobleman fell.
+
+Our subject leads us to talk of deadly feuds, and we must begin with
+one still more ancient than that to which our story relates. During
+the reign of James IV., a great feud between the powerful families
+of Drummond and Murray divided Perthshire. The former, being the most
+numerous and powerful, cooped up eight score of the Murrays in the kirk
+of Monivaird, and set fire to it. The wives and the children of the
+ill-fated men, who had also found shelter in the church, perished by the
+same conflagration. One man, named David Murray, escaped by the humanity
+of one of the Drummonds, who received him in his arms as he leaped from
+amongst the flames. As King James IV. ruled with more activity than most
+of his predecessors, this cruel deed was severely revenged, and several
+of the perpetrators were beheaded at Stirling. In consequence of the
+prosecution against his clan, the Drummond by whose assistance David
+Murray had escaped, fled to Ireland, until, by means of the person whose
+life he had saved, he was permitted to return to Scotland, where he and
+his descendants were distinguished by the name of Drummond-Eirinich, or
+Ernoch, that is, Drummond of Ireland; and the same title was bestowed on
+their estate.
+
+The Drummond-ernoch of James the Sixth's time was a king's forester in
+the forest of Glenartney, and chanced to be employed there in search of
+venison about the year 1588, or early in 1589. This forest was adjacent
+to the chief haunts of the MacGregors, or a particular race of them,
+known by the title of MacEagh, or Children of the Mist. They considered
+the forester's hunting in their vicinity as an aggression, or perhaps
+they had him at feud, for the apprehension or slaughter of some of their
+own name, or for some similar reason. This tribe of MacGregors were
+outlawed and persecuted, as the reader may see in the Introduction to
+ROB ROY; and every man's hand being against them, their hand was of
+course directed against every man. In short, they surprised and slew
+Drummond-ernoch, cut off his head, and carried it with them, wrapt in
+the corner of one of their plaids.
+
+In the full exultation of vengeance, they stopped at the house of
+Ardvoirlich and demanded refreshment, which the lady, a sister of the
+murdered Drummond-ernoch (her husband being absent), was afraid or
+unwilling to refuse. She caused bread and cheese to be placed before
+them, and gave directions for more substantial refreshments to be
+prepared. While she was absent with this hospitable intention, the
+barbarians placed the head of her brother on the table, filling the
+mouth with bread and cheese, and bidding him eat, for many a merry meal
+he had eaten in that house.
+
+The poor woman returning, and beholding this dreadful sight, shrieked
+aloud, and fled into the woods, where, as described in the romance,
+she roamed a raving maniac, and for some time secreted herself from all
+living society. Some remaining instinctive feeling brought her at length
+to steal a glance from a distance at the maidens while they milked the
+cows, which being observed, her husband, Ardvoirlich, had her conveyed
+back to her home, and detained her there till she gave birth to a child,
+of whom she had been pregnant; after which she was observed gradually to
+recover her mental faculties.
+
+Meanwhile the outlaws had carried to the utmost their insults against
+the regal authority, which indeed, as exercised, they had little reason
+for respecting. They bore the same bloody trophy, which they had so
+savagely exhibited to the lady of Ardvoirlich, into the old church of
+Balquidder, nearly in the centre of their country, where the Laird of
+MacGregor and all his clan being convened for the purpose, laid their
+hands successively on the dead man's head, and swore, in heathenish
+and barbarous manner, to defend the author of the deed. This fierce and
+vindictive combination gave the author's late and lamented friend,
+Sir Alexander Boswell, Bart., subject for a spirited poem, entitled
+"Clan-Alpin's Vow," which was printed, but not, I believe, published, in
+1811 [See Appendix No. I].
+
+The fact is ascertained by a proclamation from the Privy Council, dated
+4th February, 1589, directing letters of fire and sword against the
+MacGregors [See Appendix No. II]. This fearful commission was executed
+with uncommon fury. The late excellent John Buchanan of Cambusmore
+showed the author some correspondence between his ancestor, the Laird of
+Buchanan, and Lord Drummond, about sweeping certain valleys with their
+followers, on a fixed time and rendezvous, and "taking sweet revenge for
+the death of their cousin, Drummond-ernoch." In spite of all, however,
+that could be done, the devoted tribe of MacGregor still bred up
+survivors to sustain and to inflict new cruelties and injuries.
+
+[I embrace the opportunity given me by a second mention of this tribe,
+to notice an error, which imputes to an individual named Ciar Mohr
+MacGregor, the slaughter of the students at the battle of Glenfruin.
+I am informed from the authority of John Gregorson, Esq., that the
+chieftain so named was dead nearly a century before the battle
+in question, and could not, therefore, have done the cruel action
+mentioned. The mistake does not rest with me, as I disclaimed being
+responsible for the tradition while I quoted it, but with vulgar fame,
+which is always disposed to ascribe remarkable actions to a remarkable
+name.--See the erroneous passage, ROB ROY, Introduction; and so soft
+sleep the offended phantom of Dugald Ciar Mohr.
+
+It is with mingled pleasure and shame that I record the more important
+error, of having announced as deceased my learned acquaintance, the Rev.
+Dr. Grahame, minister of Aberfoil.--See ROB ROY, p.360. I cannot now
+recollect the precise ground of my depriving my learned and excellent
+friend of his existence, unless, like Mr. Kirke, his predecessor in the
+parish, the excellent Doctor had made a short trip to Fairyland, with
+whose wonders he is so well acquainted. But however I may have been
+misled, my regret is most sincere for having spread such a rumour; and
+no one can be more gratified than I that the report, however I have been
+induced to credit and give it currency, is a false one, and that Dr.
+Grahame is still the living pastor of Aberfoil, for the delight and
+instruction of his brother antiquaries.]
+
+Meanwhile Young James Stewart of Ardvoirlich grew up to manhood
+uncommonly tall, strong, and active, with such power in the grasp of his
+hand in particular, as could force the blood from beneath the nails of
+the persons who contended with him in this feat of strength. His temper
+was moody, fierce, and irascible; yet he must have had some ostensible
+good qualities, as he was greatly beloved by Lord Kilpont, the eldest
+son of the Earl of Airth and Menteith.
+
+This gallant young nobleman joined Montrose in the setting up his
+standard in 1644, just before the decisive battle at Tippermuir, on the
+1st September in that year. At that time, Stewart of Ardvoirlich shared
+the confidence of the young Lord by day, and his bed by night, when,
+about four or five days after the battle, Ardvoirlich, either from a fit
+of sudden fury or deep malice long entertained against his unsuspecting
+friend, stabbed Lord Kilpont to the heart, and escaped from the camp of
+Montrose, having killed a sentinel who attempted to detain him. Bishop
+Guthrie gives us a reason for this villainous action, that Lord Kilpont
+had rejected with abhorrence a proposal of Ardvoirlich to assassinate
+Montrose. But it does not appear that there is any authority for this
+charge, which rests on mere suspicion. Ardvoirlich, the assassin,
+certainly did fly to the Covenanters, and was employed and promoted by
+them. He obtained a pardon for the slaughter of Lord Kilpont, confirmed
+by Parliament in 1634, and was made Major of Argyle's regiment in 1648.
+Such are the facts of the tale here given as a Legend of Montrose's
+wars. The reader will find they are considerably altered in the
+fictitious narrative.
+
+The author has endeavoured to enliven the tragedy of the tale by the
+introduction of a personage proper to the time and country. In this
+he has been held by excellent judges to have been in some degree
+successful. The contempt of commerce entertained by young men having
+some pretence to gentility, the poverty of the country of Scotland, the
+national disposition to wandering and to adventure, all conduced to lead
+the Scots abroad into the military service of countries which were at
+war with each other. They were distinguished on the Continent by
+their bravery; but in adopting the trade of mercenary soldiers, they
+necessarily injured their national character. The tincture of learning,
+which most of them possessed, degenerated into pedantry; their good
+breeding became mere ceremonial; their fear of dishonour no longer kept
+them aloof from that which was really unworthy, but was made to depend
+on certain punctilious observances totally apart from that which was
+in itself deserving of praise. A cavalier of honour, in search of his
+fortune, might, for example, change his service as he would his shirt,
+fight, like the doughty Captain Dalgetty, in one cause after another,
+without regard to the justice of the quarrel, and might plunder the
+peasantry subjected to him by the fate of war with the most unrelenting
+rapacity; but he must beware how he sustained the slightest reproach,
+even from a clergyman, if it had regard to neglect on the score of duty.
+The following occurrence will prove the truth of what I mean:--
+
+"Here I must not forget the memory of one preacher, Master William
+Forbesse, a preacher for souldiers, yea, and a captaine in neede
+to leade souldiers on a good occasion, being full of courage, with
+discretion and good conduct, beyond some captaines I have knowne, that
+were not so capable as he. At this time he not onely prayed for us, but
+went on with us, to remarke, as I thinke, men's carriage; and having
+found a sergeant neglecting his dutie and his honour at such a time
+(whose name I will not expresse), having chidden him, did promise to
+reveale him unto me, as he did after their service. The sergeant being
+called before me, and accused, did deny his accusation, alleaging, if he
+were no pasteur that had alleaged it, he would not lie under the injury,
+The preacher offered to fight with him, [in proof] that it was truth
+he had spoken of him; whereupon I cashiered the sergeant, and gave his
+place to a worthier, called Mungo Gray, a gentleman of good worth,
+and of much courage. The sergeant being cashiered, never called Master
+William to account, for which he was evill thought of; so that he
+retired home, and quit the warres."
+
+The above quotation is taken from a work which the author repeatedly
+consulted while composing the following sheets, and which is in great
+measure written in the humour of Captain Dugald Dalgetty. It bears the
+following formidable title:--"MONRO his Expedition with the worthy
+Scots Regiment, called MacKeye's Regiment, levied in August 1626, by Sir
+Donald MacKeye Lord Rees Colonel, for his Majestie's service of Denmark,
+and reduced after the battle of Nerling, in September 1634, at Wormes,
+in the Palz: Discharged in several duties and observations of service,
+first, under the magnanimous King of Denmark, during his wars against
+the Empire; afterwards under the invincible King of Sweden, during
+his Majestie's lifetime; and since under the Director-General, the
+Rex-Chancellor Oxensterne, and his Generals: collected and gathered
+together, at spare hours, by Colonel Robert Monro, as First Lieutenant
+under the said Regiment, to the noble and worthy Captain Thomas
+MacKenzie of Kildon, brother to the noble Lord, the Lord Earl of
+Seaforth, for the use of all noble Cavaliers favouring the laudable
+profession of arms. To which is annexed, the Abridgement of Exercise,
+and divers Practical Observations for the Younger Officer, his
+consideration. Ending with the Soldier's Meditations on going on
+Service."--London, 1637.
+
+Another worthy of the same school, and nearly the same views of the
+military character, is Sir James Turner, a soldier of fortune, who
+rose to considerable rank in the reign of Charles II., had a command in
+Galloway and Dumfries-shire, for the suppression of conventicles, and
+was made prisoner by the insurgent Covenanters in that rising which
+was followed by the battle of Pentland. Sir James is a person even
+of superior pretensions to Lieutenant-Colonel Monro, having written
+a Military Treatise on the Pike-Exercise, called "Pallas Armata."
+Moreover, he was educated at Glasgow College, though he escaped to
+become an Ensign in the German wars, instead of taking his degree of
+Master of Arts at that learned seminary.
+
+In latter times, he was author of several discourses on historical and
+literary subjects, from which the Bannatyne Club have extracted and
+printed such passages as concern his Life and Times, under the title
+of SIR JAMES TURNER'S MEMOIRS. From this curious book I extract the
+following passage, as an example of how Captain Dalgetty might have
+recorded such an incident had he kept a journal, or, to give it a more
+just character, it is such as the genius of De Foe would have devised,
+to give the minute and distinguishing features of truth to a fictitious
+narrative:--
+
+"Heere I will set doun ane accident befell me; for thogh it was not
+a very strange one, yet it was a very od one in all its parts. My tuo
+brigads lay in a village within halfe a mile of Applebie; my own quarter
+was in a gentleman's house, ho was a Ritmaster, and at that time with
+Sir Marmaduke; his wife keepd her chamber readie to be brought to bed.
+The castle being over, and Lambert farre enough, I resolved to goe to
+bed everie night, haveing had fatigue enough before. 'The first night
+I sleepd well enough; and riseing nixt morning, I misd one linnen
+stockine, one halfe silke one, and one boothose, the accoustrement under
+a boote for one leg; neither could they be found for any search. Being
+provided of more of the same kind, I made myselfe reddie, and rode to
+the head-quarters. At my returne, I could heare no news of my stockins.
+That night I went to bed, and nixt morning found myselfe just so used;
+missing the three stockins for one leg onlie, the other three being left
+intire as they were the day before. A narrower search then the first
+was made, bot without successe. I had yet in reserve one paire of whole
+stockings, and a paire of boothose, greater then the former. These I put
+on my legs. The third morning I found the same usage, the stockins for
+one leg onlie left me. It was time for me then, and my servants too, to
+imagine it must be rats that had shard my stockins so inequallie with
+me; and this the mistress of the house knew well enough, but would not
+tell it me. The roome, which was a low parlour, being well searched with
+candles, the top of my great boothose was found at a hole, in which
+they had drawne all the rest. I went abroad and ordered the boards to be
+raised, to see how the rats had disposed of my moveables. The mistress
+sent a servant of her oune to be present at this action, which she knew
+concerned her. One board being bot a litle opend, a litle boy of mine
+thrust in his hand, and fetchd with him foure and tuentie old peeces of
+gold, and one angell. The servant of the house affirmed it appertained
+to his mistres. The boy bringing the gold to me, I went immediatlie to
+the gentlewomans chamber, and told her, it was probable Lambert haveing
+quarterd in that house, as indeed he had, some of his servants might
+have hid that gold; and if so, it was lawfullie mine; bot if she could
+make it appeare it belongd to her, I should immediatlie give it her. The
+poore gentlewoman told me with many teares, that her husband being none
+of the frugallest men (and indeed he was a spendthrift), she had hid
+that gold without his, knowledge, to make use of it as she had occasion,
+especiallie when she lay in; and conjured me, as I lovd the King (for
+whom her husband and she had suffered much), not to detaine her gold.
+She said, if there was either more or lesse then foure and tuentie whole
+peeces, and two halfe ones, it sould be none of hers; and that they were
+put by her in a red velvet purse. After I had given her assureance of
+her gold, a new search is made, the other angell is found, the velvet
+purse all gnawd in bits, as my stockins were, and the gold instantlie
+restord to the gentlewoman. I have often heard that the eating or
+gnawing of cloths by rats is ominous, and portends some mischance
+to fall on those to whom the cloths belong. I thank God I was never
+addicted to such divinations, or heeded them. It is true, that more
+misfortunes then one fell on me shortlie after; bot I am sure I could
+have better forseene them myselfe then rats or any such vermine, and yet
+did it not. I have heard indeed many fine stories told of rats, how they
+abandon houses and ships, when the first are to be burnt and the second
+dround. Naturalists say they are very sagacious creatures, and I beleeve
+they are so; bot I shall never be of the opinion they can forsee future
+contingencies, which I suppose the divell himselfe can neither forknow
+nor fortell; these being things which the Almightie hath keepd hidden
+in the bosome of his divine prescience. And whither the great God hath
+preordained or predestinated these things, which to us are contingent,
+to fall out by ane uncontrollable and unavoidable necessitie, is a
+question not yet decided." [SIR JAMES TURNER'S MEMOIRS, Bannatyne
+edition, p. 59.]
+
+In quoting these ancient authorities, I must not forget the more modern
+sketch of a Scottish soldier of the old fashion, by a masterhand, in
+the character of Lesmahagow, since the existence of that doughty
+Captain alone must deprive the present author of all claim to absolute
+originality. Still Dalgetty, as the production of his own fancy, has
+been so far a favourite with its parent, that he has fallen into the
+error of assigning to the Captain too prominent a part in the story.
+This is the opinion of a critic who encamps on the highest pinnacles of
+literature; and the author is so far fortunate in having incurred his
+censure, that it gives his modesty a decent apology for quoting the
+praise, which it would have ill-befited him to bring forward in an
+unmingled state. The passage occurs in the EDINBURGH REVIEW, No. 55,
+containing a criticism on IVANHOE:--
+
+"There is too much, perhaps, of Dalgetty,--or, rather, he engrosses
+too great a proportion of the work,--for, in himself, we think he is
+uniformly entertaining;--and the author has nowhere shown more affinity
+to that matchless spirit who could bring out his Falstaffs and his
+Pistols, in act after act, and play after play, and exercise them every
+time with scenes of unbounded loquacity, without either exhausting their
+humour, or varying a note from its characteristic tone, than in his
+large and reiterated specimens of the eloquence of the redoubted
+Ritt-master. The general idea of the character is familiar to our comic
+dramatists after the Restoration--and may be said in some measure to
+be compounded of Captain Fluellen and Bobadil;--but the
+ludicrous combination of the SOLDADO with the Divinity student of
+Mareschal-College, is entirely original; and the mixture of talent,
+selfishness, courage, coarseness, and conceit, was never so happily
+exemplified. Numerous as his speeches are, there is not one that is not
+characteristic--and, to our taste, divertingly ludicrous."
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT.
+
+While these pages were passing through the press, the author received
+a letter from the present Robert Stewart of Ardvoirlich, favouring him
+with the account of the unhappy slaughter of Lord Kilpont, differing
+from, and more probable than, that given by Bishop Wishart, whose
+narrative infers either insanity or the blackest treachery on the part
+of James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, the ancestor of the present family of
+that name. It is but fair to give the entire communication as received
+from my respected correspondent, which is more minute than the histories
+of the period.
+
+"Although I have not the honour of being personally known to you, I hope
+you will excuse the liberty I now take, in addressing you on the subject
+of a transaction more than once alluded to by you, in which an ancestor
+of mine was unhappily concerned. I allude to the slaughter of Lord
+Kilpont, son of the Earl of Airth and Monteith, in 1644, by James
+Stewart of Ardvoirlich. As the cause of this unhappy event, and the
+quarrel which led to it, have never been correctly stated in any history
+of the period in which it took place, I am induced, in consequence of
+your having, in the second series of your admirable Tales on the History
+of Scotland, adopted Wishart's version of the transaction, and being
+aware that your having done so will stamp it with an authenticity which
+it does not merit, and with a view, as far as possible, to do justice to
+the memory of my unfortunate ancestor, to send you the account of this
+affair as it has been handed down in the family.
+
+"James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, who lived in the early part of the 17th
+century, and who was the unlucky cause of the slaughter of Lord Kilpont,
+as before mentioned, was appointed to the command of one of several
+independent companies raised in the Highlands at the commencement of
+the troubles in the reign of Charles I.; another of these companies was
+under the command of Lord Kilpont, and a strong intimacy, strengthened
+by a distant relationship, subsisted between them. When Montrose raised
+the royal standard, Ardvoirlich was one of the first to declare for him,
+and is said to have been a principal means of bringing over Lord Kilpont
+to the same cause; and they accordingly, along with Sir John Drummond
+and their respective followers, joined Montrose, as recorded by Wishart,
+at Buchanty. While they served together, so strong was their intimacy,
+that they lived and slept in the same tent.
+
+"In the meantime, Montrose had been joined by the Irish under the
+command of Alexander Macdonald; these, on their march to join Montrose,
+had committed some excesses on lands belonging to Ardvoirlich, which
+lay in the line of their march from the west coast. Of this Ardvoirlich
+complained to Montrose, who, probably wishing as much as possible to
+conciliate his new allies, treated it in rather an evasive manner.
+Ardvoirlich, who was a man of violent passions, having failed to receive
+such satisfaction as he required, challenged Macdonald to single combat.
+Before they met, however, Montrose, on the information and by advice,
+as it is said, of Kilpont, laid them both under arrest. Montrose, seeing
+the evils of such a feud at such a critical time, effected a sort of
+reconciliation between them, and forced them to shake hands in his
+presence; when, it was said, that Ardvoirlich, who was a very powerful
+man, took such a hold of Macdonald's hand as to make the blood start
+from his fingers. Still, it would appear, Ardvoirlich was by no means
+reconciled.
+
+"A few days after the battle of Tippermuir, when Montrose with his
+army was encamped at Collace, an entertainment was given by him to his
+officers, in honour of the victory he had obtained, and Kilpont and
+his comrade Ardvoirlich were of the party. After returning to their
+quarters, Ardvoirlich, who seemed still to brood over his quarrel with
+Macdonald, and being heated with drink, began to blame Lord Kilpont
+for the part he had taken in preventing his obtaining redress, and
+reflecting against Montrose for not allowing him what he considered
+proper reparation. Kilpont of course defended the conduct of himself
+and his relative Montrose, till their argument came to high words; and
+finally, from the state they were both in, by an easy transition, to
+blows, when Ardvoirlich, with his dirk, struck Kilpont dead on the
+spot. He immediately fled, and under the cover of a thick mist escaped
+pursuit, leaving his eldest son Henry, who had been mortally wounded at
+Tippermuir, on his deathbed.
+
+"His followers immediately withdrew from Montrose, and no course
+remained for him but to throw himself into the arms of the opposite
+faction, by whom he was well received. His name is frequently mentioned
+in Leslie's campaigns, and on more than one occasion he is mentioned as
+having afforded protection to several of his former friends through his
+interest with Leslie, when the King's cause became desperate.
+
+"The foregoing account of this unfortunate transaction, I am well aware,
+differs materially from the account given by Wishart, who alleges that
+Stewart had laid a plot for the assassination of Montrose, and that he
+murdered Lord Kilpont in consequence of his refusal to participate in
+his design. Now, I may be allowed to remark, that besides Wishart having
+always been regarded as a partial historian, and very questionable
+authority on any subject connected with the motives or conduct of those
+who differed from him in opinion, that even had Stewart formed such a
+design, Kilpont, from his name and connexions, was likely to be the
+very last man of whom Stewart would choose to make a confidant and
+accomplice. On the other hand, the above account, though never, that I
+am aware, before hinted at, has been a constant tradition in the family;
+and, from the comparative recent date of the transaction, and the
+sources from which the tradition has been derived, I have no reason to
+doubt its perfect authenticity. It was most circumstantially detailed as
+above, given to my father, Mr. Stewart, now of Ardvoirlich, many years
+ago, by a man nearly connected with the family, who lived to the age of
+100. This man was a great-grandson of James Stewart, by a natural son
+John, of whom many stories are still current in this country, under his
+appellation of JOHN DHU MHOR. This John was with his father at the time,
+and of course was a witness of the whole transaction; he lived till
+a considerable time after the Revolution, and it was from him that
+my father's informant, who was a man before his grandfather, John dhu
+Mhor's death, received the information as above stated.
+
+"I have many apologies to offer for trespassing so long on your
+patience; but I felt a natural desire, if possible, to correct what I
+conceive to be a groundless imputation on the memory of my ancestor,
+before it shall come to be considered as a matter of History. That he
+was a man of violent passions and singular temper, I do not pretend to
+deny, as many traditions still current in this country amply verify;
+but that he was capable of forming a design to assassinate Montrose, the
+whole tenor of his former conduct and principles contradict. That he was
+obliged to join the opposite party, was merely a matter of safety, while
+Kilpont had so many powerful friends and connexions able and ready to
+avenge his death.
+
+"I have only to add, that you have my full permission to make what use
+of this communication you please, and either to reject it altogether, or
+allow it such credit as you think it deserves; and I shall be ready at
+all times to furnish you with any further information on this subject
+which you may require, and which it may be in my power to afford.
+
+"ARDVOIRLICH, 15TH JANUARY, 1830."
+
+The publication of a statement so particular, and probably so correct,
+is a debt due to the memory of James Stewart; the victim, it would
+seem, of his own violent passions, but perhaps incapable of an act of
+premeditated treachery.
+
+ABBOTSFORD, 1ST AUGUST, 1830.
+
+
+
+
+II. INTRODUCTION (Supplement).
+
+Sergeant More M'Alpin was, during his residence among us, one of the
+most honoured inhabitants of Gandercleugh. No one thought of disputing
+his title to the great leathern chair on the "cosiest side of the
+chimney," in the common room of the Wallace Arms, on a Saturday evening.
+No less would our sexton, John Duirward, have held it an unlicensed
+intrusion, to suffer any one to induct himself into the corner of
+the left-hand pew nearest to the pulpit, which the Sergeant regularly
+occupied on Sundays. There he sat, his blue invalid uniform brushed
+with the most scrupulous accuracy. Two medals of merit displayed at his
+button-hole, as well as the empty sleeve which should have been occupied
+by his right arm, bore evidence of his hard and honourable service.
+His weatherbeaten features, his grey hair tied in a thin queue in the
+military fashion of former days, and the right side of his head a little
+turned up, the better to catch the sound of the clergyman's voice, were
+all marks of his profession and infirmities. Beside him sat his sister
+Janet, a little neat old woman, with a Highland curch and tartan plaid,
+watching the very looks of her brother, to her the greatest man upon
+earth, and actively looking out for him, in his silver-clasped Bible,
+the texts which the minister quoted or expounded.
+
+I believe it was the respect that was universally paid to this worthy
+veteran by all ranks in Gandercleugh which induced him to choose
+our village for his residence, for such was by no means his original
+intention.
+
+He had risen to the rank of sergeant-major of artillery, by hard service
+in various quarters of the world, and was reckoned one of the most tried
+and trusty men of the Scotch Train. A ball, which shattered his arm in
+a peninsular campaign, at length procured him an honourable discharge.
+with an allowance from Chelsea, and a handsome gratuity from the
+patriotic fund. Moreover, Sergeant More M'Alpin had been prudent as well
+as valiant; and, from prize-money and savings, had become master of a
+small sum in the three per cent consols.
+
+He retired with the purpose of enjoying this income in the wild Highland
+glen, in which, when a boy, he had herded black cattle and goats, ere
+the roll of the drum had made him cock his bonnet an inch higher, and
+follow its music for nearly forty years. To his recollection, this
+retired spot was unparalleled in beauty by the richest scenes he had
+visited in his wanderings. Even the Happy Valley of Rasselas would have
+sunk into nothing upon the comparison. He came--he revisited the loved
+scene; it was but a sterile glen, surrounded with rude crags, and
+traversed by a northern torrent. This was not the worst. The fires had
+been quenched upon thirty hearths--of the cottage of his fathers
+he could but distinguish a few rude stones--the language was almost
+extinguished--the ancient race from which he boasted his descent
+had found a refuge beyond the Atlantic. One southland farmer, three
+grey-plaided shepherds, and six dogs, now tenanted the whole glen, which
+in his youth had maintained, in content, if not in competence, upwards
+of two hundred inhabitants.
+
+In the house of the new tenant, Sergeant M'Alpin found, however, an
+unexpected source of pleasure, and a means of employing his social
+affections. His sister Janet had fortunately entertained so strong a
+persuasion that her brother would one day return, that she had refused
+to accompany her kinsfolk upon their emigration. Nay, she had consented,
+though not without a feeling of degradation, to take service with the
+intruding Lowlander, who, though a Saxon, she said, had proved a kind
+man to her. This unexpected meeting with his sister seemed a cure
+for all the disappointments which it had been Sergeant More's lot to
+encounter, although it was not without a reluctant tear that he
+heard told, as a Highland woman alone could ten it, the story of the
+expatriation of his kinsmen.
+
+She narrated at great length the vain offers they had made of advanced
+rent, the payment of which must have reduced them to the extremity of
+poverty, which they were yet contented to face, for permission to live
+and die on their native soil. Nor did Janet forget the portents which
+had announced the departure of the Celtic race, and the arrival of the
+strangers. For two years previous to the emigration, when the night wind
+howled dawn the pass of Balachra, its notes were distinctly modelled
+to the tune of "HA TIL MI TULIDH" (we return no more), with which the
+emigrants usually bid farewell to their native shores. The uncouth cries
+of the Southland shepherds, and the barking of their dogs, were often
+heard in the midst of the hills long before their actual arrival.
+A bard, the last of his race, had commemorated the expulsion of the
+natives of the glen in a tune, which brought tears into the aged eyes of
+the veteran, and of which the first stanza may be thus rendered:--
+
+     Woe, woe, son of the Lowlander,
+     Why wilt thou leave thine own bonny Border?
+     Why comes thou hither, disturbing the Highlander,
+     Wasting the glen that was once in fair order?
+
+What added to Sergeant More M'Alpin's distress upon the occasion was,
+that the chief by whom this change had been effected, was, by tradition
+and common opinion, held to represent the ancient leaders and fathers of
+the expelled fugitives; and it had hitherto been one of Sergeant More's
+principal subjects of pride to prove, by genealogical deduction, in what
+degree of kindred he stood to this personage. A woful change was now
+wrought in his sentiments towards him.
+
+"I cannot curse him," he said, as he rose and strode through the room,
+when Janet's narrative was finished--"I will not curse him; he is the
+descendant and representative of my fathers. But never shall mortal man
+hear me name his name again." And he kept his word; for, until his dying
+day, no man heard him mention his selfish and hard-hearted chieftain.
+
+After giving a day to sad recollections, the hardy spirit which had
+carried him through so many dangers, manned the Sergeant's bosom against
+this cruel disappointment. "He would go," he said, "to Canada to his
+kinsfolk, where they had named a Transatlantic valley after the glen of
+their fathers. Janet," he said, "should kilt her coats like a leaguer
+lady; d--n the distance! it was a flea's leap to the voyages and marches
+he had made on a slighter occasion."
+
+With this purpose he left the Highlands, and came with his sister as far
+as Gandercleugh, on his way to Glasgow, to take a passage to Canada.
+But winter was now set in, and as he thought it advisable to wait for a
+spring passage, when the St. Lawrence should be open, he settled among
+us for the few months of his stay in Britain. As we said before, the
+respectable old man met with deference and attention from all ranks
+of society; and when spring returned, he was so satisfied with his
+quarters, that he did not renew the purpose of his voyage. Janet was
+afraid of the sea, and he himself felt the infirmities of age and hard
+service more than he had at first expected. And, as he confessed to the
+clergyman, and my worthy principal, Mr. Cleishbotham, "it was better
+staying with kend friends, than going farther, and faring worse."
+
+He therefore established himself and his domicile at Gandercleugh, to
+the great satisfaction, as we have already said, of all its inhabitants,
+to whom he became, in respect of military intelligence, and able
+commentaries upon the newspapers, gazettes, and bulletins, a very
+oracle, explanatory of all martial events, past, present, or to come.
+
+It is true, the Sergeant had his inconsistencies. He was a steady
+jacobite, his father and his four uncles having been out in the
+forty-five; but he was a no less steady adherent of King George, in
+whose service he had made his little fortune, and lost three brothers;
+so that you were in equal danger to displease him, in terming Prince
+Charles, the Pretender, or by saying anything derogatory to the dignity
+of King George. Further, it must not be denied, that when the day of
+receiving his dividends came round, the Sergeant was apt to tarry longer
+at the Wallace Arms of an evening, than was consistent with strict
+temperance, or indeed with his worldly interest; for upon these
+occasions, his compotators sometimes contrived to flatter his
+partialities by singing jacobite songs, and drinking confusion to
+Bonaparte, and the health of the Duke of Wellington, until the Sergeant
+was not only flattered into paying the whole reckoning, but occasionally
+induced to lend small sums to his interested companions. After such
+sprays, as he called them, were over, and his temper once more cool, he
+seldom failed to thank God, and the Duke of York, who had made it much
+more difficult for an old soldier to ruin himself by his folly, than had
+been the case in his younger days.
+
+It was not on such occasions that I made a part of Sergeant More
+M'Alpin's society. But often, when my leisure would permit, I used to
+seek him, on what he called his morning and evening parade, on which,
+when the weather was fair, he appeared as regularly as if summoned by
+tuck of drum. His morning walk was beneath the elms in the churchyard;
+"for death," he said, "had been his next-door neighbour for so many
+years, that he had no apology for dropping the acquaintance." His
+evening promenade was on the bleaching-green by the river-side, where
+he was sometimes to be seen on an open bench, with spectacles on
+nose, conning over the newspapers to a circle of village politicians,
+explaining military terms, and aiding the comprehension of his hearers
+by lines drawn on the ground with the end of his rattan. On other
+occasions, he was surrounded by a bevy of school-boys, whom he sometimes
+drilled to the manual, and sometimes, with less approbation on the part
+of their parents, instructed in the mystery of artificial fire-works;
+for in the case of public rejoicings, the Sergeant was pyrotechnist (as
+the Encyclopedia calls it) to the village of Gandercleugh.
+
+It was in his morning walk that I most frequently met with the veteran.
+And I can hardly yet look upon the village footpath, overshadowed by
+the row of lofty elms, without thinking I see his upright form advancing
+towards me with measured step, and his cane advanced, ready to pay me
+the military salute--but he is dead, and sleeps with his faithful Janet,
+under the third of those very trees, counting from the stile at the west
+corner of the churchyard.
+
+The delight which I had in Sergeant M'Alpin's conversation, related
+not only to his own adventures, of which he had encountered many in the
+course of a wandering life, but also to his recollection of numerous
+Highland traditions, in which his youth had been instructed by his
+parents, and of which he would in after life have deemed it a kind of
+heresy to question the authenticity. Many of these belonged to the wars
+of Montrose, in which some of the Sergeant's ancestry had, it seems,
+taken a distinguished part. It has happened, that, although these civil
+commotions reflect the highest honour upon the Highlanders, being indeed
+the first occasion upon which they showed themselves superior, or even
+equal to their Low-country neighbours in military encounters, they have
+been less commemorated among them than any one would have expected,
+judging from the abundance of traditions which they have preserved upon
+less interesting subjects. It was, therefore, with great pleasure, that
+I extracted from my military friend some curious particulars respecting
+that time; they are mixed with that measure of the wild and wonderful
+which belongs to the period and the narrator, but which I do not in the
+least object to the reader's treating with disbelief, providing he
+will be so good as to give implicit credit to the natural events of the
+story, which, like all those which I have had the honour to put under
+his notice, actually rest upon a basis of truth.
+
+
+
+
+III. A LEGEND OF MONTROSE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     Such as do build their faith upon
+     The holy text of pike and gun,
+     Decide all controversies by
+     Infallible artillery,
+     And prove their doctrine orthodox,
+     By apostolic blows and knocks.--BUTLER.
+
+It was during the period of that great and bloody Civil War which
+agitated Britain during the seventeenth century, that our tale has its
+commencement. Scotland had as yet remained free from the ravages of
+intestine war, although its inhabitants were much divided in political
+opinions; and many of them, tired of the control of the Estates of
+Parliament, and disapproving of the bold measure which they had
+adopted, by sending into England a large army to the assistance of
+the Parliament, were determined on their part to embrace the earliest
+opportunity of declaring for the King, and making such a diversion
+as should at least compel the recall of General Leslie's army out of
+England, if it did not recover a great part of Scotland to the King's
+allegiance. This plan was chiefly adopted by the northern nobility, who
+had resisted with great obstinacy the adoption of the Solemn League and
+Covenant, and by many of the chiefs of the Highland clans, who conceived
+their interest and authority to be connected with royalty, who had,
+besides, a decided aversion to the Presbyterian form of religion, and
+who, finally, were in that half savage state of society, in which war is
+always more welcome than peace.
+
+Great commotions were generally expected to arise from these concurrent
+causes; and the trade of incursion and depredation, which the Scotch
+Highlanders at all times exercised upon the Lowlands, began to assume a
+more steady, avowed, and systematic form, as part of a general military
+system.
+
+Those at the head of affairs were not insensible to the peril of the
+moment, and anxiously made preparations to meet and to repel it. They
+considered, however, with satisfaction, that no leader or name of
+consequence had as yet appeared to assemble an army of royalists,
+or even to direct the efforts of those desultory bands, whom love of
+plunder, perhaps, as much as political principle, had hurried into
+measures of hostility. It was generally hoped that the quartering a
+sufficient number of troops in the Lowlands adjacent to the Highland
+line, would have the effect of restraining the mountain chieftains;
+while the power of various barons in the north, who had espoused the
+Covenant, as, for example, the Earl Mareschal, the great families of
+Forbes, Leslie, and Irvine, the Grants, and other Presbyterian clans,
+might counterbalance and bridle, not only the strength of the Ogilvies
+and other cavaliers of Angus and Kincardine, but even the potent family
+of the Gordons, whose extensive authority was only equalled by their
+extreme dislike to the Presbyterian model.
+
+In the West Highlands the ruling party numbered many enemies; but the
+power of these disaffected clans was supposed to be broken, and the
+spirit of their chieftains intimidated, by the predominating influence
+of the Marquis of Argyle, upon whom the confidence of the Convention
+of Estates was reposed with the utmost security; and whose power in
+the Highlands, already exorbitant, had been still farther increased
+by concessions extorted from the King at the last pacification. It was
+indeed well known that Argyle was a man rather of political enterprise
+than personal courage, and better calculated to manage an intrigue
+of state, than to control the tribes of hostile mountaineers; yet the
+numbers of his clan, and the spirit of the gallant gentlemen by whom it
+was led, might, it was supposed, atone for the personal deficiencies of
+their chief; and as the Campbells had already severely humbled several
+of the neighbouring tribes, it was supposed these would not readily
+again provoke an encounter with a body so powerful.
+
+Thus having at their command the whole west and south of Scotland,
+indisputably the richest part of the kingdom,--Fifeshire being in a
+peculiar manner their own, and possessing many and powerful friends even
+north of the Forth and Tay,--the Scottish Convention of Estates saw no
+danger sufficient to induce them to alter the line of policy they had
+adopted, or to recall from the assistance of their brethren of the
+English Parliament that auxiliary army of twenty thousand men, by means
+of which accession of strength, the King's party had been reduced to the
+defensive, when in full career of triumph and success.
+
+The causes which moved the Convention of Estates at this time to take
+such an immediate and active interest in the civil war of England, are
+detailed in our historians, but may be here shortly recapitulated. They
+had indeed no new injury or aggression to complain of at the hand of the
+King, and the peace which had been made between Charles and his subjects
+of Scotland had been carefully observed; but the Scottish rulers were
+well aware that this peace had been extorted from the King, as well by
+the influence of the parliamentary party in England, as by the terror
+of their own arms. It is true, King Charles had since then visited the
+capital of his ancient kingdom, had assented to the new organization of
+the church, and had distributed honours and rewards among the leaders of
+the party which had shown themselves most hostile to his interests; but
+it was suspected that distinctions so unwillingly conferred would be
+resumed as soon as opportunity offered. The low state of the English
+Parliament was seen in Scotland with deep apprehension; and it was
+concluded, that should Charles triumph by force of arms against his
+insurgent subjects of England, he would not be long in exacting from the
+Scotch the vengeance which he might suppose due to those who had set
+the example of taking up arms against him. Such was the policy of the
+measure which dictated the sending the auxiliary army into England; and
+it was avowed in a manifesto explanatory of their reasons for giving
+this timely and important aid to the English Parliament. The English
+Parliament, they said, had been already friendly to them, and might
+be so again; whereas the King, although he had so lately established
+religion among them according to their desires, had given them no ground
+to confide in his royal declaration, seeing they had found his promises
+and actions inconsistent with each other. "Our conscience," they
+concluded, "and God, who is greater than our conscience, beareth us
+record, that we aim altogether at the glory of God, peace of both
+nations, and honour of the King, in suppressing and punishing in a legal
+way, those who are the troublers of Israel, the firebrands of hell, the
+Korahs, the Balaams, the Doegs, the Rabshakehs, the Hamans, the Tobiahs,
+the Sanballats of our time, which done, we are satisfied. Neither
+have we begun to use a military expedition to England as a mean for
+compassing those our pious ends, until all other means which we could
+think upon have failed us: and this alone is left to us, ULTIMUM ET
+UNICUM REMEDIUM, the last and only remedy."
+
+Leaving it to casuists to determine whether one contracting party is
+justified in breaking a solemn treaty, upon the suspicion that, in
+certain future contingencies, it might be infringed by the other, we
+shall proceed to mention two other circumstances that had at least equal
+influence with the Scottish rulers and nation, with any doubts which
+they entertained of the King's good faith.
+
+The first of these was the nature and condition of their army; headed by
+a poor and discontented nobility, under whom it was officered chiefly
+by Scottish soldiers of fortune, who had served in the German wars until
+they had lost almost all distinction of political principle, and even
+of country, in the adoption of the mercenary faith, that a soldier's
+principal duty was fidelity to the state or sovereign from whom he
+received his pay, without respect either to the justice of the quarrel,
+or to their own connexion with either of the contending parties. To men
+of this stamp, Grotius applies the severe character--NULLUM VITAE GENUS
+ET IMPROBIUS, QUAM EORUM, QUI SINE CAUSAE RESPECTU MERCEDE CONDUCTI,
+MILITANT. To these mercenary soldiers, as well as to the needy gentry
+with whom they were mixed in command, and who easily imbibed the same
+opinions, the success of the late short invasion of England in 1641 was
+a sufficient reason for renewing so profitable an experiment. The good
+pay and free quarters of England had made a feeling impression upon the
+recollection of these military adventurers, and the prospect of again
+levying eight hundred and fifty pounds a-day, came in place of all
+arguments, whether of state or of morality.
+
+Another cause inflamed the minds of the nation at large, no less than
+the tempting prospect of the wealth of England animated the soldiery.
+So much had been written and said on either side concerning the form
+of church government, that it had become a matter of infinitely more
+consequence in the eyes of the multitude than the doctrines of
+that gospel which both churches had embraced. The Prelatists and
+Presbyterians of the more violent kind became as illiberal as the
+Papists, and would scarcely allow the possibility of salvation beyond
+the pale of their respective churches. It was in vain remarked to
+these zealots, that had the Author of our holy religion considered any
+peculiar form of church government as essential to salvation, it would
+have been revealed with the same precision as under the Old Testament
+dispensation. Both parties continued as violent as if they could have
+pleaded the distinct commands of Heaven to justify their intolerance,
+Laud, in the days of his domination, had fired the train, by attempting
+to impose upon the Scottish people church ceremonies foreign to their
+habits and opinions. The success with which this had been resisted, and
+the Presbyterian model substituted in its place, had endeared the latter
+to the nation, as the cause in which they had triumphed. The Solemn
+League and Covenant, adopted with such zeal by the greater part of the
+kingdom, and by them forced, at the sword's point, upon the others, bore
+in its bosom, as its principal object, the establishing the doctrine and
+discipline of the Presbyterian church, and the putting down all error
+and heresy; and having attained for their own country an establishment
+of this golden candlestick, the Scots became liberally and fraternally
+anxious to erect the same in England. This they conceived might be
+easily attained by lending to the Parliament the effectual assistance of
+the Scottish forces. The Presbyterians, a numerous and powerful party in
+the English Parliament, had hitherto taken the lead in opposition to the
+King; while the Independents and other sectaries, who afterwards, under
+Cromwell, resumed the power of the sword, and overset the Presbyterian
+model both in Scotland and England, were as yet contented to lurk under
+the shelter of the wealthier and more powerful party. The prospect
+of bringing to a uniformity the kingdoms of England and Scotland in
+discipline and worship, seemed therefore as fair as it was desirable.
+
+The celebrated Sir Henry Vane, one of the commissioners who negotiated
+the alliance betwixt England and Scotland, saw the influence which this
+bait had upon the spirits of those with whom he dealt; and although
+himself a violent Independent, he contrived at once to gratify and
+to elude the eager desires of the Presbyterians, by qualifying the
+obligation to reform the Church of England, as a change to be executed
+"according to the word of God, and the best reformed churches." Deceived
+by their own eagerness, themselves entertaining no doubts on the JUS
+DIVINUM of their own ecclesiastical establishments, and not holding
+it possible such doubts could be adopted by others, the Convention
+of Estates and the Kirk of Scotland conceived, that such expressions
+necessarily inferred the establishment of Presbytery; nor were they
+undeceived, until, when their help was no longer needful, the sectaries
+gave them to understand, that the phrase might be as well applied to
+Independency, or any other mode of worship, which those who were at the
+head of affairs at the time might consider as agreeable "to the word
+of God, and the practice of the reformed churches." Neither were the
+outwitted Scottish less astonished to find, that the designs of the
+English sectaries struck against the monarchial constitution of Britain,
+it having been their intention to reduce the power of the King, but by
+no means to abrogate the office. They fared, however, in this respect,
+like rash physicians, who commence by over-physicking a patient, until
+he is reduced to a state of weakness, from which cordials are afterwards
+unable to recover him.
+
+But these events were still in the womb of futurity. As yet the Scottish
+Parliament held their engagement with England consistent with justice,
+prudence, and piety, and their military undertaking seemed to succeed to
+their very wish. The junction of the Scottish army with those of Fairfax
+and Manchester, enabled the Parliamentary forces to besiege York, and to
+fight the desperate action of Long-Marston Moor, in which Prince Rupert
+and the Marquis of Newcastle were defeated. The Scottish auxiliaries,
+indeed, had less of the glory of this victory than their countrymen
+could desire. David Leslie, with their cavalry, fought bravely, and to
+them, as well as to Cromwell's brigade of Independents, the honour of
+the day belonged; but the old Earl of Leven, the covenanting general,
+was driven out of the field by the impetuous charge of Prince Rupert,
+and was thirty miles distant, in full flight towards Scotland, when he
+was overtaken by the news that his party had gained a complete victory.
+
+The absence of these auxiliary troops, upon this crusade for the
+establishment of Presbyterianism in England, had considerably diminished
+the power of the Convention of Estates in Scotland, and had given rise
+to those agitations among the anti-covenanters, which we have noticed at
+the beginning of this chapter.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     His mother could for him as cradle set
+     Her husband's rusty iron corselet;
+     Whose jangling sound could hush her babe to rest,
+     That never plain'd of his uneasy nest;
+     Then did he dream of dreary wars at hand,
+     And woke, and fought, and won, ere he could stand.--HALL'S SATIRES
+
+It was towards the close of a summer's evening, during the anxious
+period which we have commemorated, that a young gentleman of quality,
+well mounted and armed, and accompanied by two servants, one of whom led
+a sumpter horse, rode slowly up one of those steep passes, by which the
+Highlands are accessible from the Lowlands of Perthshire. [The beautiful
+pass of Leny, near Callander, in Monteith, would, in some respects,
+answer this description.] Their course had lain for some time along the
+banks of a lake, whose deep waters reflected the crimson beams of the
+western sun. The broken path which they pursued with some difficulty,
+was in some places shaded by ancient birches and oak-trees, and in
+others overhung by fragments of huge rock. Elsewhere, the hill, which
+formed the northern side of this beautiful sheet of water, arose in
+steep, but less precipitous acclivity, and was arrayed in heath of the
+darkest purple. In the present times, a scene so romantic would have
+been judged to possess the highest charms for the traveller; but
+those who journey in days of doubt and dread, pay little attention to
+picturesque scenery.
+
+The master kept, as often as the wood permitted, abreast of one or both
+of his domestics, and seemed earnestly to converse with them, probably
+because the distinctions of rank are readily set aside among those who
+are made to be sharers of common danger. The dispositions of the leading
+men who inhabit this wild country, and the probability of their taking
+part in the political convulsions that were soon expected, were the
+subjects of their conversation.
+
+They had not advanced above half way up the lake, and the young
+gentleman was pointing to his attendants the spot where their intended
+road turned northwards, and, leaving the verge of the loch, ascended a
+ravine to the right hand, when they discovered a single horseman coming
+down the shore, as if to meet them. The gleam of the sunbeams upon his
+head-piece and corslet showed that he was in armour, and the purpose of
+the other travellers required that he should not pass unquestioned.
+"We must know who he is," said the young gentleman, "and whither he is
+going." And putting spurs to his horse, he rode forward as fast as the
+rugged state of the road would permit, followed by his two attendants,
+until he reached the point where the pass along the side of the lake
+was intersected by that which descended from the ravine, securing thus
+against the possibility of the stranger eluding them, by turning into
+the latter road before they came up with him.
+
+The single horseman had mended his pace, when he first observed the
+three riders advance rapidly towards him; but when he saw them halt and
+form a front, which completely occupied the path, he checked his
+horse, and advanced with great deliberation; so that each party had an
+opportunity to take a full survey of the other. The solitary stranger
+was mounted upon an able horse, fit for military service, and for
+the great weight which he had to carry, and his rider occupied his
+demipique, or war-saddle, with an air that showed it was his familiar
+seat. He had a bright burnished head-piece, with a plume of feathers,
+together with a cuirass, thick enough to resist a musket-ball, and a
+back-piece of lighter materials. These defensive arms he wore over a
+buff jerkin, along with a pair of gauntlets, or steel gloves, the
+tops of which reached up to his elbow, and which, like the rest of his
+armour, were of bright steel. At the front of his military saddle hung
+a case of pistols, far beyond the ordinary size, nearly two feet in
+length, and carrying bullets of twenty to the pound. A buff belt, with a
+broad silver buckle, sustained on one side a long straight double-edged
+broadsword, with a strong guard, and a blade calculated either to strike
+or push. On the right side hung a dagger of about eighteen inches
+in length; a shoulder-belt sustained at his back a musketoon or
+blunderbuss, and was crossed by a bandelier containing his charges of
+ammunition. Thigh-pieces of steel, then termed taslets, met the tops of
+his huge jack-boots, and completed the equipage of a well-armed trooper
+of the period.
+
+The appearance of the horseman himself corresponded well with his
+military equipage, to which he had the air of having been long inured.
+He was above the middle size, and of strength sufficient to bear with
+ease the weight of his weapons, offensive and defensive. His age
+might be forty and upwards, and his countenance was that of a resolute
+weather-beaten veteran, who had seen many fields, and brought away
+in token more than one scar. At the distance of about thirty yards
+he halted and stood fast, raised himself on his stirrups, as if to
+reconnoitre and ascertain the purpose of the opposite party, and brought
+his musketoon under his right arm, ready for use, if occasion should
+require it. In everything but numbers, he had the advantage of those who
+seemed inclined to interrupt his passage.
+
+The leader of the party was, indeed, well mounted and clad in a buff
+coat, richly embroidered, the half-military dress of the period; but his
+domestics had only coarse jackets of thick felt, which could scarce be
+expected to turn the edge of a sword, if wielded by a strong man; and
+none of them had any weapons, save swords and pistols, without which
+gentlemen, or their attendants, during those disturbed times, seldom
+stirred abroad.
+
+When they had stood at gaze for about a minute, the younger gentleman
+gave the challenge which was then common in the mouth of all strangers
+who met in such circumstances--"For whom are you?"
+
+"Tell me first," answered the soldier, "for whom are you?--the strongest
+party should speak first."
+
+"We are for God and King Charles," answered the first speaker.--"Now
+tell your faction, you know ours."
+
+"I am for God and my standard," answered the single horseman.
+
+"And for which standard?" replied the chief of the other
+party--"Cavalier or Roundhead, King or Convention?"
+
+"By my troth, sir," answered the soldier, "I would be loath to reply to
+you with an untruth, as a thing unbecoming a cavalier of fortune and
+a soldier. But to answer your query with beseeming veracity, it
+is necessary I should myself have resolved to whilk of the present
+divisions of the kingdom I shall ultimately adhere, being a matter
+whereon my mind is not as yet preceesely ascertained."
+
+"I should have thought," answered the gentleman, "that, when loyalty and
+religion are at stake, no gentleman or man of honour could be long in
+choosing his party."
+
+"Truly, sir," replied the trooper, "if ye speak this in the way of
+vituperation, as meaning to impugn my honour or genteelity, I would
+blithely put the same to issue, venturing in that quarrel with my single
+person against you three. But if you speak it in the way of logical
+ratiocination, whilk I have studied in my youth at the Mareschal-College
+of Aberdeen, I am ready to prove to ye LOGICE, that my resolution
+to defer, for a certain season, the taking upon me either of these
+quarrels, not only becometh me as a gentleman and a man of honour, but
+also as a person of sense and prudence, one imbued with humane letters
+in his early youth, and who, from thenceforward, has followed the wars
+under the banner of the invincible Gustavus, the Lion of the North, and
+under many other heroic leaders, both Lutheran and Calvinist, Papist and
+Arminian."
+
+After exchanging a word or two with his domestics, the younger gentleman
+replied, "I should be glad, sir, to have some conversation with you upon
+so interesting a question, and should be proud if I can determine you
+in favour of the cause I have myself espoused. I ride this evening to
+a friend's house not three miles distant, whither, if you choose to
+accompany me, you shall have good quarters for the night, and free
+permission to take your own road in the morning, if you then feel no
+inclination to join with us."
+
+"Whose word am I to take for this?" answered the cautious soldier--"A
+man must know his guarantee, or he may fall into an ambuscade."
+
+"I am called," answered the younger stranger, "the Earl of Menteith,
+and, I trust, you will receive my honour as a sufficient security."
+
+"A worthy nobleman," answered the soldier, "whose parole is not to be
+doubted." With one motion he replaced his musketoon at his back,
+and with another made his military salute to the young nobleman, and
+continuing to talk as he rode forward to join him--"And, I trust," said
+he, "my own assurance, that I will be BON CAMARADO to your lordship in
+peace or in peril, during the time we shall abide together, will not
+be altogether vilipended in these doubtful times, when, as they say, a
+man's head is safer in a steel-cap than in a marble palace."
+
+"I assure you, sir," said Lord Menteith, "that to judge from your
+appearance, I most highly value the advantage of your escort; but, I
+trust, we shall have no occasion for any exercise of valour, as I expect
+to conduct you to good and friendly quarters."
+
+"Good quarters, my lord," replied the soldier, "are always acceptable,
+and are only to be postponed to good pay or good booty,--not to mention
+the honour of a cavalier, or the needful points of commanded duty. And
+truly, my lord, your noble proffer is not the less welcome, in that I
+knew not preceesely this night where I and my poor companion" (patting
+his horse), "were to find lodgments."
+
+"May I be permitted to ask, then," said Lord Menteith, "to whom I have
+the good fortune to stand quarter-master?"
+
+"Truly, my lord," said the trooper, "my name is Dalgetty--Dugald
+Dalgetty, Ritt-master Dugald Dalgetty of Drumthwacket, at your
+honourable service to command. It is a name you may have seen in GALLO
+BELGICUS, the SWEDISH INTELLIGENCER, or, if you read High Dutch, in the
+FLIEGENDEN MERCOEUR of Leipsic. My father, my lord, having by unthrifty
+courses reduced a fair patrimony to a nonentity, I had no better shift,
+when I was eighteen years auld, than to carry the learning whilk I
+had acquired at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, my gentle bluid and
+designation of Drumthwacket, together with a pair of stalwarth arms, and
+legs conform, to the German wars, there to push my way as a cavalier of
+fortune. My lord, my legs and arms stood me in more stead than either
+my gentle kin or my book-lear, and I found myself trailing a pike as
+a private gentleman under old Sir Ludovick Leslie, where I learned the
+rules of service so tightly, that I will not forget them in a hurry.
+Sir, I have been made to stand guard eight hours, being from twelve at
+noon to eight o'clock of the night, at the palace, armed with back and
+breast, head-piece and bracelets, being iron to the teeth, in a bitter
+frost, and the ice was as hard as ever was flint; and all for stopping
+an instant to speak to my landlady, when I should have gone to
+roll-call."
+
+"And, doubtless, sir," replied Lord Menteith, "you have gone through
+some hot service, as well as this same cold duty you talk of?"
+
+"Surely, my lord, it doth not become me to speak; but he that hath seen
+the fields of Leipsic and of Lutzen, may be said to have seen pitched
+battles. And one who hath witnessed the intaking of Frankfort, and
+Spanheim, and Nuremberg, and so forth, should know somewhat about
+leaguers, storms, onslaughts and outfalls."
+
+"But your merit, sir, and experience, were doubtless followed by
+promotion?"
+
+"It came slow, my lord, dooms slow," replied Dalgetty; "but as my
+Scottish countrymen, the fathers of the war, and the raisers of those
+valorous Scottish regiments that were the dread of Germany, began to
+fall pretty thick, what with pestilence and what with the sword, why
+we, their children, succeeded to their inheritance. Sir, I was six years
+first private gentleman of the company, and three years lance speisade;
+disdaining to receive a halberd, as unbecoming my birth. Wherefore I
+was ultimately promoted to be a fahndragger, as the High Dutch call
+it (which signifies an ancient), in the King's Leif Regiment of
+Black-Horse, and thereafter I arose to be lieutenant and ritt-master,
+under that invincible monarch, the bulwark of the Protestant faith, the
+Lion of the North, the terror of Austria, Gustavus the Victorious."
+
+"And yet, if I understand you, Captain Dalgetty,--I think that rank
+corresponds with your foreign title of ritt-master--"
+
+"The same grade preceesely," answered Dalgetty; "ritt-master signifying
+literally file-leader."
+
+"I was observing," continued Lord Menteith, "that, if I understood you
+right, you had left the service of this great Prince."
+
+"It was after his death--it was after his death, sir," said Dalgetty,
+"when I was in no shape bound to continue mine adherence. There are
+things, my lord, in that service, that cannot but go against the stomach
+of any cavalier of honour. In especial, albeit the pay be none of
+the most superabundant, being only about sixty dollars a-month to a
+ritt-master, yet the invincible Gustavus never paid above one-third of
+that sum, whilk was distributed monthly by way of loan; although, when
+justly considered, it was, in fact, a borrowing by that great monarch of
+the additional two-thirds which were due to the soldier. And I have seen
+some whole regiments of Dutch and Holsteiners mutiny on the field of
+battle, like base scullions, crying out Gelt, gelt, signifying their
+desire of pay, instead of falling to blows like our noble Scottish
+blades, who ever disdained, my lord, postponing of honour to filthy
+lucre."
+
+"But were not these arrears," said Lord Menteith, "paid to the soldiery
+at some stated period?"
+
+"My lord," said Dalgetty, "I take it on my conscience, that at no
+period, and by no possible process, could one creutzer of them ever be
+recovered. I myself never saw twenty dollars of my own all the time I
+served the invincible Gustavus, unless it was from the chance of a storm
+or victory, or the fetching in some town or doorp, when a cavalier of
+fortune, who knows the usage of wars, seldom faileth to make some small
+profit."
+
+"I begin rather to wonder, sir," said Lord Menteith, "that you should
+have continued so long in the Swedish service, than that you should have
+ultimately withdrawn from it."
+
+"Neither I should," answered the Ritt-master; "but that great leader,
+captain, and king, the Lion of the North, and the bulwark of the
+Protestant faith, had a way of winning battles, taking towns,
+over-running countries, and levying contributions, whilk made his
+service irresistibly delectable to all true-bred cavaliers who follow
+the noble profession of arms. Simple as I ride here, my lord, I have
+myself commanded the whole stift of Dunklespiel on the Lower Rhine,
+occupying the Palsgrave's palace, consuming his choice wines with my
+comrades, calling in contributions, requisitions, and caduacs, and not
+failing to lick my fingers, as became a good cook. But truly all this
+glory hastened to decay, after our great master had been shot with three
+bullets on the field of Lutzen; wherefore, finding that Fortune had
+changed sides, that the borrowings and lendings went on as before out of
+our pay, while the caduacs and casualties were all cut off, I e'en gave
+up my commission, and took service with Wallenstein, in Walter Butler's
+Irish regiment."
+
+"And may I beg to know of you," said Lord Menteith, apparently
+interested in the adventures of this soldier of fortune, "how you liked
+this change of masters?"
+
+"Indifferent well," said the Captain--"very indifferent well. I cannot
+say that the Emperor paid much better than the great Gustavus. For
+hard knocks, we had plenty of them. I was often obliged to run my head
+against my old acquaintances, the Swedish feathers, whilk your honour
+must conceive to be double-pointed stakes, shod with iron at each
+end, and planted before the squad of pikes to prevent an onfall of the
+cavalry. The whilk Swedish feathers, although they look gay to the eye,
+resembling the shrubs or lesser trees of ane forest, as the puissant
+pikes, arranged in battalia behind them, correspond to the tall pines
+thereof, yet, nevertheless, are not altogether so soft to encounter as
+the plumage of a goose. Howbeit, in despite of heavy blows and light
+pay, a cavalier of fortune may thrive indifferently well in the Imperial
+service, in respect his private casualties are nothing so closely looked
+to as by the Swede; and so that an officer did his duty on the field,
+neither Wallenstein nor Pappenheim, nor old Tilly before them, would
+likely listen to the objurgations of boors or burghers against any
+commander or soldado, by whom they chanced to be somewhat closely shorn.
+So that an experienced cavalier, knowing how to lay, as our Scottish
+phrase runs, 'the head of the sow to the tail of the grice,' might get
+out of the country the pay whilk he could not obtain from the Emperor."
+
+"With a full hand, sir, doubtless, and with interest," said Lord
+Menteith.
+
+"Indubitably, my lord," answered Dalgetty, composedly; "for it would be
+doubly disgraceful for any soldado of rank to have his name called in
+question for any petty delinquency."
+
+"And pray, Sir," continued Lord Menteith, "what made you leave so
+gainful a service?"
+
+"Why, truly, sir," answered the soldier, "an Irish cavalier, called
+O'Quilligan, being major of our regiment, and I having had words with
+him the night before, respecting the worth and precedence of our several
+nations, it pleased him the next day to deliver his orders to me with
+the point of his batoon advanced and held aloof, instead of declining
+and trailing the same, as is the fashion from a courteous commanding
+officer towards his equal in rank, though, it may be, his inferior in
+military grade. Upon this quarrel, sir, we fought in private rencontre;
+and as, in the perquisitions which followed, it pleased Walter
+Butler, our oberst, or colonel, to give the lighter punishment to
+his countryman, and the heavier to me, whereupon, ill-stomaching such
+partiality, I exchanged my commission for one under the Spaniard."
+
+"I hope you found yourself better off by the change?" said Lord
+Menteith.
+
+"In good sooth," answered the Ritt-master, "I had but little to complain
+of. The pay was somewhat regular, being furnished by the rich Flemings
+and Waloons of the Low Country. The quarters were excellent; the good
+wheaten loaves of the Flemings were better than the Provant rye-bread of
+the Swede, and Rhenish wine was more plenty with us than ever I saw the
+black-beer of Rostock in Gustavus's camp. Service there was none, duty
+there was little; and that little we might do, or leave undone, at our
+pleasure; an excellent retirement for a cavalier somewhat weary of field
+and leaguer, who had purchased with his blood as much honour as might
+serve his turn, and was desirous of a little ease and good living."
+
+"And may I ask," said Lord Menteith, "why you, Captain, being, as I
+suppose, in the situation you describe, retired from the Spanish service
+also?"
+
+"You are to consider, my lord, that your Spaniard," replied Captain
+Dalgetty, "is a person altogether unparalleled in his own conceit,
+where-through he maketh not fit account of such foreign cavaliers of
+valour as are pleased to take service with him. And a galling thing
+it is to every honourable soldado, to be put aside, and postponed, and
+obliged to yield preference to every puffing signor, who, were it the
+question which should first mount a breach at push of pike, might be
+apt to yield willing place to a Scottish cavalier. Moreover, sir, I was
+pricked in conscience respecting a matter of religion."
+
+"I should not have thought, Captain Dalgetty," said the young nobleman,
+"that an old soldier, who had changed service so often, would have been
+too scrupulous on that head."
+
+"No more I am, my lord," said the Captain, "since I hold it to be the
+duty of the chaplain of the regiment to settle those matters for me, and
+every other brave cavalier, inasmuch as he does nothing else that I know
+of for his pay and allowances. But this was a particular case, my lord,
+a CASUS IMPROVISUS, as I may say, in whilk I had no chaplain of my own
+persuasion to act as my adviser. I found, in short, that although my
+being a Protestant might be winked at, in respect that I was a man of
+action, and had more experience than all the Dons in our TERTIA put
+together, yet, when in garrison, it was expected I should go to mass
+with the regiment. Now, my lord, as a true Scottish man, and educated at
+the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, I was bound to uphold the mass to be
+an act of blinded papistry and utter idolatry, whilk I was altogether
+unwilling to homologate by my presence. True it is, that I consulted on
+the point with a worthy countryman of my own, one Father Fatsides, of
+the Scottish Covenant in Wurtzburg--"
+
+"And I hope," observed Lord Menteith, "you obtained a clear opinion from
+this same ghostly father?"
+
+"As clear as it could be," replied Captain Dalgetty, "considering we had
+drunk six flasks of Rhenish, and about two mutchkins of Kirchenwasser.
+Father Fatsides informed me, that, as nearly as he could judge for a
+heretic like myself, it signified not much whether I went to mass or
+not, seeing my eternal perdition was signed and sealed at any rate,
+in respect of my impenitent and obdurate perseverance in my damnable
+heresy. Being discouraged by this response, I applied to a Dutch pastor
+of the reformed church, who told me, he thought I might lawfully go
+to mass, in respect that the prophet permitted Naaman, a mighty man of
+valour, and an honourable cavalier of Syria, to follow his master into
+the house of Rimmon, a false god, or idol, to whom he had vowed service,
+and to bow down when the king was leaning upon his hand. But neither
+was this answer satisfactory to me, both because there was an unco
+difference between an anointed King of Syria and our Spanish colonel,
+whom I could have blown away like the peeling of an ingan, and chiefly
+because I could not find the thing was required of me by any of the
+articles of war; neither was I proffered any consideration, either in
+perquisite or pay, for the wrong I might thereby do to my conscience."
+
+"So you again changed your service?" said Lord Menteith.
+
+"In troth did I, my lord; and after trying for a short while two
+or three other powers, I even took on for a time with their High
+Mightinesses the States of Holland."
+
+"And how did their service jump with your humour?" again demanded his
+companion.
+
+"O! my lord," said the soldier, in a sort of enthusiasm, "their
+behaviour on pay-day might be a pattern to all Europe--no borrowings, no
+lendings, no offsets no arrears--all balanced and paid like a
+banker's book. The quarters, too, are excellent, and the allowances
+unchallengeable; but then, sir, they are a preceese, scrupulous people,
+and will allow nothing for peccadilloes. So that if a boor complains of
+a broken head, or a beer-seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does
+but squeak loud enough to be heard above her breath, a soldier of honour
+shall be dragged, not before his own court-martial, who can best judge
+of and punish his demerits, but before a base mechanical burgo-master,
+who shall menace him with the rasp-house, the cord, and what not, as if
+he were one of their own mean, amphibious, twenty-breeched boors. So
+not being able to dwell longer among those ungrateful plebeians, who,
+although unable to defend themselves by their proper strength, will
+nevertheless allow the noble foreign cavalier who engages with them
+nothing beyond his dry wages, which no honourable spirit will put
+in competition with a liberal license and honourable countenance, I
+resolved to leave the service of the Mynheers. And hearing at this time,
+to my exceeding satisfaction, that there is something to be doing this
+summer in my way in this my dear native country, I am come hither,
+as they say, like a beggar to a bridal, in order to give my loving
+countrymen the advantage of that experience which I have acquired
+in foreign parts. So your lordship has an outline of my brief story,
+excepting my deportment in those passages of action in the field, in
+leaguers, storms, and onslaughts, whilk would be wearisome to narrate,
+and might, peradventure, better befit any other tongue than mine own."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+     For pleas of right let statesmen vex their head,
+     Battle's my business, and my guerdon bread;
+     And, with the sworded Switzer, I can say,
+     The best of causes is the best of pay.--DONNE.
+
+The difficulty and narrowness of the road had by this time become such
+as to interrupt the conversation of the travellers, and Lord Menteith,
+reining back his horse, held a moment's private conversation with his
+domestics. The Captain, who now led the van of the party, after about
+a quarter of a mile's slow and toilsome advance up a broken and rugged
+ascent, emerged into an upland valley, to which a mountain stream acted
+as a drain, and afforded sufficient room upon its greensward banks for
+the travellers to pursue their journey in a more social manner.
+
+Lord Menteith accordingly resumed the conversation, which had been
+interrupted by the difficulties of the way. "I should have thought,"
+said he to Captain Dalgetty, "that a cavalier of your honourable mark,
+who hath so long followed the valiant King of Sweden, and entertains
+such a suitable contempt for the base mechanical States of Holland,
+would not have hesitated to embrace the cause of King Charles, in
+preference to that of the low-born, roundheaded, canting knaves, who are
+in rebellion against his authority?"
+
+"Ye speak reasonably, my lord," said Dalgetty, "and, CAETERIS PARIBUS,
+I might be induced to see the matter in the same light. But, my lord,
+there is a southern proverb, fine words butter no parsnips. I have heard
+enough since I came here, to satisfy me that a cavalier of honour is
+free to take any part in this civil embroilment whilk he may find
+most convenient for his own peculiar. Loyalty is your pass-word,
+my lord--Liberty, roars another chield from the other side of
+the strath--the King, shouts one war-cry--the Parliament, roars
+another--Montrose, for ever, cries Donald, waving his bonnet--Argyle
+and Leven, cries a south-country Saunders, vapouring with his hat
+and feather. Fight for the bishops, says a priest, with his gown and
+rochet--Stand stout for the Kirk, cries a minister, in a Geneva cap and
+band.--Good watchwords all--excellent watchwords. Whilk cause is the
+best I cannot say. But sure am I, that I have fought knee-deep in blood
+many a day for one that was ten degrees worse than the worst of them
+all."
+
+"And pray, Captain Dalgetty," said his lordship, "since the pretensions
+of both parties seem to you so equal, will you please to inform us by
+what circumstances your preference will be determined?"
+
+"Simply upon two considerations, my lord," answered the soldier.
+"Being, first, on which side my services would be in most honourable
+request;--And, secondly, whilk is a corollary of the first, by whilk
+party they are likely to be most gratefully requited. And, to deal
+plainly with you, my lord, my opinion at present doth on both points
+rather incline to the side of the Parliament."
+
+"Your reasons, if you please," said Lord Menteith, "and perhaps I may be
+able to meet them with some others which are more powerful."
+
+"Sir, I shall be amenable to reason," said Captain Dalgetty, "supposing
+it addresses itself to my honour and my interest. Well, then, my lord,
+here is a sort of Highland host assembled, or expected to assemble, in
+these wild hills, in the King's behalf. Now, sir, you know the nature of
+our Highlanders. I will not deny them to be a people stout in body
+and valiant in heart, and courageous enough in their own wild way of
+fighting, which is as remote from the usages and discipline of war as
+ever was that of the ancient Scythians, or of the salvage Indians of
+America that now is, They havena sae mickle as a German whistle, or a
+drum, to beat a march, an alarm, a charge, a retreat, a reveille, or the
+tattoo, or any other point of war; and their damnable skirlin' pipes,
+whilk they themselves pretend to understand, are unintelligible to the
+ears of any cavaliero accustomed to civilised warfare. So that, were I
+undertaking to discipline such a breechless mob, it were impossible for
+me to be understood; and if I were understood, judge ye, my lord, what
+chance I had of being obeyed among a band of half salvages, who are
+accustomed to pay to their own lairds and chiefs, allenarly, that
+respect and obedience whilk ought to be paid to commissionate officers.
+If I were teaching them to form battalia by extracting the square root,
+that is, by forming your square battalion of equal number of men of rank
+and file, corresponding to the square root of the full number present,
+what return could I expect for communicating this golden secret of
+military tactic, except it may be a dirk in my wame, on placing some
+M'Alister More M'Shemei or Capperfae, in the flank or rear, when he
+claimed to be in the van?--Truly, well saith holy writ, 'if ye cast
+pearls before swine, they will turn again and rend ye.'"
+
+"I believe, Anderson," said Lord Menteith, looking back to one of
+his servants, for both were close behind him, "you can assure this
+gentleman, we shall have more occasion for experienced officers, and be
+more disposed to profit by their instructions, than he seems to be aware
+of."
+
+"With your honour's permission," said Anderson, respectfully raising his
+cap, "when we are joined by the Irish infantry, who are expected, and
+who should be landed in the West Highlands before now, we shall have
+need of good soldiers to discipline our levies."
+
+"And I should like well--very well, to be employed in such service,"
+said Dalgetty; "the Irish are pretty fellows--very pretty fellows--I
+desire to see none better in the field. I once saw a brigade of Irish,
+at the taking of Frankfort upon the Oder, stand to it with sword and
+pike until they beat off the blue and yellow Swedish brigades, esteemed
+as stout as any that fought under the immortal Gustavus. And although
+stout Hepburn, valiant Lumsdale, courageous Monroe, with myself and
+other cavaliers, made entry elsewhere at point of pike, yet, had we all
+met with such opposition, we had returned with great loss and little
+profit. Wherefore these valiant Irishes, being all put to the sword,
+as is usual in such cases, did nevertheless gain immortal praise and
+honour; so that, for their sakes, I have always loved and honoured those
+of that nation next to my own country of Scotland."
+
+"A command of Irish," said Menteith, "I think I could almost promise
+you, should you be disposed to embrace the royal cause."
+
+"And yet," said Captain Dalgetty, "my second and greatest difficulty
+remains behind; for, although I hold it a mean and sordid thing for a
+soldado to have nothing in his mouth but pay and gelt, like the base
+cullions, the German lanz-knechts, whom I mentioned before; and although
+I will maintain it with my sword, that honour is to be preferred before
+pay, free quarters, and arrears, yet, EX CONTRARIO, a soldier's pay
+being the counterpart of his engagement of service, it becomes a wise
+and considerate cavalier to consider what remuneration he is to receive
+for his service, and from what funds it is to be paid. And truly,
+my lord, from what I can see and hear, the Convention are the
+purse-masters. The Highlanders, indeed, may be kept in humour, by
+allowing them to steal cattle; and for the Irishes, your lordship and
+your noble associates may, according to the practice of the wars in
+such cases, pay them as seldom or as little as may suit your pleasure or
+convenience; but the same mode of treatment doth not apply to a cavalier
+like me, who must keep up his horses, servants, arms, and equipage, and
+who neither can, nor will, go to warfare upon his own charges."
+
+Anderson, the domestic who had before spoken now respectfully addressed
+his master.--"I think, my lord," he said, "that, under your lordship's
+favour, I could say something to remove Captain Dalgetty's second
+objection also. He asks us where we are to collect our pay; now, in my
+poor mind, the resources are as open to us as to the Covenanters. They
+tax the country according to their pleasure, and dilapidate the estates
+of the King's friends; now, were we once in the Lowlands, with our
+Highlanders and our Irish at our backs, and our swords in our hands,
+we can find many a fat traitor, whose ill-gotten wealth shall fill our
+military chest and satisfy our soldiery. Besides, confiscations will
+fall in thick; and, in giving donations of forfeited lands to every
+adventurous cavalier who joins his standard, the King will at once
+reward his friends and punish his enemies. In short, he that joins these
+Roundhead dogs may get some miserable pittance of pay--he that joins our
+standard has a chance to be knight, lord, or earl, if luck serve him."
+
+"Have you ever served, my good friend?" said the Captain to the
+spokesman.
+
+"A little, sir, in these our domestic quarrels," answered the man,
+modestly.
+
+"But never in Germany or the Low Countries?" said Dalgetty.
+
+"I never had the honour," answered Anderson.
+
+"I profess," said Dalgetty, addressing Lord Menteith, "your lordship's
+servant has a sensible, natural, pretty idea of military matters;
+somewhat irregular, though, and smells a little too much of selling the
+bear's skin before he has hunted him.--I will take the matter, however,
+into my consideration."
+
+"Do so, Captain," said Lord Menteith; "you will have the night to think
+of it, for we are now near the house, where I hope to ensure you a
+hospitable reception."
+
+"And that is what will be very welcome," said the Captain, "for I have
+tasted no food since daybreak but a farl of oatcake, which I divided
+with my horse. So I have been fain to draw my sword-belt three bores
+tighter for very extenuation, lest hunger and heavy iron should make the
+gird slip."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     Once on a time, no matter when,
+     Some Glunimies met in a glen;
+     As deft and tight as ever wore
+     A durk, a targe, and a claymore,
+     Short hose, and belted plaid or trews,
+     In Uist, Lochaber, Skye, or Lewes,
+     Or cover'd hard head with his bonnet;
+     Had you but known them, you would own it.--MESTON.
+
+A hill was now before the travellers, covered with an ancient forest
+of Scottish firs, the topmost of which, flinging their scathed branches
+across the western horizon, gleamed ruddy in the setting sun. In the
+centre of this wood rose the towers, or rather the chimneys, of the
+house, or castle, as it was called, destined for the end of their
+journey.
+
+As usual at that period, one or two high-ridged narrow buildings,
+intersecting and crossing each other, formed the CORPS DE LOGIS. A
+protecting bartizan or two, with the addition of small turrets at the
+angles, much resembling pepper-boxes, had procured for Darnlinvarach the
+dignified appellation of a castle. It was surrounded by a low court-yard
+wall, within which were the usual offices.
+
+As the travellers approached more nearly, they discovered marks of
+recent additions to the defences of the place, which had been suggested,
+doubtless, by the insecurity of those troublesome times. Additional
+loop-holes for musketry were struck out in different parts of the
+building, and of its surrounding wall. The windows had just been
+carefully secured by stancheons of iron, crossing each other athwart and
+end-long, like the grates of a prison. The door of the court-yard was
+shut; and it was only after cautious challenge that one of its leaves
+was opened by two domestics, both strong Highlanders, and both under
+arms, like Bitias and Pandarus in the AEneid, ready to defend the
+entrance if aught hostile had ventured an intrusion.
+
+When the travellers were admitted into the court, they found additional
+preparations for defence. The walls were scaffolded for the use of
+fire-arms, and one or two of the small guns, called sackers, or falcons,
+were mounted at the angles and flanking turrets.
+
+More domestics, both in the Highland and Lowland dress, instantly rushed
+from the anterior of the mansion, and some hastened to take the horses
+of the strangers, while others waited to marshal them a way into the
+dwelling-house. But Captain Dalgetty refused the proffered assistance
+of those who wished to relieve him of the charge of his horse. "It is my
+custom, my friends, to see Gustavus (for so I have called him, after
+my invincible master) accommodated myself; we are old friends and
+fellow-travellers, and as I often need the use of his legs, I always
+lend him in my turn the service of my tongue, to call for whatever he
+has occasion for;" and accordingly he strode into the stable after his
+steed without farther apology.
+
+Neither Lord Menteith nor his attendants paid the same attention to
+their horses, but, leaving them to the proffered care of the servants of
+the place, walked forward into the house, where a sort of dark vaulted
+vestibule displayed, among other miscellaneous articles, a huge barrel
+of two-penny ale, beside which were ranged two or three wooden queichs,
+or bickers, ready, it would appear, for the service of whoever thought
+proper to employ them. Lord Menteith applied himself to the spigot,
+drank without ceremony, and then handed the stoup to Anderson, who
+followed his master's example, but not until he had flung out the drop
+of ale which remained, and slightly rinsed the wooden cup.
+
+"What the deil, man," said an old Highland servant belonging to the
+family, "can she no drink after her ain master without washing the cup
+and spilling the ale, and be tamned to her!"
+
+"I was bred in France," answered Anderson, "where nobody drinks after
+another out of the same cup, unless it be after a young lady."
+
+"The teil's in their nicety!" said Donald; "and if the ale be gude, fat
+the waur is't that another man's beard's been in the queich before ye?"
+
+Anderson's companion drank without observing the ceremony which had
+given Donald so much offence, and both of them followed their master
+into the low-arched stone hall, which was the common rendezvous of a
+Highland family. A large fire of peats in the huge chimney at the upper
+end shed a dim light through the apartment, and was rendered necessary
+by the damp, by which, even during the summer, the apartment was
+rendered uncomfortable. Twenty or thirty targets, as many claymores,
+with dirks, and plaids, and guns, both match-lock and fire-lock, and
+long-bows, and cross-bows, and Lochaber axes, and coats of plate armour,
+and steel bonnets, and headpieces, and the more ancient haborgeons, or
+shirts of reticulated mail, with hood and sleeves corresponding to it,
+all hung in confusion about the walls, and would have formed a month's
+amusement to a member of a modern antiquarian society. But such things
+were too familiar, to attract much observation on the part of the
+present spectators.
+
+There was a large clumsy oaken table, which the hasty hospitality of the
+domestic who had before spoken, immediately spread with milk, butter,
+goat-milk cheese, a flagon of beer, and a flask of usquebae, designed
+for the refreshment of Lord Menteith; while an inferior servant made
+similar preparations at the bottom of the table for the benefit of his
+attendants. The space which intervened between them was, according to
+the manners of the times, sufficient distinction between master and
+servant, even though the former was, as in the present instance, of high
+rank. Meanwhile the guests stood by the fire--the young nobleman under
+the chimney, and his servants at some little distance.
+
+"What do you think, Anderson," said the former, "of our
+fellow-traveller?"
+
+"A stout fellow," replied Anderson, "if all be good that is upcome.
+I wish we had twenty such, to put our Teagues into some sort of
+discipline."
+
+"I differ from you, Anderson," said Lord Menteith; "I think this fellow
+Dalgetty is one of those horse-leeches, whose appetite for blood being
+only sharpened by what he has sucked in foreign countries, he is now
+returned to batten upon that of his own. Shame on the pack of these
+mercenary swordmen! they have made the name of Scot through all Europe
+equivalent to that of a pitiful mercenary, who knows neither honour
+nor principle but his month's pay, who transfers his allegiance from
+standard to standard, at the pleasure of fortune or the highest bidder;
+and to whose insatiable thirst for plunder and warm quarters we owe much
+of that civil dissension which is now turning our swords against our own
+bowels. I had scarce patience with the hired gladiator, and yet could
+hardly help laughing at the extremity of his impudence."
+
+"Your lordship will forgive me," said Anderson, "if I recommend to
+you, in the present circumstances, to conceal at least a part of this
+generous indignation; we cannot, unfortunately, do our work without the
+assistance of those who act on baser motives than our own. We cannot
+spare the assistance of such fellows as our friend the soldado. To use
+the canting phrase of the saints in the English Parliament, the sons of
+Zeruiah are still too many for us."
+
+"I must dissemble, then, as well as I can," said Lord Menteith, "as I
+have hitherto done, upon your hint. But I wish the fellow at the devil
+with all my heart."
+
+"Ay, but still you must remember, my lord," resumed Anderson, "that
+to cure the bite of a scorpion, you must crush another scorpion on the
+wound--But stop, we shall be overheard."
+
+From a side-door in the hall glided a Highlander into the apartment,
+whose lofty stature and complete equipment, as well as the eagle's
+feather in his bonnet, and the confidence of his demeanour, announced to
+be a person of superior rank. He walked slowly up to the table, and made
+no answer to Lord Menteith, who, addressing him by the name of Allan,
+asked him how he did.
+
+"Ye manna speak to her e'en now," whispered the old attendant.
+
+The tall Highlander, sinking down upon the empty settle next the fire,
+fixed his eyes upon the red embers and the huge heap of turf, and seemed
+buried in profound abstraction. His dark eyes, and wild and enthusiastic
+features, bore the air of one who, deeply impressed with his own
+subjects of meditation, pays little attention to exterior objects.
+An air of gloomy severity, the fruit perhaps of ascetic and solitary
+habits, might, in a Lowlander, have been ascribed to religious
+fanaticism; but by that disease of the mind, then so common both in
+England and the Lowlands of Scotland, the Highlanders of this
+period were rarely infected. They had, however, their own peculiar
+superstitions, which overclouded the mind with thick-coming fancies, as
+completely as the puritanism of their neighbours.
+
+"His lordship's honour," said the Highland servant sideling up to Lord
+Menteith, and speaking in a very low tone, "his lordship manna speak to
+Allan even now, for the cloud is upon his mind."
+
+Lord Menteith nodded, and took no farther notice of the reserved
+mountaineer.
+
+"Said I not," asked the latter, suddenly raising his stately person
+upright, and looking at the domestic--"said I not that four were to
+come, and here stand but three on the hall floor?"
+
+"In troth did ye say sae, Allan," said the old Highlander, "and here's
+the fourth man coming clinking in at the yett e'en now from the stable,
+for he's shelled like a partan, wi' airn on back and breast, haunch and
+shanks. And am I to set her chair up near the Menteith's, or down wi'
+the honest gentlemen at the foot of the table?"
+
+Lord Menteith himself answered the enquiry, by pointing to a seat beside
+his own.
+
+"And here she comes," said Donald, as Captain Dalgetty entered the hall;
+"and I hope gentlemens will all take bread and cheese, as we say in the
+glens, until better meat be ready, until the Tiernach comes back frae
+the hill wi' the southern gentlefolk, and then Dugald Cook will show
+himself wi' his kid and hill venison."
+
+In the meantime, Captain Dalgetty had entered the apartment, and walking
+up to the seat placed next Lord Menteith, was leaning on the back of it
+with his arms folded. Anderson and his companion waited at the bottom
+of the table, in a respectful attitude, until they should receive
+permission to seat themselves; while three or four Highlanders, under
+the direction of old Donald, ran hither and thither to bring additional
+articles of food, or stood still to give attendance upon the guests.
+
+In the midst of these preparations, Allan suddenly started up, and
+snatching a lamp from the hand of an attendant, held it close to
+Dalgetty's face, while he perused his features with the most heedful and
+grave attention.
+
+"By my honour," said Dalgetty, half displeased, as, mysteriously shaking
+his head, Allan gave up the scrutiny--"I trow that lad and I will ken
+each other when we meet again."
+
+Meanwhile Allan strode to the bottom of the table, and having, by
+the aid of his lamp, subjected Anderson and his companion to the same
+investigation, stood a moment as if in deep reflection; then, touching
+his forehead, suddenly seized Anderson by the arm, and before he could
+offer any effectual resistance, half led and half dragged him to the
+vacant seat at the upper end, and having made a mute intimation that
+he should there place himself, he hurried the soldado with the same
+unceremonious precipitation to the bottom of the table. The Captain,
+exceedingly incensed at this freedom, endeavoured to shake Allan from
+him with violence; but, powerful as he was, he proved in the struggle
+inferior to the gigantic mountaineer, who threw him off with such
+violence, that after reeling a few paces, he fell at full length, and
+the vaulted hall rang with the clash of his armour. When he arose, his
+first action was to draw his sword and to fly at Allan, who, with folded
+arms, seemed to await his onset with the most scornful indifference.
+Lord Menteith and his attendants interposed to preserve peace, while the
+Highlanders, snatching weapons from the wall, seemed prompt to increase
+the broil.
+
+"He is mad," whispered Lord Menteith, "he is perfectly mad; there is no
+purpose in quarrelling with him."
+
+"If your lordship is assured that he is NON COMPOS MENTIS," said Captain
+Dalgetty, "the whilk his breeding and behaviour seem to testify, the
+matter must end here, seeing that a madman can neither give an affront,
+nor render honourable satisfaction. But, by my saul, if I had my
+provstnt and a bottle of Rhenish under my belt, I should hive stood
+otherways up to him. And yet it's a pity he should be sae weak in the
+intellectuals, being a strong proper man of body, fit to handle pike,
+morgenstern, or any other military implement whatsoever." [This was
+a sort of club or mace, used in the earlier part of the seventeenth
+century in the defence of breaches and walls. When the Germans insulted
+a Scotch regiment then besieged in Trailsund, saying they heard there
+was a ship come from Denmark to them laden with tobacco pipes, "One of
+our soldiers," says Colonel Robert Munro, "showing them over the work a
+morgenstern, made of a large stock banded with iron, like the shaft of
+a halberd, with a round globe at the end with cross iron pikes, saith,
+'Here is one of the tobacco pipes, wherewith we will beat out your
+brains when you intend to storm us.'"]
+
+Peace was thus restored, and the party seated themselves agreeably to
+their former arrangement, with which Allan, who had now returned to his
+settle by the fire, and seemed once more immersed in meditation, did
+not again interfere. Lord Menteith, addressing the principal domestic,
+hastened to start some theme of conversation which might obliterate all
+recollection of the fray that had taken place. "The laird is at the hill
+then, Donald, I understand, and some English strangers with him?"
+
+"At the hill he is, an it like your honour, and two Saxon calabaleros
+are with him sure eneugh; and that is Sir Miles Musgrave and Christopher
+Hall, both from the Cumraik, as I think they call their country."
+
+"Hall and Musgrave?" said Lord Menteith, looking at his attendants, "the
+very men that we wished to see."
+
+"Troth," said Donald, "an' I wish I had never seen them between the een,
+for they're come to herry us out o' house and ha'."
+
+"Why, Donald," said Lord Menteith, "you did not use to be so churlish of
+your beef and ale; southland though they be, they'll scarce eat up all
+the cattle that's going on the castle mains."
+
+"Teil care an they did," said Donald, "an that were the warst o't, for
+we have a wheen canny trewsmen here that wadna let us want if there was
+a horned beast atween this and Perth. But this is a warse job--it's nae
+less than a wager."
+
+"A wager!" repeated Lord Menteith, with some surprise.
+
+"Troth," continued Donald, to the full as eager to tell his news as Lord
+Menteith was curious to hear them, "as your lordship is a friend and
+kinsman o' the house, an' as ye'll hear eneugh o't in less than an hour,
+I may as weel tell ye mysell. Ye sall be pleased then to know, that when
+our Laird was up in England where he gangs oftener than his friends can
+wish, he was biding at the house o' this Sir Miles Musgrave, an' there
+was putten on the table six candlesticks, that they tell me were twice
+as muckle as the candlesticks in Dunblane kirk, and neither airn, brass,
+nor tin, but a' solid silver, nae less;--up wi' their English pride, has
+sae muckle, and kens sae little how to guide it! Sae they began to jeer
+the Laird, that he saw nae sic graith in his ain poor country; and
+the Laird, scorning to hae his country put down without a word for its
+credit, swore, like a gude Scotsman, that he had mair candlesticks, and
+better candlesticks, in his ain castle at hame, than were ever lighted
+in a hall in Cumberland, an Cumberland be the name o' the country."
+
+"That was patriotically said," observed Lord Menteith.
+
+"Fary true," said Donald; "but her honour had better hae hauden her
+tongue: for if ye say ony thing amang the Saxons that's a wee by
+ordinar, they clink ye down for a wager as fast as a Lowland smith would
+hammer shoon on a Highland shelty. An' so the Laird behoved either to
+gae back o' his word, or wager twa hunder merks; and sa he e'en tock the
+wager, rather than be shamed wi' the like o' them. And now he's like to
+get it to pay, and I'm thinking that's what makes him sae swear to come
+hame at e'en."
+
+"Indeed," said Lord Menteith, "from my idea of your family plate,
+Donald, your master is certain to lose such a wager."
+
+"Your honour may swear that; an' where he's to get the siller I kenna,
+although he borrowed out o' twenty purses. I advised him to pit the twa
+Saxon gentlemen and their servants cannily into the pit o' the tower
+till they gae up the bagain o' free gude-will, but the Laird winna hear
+reason."
+
+Allan here started up, strode forward, and interrupted the conversation,
+saying to the domestic in a voice like thunder, "And how dared you to
+give my brother such dishonourable advice? or how dare you to say he
+will lose this or any other wager which it is his pleasure to lay?"
+
+"Troth, Allan M'Aulay," answered the old man, "it's no for my father's
+son to gainsay what your father's son thinks fit to say, an' so the
+Laird may no doubt win his wager. A' that I ken against it is, that the
+teil a candlestick, or ony thing like it, is in the house, except the
+auld airn branches that has been here since Laird Kenneth's time, and
+the tin sconces that your father gard be made by auld Willie Winkie the
+tinkler, mair be token that deil an unce of siller plate is about the
+house at a', forby the lady's auld posset dish, that wants the cover and
+ane o' the lugs."
+
+"Peace, old man!" said Allan, fiercely; "and do you, gentlemen, if your
+refection is finished, leave this apartment clear; I must prepare it for
+the reception of these southern guests."
+
+"Come away," said the domestic, pulling Lord Menteith by the sleeve;
+"his hour is on him," said he, looking towards Allan, "and he will not
+be controlled."
+
+They left the hall accordingly, Lord Menteith and the Captain being
+ushered one way by old Donald, and the two attendants conducted
+elsewhere by another Highlander. The former had scarcely reached a
+sort of withdrawing apartment ere they were joined by the lord of the
+mansion, Angus M'Aulay by name, and his English guests. Great joy was
+expressed by all parties, for Lord Menteith and the English gentlemen
+were well known to each other; and on Lord Menteith's introduction,
+Captain Dalgetty was well received by the Laird. But after the first
+burst of hospitable congratulation was over, Lord Menteith could observe
+that there was a shade of sadness on the brow of his Highland friend.
+
+"You must have heard," said Sir Christopher Hall, "that our fine
+undertaking in Cumberland is all blown up. The militia would not march
+into Scotland, and your prick-ear'd Covenanters have been too hard for
+our friends in the southern shires. And so, understanding there is some
+stirring work here, Musgrave and I, rather than sit idle at home, are
+come to have a campaign among your kilts and plaids."
+
+"I hope you have brought arms, men, and money with you," said Lord
+Menteith, smiling.
+
+"Only some dozen or two of troopers, whom we left at the last Lowland
+village," said Musgrave, "and trouble enough we had to get them so far."
+
+"As for money," said his companion, "We expect a small supply from our
+friend and host here."
+
+The Laird now, colouring highly, took Menteith a little apart, and
+expressed to him his regret that he had fallen into a foolish blunder.
+
+"I heard it from Donald," said Lord Menteith, scarce able to suppress a
+smile.
+
+"Devil take that old man," said M'Aulay, "he would tell every thing,
+were it to cost one's life; but it's no jesting matter to you neither,
+my lord, for I reckon on your friendly and fraternal benevolence, as a
+near kinsman of our house, to help me out with the money due to these
+pock-puddings; or else, to be plain wi' ye, the deil a M'Aulay will
+there be at the muster, for curse me if I do not turn Covenanter rather
+than face these fellows without paying them; and, at the best, I shall
+be ill enough off, getting both the scaith and the scorn."
+
+"You may suppose, cousin," said Lord Menteith, "I am not too well equipt
+just now; but you may be assured I shall endeavour to help you as well
+as I can, for the sake of old kindred, neighbourhood, and alliance."
+
+"Thank ye--thank ye--thank ye," reiterated M'Aulay; "and as they are to
+spend the money in the King's service, what signifies whether you, they,
+or I pay it?--we are a' one man's bairns, I hope? But you must help me
+out too with some reasonable excuse, or else I shall be for taking to
+Andrew Ferrara; for I like not to be treated like a liar or a braggart
+at my own board-end, when, God knows, I only meant to support my honour,
+and that of my family and country."
+
+Donald, as they were speaking, entered, with rather a blither face than
+he might have been expected to wear, considering the impending fate of
+his master's purse and credit. "Gentlemens, her dinner is ready, and HER
+CANDLES ARE LIGHTED TOO," said Donald, with a strong guttural emphasis
+on the last clause of his speech.
+
+"What the devil can he mean?" said Musgrave, looking to his countryman.
+
+Lord Menteith put the same question with his eyes to the Laird, which
+M'Aulay answered by shaking his head.
+
+A short dispute about precedence somewhat delayed their leaving the
+apartment. Lord Menteith insisted upon yielding up that which belonged
+to his rank, on consideration of his being in his own country, and of
+his near connexion with the family in which they found themselves. The
+two English strangers, therefore, were first ushered into the hall,
+where an unexpected display awaited them. The large oaken table was
+spread with substantial joints of meat, and seats were placed in
+order for the guests. Behind every seat stood a gigantic Highlander,
+completely dressed and armed after the fashion of his country, holding
+in his right hand his drawn sword, with the point turned downwards, and
+in the left a blazing torch made of the bog-pine. This wood, found in
+the morasses, is so full of turpentine, that, when split and dried, it
+is frequently used in the Highlands instead of candles. The unexpected
+and somewhat startling apparition was seen by the red glare of
+the torches, which displayed the wild features, unusual dress, and
+glittering arms of those who bore them, while the smoke, eddying up to
+the roof of the hall, over-canopied them with a volume of vapour. Ere
+the strangers had recovered from their surprise, Allan stept forward,
+and pointing with his sheathed broadsword to the torch-bearers, said,
+in a deep and stern tone of voice, "Behold, gentlemen cavaliers, the
+chandeliers of my brother's house, the ancient fashion of our ancient
+name; not one of these men knows any law but their Chiefs command--Would
+you dare to compare to THEM in value the richest ore that ever was dug
+out of the mine? How say you, cavaliers?--is your wager won or lost?"
+
+"Lost; lost," said Musgrave, gaily--"my own silver candlesticks are all
+melted and riding on horseback by this time, and I wish the fellows
+that enlisted were half as trusty as these.--Here, sir," he added to the
+Chief, "is your money; it impairs Hall's finances and mine somewhat, but
+debts of honour must be settled."
+
+"My father's curse upon my father's son," said Allan, interrupting him,
+"if he receive from you one penny! It is enough that you claim no right
+to exact from him what is his own."
+
+Lord Menteith eagerly supported Allan's opinion, and the elder M'Aulay
+readily joined, declaring the whole to be a fool's business, and
+not worth speaking more about. The Englishmen, after some courteous
+opposition, were persuaded to regard the whole as a joke.
+
+"And now, Allan," said the Laird, "please to remove your candles; for,
+since the Saxon gentlemen have seen them, they will eat their dinner
+as comfortably by the light of the old tin sconces, without scomfishing
+them with so much smoke."
+
+Accordingly, at a sign from Allan, the living chandeliers, recovering
+their broadswords, and holding the point erect, marched out of the hall,
+and left the guests to enjoy their refreshment. [Such a bet as that
+mentioned in the text is said to have been taken by MacDonald of
+Keppoch, who extricated himself in the manner there narrated.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     Thareby so fearlesse and so fell he grew,
+     That his own syre and maister of his guise
+     Did often tremble at his horrid view;
+     And if for dread of hurt would him advise,
+     The angry beastes not rashly to despise,
+     Nor too much to provoke; for he would learne
+     The lion stoup to him in lowly wise,
+     (A lesson hard,) and make the libbard sterne
+     Leave roaring, when in rage he for revenge did earne.--SPENSER.
+
+Notwithstanding the proverbial epicurism of the English,--proverbial,
+that is to say, in Scotland at the period,--the English visitors made
+no figure whatever at the entertainment, compared with the portentous
+voracity of Captain Dalgetty, although that gallant soldier had already
+displayed much steadiness and pertinacity in his attack upon the lighter
+refreshment set before them at their entrance, by way of forlorn hope.
+He spoke to no one during the time of his meal; and it was not until
+the victuals were nearly withdrawn from the table, that he gratified
+the rest of the company, who had watched him with some surprise, with an
+account of the reasons why he ate so very fast and so very long.
+
+"The former quality," he said, "he had acquired, while he filled a place
+at the bursar's table at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen; when," said
+he; "if you did not move your jaws as fast as a pair of castanets, you
+were very unlikely to get any thing to put between them. And as for the
+quantity of my food, be it known to this honourable company," continued
+the Captain, "that it's the duty of every commander of a fortress, on
+all occasions which offer, to secure as much munition and vivers as
+their magazines can possibly hold, not knowing when they may have to
+sustain a siege or a blockade. Upon which principle, gentlemen," said
+he, "when a cavalier finds that provant is good and abundant, he will,
+in my estimation, do wisely to victual himself for at least three days,
+as there is no knowing when he may come by another meal."
+
+The Laird expressed his acquiescence in the prudence of this principle,
+and recommended to the veteran to add a tass of brandy and a flagon of
+claret to the substantial provisions he had already laid in, to which
+proposal the Captain readily agreed.
+
+When dinner was removed, and the servants had withdrawn, excepting the
+Laird's page, or henchman, who remained in the apartment to call for or
+bring whatever was wanted, or, in a word, to answer the purposes of a
+modern bell-wire, the conversation began to turn upon politics, and
+the state of the country; and Lord Menteith enquired anxiously and
+particularly what clans were expected to join the proposed muster of the
+King's friends.
+
+"That depends much, my lord, on the person who lifts the banner," said
+the Laird; "for you know we Highlanders, when a few clans are assembled,
+are not easily commanded by one of our own Chiefs, or, to say the truth,
+by any other body. We have heard a rumour, indeed, that Colkitto--that
+is, young Colkitto, or Alaster M'Donald, is come over the Kyle from
+Ireland, with a body of the Earl of Antrim's people, and that they had
+got as far as Ardnamurchan. They might have been here before now, but, I
+suppose, they loitered to plunder the country as they came along."
+
+"Will Colkitto not serve you for a leader, then?" said Lord Menteith.
+
+"Colkitto?" said Allan M'Aulay, scornfully; "who talks of
+Colkitto?--There lives but one man whom we will follow, and that is
+Montrose."
+
+"But Montrose, sir," said Sir Christopher Hall, "has not been heard of
+since our ineffectual attempt to rise in the north of England. It is
+thought he has returned to the King at Oxford for farther instructions."
+
+"Returned!" said Allan, with a scornful laugh; "I could tell ye, but it
+is not worth my while; ye will know soon enough."
+
+"By my honour, Allan," said Lord Menteith, "you will weary out your
+friends with this intolerable, froward, and sullen humour--But I know
+the reason," added he, laughing; "you have not seen Annot Lyle to-day."
+
+"Whom did you say I had not seen?" said Allan, sternly.
+
+"Annot Lyle, the fairy queen of song and minstrelsy," said Lord
+Menteith.
+
+"Would to God I were never to see her again," said Allan, sighing, "On
+condition the same weird were laid on you!"
+
+"And why on me?" said Lord Menteith, carelessly.
+
+"Because," said Allan, "it is written on your forehead, that you are to
+be the ruin of each other." So saying, he rose up and left the room.
+
+"Has he been long in this way?" asked Lord Menteith, addressing his
+brother.
+
+"About three days," answered Angus; "the fit is wellnigh over, he will
+be better to-morrow.--But come, gentlemen, don't let the tappit-hen
+scraugh to be emptied. The King's health, King Charles's health! and
+may the covenanting dog that refuses it, go to Heaven by the road of the
+Grassmarket!"
+
+The health was quickly pledged, and as fast succeeded by another, and
+another, and another, all of a party cast, and enforced in an earnest
+manner. Captain Dalgetty, however, thought it necessary to enter a
+protest.
+
+"Gentlemen cavaliers," he said, "I drink these healths, PRIMO, both out
+of respect to this honourable and hospitable roof-tree, and, SECUNDO,
+because I hold it not good to be preceese in such matters, INTER POCULA;
+but I protest, agreeable to the warrandice granted by this honourable
+lord, that it shall be free to me, notwithstanding my present
+complaisance, to take service with the Covenanters to-morrow, providing
+I shall be so minded."
+
+M'Aulay and his English guests stared at this declaration, which would
+have certainly bred new disturbance, if Lord Menteith had not taken up
+the affair, and explained the circumstances and conditions. "I trust,"
+he concluded, "we shall be able to secure Captain Dalgetty's assistance
+to our own party."
+
+"And if not," said the Laird, "I protest, as the Captain says, that
+nothing that has passed this evening, not even his having eaten my bread
+and salt, and pledged me in brandy, Bourdeaux, or usquebaugh, shall
+prejudice my cleaving him to the neck-bone."
+
+"You shall be heartily welcome," said the Captain, "providing my sword
+cannot keep my head, which it has done in worse dangers than your fend
+is likely to make for me."
+
+Here Lord Menteith again interposed, and the concord of the company
+being with no small difficulty restored, was cemented by some deep
+carouses. Lord Menteith, however, contrived to break up the party
+earlier than was the usage of the Castle, under pretence of fatigue and
+indisposition. This was somewhat to the disappointment of the valiant
+Captain, who, among other habits acquired in the Low countries, had
+acquired both a disposition to drink, and a capacity to bear, an
+exorbitant quantity of strong liquors.
+
+Their landlord ushered them in person to a sort of sleeping gallery, in
+which there was a four-post bed, with tartan curtains, and a number
+of cribs, or long hampers, placed along the wall, three of which,
+well stuffed with blooming heather, were prepared for the reception of
+guests.
+
+"I need not tell your lordship," said M'Aulay to Lord Menteith, a little
+apart, "our Highland mode of quartering. Only that, not liking you
+should sleep in the room alone with this German land-louper, I have
+caused your servants' beds to be made here in the gallery. By G--d, my
+lord, these are times when men go to bed with a throat hale and sound as
+ever swallowed brandy, and before next morning it may be gaping like an
+oyster-shell."
+
+Lord Menteith thanked him sincerely, saying, "It was just the
+arrangement he would have requested; for, although he had not the least
+apprehension of violence from Captain Dalgetty, yet Anderson was a
+better kind of person, a sort of gentleman, whom he always liked to have
+near his person."
+
+"I have not seen this Anderson," said M'Aulay; "did you hire him in
+England?"
+
+"I did so," said Lord Menteith; "you will see the man to-morrow; in the
+meantime I wish you good-night."
+
+His host left the apartment after the evening salutation, and was about
+to pay the same compliment to Captain Dalgetty, but observing him deeply
+engaged in the discussion of a huge pitcher filled with brandy posset,
+he thought it a pity to disturb him in so laudable an employment, and
+took his leave without farther ceremony.
+
+Lord Menteith's two attendants entered the apartment almost immediately
+after his departure. The good Captain, who was now somewhat encumbered
+with his good cheer, began to find the undoing of the clasps of his
+armour a task somewhat difficult, and addressed Anderson in these words,
+interrupted by a slight hiccup,--"Anderson, my good friend, you may
+read in Scripture, that he that putteth off his armour should not boast
+himself like he that putteth it on--I believe that is not the right
+word of command; but the plain truth of it is, I am like to sleep in my
+corslet, like many an honest fellow that never waked again, unless you
+unloose this buckle."
+
+"Undo his armour, Sibbald," said Anderson to the other servant.
+
+"By St. Andrew!" exclaimed the Captain, turning round in great
+astonishment, "here's a common fellow--a stipendiary with four pounds
+a-year and a livery cloak, thinks himself too good to serve Ritt-master
+Dugald Dalgetty of Drumthwacket, who has studied humanity at the
+Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, and served half the princes of Europe!"
+
+"Captain Dalgetty," said Lord Menteith, whose lot it was to stand
+peacemaker throughout the evening, "please to understand that Anderson
+waits upon no one but myself; but I will help Sibbald to undo your
+corslet with much pleasure."
+
+"Too much trouble for you, my lord," said Dalgetty; "and yet it would do
+you no harm to practise how a handsome harness is put on and put off.
+I can step in and out of mine like a glove; only to-night, although not
+EBRIUS, I am, in the classic phrase, VINO CIBOQUE GRAVATUS."
+
+By this time he was unshelled, and stood before the fire musing with a
+face of drunken wisdom on the events of the evening. What seemed chiefly
+to interest him, was the character of Allan M'Aulay. "To come over
+the Englishmen so cleverly with his Highland torch-bearers--eight
+bare-breeched Rories for six silver candlesticks!--it was a
+master-piece--a TOUR DE PASSE--it was perfect legerdemain--and to be a
+madman after all!--I doubt greatly, my lord" (shaking his head), "that
+I must allow him, notwithstanding his relationship to your lordship, the
+privileges of a rational person, and either batoon him sufficiently to
+expiate the violence offered to my person, or else bring it to a matter
+of mortal arbitrement, as becometh an insulted cavalier."
+
+"If you care to hear a long story," said Lord Menteith, "at this time of
+night, I can tell you how the circumstances of Allan's birth account so
+well for his singular character, as to put such satisfaction entirely
+out of the question."
+
+"A long story, my lord," said Captain Dalgetty, "is, next to a good
+evening draught and a warm nightcap, the best shoeinghorn for drawing on
+a sound sleep. And since your lordship is pleased to take the trouble to
+tell it, I shall rest your patient and obliged auditor."
+
+"Anderson," said Lord Menteith, "and you, Sibbald, are dying to hear,
+I suppose, of this strange man too! and I believe I must indulge your
+curiosity, that you may know how to behave to him in time of need. You
+had better step to the fire then."
+
+Having thus assembled an audience about him, Lord Menteith sat down upon
+the edge of the four-post bed, while Captain Dalgetty, wiping the relics
+of the posset from his beard and mustachoes, and repeating the first
+verse of the Lutheran psalm, ALLE GUTER GEISTER LOBEN DEN HERRN, etc.
+rolled himself into one of the places of repose, and thrusting his shock
+pate from between the blankets, listened to Lord Menteith's relation in
+a most luxurious state, between sleeping and waking.
+
+"The father," said Lord Menteith, "of the two brothers, Angus and Allan
+M'Aulay, was a gentleman of consideration and family, being the chief
+of a Highland clan, of good account, though not numerous; his lady, the
+mother of these young men, was a gentlewoman of good family, if I may be
+permitted to say so of one nearly connected with my own. Her brother, an
+honourable and spirited young man, obtained from James the Sixth a grant
+of forestry, and other privileges, over a royal chase adjacent to
+this castle; and, in exercising and defending these rights, he was so
+unfortunate as to involve himself in a quarrel with some of our Highland
+freebooters or caterans, of whom I think, Captain Dalgetty, you must
+have heard."
+
+"And that I have," said the Captain, exerting himself to answer the
+appeal. "Before I left the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen, Dugald Garr
+was playing the devil in the Garioch, and the Farquharsons on Dee-side,
+and the Clan Chattan on the Gordons' lands, and the Grants and Camerons
+in Moray-land. And since that, I have seen the Cravats and Pandours in
+Pannonia and Transylvania, and the Cossacks from the Polish frontier,
+and robbers, banditti, and barbarians of all countries besides, so that
+I have a distinct idea of your broken Highlandmen."
+
+"The clan," said Lord Menteith, "with whom the maternal uncle of the
+M'Aulays had been placed in feud, was a small sept of banditti, called,
+from their houseless state, and their incessantly wandering among the
+mountains and glens, the Children of the Mist. They are a fierce and
+hardy people, with all the irritability, and wild and vengeful passions,
+proper to men who have never known the restraint of civilized society.
+A party of them lay in wait for the unfortunate Warden of the Forest,
+surprised him while hunting alone and unattended, and slew him with
+every circumstance of inventive cruelty. They cut off his head,
+and resolved, in a bravado, to exhibit it at the castle of his
+brother-in-law. The laird was absent, and the lady reluctantly received
+as guests, men against whom, perhaps, she was afraid to shut her gates.
+Refreshments were placed before the Children of the Mist, who took an
+opportunity to take the head of their victim from the plaid in which
+it was wrapt, placed it on the table, put a piece of bread between the
+lifeless jaws, bidding them do their office now, since many a good meal
+they had eaten at that table. The lady, who had been absent for some
+household purpose, entered at this moment, and, upon beholding her
+brother's head, fled like an arrow out of the house into the woods,
+uttering shriek upon shriek. The ruffians, satisfied with this savage
+triumph, withdrew. The terrified menials, after overcoming the alarm
+to which they had been subjected, sought their unfortunate mistress in
+every direction, but she was nowhere to be found. The miserable husband
+returned next day, and, with the assistance of his people, undertook a
+more anxious and distant search, but to equally little purpose. It
+was believed universally, that, in the ecstasy of her terror, she must
+either have thrown herself over one of the numerous precipices which
+overhang the river, or into a deep lake about a mile from the castle.
+Her loss was the more lamented, as she was six months advanced in
+her pregnancy; Angus M'Aulay, her eldest son, having been born about
+eighteen months before.--But I tire you, Captain Dalgetty, and you seem
+inclined to sleep."
+
+"By no means," answered the soldier; "I am no whit somnolent; I always
+hear best with my eyes shut. It is a fashion I learned when I stood
+sentinel."
+
+"And I daresay," said Lord Menteith, aside to Anderson, "the weight of
+the halberd of the sergeant of the rounds often made him open them."
+
+Being apparently, however, in the humour of story-telling, the young
+nobleman went on, addressing himself chiefly to his servants, without
+minding the slumbering veteran.
+
+"Every baron in the country," said he, "now swore revenge for this
+dreadful crime. They took arms with the relations and brother-in-law of
+the murdered person, and the Children of the Mist were hunted down,
+I believe, with as little mercy as they had themselves manifested.
+Seventeen heads, the bloody trophies of their vengeance, were
+distributed among the allies, and fed the crows upon the gates of their
+castles. The survivors sought out more distant wildernesses, to which
+they retreated."
+
+"To your right hand, counter-march and retreat to your former ground,"
+said Captain Dalgetty; the military phrase having produced the
+correspondent word of command; and then starting up, professed he had
+been profoundly atttentive to every word that had been spoken.
+
+"It is the custom in summer," said Lord Menteith, without attending
+to his apology, "to send the cows to the upland pastures to have the
+benefit of the grass; and the maids of the village, and of the family,
+go there to milk them in the morning and evening. While thus employed,
+the females of this family, to their great terror, perceived that their
+motions were watched at a distance by a pale, thin, meagre figure,
+bearing a strong resemblance to their deceased mistress, and passing,
+of course, for her apparition. When some of the boldest resolved to
+approach this faded form, it fled from them into the woods with a wild
+shriek. The husband, informed of this circumstance, came up to the glen
+with some attendants, and took his measures so well as to intercept
+the retreat of the unhappy fugitive, and to secure the person of his
+unfortunate lady, though her intellect proved to be totally deranged.
+How she supported herself during her wandering in the woods could not be
+known--some supposed she lived upon roots and wild-berries, with which
+the woods at that season abounded; but the greater part of the vulgar
+were satisfied that she must have subsisted upon the milk of the wild
+does, or been nourished by the fairies, or supported in some manner
+equally marvellous. Her re-appearance was more easily accounted for. She
+had seen from the thicket the milking of the cows, to superintend which
+had been her favourite domestic employment, and the habit had prevailed
+even in her deranged state of mind.
+
+"In due season the unfortunate lady was delivered of a boy, who not only
+showed no appearance of having suffered from his mother's calamities,
+but appeared to be an infant of uncommon health and strength. The
+unhappy mother, after her confinement, recovered her reason--at least
+in a great measure, but never her health and spirits. Allan was her only
+joy. Her attention to him was unremitting; and unquestionably she must
+have impressed upon his early mind many of those superstitious ideas to
+which his moody and enthusiastic temper gave so ready a reception. She
+died when he was about ten years old. Her last words were spoken to him
+in private; but there is little doubt that they conveyed an injunction
+of vengeance upon the Children of the Mist, with which he has since
+amply complied.
+
+"From this moment, the habits of Allan M'Aulay were totally changed.
+He had hitherto been his mother's constant companion, listening to
+her dreams, and repeating his own, and feeding his imagination,
+which, probably from the circumstances preceding his birth, was
+constitutionally deranged, with all the wild and terrible superstitions
+so common to the mountaineers, to which his unfortunate mother had
+become much addicted since her brother's death. By living in this
+manner, the boy had gotten a timid, wild, startled look, loved to seek
+out solitary places in the woods, and was never so much terrified, as
+by the approach of children of the same age. I remember, although some
+years younger, being brought up here by my father upon a visit, nor can
+I forget the astonishment with which I saw this infant-hermit shun every
+attempt I made to engage him in the sports natural to our age. I can
+remember his father bewailing his disposition to mine, and alleging, at
+the same time, that it was impossible for him to take from his wife
+the company of the boy, as he seemed to be the only consolation that
+remained to her in this world, and as the amusement which Allan's
+society afforded her seemed to prevent the recurrence, at least in its
+full force, of that fearful malady by which she had been visited. But,
+after the death of his mother, the habits and manners of the boy seemed
+at once to change. It is true he remained as thoughtful and serious as
+before; and long fits of silence and abstraction showed plainly that
+his disposition, in this respect, was in no degree altered. But at other
+times, he sought out the rendezvous of the youth of the clan, which
+he had hitherto seemed anxious to avoid. He took share in all their
+exercises; and, from his very extraordinary personal strength, soon
+excelled his brother and other youths, whose age considerably exceeded
+his own. They who had hitherto held him in contempt, now feared, if they
+did not love him; and, instead of Allan's being esteemed a dreaming,
+womanish, and feeble-minded boy, those who encountered him in sports or
+military exercise, now complained that, when heated by the strife, he
+was too apt to turn game into earnest, and to forget that he was only
+engaged in a friendly trial of strength.--But I speak to regardless
+ears," said Lord Menteith, interrupting himself, for the Captain's nose
+now gave the most indisputable signs that he was fast locked in the arms
+of oblivion.
+
+"If you mean the ears of that snorting swine, my lord," said Anderson,
+"they are, indeed, shut to anything that you can say; nevertheless, this
+place being unfit for more private conference, I hope you will have the
+goodness to proceed, for Sibbald's benefit and for mine. The history of
+this poor young fellow has a deep and wild interest in it."
+
+"You must know, then," proceeded Lord Menteith, "that Allan continued to
+increase in strength and activity, till his fifteenth year, about which
+time he assumed a total independence of character, and impatience of
+control, which much alarmed his surviving parent. He was absent in the
+woods for whole days and nights, under pretence of hunting, though he
+did not always bring home game. His father was the more alarmed, because
+several of the Children of the Mist, encouraged by the increasing
+troubles of the state, had ventured back to their old haunts, nor did
+he think it altogether safe to renew any attack upon them. The risk
+of Allan, in his wanderings, sustaining injury from these vindictive
+freebooters, was a perpetual source of apprehension.
+
+"I was myself upon a visit to the castle when this matter was brought
+to a crisis. Allan had been absent since day-break in the woods, where
+I had sought for him in vain; it was a dark stormy night, and he did not
+return. His father expressed the utmost anxiety, and spoke of detaching
+a party at the dawn of morning in quest of him; when, as we were sitting
+at the supper-table, the door suddenly opened, and Allan entered the
+room with a proud, firm, and confident air. His intractability of
+temper, as well as the unsettled state of his mind, had such an
+influence over his father, that he suppressed all other tokens of
+displeasure, excepting the observation that I had killed a fat buck, and
+had returned before sunset, while he supposed Allan, who had been on
+the hill till midnight, had returned with empty hands. 'Are you sure of
+that?' said Allan, fiercely; 'here is something will tell you another
+tale.'
+
+"We now observed his hands were bloody, and that there were spots of
+blood on his face, and waited the issue with impatience; when suddenly,
+undoing the corner of his plaid, he rolled down on the table a human
+head, bloody and new severed, saying at the same time, 'Lie thou where
+the head of a better man lay before ye.' From the haggard features,
+and matted red hair and beard, partly grizzled with age, his father and
+others present recognised the head of Hector of the Mist, a well-known
+leader among the outlaws, redoubted for strength and ferocity, who had
+been active in the murder of the unfortunate Forester, uncle to Allan,
+and had escaped by a desperate defence and extraordinary agility,
+when so many of his companions were destroyed. We were all, it may
+be believed, struck with surprise, but Allan refused to gratify our
+curiosity; and we only conjectured that he must have overcome the outlaw
+after a desperate struggle, because we discovered that he had sustained
+several wounds from the contest. All measures were now taken to ensure
+him against the vengeance of the freebooters; but neither his wounds,
+nor the positive command of his father, nor even the locking of the
+gates of the castle and the doors of his apartment, were precautions
+adequate to prevent Allan from seeking out the very persons to whom he
+was peculiarly obnoxious. He made his escape by night from the window of
+the apartment, and laughing at his father's vain care, produced on one
+occasion the head of one, and upon another those of two, of the Children
+of the Mist. At length these men, fierce as they were, became appalled
+by the inveterate animosity and audacity with which Allan sought out
+their recesses. As he never hesitated to encounter any odds, they
+concluded that he must bear a charmed life, or fight under the
+guardianship of some supernatural influence. Neither gun, dirk, nor
+dourlach [DOURLACH--quiver; literally, satchel--of arrows.], they
+said, availed aught against him. They imputed this to the remarkable
+circumstances under which he was born; and at length five or six of the
+stoutest caterans of the Highlands would have fled at Allan's halloo, or
+the blast of his horn.
+
+"In the meanwhile, however, the Children of the Mist carried on their
+old trade, and did the M'Aulays, as well as their kinsmen and allies,
+as much mischief as they could. This provoked another expedition against
+the tribe, in which I had my share; we surprised them effectually, by
+besetting at once the upper and under passes of the country, and made
+such clean work as is usual on these occasions, burning and slaying
+right before us. In this terrible species of war, even the females and
+the helpless do not always escape. One little maiden alone, who smiled
+upon Allan's drawn dirk, escaped his vengeance upon my earnest entreaty.
+She was brought to the castle, and here bred up under the name of Annot
+Lyle, the most beautiful little fairy certainly that ever danced upon a
+heath by moonlight. It was long ere Allan could endure the presence
+of the child, until it occurred to his imagination, from her features
+perhaps, that she did not belong to the hated blood of his enemies, but
+had become their captive in some of their incursions; a circumstance
+not in itself impossible, but in which he believes as firmly as in holy
+writ. He is particularly delighted by her skill in music, which is so
+exquisite, that she far exceeds the best performers in this country in
+playing on the clairshach, or harp. It was discovered that this produced
+upon the disturbed spirits of Allan, in his gloomiest moods, beneficial
+effects, similar to those experienced by the Jewish monarch of old; and
+so engaging is the temper of Annot Lyle, so fascinating the innocence
+and gaiety of her disposition, that she is considered and treated in the
+castle rather as the sister of the proprietor, than as a dependent upon
+his charity. Indeed, it is impossible for any one to see her without
+being deeply interested by the ingenuity, liveliness, and sweetness of
+her disposition."
+
+"Take care, my lord," said Anderson, smiling; "there is danger in such
+violent commendations. Allan M'Aulay, as your lordship describes him,
+would prove no very safe rival."
+
+"Pooh! pooh!" said Lord Menteith, laughing, yet blushing at the same
+time; "Allan is not accessible to the passion of love; and for myself,"
+said he, more gravely; "Annot's unknown birth is a sufficient reason
+against serious designs, and her unprotected state precludes every
+other."
+
+"It is spoken like yourself, my lord," said Anderson.--"But I trust you
+will proceed with your interesting story."
+
+"It is wellnigh finished," said Lord Menteith; "I have only to add, that
+from the great strength and courage of Allan M'Aulay, from his
+energetic and uncontrollable disposition, and from an opinion generally
+entertained and encouraged by himself that he holds communion with
+supernatural beings, and can predict future events, the clan pay a much
+greater degree of deference to him than even to his brother, who is a
+bold-hearted rattling Highlander, but with nothing which can possibly
+rival the extraordinary character of his younger brother."
+
+"Such a character," said Anderson, "cannot but have the deepest effect
+on the minds of a Highland host. We must secure Allan, my lord, at all
+events. What between his bravery and his second sight--"
+
+"Hush!" said Lord Menteith, "that owl is awaking."
+
+"Do you talk of the second sight, or DEUTERO-SCOPIA?" said the soldier;
+"I remember memorable Major Munro telling me how Murdoch Mackenzie,
+born in Assint, a private gentleman in a company, and a pretty soldier,
+foretold the death of Donald Tough, a Lochaber man, and certain other
+persons, as well as the hurt of the major himself at a sudden onfall at
+the siege of Trailsund."
+
+"I have often heard of this faculty," observed Anderson, "but I have
+always thought those pretending to it were either enthusiasts or
+impostors."
+
+"I should be loath," said Lord Menteith, "to apply either character
+to my kinsman, Allan M'Aulay. He has shown on many occasions too much
+acuteness and sense, of which you this night had an instance, for the
+character of an enthusiast; and his high sense of honour, and manliness
+of disposition, free him from the charge of imposture."
+
+"Your lordship, then," said Anderson, "is a believer in his supernatural
+attributes?"
+
+"By no means," said the young nobleman; "I think that he persuades
+himself that the predictions which are, in reality, the result of
+judgment and reflection, are supernatural impressions on his mind, just
+as fanatics conceive the workings of their own imagination to be divine
+inspiration--at least, if this will not serve you, Anderson, I have no
+better explanation to give; and it is time we were all asleep after the
+toilsome journey of the day."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     Coming events cast their shadows before.--CAMPBELL.
+
+At an early hour in the morning the guests of the castle sprung from
+their repose; and, after a moment's private conversation with his
+attendants, Lord Menteith addressed the soldier, who was seated in a
+corner burnishing his corslet with rot-stone and chamois-leather, while
+he hummed the old song in honour of the victorious Gustavus Adolphus:--
+
+     When cannons are roaring, and bullets are flying,
+     The lad that would have honour, boys, must never fear dying.
+
+"Captain Dalgetty," said Lord Menteith, "the time is come that we must
+part, or become comrades in service."
+
+"Not before breakfast, I hope?" said Captain Dalgetty.
+
+"I should have thought," replied his lordship, "that your garrison was
+victualled for three days at least."
+
+"I have still some stowage left for beef and bannocks," said the
+Captain; "and I never miss a favourable opportunity of renewing my
+supplies."
+
+"But," said Lord Menteith, "no judicious commander allows either flags
+of truce or neutrals to remain in his camp longer than is prudent; and
+therefore we must know your mind exactly, according to which you shall
+either have a safe-conduct to depart in peace, or be welcome to remain
+with us."
+
+"Truly," said the Captain, "that being the case, I will not attempt
+to protract the capitulation by a counterfeited parley, (a thing
+excellently practised by Sir James Ramsay at the siege of Hannau, in the
+year of God 1636,) but I will frankly own, that if I like your pay as
+well as your provant and your company, I care not how soon I take the
+oath to your colours."
+
+"Our pay," said Lord Menteith, "must at present be small, since it
+is paid out of the common stock raised by the few amongst us who can
+command some funds--As major and adjutant, I dare not promise Captain
+Dalgetty more than half a dollar a-day."
+
+"The devil take all halves and quarters!" said the Captain; "were it in
+my option, I could no more consent to the halving of that dollar, than
+the woman in the Judgment of Solomon to the disseverment of the child of
+her bowels."
+
+"The parallel will scarce hold, Captain Dalgetty, for I think you would
+rather consent to the dividing of the dollar, than give it up entire to
+your competitor. However, in the way of arrears, I may promise you the
+other half-dollar at the end of the campaign."
+
+"Ah! these arrearages!" said Captain Dalgetty, "that are always
+promised, and always go for nothing! Spain, Austria, and Sweden,
+all sing one song. Oh! long life to the Hoganmogans! if they were no
+officers of soldiers, they were good paymasters.--And yet, my lord, if
+I could but be made certiorate that my natural hereditament of
+Drumthwacket had fallen into possession of any of these loons of
+Covenanters, who could be, in the event of our success, conveniently
+made a traitor of, I have so much value for that fertile and pleasant
+spot, that I would e'en take on with you for the campaign."
+
+"I can resolve Captain Dalgetty's question," said Sibbald, Lord
+Menteith's second attendant; "for if his estate of Drumthwacket be, as
+I conceive, the long waste moor so called, that lies five miles south of
+Aberdeen, I can tell him it was lately purchased by Elias Strachan, as
+rank a rebel as ever swore the Covenant."
+
+"The crop-eared hound!" said Captain Dalgetty, in a rage; "What the
+devil gave him the assurance to purchase the inheritance of a family of
+four hundred years standing?--CYNTHIUS AUREM VELLET, as we used to say
+at Mareschal-College; that is to say, I will pull him out of my father's
+house by the ears. And so, my Lord Menteith, I am yours, hand and
+sword, body and soul, till death do us part, or to the end of the next
+campaign, whichever event shall first come to pass."
+
+"And I," said the young nobleman, "rivet the bargain with a month's pay
+in advance."
+
+"That is more than necessary," said Dalgetty, pocketing the money
+however. "But now I must go down, look after my war-saddle and
+abuilziements, and see that Gustavus has his morning, and tell him we
+have taken new service."
+
+"There goes your precious recruit," said Lord Menteith to Anderson, as
+the Captain left the room; "I fear we shall have little credit of him."
+
+"He is a man of the times, however," said Anderson; "and without such we
+should hardly be able to carry on our enterprise."
+
+"Let us go down," answered Lord Menteith, "and see how our muster is
+likely to thrive, for I hear a good deal of bustle in the castle."
+
+When they entered the hall, the domestics keeping modestly in the
+background, morning greetings passed between Lord Menteith, Angus
+M'Aulay, and his English guests, while Allan, occupying the same settle
+which he had filled the preceding evening, paid no attention whatever to
+any one. Old Donald hastily rushed into the apartment. "A message from
+Vich Alister More; [The patronymic of MacDonell of Glengarry.] he is
+coming up in the evening."
+
+"With how many attendants?" said M'Aulay.
+
+"Some five-and-twenty or thirty," said Donald, "his ordinary retinue."
+
+"Shake down plenty of straw in the great barn," said the Laird.
+
+Another servant here stumbled hastily in, announcing the expected
+approach of Sir Hector M'Lean, "who is arriving with a large following."
+
+"Put them in the malt-kiln," said M'Aulay; "and keep the breadth of the
+middenstead between them and the M'Donalds; they are but unfriends to
+each other."
+
+Donald now re-entered, his visage considerably lengthened--"The tell's
+i' the folk," he said; "the haill Hielands are asteer, I think. Evan
+Dhu, of Lochiel, will be here in an hour, with Lord kens how many
+gillies."
+
+"Into the great barn with them beside the M'Donalds," said the Laird.
+
+More and more chiefs were announced, the least of whom would have
+accounted it derogatory to his dignity to stir without a retinue of six
+or seven persons. To every new annunciation, Angus M'Aulay answered
+by naming some place of accommodation,--the stables, the loft, the
+cow-house, the sheds, every domestic office, were destined for the night
+to some hospitable purpose or other. At length the arrival of M'Dougal
+of Lorn, after all his means of accommodation were exhausted, reduced
+him to some perplexity. "What the devil is to be done, Donald?" said
+he; "the great barn would hold fifty more, if they would lie heads
+and thraws; but there would be drawn dirks amang them which should lie
+upper-most, and so we should have bloody puddings before morning!"
+
+"What needs all this?" said Allan, starting up, and coming forward with
+the stern abruptness of his usual manner; "are the Gael to-day of softer
+flesh or whiter blood than their fathers were? Knock the head out of
+a cask of usquebae; let that be their night-gear--their plaids
+their bed-clothes--the blue sky their canopy, and the heather their
+couch.--Come a thousand more, and they would not quarrel on the broad
+heath for want of room!"
+
+"Allan is right," said his brother; "it is very odd how Allan, who,
+between ourselves," said he to Musgrave, "is a little wowf, [WOWF, i.e.
+crazed.] seems at times to have more sense than us all put together.
+Observe him now."
+
+"Yes," continued Allan, fixing his eyes with a ghastly stare upon the
+opposite side of the hall, "they may well begin as they are to end; many
+a man will sleep this night upon the heath, that when the Martinmas wind
+shalt blow shall lie there stark enough, and reck little of cold or lack
+of covering."
+
+"Do not forespeak us, brother," said Angus; "that is not lucky."
+
+"And what luck is it then that you expect?" said Allan; and straining
+his eyes until they almost started from their sockets, he fell with a
+convulsive shudder into the arms of Donald and his brother, who, knowing
+the nature of his fits, had come near to prevent his fall. They seated
+him upon a bench, and supported him until he came to himself, and was
+about to speak.
+
+"For God's sake, Allan," said his brother, who knew the impression his
+mystical words were likely to make on many of the guests, "say nothing
+to discourage us."
+
+"Am I he who discourages you?" said Allan; "let every man face his world
+as I shall face mine. That which must come, will come; and we shall
+stride gallantly over many a field of victory, ere we reach yon fatal
+slaughter-place, or tread yon sable scaffolds."
+
+"What slaughter-place? what scaffolds?" exclaimed several voices; for
+Allan's renown as a seer was generally established in the Highlands.
+
+"You will know that but too soon," answered Allan. "Speak to me no more,
+I am weary of your questions." He then pressed his hand against his
+brow, rested his elbow upon his knee, and sunk into a deep reverie.
+
+"Send for Annot Lyle, and the harp," said Angus, in a whisper, to his
+servant; "and let those gentlemen follow me who do not fear a Highland
+breakfast."
+
+All accompanied their hospitable landlord excepting only Lord Menteith,
+who lingered in one of the deep embrasures formed by the windows of the
+hall. Annot Lyle shortly after glided into the room, not ill described
+by Lord Menteith as being the lightest and most fairy figure that ever
+trode the turf by moonlight. Her stature, considerably less than the
+ordinary size of women, gave her the appearance of extreme youth,
+insomuch, that although she was near eighteen, she might have passed
+for four years younger. Her figure, hands, and feet, were formed upon a
+model of exquisite symmetry with the size and lightness of her
+person, so that Titania herself could scarce have found a more fitting
+representative. Her hair was a dark shade of the colour usually termed
+flaxen, whose clustering ringlets suited admirably with her fair
+complexion, and with the playful, yet simple, expression of her
+features. When we add to these charms, that Annot, in her orphan state,
+seemed the gayest and happiest of maidens, the reader must allow us to
+claim for her the interest of almost all who looked on her. In fact, it
+was impossible to find a more universal favourite, and she often
+came among the rude inhabitants of the castle, as Allan himself, in
+a poetical mood, expressed it, "like a sunbeam on a sullen sea,"
+communicating to all others the cheerfulness that filled her own mind.
+
+Annot, such as we have described her, smiled and blushed, when, on
+entering the apartment, Lord Menteith came from his place of retirement,
+and kindly wished her good-morning.
+
+"And good-morning to you, my lord," returned she, extending her hand to
+her friend; "we have seldom seen you of late at the castle, and now I
+fear it is with no peaceful purpose."
+
+"At least, let me not interrupt your harmony, Annot," said Lord
+Menteith, "though my arrival may breed discord elsewhere. My cousin
+Allan needs the assistance of your voice and music."
+
+"My preserver," said Annot Lyle, "has a right to my poor exertions; and
+you, too, my lord,--you, too, are my preserver, and were the most
+active to save a life that is worthless enough, unless it can benefit my
+protectors."
+
+So saying, she sate down at a little distance upon the bench on which
+Allan M'Aulay was placed, and tuning her clairshach, a small harp, about
+thirty inches in height, she accompanied it with her voice. The air was
+an ancient Gaelic melody, and the words, which were supposed to be very
+old, were in the same language; but we subjoin a translation of them,
+by Secundus Macpherson, Esq. of Glenforgen, which, although submitted to
+the fetters of English rhythm, we trust will be found nearly as genuine
+as the version of Ossian by his celebrated namesake.
+
+     "Birds of omen dark and foul,
+     Night-crow, raven, bat, and owl,
+     Leave the sick man to his dream--
+     All night long he heard your scream--
+     Haste to cave and ruin'd tower,
+     Ivy, tod, or dingled bower,
+     There to wink and mope, for, hark!
+     In the mid air sings the lark.
+
+     "Hie to moorish gills and rocks,
+     Prowling wolf and wily fox,--
+     Hie you fast, nor turn your view,
+     Though the lamb bleats to the ewe.
+     Couch your trains, and speed your flight,
+     Safety parts with parting night;
+     And on distant echo borne,
+     Comes the hunter's early horn.
+
+     "The moon's wan crescent scarcely gleams,
+     Ghost-like she fades in morning beams;
+     Hie hence each peevish imp and fay,
+     That scare the pilgrim on his way:--
+     Quench, kelpy!  quench, in bog and fen,
+     Thy torch that cheats benighted men;
+     Thy dance is o'er, thy reign is done,
+     For Benyieglo hath seen the sun.
+
+     "Wild thoughts, that, sinful, dark, and deep,
+     O'erpower the passive mind in sleep,
+     Pass from the slumberer's soul away,
+     Like night-mists from the brow of day:
+     Foul hag, whose blasted visage grim
+     Smothers the pulse, unnerves the limb,
+     Spur thy dark palfrey, and begone!
+     Thou darest not face the godlike sun."
+
+As the strain proceeded, Allan M'Aulay gradually gave signs of
+recovering his presence of mind, and attention to the objects around
+him. The deep-knit furrows of his brow relaxed and smoothed themselves;
+and the rest of his features, which had seemed contorted with internal
+agony, relapsed into a more natural state. When he raised his head
+and sat upright, his countenance, though still deeply melancholy,
+was divested of its wildness and ferocity; and in its composed state,
+although by no means handsome, the expression of his features was
+striking, manly, and even noble. His thick, brown eyebrows, which had
+hitherto been drawn close together, were now slightly separated, as in
+the natural state; and his grey eyes, which had rolled and flashed
+from under them with an unnatural and portentous gleam, now recovered a
+steady and determined expression.
+
+"Thank God!" he said, after sitting silent for about a minute, until
+the very last sounds of the harp had ceased to vibrate, "my soul is no
+longer darkened--the mist hath passed from my spirit."
+
+"You owe thanks, cousin Allan," said Lord Menteith, coming forward,
+"to Annot Lyle, as well as to heaven, for this happy change in your
+melancholy mood."
+
+"My noble cousin Menteith," said Allan, rising and greeting him very
+respectfully, as well as kindly, "has known my unhappy circumstances so
+long, that his goodness will require no excuse for my being thus late in
+bidding him welcome to the castle."
+
+"We are too old acquaintances, Allan," said Lord Menteith, "and too good
+friends, to stand on the ceremonial of outward greeting; but half the
+Highlands will be here to-day, and you know, with our mountain Chiefs,
+ceremony must not be neglected. What will you give little Annot for
+making you fit company to meet Evan Dhu, and I know not how many bonnets
+and feathers?"
+
+"What will he give me?" said Annot, smiling; "nothing less, I hope, than
+the best ribbon at the Fair of Doune."
+
+"The Fair of Doune, Annot?" said Allan sadly; "there will be bloody work
+before that day, and I may never see it; but you have well reminded me
+of what I have long intended to do."
+
+Having said this, he left the room.
+
+"Should he talk long in this manner," said Lord Menteith, "you must keep
+your harp in tune, my dear Annot."
+
+"I hope not," said Annot, anxiously; "this fit has been a long one, and
+probably will not soon return. It is fearful to see a mind, naturally
+generous and affectionate, afflicted by this constitutional malady."
+
+As she spoke in a low and confidential tone, Lord Menteith naturally
+drew close, and stooped forward, that he might the better catch the
+sense of what she said. When Allan suddenly entered the apartment,
+they as naturally drew back from each other with a manner expressive of
+consciousness, as if surprised in a conversation which they wished to
+keep secret from him. This did not escape Allan's observation; he stopt
+short at the door of the apartment--his brows were contracted--his eyes
+rolled; but it was only the paroxysm of a moment. He passed his broad
+sinewy hand across his brow, as if to obliterate these signs of emotion,
+and advanced towards Annot, holding in his hand a very small box made
+of oakwood, curiously inlaid. "I take you to witness," he said, "cousin
+Menteith, that I give this box and its contents to Annot Lyle. It
+contains a few ornaments that belonged to my poor mother--of trifling
+value, you may guess, for the wife of a Highland laird has seldom a rich
+jewel-casket."
+
+"But these ornaments," said Annot Lyle, gently and timidly refusing the
+box, "belong to the family--I cannot accept--"
+
+"They belong to me alone, Annot," said Allan, interrupting her; "they
+were my mother's dying bequest. They are all I can call my own, except
+my plaid and my claymore. Take them, therefore--they are to me valueless
+trinkets--and keep them for my sake--should I never return from these
+wars."
+
+So saying, he opened the case, and presented it to Annot. "If," said he,
+"they are of any value, dispose of them for your own support, when this
+house has been consumed with hostile fire, and can no longer afford
+you protection. But keep one ring in memory of Allan, who has done, to
+requite your kindness, if not all he wished, at least all he could."
+
+Annot Lyle endeavoured in vain to restrain the gathering tears, when
+she said, "ONE ring, Allan, I will accept from you as a memorial of
+your goodness to a poor orphan, but do not press me to take more; for I
+cannot, and will not, accept a gift of such disproportioned value."
+
+"Make your choice, then," said Allan; "your delicacy may be well
+founded; the others will assume a shape in which they may be more useful
+to you."
+
+"Think not of it," said Annot, choosing from the contents of the casket
+a ring, apparently the most trifling in value which it contained; "keep
+them for your own, or your brother's bride.--But, good heavens!" she
+said, interrupting herself, and looking at the ring, "what is this that
+I have chosen?"
+
+Allan hastened to look upon it, with eyes of gloomy apprehension; it
+bore, in enamel, a death's head above two crossed daggers. When Allan
+recognised the device, he uttered a sigh so deep, that she dropped the
+ring from her hand, which rolled upon the floor. Lord Menteith picked it
+up, and returned it to the terrified Annot.
+
+"I take God to witness," said Allan, in a solemn tone, "that your hand,
+young lord, and not mine, has again delivered to her this ill-omened
+gift. It was the mourning ring worn by my mother in memorial of her
+murdered brother."
+
+"I fear no omens," said Annot, smiling through her tears; "and nothing
+coming through the hands of my two patrons," so she was wont to call
+Lord Menteith and Allan, "can bring bad luck to the poor orphan."
+
+She put the ring on her finger, and, turning to her harp, sung, to a
+lively air, the following verses of one of the fashionable songs of
+the period, which had found its way, marked as it was with the quaint
+hyperbolical taste of King Charles's time, from some court masque to the
+wilds of Perthshire:--
+
+     "Gaze not upon the stars, fond sage,
+     In them no influence lies;
+     To read the fate of youth or age,
+     Look on my Helen's eyes.
+
+     "Yet, rash astrologer, refrain!
+     Too dearly would be won
+     The prescience of another's pain,
+     If purchased by thine own."
+
+"She is right, Allan," said Lord Menteith; "and this end of an old song
+is worth all we shall gain by our attempt to look into futurity."
+
+"She is WRONG, my lord," said Allan, sternly, "though you, who treat
+with lightness the warnings I have given you, may not live to see the
+event of the omen.--laugh not so scornfully," he added, interrupting
+himself "or rather laugh on as loud and as long as you will; your term
+of laughter will find a pause ere long."
+
+"I care not for your visions, Allan," said Lord Menteith; "however short
+my span of life, the eye of no Highland seer can see its termination."
+
+"For heaven's sake," said Annot Lyle, interrupting him, "you know his
+nature, and how little he can endure--"
+
+"Fear me not," said Allan, interrupting her,--"my mind is now constant
+and calm.--But for you, young lord," said he, turning to Lord Menteith,
+"my eye has sought you through fields of battle, where Highlanders and
+Lowlanders lay strewed as thick as ever the rooks sat on those ancient
+trees," pointing to a rookery which was seen from the window--"my eye
+sought you, but your corpse was not there--my eye sought you among a
+train of unresisting and disarmed captives, drawn up within the bounding
+walls of an ancient and rugged fortress;--flash after flash--platoon
+after platoon--the hostile shot fell amongst them, They dropped like
+the dry leaves in autumn, but you were not among their ranks;--scaffolds
+were prepared--blocks were arranged, saw-dust was spread--the priest was
+ready with his book, the headsman with his axe--but there, too, mine eye
+found you not."
+
+"The gibbet, then, I suppose, must be my doom?" said Lord Menteith. "Yet
+I wish they had spared me the halter, were it but for the dignity of the
+peerage."
+
+He spoke this scornfully, yet not without a sort of curiosity, and
+a wish to receive an answer; for the desire of prying into futurity
+frequently has some influence even on the minds of those who disavow all
+belief in the possibility of such predictions.
+
+"Your rank, my lord, will suffer no dishonour in your person, or by the
+manner of your death. Three times have I seen a Highlander plant his
+dirk in your bosom--and such will be your fate."
+
+"I wish you would describe him to me," said Lord Menteith, "and I
+shall save him the trouble of fulfilling your prophecy, if his plaid be
+passible to sword or pistol."
+
+"Your weapons," said Allan, "would avail you little; nor can I give you
+the information you desire. The face of the vision has been ever averted
+from me."
+
+"So be it then," said Lord Menteith, "and let it rest in the uncertainty
+in which your augury has placed it. I shall dine not the less merrily
+among plaids, and dirks, and kilts to-day."
+
+"It may be so," said Allan; "and, it may be, you do well to enjoy these
+moments, which to me are poisoned by auguries of future evil. But I," he
+continued--"I repeat to you, that this weapon--that is, such a weapon as
+this," touching the hilt of the dirk which he wore, "carries your fate."
+"In the meanwhile," said Lord Menteith, "you, Allan, have frightened
+the blood from the cheeks of Annot Lyle--let us leave this discourse,
+my friend, and go to see what we both understand,--the progress of our
+military preparations."
+
+They joined Angus M'Aulay and his English guests, and, in the military
+discussions which immediately took place, Allan showed a clearness
+of mind, strength of judgment, and precision of thought, totally
+inconsistent with the mystical light in which his character has been
+hitherto exhibited.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     When Albin her claymore indignantly draws,
+     When her bonneted chieftains around her shall crowd,
+     Clan-Ranald the dauntless, and Moray the proud,
+     All plaided and plumed in their tartan array--LOCHEIL'S WARNING.
+
+Whoever saw that morning, the Castle of Darnlinvarach, beheld a busy and
+a gallant sight.
+
+The various Chiefs, arriving with their different retinues, which,
+notwithstanding their numbers, formed no more than their usual equipage
+and body-guard upon occasions of solemnity, saluted the lord of the
+castle and each other with overflowing kindness, or with haughty and
+distant politeness, according to the circumstances of friendship or
+hostility in which their clans had recently stood to each other.
+Each Chief, however small his comparative importance, showed the full
+disposition to exact from the rest the deference due to a separate and
+independent prince; while the stronger and more powerful, divided among
+themselves by recent contentions or ancient feuds, were constrained in
+policy to use great deference to the feelings of their less powerful
+brethren, in order, in case of need, to attach as many well-wishers as
+might be to their own interest and standard. Thus the meeting of Chiefs
+resembled not a little those ancient Diets of the Empire, where the
+smallest FREY-GRAF, who possessed a castle perched upon a barren crag,
+with a few hundred acres around it, claimed the state and honours of a
+sovereign prince, and a seat according to his rank among the dignitaries
+of the Empire.
+
+The followers of the different leaders were separately arranged and
+accommodated, as room and circumstances best permitted, each retaining
+however his henchman, who waited, close as the shadow, upon his person,
+to execute whatever might be required by his patron.
+
+The exterior of the castle afforded a singular scene. The Highlanders,
+from different islands, glens, and straths, eyed each other at a
+distance with looks of emulation, inquisitive curiosity, or hostile
+malevolence; but the most astounding part of the assembly, at least to
+a Lowland ear, was the rival performance of the bagpipers. These warlike
+minstrels, who had the highest opinion, each, of the superiority of
+his own tribe, joined to the most overweening idea of the importance
+connected with his profession, at first, performed their various
+pibrochs in front each of his own clan. At length, however, as the
+black-cocks towards the end of the season, when, in sportsman's
+language, they are said to flock or crowd, attracted together by the
+sound of each others' triumphant crow, even so did the pipers, swelling
+their plaids and tartans in the same triumphant manner in which the
+birds ruffle up their feathers, begin to approach each other within
+such distance as might give to their brethren a sample of their skill.
+Walking within a short interval, and eyeing each other with looks in
+which self-importance and defiance might be traced, they strutted,
+puffed, and plied their screaming instruments, each playing his own
+favourite tune with such a din, that if an Italian musician had lain
+buried within ten miles of them, he must have risen from the dead to run
+out of hearing.
+
+The Chieftains meanwhile had assembled in close conclave in the
+great hall of the castle. Among them were the persons of the greatest
+consequence in the Highlands, some of them attracted by zeal for the
+royal cause, and many by aversion to that severe and general domination
+which the Marquis of Argyle, since his rising to such influence in
+the state, had exercised over his Highland neighbours. That statesman,
+indeed, though possessed of considerable abilities, and great power, had
+failings, which rendered him unpopular among the Highland chiefs. The
+devotion which he professed was of a morose and fanatical character; his
+ambition appeared to be insatiable, and inferior chiefs complained
+of his want of bounty and liberality. Add to this, that although a
+Highlander, and of a family distinguished for valour before and since,
+Gillespie Grumach [GRUMACH--ill-favored.] (which, from an obliquity in
+his eyes, was the personal distinction he bore in the Highlands, where
+titles of rank are unknown) was suspected of being a better man in the
+cabinet than in the field. He and his tribe were particularly obnoxious
+to the M'Donalds and the M'Leans, two numerous septs, who, though
+disunited by ancient feuds, agreed in an intense dislike to the
+Campbells, or, as they were called, the Children of Diarmid.
+
+For some time the assembled Chiefs remained silent, until some one
+should open the business of the meeting. At length one of the most
+powerful of them commenced the diet by saying,--"We have been summoned
+hither, M'Aulay, to consult of weighty matters concerning the King's
+affairs, and those of the state; and we crave to know by whom they are
+to be explained to us?"
+
+M'Aulay, whose strength did not lie in oratory, intimated his wish
+that Lord Menteith should open the business of the council. With great
+modesty, and at the same time with spirit, that young lord said, "he
+wished what he was about to propose had come from some person of better
+known and more established character. Since, however, it lay with him
+to be spokesman, he had to state to the Chiefs assembled, that those who
+wished to throw off the base yoke which fanaticism had endeavoured to
+wreath round their necks, had not a moment to lose. 'The Covenanters,'"
+he said, "after having twice made war upon their sovereign, and having
+extorted from him every request, reasonable or unreasonable, which
+they thought proper to demand--after their Chiefs had been loaded with
+dignities and favours--after having publicly declared, when his Majesty,
+after a gracious visit to the land of his nativity, was upon his
+return to England, that he returned a contented king from a contented
+people,--after all this, and without even the pretext for a national
+grievance, the same men have, upon doubts and suspicions, equally
+dishonourable to the King, and groundless in themselves, detached a
+strong army to assist his rebels in England, in a quarrel with which
+Scotland had no more to do than she has with the wars in Germany. It was
+well," he said, "that the eagerness with which this treasonable purpose
+was pursued, had blinded the junta who now usurped the government of
+Scotland to the risk which they were about to incur. The army which they
+had dispatched to England under old Leven comprehended their veteran
+soldiers, the strength of those armies which had been levied in Scotland
+during the two former wars--"
+
+Here Captain Dalgetty endeavoured to rise, for the purpose of explaining
+how many veteran officers, trained in the German wars, were, to his
+certain knowledge, in the army of the Earl of Leven. But Allan M'Aulay
+holding him down in his seat with one hand, pressed the fore-finger of
+the other upon his own lips, and, though with some difficulty, prevented
+his interference. Captain Dalgetty looked upon him with a very scornful
+and indignant air, by which the other's gravity was in no way moved, and
+Lord Menteith proceeded without farther interruption.
+
+"The moment," he said, "was most favourable for all true-hearted and
+loyal Scotchmen to show, that the reproach their country had lately
+undergone arose from the selfish ambition of a few turbulent and
+seditious men, joined to the absurd fanaticism which, disseminated from
+five hundred pulpits, had spread like a land-flood over the Lowlands of
+Scotland. He had letters from the Marquis of Huntly in the north, which
+he should show to the Chiefs separately. That nobleman, equally loyal
+and powerful was determined to exert his utmost energy in the common
+cause, and the powerful Earl of Seaforth was prepared to join the same
+standard. From the Earl of Airly, and the Ogilvies in Angusshire, he had
+had communications equally decided; and there was no doubt that these,
+who, with the Hays, Leiths, Burnets, and other loyal gentlemen, would be
+soon on horseback, would form a body far more than sufficient to overawe
+the northern Covenanters, who had already experienced their valour in
+the well-known rout which was popularly termed the Trot of Turiff. South
+of Forth and Tay," he said, "the King had many friends, who, oppressed
+by enforced oaths, compulsatory levies, heavy taxes, unjustly imposed
+and unequally levied, by the tyranny of the Committee of Estates, and
+the inquisitorial insolence of the Presbyterian divines, waited but the
+waving of the royal banner to take up arms. Douglas, Traquair, Roxburgh,
+Hume, all friendly to the royal cause, would counterbalance," he said,
+"the covenanting interest in the south; and two gentlemen, of name and
+quality, here present, from the north of England, would answer for the
+zeal of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Northumberland. Against so many
+gallant gentlemen the southern Covenanters could but arm raw levies; the
+Whigamores of the western shires, and the ploughmen and mechanics of
+the Low-country. For the West Highlands, he knew no interest which the
+Covenanters possessed there, except that of one individual, as well
+known as he was odious. But was there a single man, who, on casting his
+eye round this hall, and recognising the power, the gallantry, and the
+dignity of the chiefs assembled, could entertain a moment's doubt of
+their success against the utmost force which Gillespie Grumach could
+collect against them? He had only farther to add, that considerable
+funds, both of money and ammunition, had been provided for the
+army"--(Here Dalgetty pricked up his ears)--"that officers of ability
+and experience in the foreign wars, one of whom was now present," (the
+Captain drew himself up, and looked round,) "had engaged to train such
+levies as might require to be disciplined;--and that a numerous body
+of auxiliary forces from Ireland, having been detached from the Earl of
+Antrim, from Ulster, had successfully accomplished their descent upon
+the main land, and, with the assistance of Clanranald's people, having
+taken and fortified the Castle of Mingarry, in spite of Argyle's
+attempts to intercept them, were in full march to this place of
+rendezvous. It only remained," he said, "that the noble Chiefs
+assembled, laying aside every lesser consideration, should unite, heart
+and hand, in the common cause; send the fiery cross through their clans,
+in order to collect their utmost force, and form their junction with
+such celerity as to leave the enemy no time, either for preparation, or
+recovery from the panic which would spread at the first sound of their
+pibroch. He himself," he said, "though neither among the richest nor the
+most powerful of the Scottish nobility, felt that he had to support
+the dignity of an ancient and honourable house, the independence of an
+ancient and honourable nation, and to that cause he was determined
+to devote both life and fortune. If those who were more powerful were
+equally prompt, he trusted they would deserve the thanks of their King,
+and the gratitude of posterity."
+
+Loud applause followed this speech of Lord Menteith, and testified
+the general acquiescence of all present in the sentiments which he
+had expressed; but when the shout had died away, the assembled Chiefs
+continued to gaze upon each other as if something yet remained to be
+settled. After some whispers among themselves, an aged man, whom his grey
+hairs rendered respectable, although he was not of the highest order of
+Chiefs, replied to what had been said.
+
+"Thane of Menteith," he said, "you have well spoken; nor is there one of
+us in whose bosom the same sentiments do not burn like fire. But it is
+not strength alone that wins the fight; it is the head of the commander,
+as well as the arm of the soldier, that brings victory. I ask of you who
+is to raise and sustain the banner under which we are invited to rise
+and muster ourselves? Will it be expected that we should risk our
+children, and the flower of our kinsmen, ere we know to whose guidance
+they are to be intrusted? This were leading those to slaughter, whom, by
+the laws of God and man, it is our duty to protect. Where is the royal
+commission, under which the lieges are to be convocated in arms? Simple
+and rude as we may be deemed, we know something of the established rules
+of war, as well as of the laws of our country; nor will we arm ourselves
+against the general peace of Scotland, unless by the express commands
+of the King, and under a leader fit to command such men as are here
+assembled."
+
+"Where would you find such a leader," said another Chief, starting up,
+"saving the representative of the Lord of the Isles, entitled by birth
+and hereditary descent to lead forth the array of every clan of the
+Highlands; and where is that dignity lodged, save in the house of Vich
+Alister More?"
+
+"I acknowledge," said another Chief, eagerly interrupting the speaker,
+"the truth in what has been first said, but not the inference. If Vich
+Alister More desires to be held representative of the Lord of the Isles,
+let him first show his blood is redder than mine."
+
+"That is soon tried," said Vich Alister More, laying his hand upon the
+basket hilt of his claymore. Lord Menteith threw himself between
+them, entreating and imploring each to remember that the interests of
+Scotland, the liberty of their country, and the cause of their King,
+ought to be superior in their eyes to any personal disputes respecting
+descent, rank, and precedence. Several of the Highland Chiefs, who had
+no desire to admit the claims of either chieftain, interfered to the
+same purpose, and none with more emphasis than the celebrated Evan Dhu.
+
+"I have come from my lakes," he said, "as a stream descends from the
+hills, not to turn again, but to accomplish my course. It is not by
+looking back to our own pretensions that we shall serve Scotland or King
+Charles. My voice shall be for that general whom the King shall name,
+who will doubtless possess those qualities which are necessary to
+command men like us. High-born he must be, or we shall lose our rank in
+obeying him--wise and skilful, or we shall endanger the safety of
+our people--bravest among the brave, or we shall peril our own
+honour--temperate, firm, and manly, to keep us united. Such is the man
+that must command us. Are you prepared, Thane of Menteith, to say where
+such a general is to be found?"
+
+"There is but ONE," said Allan M'Aulay; "and here," he said, laying
+his hand upon the shoulder of Anderson, who stood behind Lord Menteith,
+"here he stands!"
+
+The general surprise of the meeting was expressed by an impatient
+murmur; when Anderson, throwing back the cloak in which his face was
+muffled, and stepping forward, spoke thus:--"I did not long intend to be
+a silent spectator of this interesting scene, although my hasty friend
+has obliged me to disclose myself somewhat sooner than was my intention.
+Whether I deserve the honour reposed in me by this parchment will best
+appear from what I shall be able to do for the King's service. It is a
+commission under the great seal, to James Graham, Earl of Montrose, to
+command those forces which are to be assembled for the service of his
+Majesty in this kingdom."
+
+A loud shout of approbation burst from the assembly. There was, in fact,
+no other person to whom, in point of rank, these proud mountaineers
+would have been disposed to submit. His inveterate and hereditary
+hostility to the Marquis of Argyle insured his engaging in the war with
+sufficient energy, while his well-known military talents, and his
+tried valour, afforded every hope of his bringing it to a favourable
+conclusion.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     Our plot is a good plot as ever was laid; our friends true and
+     constant:  a good plot, good friends, and full of expectation:
+     an excellent plot, very good friends.--HENRY IV Part I.
+
+No sooner had the general acclamation of joyful surprise subsided, than
+silence was eagerly demanded for reading the royal commission; and the
+bonnets, which hitherto each Chief had worn, probably because unwilling
+to be the first to uncover, were now at once vailed in honour of
+the royal warrant. It was couched in the most full and ample terms,
+authorizing the Earl of Montrose to assemble the subjects in arms,
+for the putting down the present rebellion, which divers traitors
+and seditious persons had levied against the King, to the manifest
+forfaulture, as it stated, of their allegiance, and to the breach of
+the pacification between the two kingdoms. It enjoined all subordinate
+authorities to be obedient and assisting to Montrose in his enterprise;
+gave him the power of making ordinances and proclamations, punishing
+misdemeanours, pardoning criminals, placing and displacing governors and
+commanders. In fine, it was as large and full a commission as any with
+which a prince could intrust a subject. As soon as it was finished,
+a shout burst from the assembled Chiefs, in testimony of their ready
+submission to the will of their sovereign. Not contented with generally
+thanking them for a reception so favourable, Montrose hastened to
+address himself to individuals, The most important Chiefs had already
+been long personally known to him, but even to those of inferior
+consequence he now introduced himself and by the acquaintance he
+displayed with their peculiar designations, and the circumstances and
+history of their clans, he showed how long he must have studied the
+character of the mountaineers, and prepared himself for such a situation
+as he now held.
+
+While he was engaged in these acts of courtesy, his graceful manner,
+expressive features, and dignity of deportment, made a singular contrast
+with the coarseness and meanness of his dress. Montrose possessed that
+sort of form and face, in which the beholder, at the first glance, sees
+nothing extraordinary, but of which the interest becomes more impressive
+the longer we gaze upon them. His stature was very little above the
+middle size, but in person he was uncommonly well-built, and capable
+both of exerting great force, and enduring much fatigue. In fact,
+he enjoyed a constitution of iron, without which he could not have
+sustained the trials of his extraordinary campaigns, through all of
+which he subjected himself to the hardships of the meanest soldier.
+He was perfect in all exercises, whether peaceful or martial, and
+possessed, of course, that graceful ease of deportment proper to those
+to whom habit has rendered all postures easy.
+
+His long brown hair, according to the custom of men of quality among the
+Royalists, was parted on the top of his head, and trained to hang down
+on each side in curled locks, one of which, descending two or three
+inches lower than the others, intimated Montrose's compliance with that
+fashion against which it pleased Mr. Prynne, the puritan, to write a
+treatise, entitled, THE UNLOVELINESS OF LOVE-LOCKS. The features which
+these tresses enclosed, were of that kind which derive their interest
+from the character of the man, rather than from the regularity of their
+form. But a high nose, a full, decided, well-opened, quick grey eye, and
+a sanguine complexion, made amends for some coarseness and irregularity
+in the subordinate parts of the face; so that, altogether, Montrose
+might be termed rather a handsome, than a hard-featured man. But those
+who saw him when his soul looked through those eyes with all the energy
+and fire of genius--those who heard him speak with the authority of
+talent, and the eloquence of nature, were impressed with an opinion
+even of his external form, more enthusiastically favourable than the
+portraits which still survive would entitle us to ascribe to it. Such,
+at least, was the impression he made upon the assembled Chiefs of the
+mountaineers, over whom, as upon all persons in their state of society,
+personal appearance has no small influence.
+
+In the discussions which followed his discovering himself, Montrose
+explained the various risks which he had run in his present undertaking.
+His first attempt had been to assemble a body of loyalists in the north
+of England, who, in obedience to the orders of the Marquis of Newcastle,
+he expected would have marched into Scotland; but the disinclination of
+the English to cross the Border, and the delay of the Earl of Antrim,
+who was to have landed in the Solway Frith with his Irish army,
+prevented his executing this design. Other plans having in like manner
+failed, he stated that he found himself under the necessity of assuming
+a disguise to render his passage secure through the Lowlands, in which
+he had been kindly assisted by his kinsman of Menteith. By what means
+Allan M'Aulay had come to know him, he could not pretend to explain.
+Those who knew Allan's prophetic pretensions, smiled mysteriously;
+but he himself only replied, that "the Earl of Montrose need not be
+surprised if he was known to thousands, of whom he himself could retain
+no memory."
+
+"By the honour of a cavalier," said Captain Dalgetty, finding at length
+an opportunity to thrust in his word, "I am proud and happy in having an
+opportunity of drawing a sword under your lordship's command; and I do
+forgive all grudge, malecontent, and malice of my heart, to Mr. Allan
+M'Aulay, for having thrust me down to the lowest seat of the board
+yestreen. Certes, he hath this day spoken so like a man having full
+command of his senses, that I had resolved in my secret purpose that he
+was no way entitled to claim the privilege of insanity. But since I
+was only postponed to a noble earl, my future commander-in-chief, I do,
+before you all, recognise the justice of the preference, and heartily
+salute Allan as one who is to be his BON-CAMARADO."
+
+Having made this speech, which was little understood or attended to,
+without putting off his military glove, he seized on Allan's hand,
+and began to shake it with violence, which Allan, with a gripe like a
+smith's vice, returned with such force, as to drive the iron splents of
+the gauntlet into the hand of the wearer.
+
+Captain Dalgetty might have construed this into a new affront, had not
+his attention, as he stood blowing and shaking the injured member, been
+suddenly called by Montrose himself.
+
+"Hear this news," he said, "Captain Dalgetty--I should say Major
+Dalgetty,--the Irish, who are to profit by your military experience, are
+now within a few leagues of us."
+
+"Our deer-stalkers," said Angus M'Aulay, "who were abroad to bring in
+venison for this honourable party, have heard of a band of strangers,
+speaking neither Saxon nor pure Gaelic, and with difficulty making
+themselves understood by the people of the country, who are marching
+this way in arms, under the leading, it is said, of Alaster M'Donald,
+who is commonly called Young Colkitto."
+
+"These must be our men," said Montrose; "we must hasten to send
+messengers forward, both to act as guides and to relieve their wants."
+
+"The last," said Angus M'Aulay, "will be no easy matter; for I am
+informed, that, excepting muskets and a very little ammunition, they
+want everything that soldiers should have; and they are particularly
+deficient in money, in shoes, and in raiment."
+
+"There is at least no use in saying so," said Montrose, "in so loud
+a tone. The puritan weavers of Glasgow shall provide them plenty of
+broad-cloth, when we make a descent from the Highlands; and if the
+ministers could formerly preach the old women of the Scottish boroughs
+out of their webs of napery, to make tents to the fellows on Dunse Law,
+[The Covenanters encamped on Dunse Law, during the troubles of 1639.] I
+will try whether I have not a little interest both to make these godly
+dames renew their patriotic gift, and the prick-eared knaves, their
+husbands, open their purses."
+
+"And respecting arms," said Captain Dalgetty, "if your lordship will
+permit an old cavalier to speak his mind, so that the one-third have
+muskets, my darling weapon would be the pike for the remainder, whether
+for resisting a charge of horse, or for breaking the infantry. A common
+smith will make a hundred pike-heads in a day; here is plenty of wood
+for shafts; and I will uphold, that, according to the best usages of
+war, a strong battalion of pikes, drawn up in the fashion of the Lion of
+the North, the immortal Gustavus, would beat the Macedonian phalanx,
+of which I used to read in the Mareschal-College, when I studied in the
+ancient town of Bon-accord; and further, I will venture to predicate--"
+
+The Captain's lecture upon tactics was here suddenly interrupted by
+Allan M'Aulay, who said, hastily,--"Room for an unexpected and unwelcome
+guest!"
+
+At the same moment, the door of the hall opened, and a grey-haired man,
+of a very stately appearance, presented himself to the assembly. There
+was much dignity, and even authority, in his manner. His stature was
+above the common size, and his looks such as were used to command. He
+cast a severe, and almost stern glance upon the assembly of Chiefs.
+Those of the higher rank among them returned it with scornful
+indifference; but some of the western gentlemen of inferior power,
+looked as if they wished themselves elsewhere.
+
+"To which of this assembly," said the stranger, "am I to address myself
+as leader? or have you not fixed upon the person who is to hold an
+office at least as perilous as it is honourable?"
+
+"Address yourself to me, Sir Duncan Campbell," said Montrose, stepping
+forward.
+
+"To you!" said Sir Duncan Campbell, with some scorn.
+
+"Yes,--to me," repeated Montrose,--"to the Earl of Montrose, if you have
+forgot him."
+
+"I should now, at least," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "have had some
+difficulty in recognising him in the disguise of a groom.--and yet I
+might have guessed that no evil influence inferior to your lordship's,
+distinguished as one who troubles Israel, could have collected together
+this rash assembly of misguided persons."
+
+"I will answer unto you," said Montrose, "in the manner of your own
+Puritans. I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house.
+But let us leave an altercation, which is of little consequence but
+to ourselves, and hear the tidings you have brought from your Chief of
+Argyle; for I must conclude that it is in his name that you have come to
+this meeting."
+
+"It is in the name of the Marquis of Argyle," said Sir Duncan
+Campbell,--"in the name of the Scottish Convention of Estates, that
+I demand to know the meaning of this singular convocation. If it is
+designed to disturb the peace of the country, it were but acting like
+neighbours, and men of honour, to give us some intimation to stand upon
+our guard."
+
+"It is a singular, and new state of affairs in Scotland," said Montrose,
+turning from Sir Duncan Campbell to the assembly, "when Scottish men of
+rank and family cannot meet in the house of a common friend without an
+inquisitorial visit and demand, on the part of our rulers, to know the
+subject of our conference. Methinks our ancestors were accustomed to
+hold Highland huntings, or other purposes of meeting, without asking
+the leave either of the great M'Callum More himself, or any of his
+emissaries or dependents."
+
+"The times have been such in Scotland," answered one of the Western
+Chiefs, "and such they will again be, when the intruders on our
+ancient possessions are again reduced to be Lairds of Lochow instead of
+overspreading us like a band of devouring locusts."
+
+"Am I to understand, then," said Sir Duncan, "that it is against my name
+alone that these preparations are directed? or are the race of Diarmid
+only to be sufferers in common with the whole of the peaceful and
+orderly inhabitants of Scotland?"
+
+"I would ask," said a wild-looking Chief, starting hastily up, "one
+question of the Knight of Ardenvohr, ere he proceeds farther in his
+daring catechism.--Has he brought more than one life to this castle,
+that he ventures to intrude among us for the purposes of insult?"
+
+"Gentlemen," said Montrose, "let me implore your patience; a messenger
+who comes among us for the purpose of embassy, is entitled to freedom of
+speech and safe-conduct. And since Sir Duncan Campbell is so pressing, I
+care not if I inform him, for his guidance, that he is in an assembly
+of the King's loyal subjects, convoked by me, in his Majesty's name and
+authority, and as empowered by his Majesty's royal commission."
+
+"We are to have, then, I presume," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "a civil
+war in all its forms? I have been too long a soldier to view its
+approach with anxiety; but it would have been for my Lord of Montrose's
+honour, if, in this matter, he had consulted his own ambition less, and
+the peace of the country more."
+
+"Those consulted their own ambition and self-interest, Sir Duncan,"
+answered Montrose, "who brought the country to the pass in which it
+now stands, and rendered necessary the sharp remedies which we are now
+reluctantly about to use."
+
+"And what rank among these self-seekers," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "we
+shall assign to a noble Earl, so violently attached to the Covenant,
+that he was the first, in 1639, to cross the Tyne, wading middle deep at
+the head of his regiment, to charge the royal forces? It was the same,
+I think, who imposed the Covenant upon the burgesses and colleges of
+Aberdeen, at the point of sword and pike."
+
+"I understand your sneer, Sir Duncan," said Montrose, temperately; "and
+I can only add, that if sincere repentance can make amends for youthful
+error, and for yielding to the artful representation of ambitious
+hypocrites, I shall be pardoned for the crimes with which you taunt me.
+I will at least endeavour to deserve forgiveness, for I am here, with
+my sword in my hand, willing to spend the best blood of my body to make
+amends for my error; and mortal man can do no more."
+
+"Well, my lord," said Sir Duncan, "I shall be sorry to carry back this
+language to the Marquis of Argyle. I had it in farther charge from the
+Marquis, that, to prevent the bloody feuds which must necessarily follow
+a Highland war, his lordship will be contented if terms of truce could
+be arranged to the north of the Highland line, as there is ground enough
+in Scotland to fight upon, without neighbours destroying each other's
+families and inheritances."
+
+"It is a peaceful proposal," said Montrose, smiling, "such as it
+should be, coming from one whose personal actions have always been more
+peaceful than his measures. Yet, if the terms of such a truce could be
+equally fixed, and if we can obtain security, for that, Sir Duncan, is
+indispensable,--that your Marquis will observe these terms with strict
+fidelity, I, for my part, should be content to leave peace behind us,
+since we must needs carry war before us. But, Sir Duncan, you are too
+old and experienced a soldier for us to permit you to remain in our
+leaguer, and witness our proceedings; we shall therefore, when you have
+refreshed yourself, recommend your speedy return to Inverary, and we
+shall send with you a gentleman on our part to adjust the terms of
+the Highland armistice, in case the Marquis shall be found serious in
+proposing such a measure." Sir Duncan Campbell assented by a bow.
+
+"My Lord of Menteith," continued Montrose, "will you have the goodness
+to attend Sir Duncan Campbell of Ardenvohr, while we determine who shall
+return with him to his Chief? M'Aulay will permit us to request that he
+be entertained with suitable hospitality."
+
+"I will give orders for that," said Allan M'Aulay, rising and coming
+forward. "I love Sir Duncan Campbell; we have been joint sufferers in
+former days, and I do not forget it now."
+
+"My Lord of Menteith," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "I am grieved to
+see you, at your early age, engaged in such desperate and rebellious
+courses."
+
+"I am young," answered Menteith, "yet old enough to distinguish between
+right and wrong, between loyalty and rebellion; and the sooner a good
+course is begun, the longer and the better have I a chance of running
+it."
+
+"And you too, my friend, Allan M'Aulay," said Sir Duncan, taking his
+hand, "must we also call each other enemies, that have been so often
+allied against a common foe?" Then turning round to the meeting, he
+said, "Farewell, gentlemen; there are so many of you to whom I wish
+well, that your rejection of all terms of mediation gives me deep
+affliction. May Heaven," he said, looking upwards, "judge between our
+motives, and those of the movers of this civil commotion!"
+
+"Amen," said Montrose; "to that tribunal we all submit us."
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell left the hall, accompanied by Allan M'Aulay and Lord
+Menteith. "There goes a true-bred Campbell," said Montrose, as the envoy
+departed, "for they are ever fair and false."
+
+"Pardon me, my lord," said Evan Dhu; "hereditary enemy as I am to their
+name, I have ever found the Knight of Ardenvohr brave in war, honest in
+peace, and true in council."
+
+"Of his own disposition," said Montrose, "such he is undoubtedly; but
+he now acts as the organ or mouth-piece of his Chief, the Marquis, the
+falsest man that ever drew breath. And, M'Aulay," he continued in a
+whisper to his host, "lest he should make some impression upon the
+inexperience of Menteith, or the singular disposition of your brother,
+you had better send music into their chamber, to prevent his inveigling
+them into any private conference."
+
+"The devil a musician have I," answered M'Aulay, "excepting the piper,
+who has nearly broke his wind by an ambitious contention for superiority
+with three of his own craft; but I can send Annot Lyle and her harp."
+And he left the apartment to give orders accordingly.
+
+Meanwhile a warm discussion took place, who should undertake the
+perilous task of returning with Sir Duncan to Inverary. To the higher
+dignitaries, accustomed to consider themselves upon an equality even
+with M'Callum More, this was an office not to be proposed; unto others
+who could not plead the same excuse, it was altogether unacceptable. One
+would have thought Inverary had been the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
+the inferior chiefs showed such reluctance to approach it. After a
+considerable hesitation, the plain reason was at length spoken
+out, namely, that whatever Highlander should undertake an office so
+distasteful to M'Callum More, he would be sure to treasure the offence
+in his remembrance, and one day or other to make him bitterly repent of
+it.
+
+In this dilemma, Montrose, who considered the proposed armistice as
+a mere stratagem on the part of Argyle, although he had not ventured
+bluntly to reject it in presence of those whom it concerned so nearly,
+resolved to impose the danger and dignity upon Captain Dalgetty, who had
+neither clan nor estate in the Highlands upon which the wrath of Argyle
+could wreak itself.
+
+"But I have a neck though," said Dalgetty, bluntly; "and what if he
+chooses to avenge himself upon that? I have known a case where an
+honourable ambassador has been hanged as a spy before now. Neither did
+the Romans use ambassadors much more mercifully at the siege of Capua,
+although I read that they only cut off their hands and noses, put out
+their eyes, and suffered them to depart in peace."
+
+"By my honour Captain Dalgetty," said Montrose, "should the Marquis,
+contrary to the rules of war, dare to practise any atrocity against you,
+you may depend upon my taking such signal vengeance that all Scotland
+shall ring of it."
+
+"That will do but little for Dalgetty," returned the Captain; "but
+corragio! as the Spaniard says. With the Land of Promise full in
+view, the Moor of Drumthwacket, MEA PAUPERA REGNA, as we said at
+Mareschal-College, I will not refuse your Excellency's commission,
+being conscious it becomes a cavalier of honour to obey his commander's
+orders, in defiance both of gibbet and sword."
+
+"Gallantly resolved," said Montrose; "and if you will come apart with
+me, I will furnish you with the conditions to be laid before M'Callum
+More, upon which we are willing to grant him a truce for his Highland
+dominions."
+
+With these we need not trouble our readers. They were of an evasive
+nature, calculated to meet a proposal which Montrose considered to have
+been made only for the purpose of gaining time. When he had put Captain
+Dalgetty in complete possession of his instructions, and when that
+worthy, making his military obeisance, was near the door of his
+apartment, Montrose made him a sign to return.
+
+"I presume," said he, "I need not remind an officer who has served under
+the great Gustavus, that a little more is required of a person sent with
+a flag of truce than mere discharge of his instructions, and that his
+general will expect from him, on his return, some account of the state
+of the enemy's affairs, as far as they come under his observation. In
+short, Captain Dalgetty, you must be UN PEU CLAIR-VOYANT."
+
+"Ah ha! your Excellency," said the Captain, twisting his hard features
+into an inimitable expression of cunning and intelligence, "if they do
+not put my head in a poke, which I have known practised upon honourable
+soldados who have been suspected to come upon such errands as the
+present, your Excellency may rely on a preceese narration of whatever
+Dugald Dalgetty shall hear or see, were it even how many turns of tune
+there are in M'Callum More's pibroch, or how many checks in the sett of
+his plaid and trews."
+
+"Enough," answered Montrose; "farewell, Captain Dalgetty: and as they
+say that a lady's mind is always expressed in her postscript, so I would
+have you think that the most important part of your commission lies in
+what I have last said to you."
+
+Dalgetty once more grinned intelligence, and withdrew to victual his
+charger and himself, for the fatigues of his approaching mission.
+
+At the door of the stable, for Gustavus always claimed his first
+care,--he met Angus M'Aulay and Sir Miles Musgrave, who had been looking
+at his horse; and, after praising his points and carriage, both united
+in strongly dissuading the Captain from taking an animal of such value
+with him upon his present very fatiguing journey.
+
+Angus painted in the most alarming colours the roads, or rather
+wild tracks, by which it would be necessary for him to travel into
+Argyleshire, and the wretched huts or bothies where he would be
+condemned to pass the night, and where no forage could be procured for
+his horse, unless he could eat the stumps of old heather. In short,
+he pronounced it absolutely impossible, that, after undertaking such a
+pilgrimage, the animal could be in any case for military service. The
+Englishman strongly confirmed all that Angus had said, and gave himself,
+body and soul, to the devil, if he thought it was not an act little
+short of absolute murder to carry a horse worth a farthing into such a
+waste and inhospitable desert. Captain Dalgetty for an instant looked
+steadily, first at one of the gentlemen and next at the other, and then
+asked them, as if in a state of indecision, what they would advise him
+to do with Gustavus under such circumstances.
+
+"By the hand of my father, my dear friend," answered M'Aulay, "if you
+leave the beast in my keeping, you may rely on his being fed and sorted
+according to his worth and quality, and that upon your happy return, you
+will find him as sleek as an onion boiled in butter."
+
+"Or," said Sir Miles Musgrave, "if this worthy cavalier chooses to part
+with his charger for a reasonable sum, I have some part of the silver
+candlesticks still dancing the heys in my purse, which I shall be very
+willing to transfer to his."
+
+"In brief, mine honourable friends," said Captain Dalgetty, again eyeing
+them both with an air of comic penetration, "I find it would not be
+altogether unacceptable to either of you, to have some token to remember
+the old soldier by, in case it shall please M'Callum More to hang him
+up at the gate of his own castle. And doubtless it would be no small
+satisfaction to me, in such an event, that a noble and loyal cavalier
+like Sir Miles Musgrave, or a worthy and hospitable chieftain like our
+excellent landlord, should act as my executor."
+
+Both hastened to protest that they had no such object, and insisted
+again upon the impassable character of the Highland paths. Angus
+M'Aulay mumbled over a number of hard Gaellic names, descriptive of the
+difficult passes, precipices, corries, and beals, through which he
+said the road lay to Inverary, when old Donald, who had now entered,
+sanctioned his master's account of these difficulties, by holding up his
+hands, and elevating his eyes, and shaking his head, at every gruttural
+which M'Aulay pronounced. But all this did not move the inflexible
+Captain.
+
+"My worthy friends," said he, "Gustavus is not new to the dangers of
+travelling, and the mountains of Bohemia; and (no disparagement to the
+beals and corries Mr. Angus is pleased to mention, and of which Sir
+Miles, who never saw them, confirms the horrors,) these mountains may
+compete with the vilest roads in Europe. In fact, my horse hath a most
+excellent and social quality; for although he cannot pledge in my cup,
+yet we share our loaf between us, and it will be hard if he suffers
+famine where cakes or bannocks are to be found. And, to cut this matter
+short, I beseech you, my good friends, to observe the state of Sir
+Duncan Campbell's palfrey, which stands in that stall before us, fat
+and fair; and, in return for your anxiety an my account, I give you
+my honest asseveration, that while we travel the same road, both that
+palfrey and his rider shall lack for food before either Gustavus or I."
+
+Having said this he filled a large measure with corn, and walked up with
+it to his charger, who, by his low whinnying neigh, his pricked ears,
+and his pawing, showed how close the alliance was betwixt him and his
+rider. Nor did he taste his corn until he had returned his master's
+caresses, by licking his hands and face. After this interchange of
+greeting, the steed began to his provender with an eager dispatch, which
+showed old military habits; and the master, after looking on the animal
+with great complacency for about five minutes, said,--"Much good may it
+do your honest heart, Gustavus;--now must I go and lay in provant myself
+for the campaign."
+
+He then departed, having first saluted the Englishman and Angus M'Aulay,
+who remained looking at each other for some time in silence, and then
+burst out into a fit of laughter.
+
+"That fellow," said Sir Miles Musgrave, "is formed to go through the
+world."
+
+"I shall think so too," said M'Aulay, "if he can slip through M'Callum
+More's fingers as easily as he has done through ours."
+
+"Do you think," said the Englishman, "that the Marquis will not respect,
+in Captain Dalgetty's person, the laws of civilized war?"
+
+"No more than I would respect a Lowland proclamation," said Angus
+M'Aulay.--"But come along, it is time I were returning to my guests."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     . . . . In a rebellion,
+     When what's not meet, but what must be, was law,
+     Then were they chosen, in a better hour,
+     Let what is meet be said it must be meet,
+     And throw their power i' the dust.--CORIOLANUS.
+In a small apartment, remote from the rest of the guests assembled at
+the castle, Sir Duncan Campbell was presented with every species of
+refreshment, and respectfully attended by Lord Menteith, and by Allan
+M'Aulay. His discourse with the latter turned upon a sort of hunting
+campaign, in which they had been engaged together against the Children
+of the Mist, with whom the Knight of Ardenvohr, as well as the M'Aulays,
+had a deadly and irreconcilable feud. Sir Duncan, however, speedily
+endeavoured to lead back the conversation to the subject of his present
+errand to the castle of Darnlinvarach.
+
+"It grieved him to the very heart," he said, "to see that friends and
+neighbours, who should stand shoulder to shoulder, were likely to be
+engaged hand to hand in a cause which so little concerned them. What
+signifies it," he said, "to the Highland Chiefs, whether King or
+Parliament got uppermost? Were it not better to let them settle their
+own differences without interference, while the Chiefs, in the meantime,
+took the opportunity of establishing their own authority in a manner
+not to be called in question hereafter by either King or Parliament?"
+He reminded Allan M'Aulay that the measures taken in the last reign
+to settle the peace, as was alleged, of the Highlands, were in fact
+levelled at the patriarchal power of the Chieftains; and he mentioned
+the celebrated settlement of the Fife Undertakers, as they were
+called, in the Lewis, as part of a deliberate plan, formed to introduce
+strangers among the Celtic tribes, to destroy by degrees their ancient
+customs and mode of government, and to despoil them of the inheritance
+of their fathers. [In the reign of James VI., an attempt of rather an
+extraordinary kind was made to civilize the extreme northern part of the
+Hebridean Archipelago. That monarch granted the property of the Island
+of Lewis, as if it had been an unknown and savage country, to a number
+of Lowland gentlemen, called undertakers, chiefly natives of the shire
+of Fife, that they might colonize and settle there. The enterprise
+was at first successful, but the natives of the island, MacLeods and
+MacKenzies, rose on the Lowland adventurers, and put most of them to
+the sword.] "And yet," he continued, addressing Allan, "it is for
+the purpose of giving despotic authority to the monarch by whom these
+designs have been nursed, that so many Highland Chiefs are upon
+the point of quarrelling with, and drawing the sword against, their
+neighbours, allies, and ancient confederates." "It is to my brother,"
+said Allan, "it is to the eldest son of my father's house, that the
+Knight of Ardenvohr must address these remonstrances. I am, indeed, the
+brother of Angus; but in being so, I am only the first of his clansmen,
+and bound to show an example to the others by my cheerful and ready
+obedience to his commands."
+
+"The cause also," said Lord Menteith, interposing, "is far more general
+than Sir Duncan Campbell seems to suppose it. It is neither limited
+to Saxon nor to Gael, to mountain nor to strath, to Highlands nor to
+Lowlands. The question is, if we will continue to be governed by the
+unlimited authority assumed by a set of persons in no respect superior
+to ourselves, instead of returning to the natural government of the
+Prince against whom they have rebelled. And respecting the interest of
+the Highlands in particular," he added, "I crave Sir Duncan Campbell's
+pardon for my plainness; but it seems very clear to me, that the only
+effect produced by the present usurpation, will be the aggrandisement
+of one overgrown clan at the expense of every independent Chief in the
+Highlands."
+
+"I will not reply to you, my lord," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "because
+I know your prejudices, and from whom they are borrowed; yet you will
+pardon my saying, that being at the head of a rival branch of the House
+of Graham, I have both read of and known an Earl of Menteith, who
+would have disdained to have been tutored in politics, or to have been
+commanded in war, by an Earl of Montrose."
+
+"You will find it in vain, Sir Duncan," said Lord Menteith, haughtily,
+"to set my vanity in arms against my principles. The King gave my
+ancestors their title and rank; and these shall never prevent my acting,
+in the royal cause, under any one who is better qualified than myself
+to be a commander-in-chief. Least of all, shall any miserable jealousy
+prevent me from placing my hand and sword under the guidance of the
+bravest, the most loyal, the most heroic spirit among our Scottish
+nobility."
+
+"Pity," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "that you cannot add to this panegyric
+the farther epithets of the most steady, and the most consistent. But I
+have no purpose of debating these points with you, my lord," waving
+his hand, as if to avoid farther discussion; "the die is cast with you;
+allow me only to express my sorrow for the disastrous fate to which
+Angus M'Aulay's natural rashness, and your lordship's influence, are
+dragging my gallant friend Allan here, with his father's clan, and many
+a brave man besides."
+
+"The die is cast for us all, Sir Duncan," replied Allan, looking gloomy,
+and arguing on his own hypochondriac feelings; "the iron hand of destiny
+branded our fate upon our forehead long ere we could form a wish, or
+raise a finger in our own behalf. Were this otherwise, by what means
+does the Seer ascertain the future from those shadowy presages which
+haunt his waking and his sleeping eye? Nought can be foreseen but that
+which is certain to happen."
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell was about to reply, and the darkest and most
+contested point of metaphysics might have been brought into discussion
+betwixt two Highland disputants, when the door opened, and Annot Lyle,
+with her clairshach in her hand, entered the apartment. The freedom of
+a Highland maiden was in her step and in her eye; for, bred up in the
+closest intimacy with the Laird of M'Aulay and his brother, with
+Lord Menteith, and other young men who frequented Darnlinvarach, she
+possessed none of that timidity which a female, educated chiefly among
+her own sex, would either have felt, or thought necessary to assume, on
+an occasion like the present.
+
+Her dress partook of the antique, for new fashions seldom penetrated
+into the Highlands, nor would they easily have found their way to a
+castle inhabited chiefly by men, whose sole occupation was war and the
+chase. Yet Annot's garments were not only becoming, but even rich. Her
+open jacket, with a high collar, was composed of blue cloth, richly
+embroidered, and had silver clasps to fasten, when it pleased the
+wearer. Its sleeves, which were wide, came no lower than the elbow, and
+terminated in a golden fringe; under this upper coat, if it can be so
+termed, she wore an under dress of blue satin, also richly embroidered,
+but which was several shades lighter in colour than the upper garment.
+The petticoat was formed of tartan silk, in the sett, or pattern, of
+which the colour of blue greatly predominated, so as to remove the
+tawdry effect too frequently produced in tartan, by the mixture and
+strong opposition of colours. An antique silver chain hung round
+her neck, and supported the WREST, or key, with which she turned her
+instrument. A small ruff rose above her collar, and was secured by a
+brooch of some value, an old keepsake from Lord Menteith. Her profusion
+of light hair almost hid her laughing eyes, while, with a smile and a
+blush, she mentioned that she had M'Aulay's directions to ask them if
+they chose music. Sir Duncan Campbell gazed with considerable surprise
+and interest at the lovely apparition, which thus interrupted his debate
+with Allan M'Aulay.
+
+"Can this," he said to him in a whisper, "a creature so beautiful and so
+elegant, be a domestic musician of your brother's establishment?"
+
+"By no means," answered Allan, hastily, yet with some hesitation; "she
+is a--a--near relation of our family--and treated," he added, more
+firmly, "as an adopted daughter of our father's house."
+
+As he spoke thus, he arose from his seat, and with that air of courtesy
+which every Highlander can assume when it suits him to practise it, he
+resigned it to Annot, and offered to her, at the same time, whatever
+refreshments the table afforded, with an assiduity which was probably
+designed to give Sir Duncan an impression of her rank and consequence.
+If such was Allan's purpose, however, it was unnecessary. Sir Duncan
+kept his eyes fixed upon Annot with an expression of much deeper
+interest than could have arisen from any impression that she was
+a person of consequence. Annot even felt embarrassed under the old
+knight's steady gaze; and it was not without considerable hesitation,
+that, tuning her instrument, and receiving an assenting look from Lord
+Menteith and Allan, she executed the following ballad, which our friend,
+Mr. Secundus M'Pherson, whose goodness we had before to acknowledge, has
+thus translated into the English tongue:
+
+THE ORPHAN MAID.
+
+     November's hail-cloud drifts away,
+     November's sunbeam wan
+     Looks coldly on the castle grey,
+     When forth comes Lady Anne.
+
+     The orphan by the oak was set,
+     Her arms, her feet, were bare,
+     The hail-drops had not melted yet,
+     Amid her raven hair.
+
+     "And, Dame," she said, "by all the ties
+     That child and mother know,
+     Aid one who never knew these joys,
+     Relieve an orphan's woe."
+
+     The Lady said, "An orphan's state
+     Is hard and sad to bear;
+     Yet worse the widow'd mother's fate,
+     Who mourns both lord and heir.
+
+     "Twelve times the rolling year has sped,
+     Since, when from vengeance wild
+     Of fierce Strathallan's Chief I fled,
+     Forth's eddies whelm'd my child."
+
+     "Twelve times the year its course has born,"
+     The wandering maid replied,
+     "Since fishers on St. Bridget's morn
+     Drew nets on Campsie side.
+
+     "St. Bridget sent no scaly spoil;--
+     An infant, wellnigh dead,
+     They saved, and rear'd in want and toil,
+     To beg from you her bread."
+
+     That orphan maid the lady kiss'd--
+     "My husband's looks you bear;
+     St. Bridget and her morn be bless'd!
+     You are his widow's heir."
+
+     They've robed that maid, so poor and pale,
+     In silk and sandals rare;
+     And pearls, for drops of frozen hail,
+     Are glistening in her hair.
+
+The admirers of pure Celtic antiquity, notwithstanding the elegance of
+the above translation, may be desirous to see a literal version from the
+original Gaelic, which we therefore subjoin; and have only to add, that
+the original is deposited with Mr. Jedediah Cleishbotham.
+
+LITERAL TRANSLATION.
+
+     The hail-blast had drifted away upon the wings of the gale
+     of autumn.  The sun looked from between the clouds, pale as
+     the wounded hero who rears his head feebly on the heath when
+     the roar of battle hath passed over him.
+
+     Finele, the Lady of the Castle, came forth to see her
+     maidens pass to the herds with their leglins [Milk-pails].
+
+     There sat an orphan maiden beneath the old oak-tree of
+     appointment.  The withered leaves fell around her, and her
+     heart was more withered than they.
+
+     The parent of the ice [poetically taken from the frost]
+     still congealed the hail-drops in her hair; they were like
+     the specks of white ashes on the twisted boughs of the
+     blackened and half-consumed oak that blazes in the hall.
+
+     And the maiden said, "Give me comfort, Lady, I am an orphan
+     child."  And the Lady replied, "How can I give that which I
+     have not?  I am the widow of a slain lord,--the mother of a
+     perished child.  When I fled in my fear from the vengeance
+     of my husband's foes, our bark was overwhelmed in the tide,
+     and my infant perished.  This was on St. Bridget's morn,
+     near the strong Lyns of Campsie.  May ill luck light upon
+     the day."  And the maiden answered, "It was on St. Bridget's
+     morn, and twelve harvests before this time, that the
+     fishermen of Campsie drew in their nets neither grilse nor
+     salmon, but an infant half dead, who hath since lived in
+     misery, and must die, unless she is now aided." And the Lady
+     answered, "Blessed be Saint Bridget and her morn, for these
+     are the dark eyes and the falcon look of my slain lord; and
+     thine shall be the inheritance of his widow."  And she
+     called for her waiting attendants, and she bade them clothe
+     that maiden in silk, and in samite; and the pearls which
+     they wove among her black tresses, were whiter than the
+     frozen hail-drops.
+
+While the song proceeded, Lord Menteith observed, with some surprise,
+that it appeared to produce a much deeper effect upon the mind of Sir
+Duncan Campbell, than he could possibly have anticipated from his
+age and character. He well knew that the Highlanders of that period
+possessed a much greater sensibility both for tale and song than was
+found among their Lowland neighbours; but even this, he thought, hardly
+accounted for the embarrassment with which the old man withdrew his eyes
+from the songstress, as if unwilling to suffer them to rest on an object
+so interesting. Still less was it to be expected, that features which
+expressed pride, stern common sense, and the austere habit of authority,
+should have been so much agitated by so trivial a circumstance. As the
+Chief's brow became clouded, he drooped his large shaggy grey eyebrows
+until they almost concealed his eyes, on the lids of which something
+like a tear might be seen to glisten. He remained silent and fixed in
+the same posture for a minute or two, after the last note had ceased to
+vibrate. He then raised his head, and having looked at Annot Lyle, as if
+purposing to speak to her, he as suddenly changed that purpose, and was
+about to address Allan, when the door opened, and the Lord of the Castle
+made his appearance.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     Dark on their journey lour'd the gloomy day,
+     Wild were the hills, and doubtful grew the way;
+     More dark, more gloomy, and more doubtful, show'd
+     The mansion, which received them from the road.
+     --THE TRAVELLERS, A ROMANCE.
+
+Angus M'Aulay was charged with a message which he seemed to find some
+difficulty in communicating; for it was not till after he had framed his
+speech several different ways, and blundered them all, that he succeeded
+in letting Sir Duncan Campbell know, that the cavalier who was to
+accompany him was waiting in readiness, and that all was prepared for
+his return to Inverary. Sir Duncan Campbell rose up very indignantly;
+the affront which this message implied immediately driving out of his
+recollection the sensibility which had been awakened by the music.
+
+"I little expected this," he said, looking indignantly at Angus M'Aulay.
+"I little thought that there was a Chief in the West Highlands, who, at
+the pleasure of a Saxon, would have bid the Knight of Ardenvohr leave
+his castle, when the sun was declining from the meridian, and ere the
+second cup had been filled. But farewell, sir, the food of a churl does
+not satisfy the appetite; when I next revisit Darnlinvarach, it shall be
+with a naked sword in one hand, and a firebrand in the other."
+
+"And if you so come," said Angus, "I pledge myself to meet you fairly,
+though you brought five hundred Campbells at your back, and to afford
+you and them such entertainment, that you shall not again complain of
+the hospitality of Darnlinvarach."
+
+"Threatened men," said Sir Duncan, "live long. Your turn for
+gasconading, Laird of M'Aulay, is too well known, that men of honour
+should regard your vaunts. To you, my lord, and to Allan, who have
+supplied the place of my churlish host, I leave my thanks.--And to you,
+pretty mistress," he said, addressing Annot Lyle, "this little token,
+for having opened a fountain which hath been dry for many a year."
+So saying, he left the apartment, and commanded his attendants to be
+summoned. Angus M'Aulay, equally embarrassed and incensed at the
+charge of inhospitality, which was the greatest possible affront to a
+Highlander, did not follow Sir Duncan to the court-yard, where, mounting
+his palfrey, which was in readiness, followed by six mounted attendants,
+and accompanied by the noble Captain Dalgetty, who had also awaited him,
+holding Gustavus ready for action, though he did not draw his girths and
+mount till Sir Duncan appeared, the whole cavalcade left the castle.
+
+The journey was long and toilsome, but without any of the extreme
+privations which the Laird of M'Aulay had prophesied. In truth, Sir
+Duncan was very cautious to avoid those nearer and more secret paths,
+by means of which the county of Argyle was accessible from the eastward;
+for his relation and chief, the Marquis, was used to boast, that he
+would not for a hundred thousand crowns any mortal should know the
+passes by which an armed force could penetrate into his country.
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell, therefore, rather shunned the Highlands, and
+falling into the Low-country, made for the nearest seaport in the
+vicinity, where he had several half-decked galleys, or birlings, as
+they were called, at his command. In one of these they embarked, with
+Gustavus in company, who was so seasoned to adventure, that land and sea
+seemed as indifferent to him as to his master.
+
+The wind being favourable, they pursued their way rapidly with sails and
+oars; and early the next morning it was announced to Captain Dalgetty,
+then in a small cabin beneath the hall-deck, that the galley was under
+the walls of Sir Duncan Campbell's castle.
+
+Ardenvohr, accordingly, rose high above him, when he came upon the deck
+of the galley. It was a gloomy square tower, of considerable size and
+great height, situated upon a headland projecting into the salt-water
+lake, or arm of the sea, which they had entered on the preceding
+evening. A wall, with flanking towers at each angle, surrounded the
+castle to landward; but, towards the lake, it was built so near the
+brink of the precipice as only to leave room for a battery of seven
+guns, designed to protect the fortress from any insult from that side,
+although situated too high to be of any effectual use according to the
+modern system of warfare.
+
+The eastern sun, rising behind the old tower, flung its shadow far on
+the lake, darkening the deck of the galley, on which Captain Dalgetty
+now walked, waiting with some impatience the signal to land. Sir Duncan
+Campbell, as he was informed by his attendants, was already within the
+walls of the castle; but no one encouraged the Captain's proposal of
+following him ashore, until, as they stated, they should receive the
+direct permission or order of the Knight of Ardenvohr.
+
+In a short time afterwards the mandate arrived, while a boat, with a
+piper in the bow, bearing the Knight of Ardenvohr's crest in silver upon
+his left arm, and playing with all his might the family march, entitled
+"The Campbells are coming," approached to conduct the envoy of Montrose
+to the castle of Ardenvohr. The distance between the galley and the
+beach was so short as scarce to require the assistance of the eight
+sturdy rowers, in bonnets, short coats, and trews, whose efforts sent
+the boat to the little creek in which they usually landed, before one
+could have conceived that it had left the side of the birling. Two of
+the boatmen, in spite of Dalgetty's resistance, horsed the Captain on
+the back of a third Highlander, and, wading through the surf with him,
+landed him high and dry upon the beach beneath the castle rock. In
+the face of this rock there appeared something like the entrance of a
+low-browed cavern, towards which the assistants were preparing to hurry
+our friend Dalgetty, when, shaking himself loose from them with some
+difficulty, he insisted upon seeing Gustavus safely landed before he
+proceeded one step farther. The Highlanders could not comprehend what he
+meant, until one who had picked up a little English, or rather Lowland
+Scotch, exclaimed, "Houts! it's a' about her horse, ta useless baste."
+Farther remonstrance on the part of Captain Dalgetty was interrupted
+by the appearance of Sir Duncan Campbell himself, from the mouth of
+the cavern which we have described, for the purpose of inviting Captain
+Dalgetty to accept of the hospitality of Ardenvohr, pledging his honour,
+at the same time, that Gustavus should be treated as became the hero
+from whom he derived his name, not to mention the important person
+to whom he now belonged. Notwithstanding this satisfactory guarantee,
+Captain Dalgetty would still have hesitated, such was his anxiety to
+witness the fate of his companion Gustavus, had not two Highlanders
+seized him by the arms, two more pushed him on behind, while a fifth
+exclaimed, "Hout awa wi' the daft Sassenach! does she no hear the Laird
+bidding her up to her ain castle, wi' her special voice, and isna that
+very mickle honour for the like o' her?"
+
+Thus impelled, Captain Dalgetty could only for a short space keep a
+reverted eye towards the galley in which he had left the partner of his
+military toils. In a few minutes afterwards he found himself involved in
+the total darkness of a staircase, which, entering from the low-browed
+cavern we have mentioned, winded upwards through the entrails of the
+living rock.
+
+"The cursed Highland salvages!" muttered the Captain, half aloud; "what
+is to become of me, if Gustavus, the namesake of the invincible Lion of
+the Protestant League, should be lamed among their untenty hands!"
+
+"Have no fear of that," said the voice of Sir Duncan, who was nearer to
+him than he imagined; "my men are accustomed to handle horses, both in
+embarking and dressing them, and you will soon see Gustavus as safe as
+when you last dismounted from his back."
+
+Captain Dalgetty knew the world too well to offer any farther
+remonstrance, whatever uneasiness he might suppress within his own
+bosom. A step or two higher up the stair showed light and a door, and
+an iron-grated wicket led him out upon a gallery cut in the open face
+of the rock, extending a space of about six or eight yards, until he
+reached a second door, where the path re-entered the rock, and which was
+also defended by an iron portcullis. "An admirable traverse," observed
+the Captain; "and if commanded by a field-piece, or even a few muskets,
+quite sufficient to ensure the place against a storming party."
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell made no answer at the time; but, the moment
+afterwards, when they had entered the second cavern, he struck with the
+stick which he had in his hand, first on the one side, and then on the
+other of the wicket, and the sullen ringing sound which replied to the
+blows, made Captain Dalgetty sensible that there was a gun placed on
+each side, for the purpose of raking the gallery through which they had
+passed, although the embrasures, through which they might be fired on
+occasion, were masked on the outside with sods and loose stones. Having
+ascended the second staircase, they found themselves again on an open
+platform and gallery, exposed to a fire both of musketry and wall-guns,
+if, being come with hostile intent, they had ventured farther. A third
+flight of steps, cut in the rock like the former, but not caverned over,
+led them finally into the battery at the foot of the tower. This last
+stair also was narrow and steep, and, not to mention the fire which
+might be directed on it from above, one or two resolute men, with pikes
+and battle-axes, could have made the pass good against hundreds; for the
+staircase would not admit two persons abreast, and was not secured by
+any sort of balustrade, or railing, from the sheer and abrupt precipice,
+on the foot of which the tide now rolled with a voice of thunder. So
+that, under the jealous precautions used to secure this ancient Celtic
+fortress, a person of weak nerves, and a brain liable to become dizzy,
+might have found it something difficult to have achieved the entrance to
+the castle, even supposing no resistance had been offered.
+
+Captain Dalgetty, too old a soldier to feel such tremors, had no sooner
+arrived in the court-yard, than he protested to God, the defences of Sir
+Duncan's castle reminded him more of the notable fortress of Spandau,
+situated in the March of Brandenburg, than of any place whilk it had
+been his fortune to defend in the course of his travels. Nevertheless,
+he criticised considerably the mode of placing the guns on the battery
+we have noticed, observing, that "where cannon were perched, like to
+scarts or sea-gulls on the top of a rock, he had ever observed that
+they astonished more by their noise than they dismayed by the skaith or
+damage which they occasioned."
+
+Sir Duncan, without replying, conducted the soldier into the tower; the
+defences of which were a portcullis and ironclenched oaken door, the
+thickness of the wall being the space between them. He had no sooner
+arrived in a hall hung with tapestry, than the Captain prosecuted his
+military criticism. It was indeed suspended by the sight of an excellent
+breakfast, of which he partook with great avidity; but no sooner had he
+secured this meal, than he made the tour of the apartment, examining the
+ground around the Castle very carefully from each window in the room.
+He then returned to his chair, and throwing himself back into it at his
+length, stretched out one manly leg, and tapping his jack-boot with the
+riding-rod which he carried in his hand, after the manner of a half-bred
+man who affects ease in the society of his betters, he delivered his
+unasked opinion as follows:--"This house of yours, now, Sir Duncan, is a
+very pretty defensible sort of a tenement, and yet it is hardly such as
+a cavaliero of honour would expect to maintain his credit by holding out
+for many days. For, Sir Duncan, if it pleases you to notice, your house
+is overcrowed, and slighted, or commanded, as we military men say, by
+yonder round hillock to the landward, whereon an enemy might stell
+such a battery of cannon as would make ye glad to beat a chamade within
+forty-eight hours, unless it pleased the Lord extraordinarily to show
+mercy."
+
+"There is no road," replied Sir Duncan, somewhat shortly, "by which
+cannon can be brought against Ardenvohr. The swamps and morasses around
+my house would scarce carry your horse and yourself, excepting by such
+paths as could be rendered impassable within a few hours."
+
+"Sir Duncan," said the Captain, "it is your pleasure to suppose so; and
+yet we martial men say, that where there is a sea-coast there is always
+a naked side, seeing that cannon and munition, where they cannot be
+transported by land, may be right easily brought by sea near to the
+place where they are to be put in action. Neither is a castle, however
+secure in its situation, to be accounted altogether invincible, or, as
+they say, impregnable; for I protest t'ye, Sir Duncan, that I have known
+twenty-five men, by the mere surprise and audacity of the attack, win,
+at point of pike, as strong a hold as this of Ardenvohr, and put to the
+sword, captivate, or hold to the ransom, the defenders, being ten times
+their own number."
+
+Notwithstanding Sir Duncan Campbell's knowledge of the world, and his
+power of concealing his internal emotion, he appeared piqued and hurt
+at these reflections, which the Captain made with the most unconscious
+gravity, having merely selected the subject of conversation as one upon
+which he thought himself capable of shining, and, as they say, of laying
+down the law, without exactly recollecting that the topic might not be
+equally agreeable to his landlord.
+
+"To cut this matter short," said Sir Duncan, with an expression of voice
+and countenance somewhat agitated, "it is unnecessary for you to
+tell me, Captain Dalgetty, that a castle may be stormed if it is not
+valorously defended, or surprised if it is not heedfully watched.
+I trust this poor house of mine will not be found in any of these
+predicaments, should even Captain Dalgetty himself choose to beleaguer
+it."
+
+"For all that, Sir Duncan," answered the persevering commander, "I would
+premonish you, as a friend, to trace out a sconce upon that round
+hill, with a good graffe, or ditch, whilk may be easily accomplished by
+compelling the labour of the boors in the vicinity; it being the custom
+of the valorous Gustavus Adolphus to fight as much by the spade and
+shovel, as by sword, pike, and musket. Also, I would advise you to
+fortify the said sconce, not only by a foussie, or graffe, but also by
+certain stackets, or palisades."--(Here Sir Duncan, becoming impatient,
+left the apartment, the Captain following him to the door, and raising
+his voice as he retreated, until he was fairly out of hearing.)--"The
+whilk stackets, or palisades, should be artificially framed with
+re-entering angles and loop-holes, or crenelles, for musketry, whereof
+it shall arise that the foeman--The Highland brute! the old Highland
+brute! They are as proud as peacocks, and as obstinate as tups--and here
+he has missed an opportunity of making his house as pretty an irregular
+fortification as an invading army ever broke their teeth upon.--But I
+see," he continued, looking own from the window upon the bottom of the
+precipice, "they have got Gustavus safe ashore--Proper fellow! I would
+know that toss of his head among a whole squadron. I must go to see what
+they are to make of him."
+
+He had no sooner reached, however, the court to the seaward, and put
+himself in the act of descending the staircase, than two Highland
+sentinels, advancing their Lochaber axes, gave him to understand that
+this was a service of danger.
+
+"Diavolo!" said the soldier, "and I have got no pass-word. I could not
+speak a syllable of their salvage gibberish, an it were to save me from
+the provost-marshal."
+
+"I will be your surety, Captain Dalgetty," said Sir Duncan, who had
+again approached him without his observing from whence; "and we will go
+together, and see how your favourite charger is accommodated."
+
+He conducted him accordingly down the staircase to the beach, and from
+thence by a short turn behind a large rock, which concealed the stables
+and other offices belonging to the castle, Captain Dalgetty became
+sensible, at the same time, that the side of the castle to the land was
+rendered totally inaccessible by a ravine, partly natural and partly
+scarped with great care and labour, so as to be only passed by a
+drawbridge. Still, however, the Captain insisted, not withstanding the
+triumphant air with which Sir Duncan pointed out his defences, that a
+sconce should be erected on Drumsnab, the round eminence to the east of
+the castle, in respect the house might be annoyed from thence by burning
+bullets full of fire, shot out of cannon, according to the curious
+invention of Stephen Bathian, King of Poland, whereby that prince
+utterly ruined the great Muscovite city of Moscow. This invention,
+Captain Dalgetty owned, he had not yet witnessed, but observed, "that
+it would give him particular delectation to witness the same put to
+the proof against Ardenvohr, or any other castle of similar strength;"
+observing, "that so curious an experiment could not but afford the
+greatest delight to all admirers of the military art."
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell diverted this conversation by carrying the soldier
+into his stables, and suffering him to arrange Gustavus according to
+his own will and pleasure. After this duty had been carefully performed,
+Captain Dalgetty proposed to return to the castle, observing, it was his
+intention to spend the time betwixt this and dinner, which, he presumed,
+would come upon the parade about noon, in burnishing his armour, which
+having sustained some injury from the sea-air, might, he was afraid,
+seem discreditable in the eyes of M'Callum More. Yet, while they were
+returning to the castle, he failed not to warn Sir Duncan Campbell
+against the great injury he might sustain by any sudden onfall of an
+enemy, whereby his horses, cattle, and granaries, might be cut off and
+consumed, to his great prejudice; wherefore he again strongly conjured
+him to construct a sconce upon the round hill called Drumsnab, and
+offered his own friendly services in lining out the same. To this
+disinterested advice Sir Duncan only replied by ushering his guest to
+his apartment, and informing him that the tolling of the castle bell
+would make him aware when dinner was ready.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+     Is this thy castle, Baldwin?  Melancholy
+     Displays her sable banner from the donjon,
+     Darkening the foam of the whole surge beneath.
+     Were I a habitant, to see this gloom
+     Pollute the face of nature, and to hear
+     The ceaseless sound of wave, and seabird's scream,
+     I'd wish me in the hut that poorest peasant
+     E'er framed, to give him temporary shelter.--BROWN.
+
+The gallant Ritt-master would willingly have employed his leisure in
+studying the exterior of Sir Duncan's castle, and verifying his own
+military ideas upon the nature of its defences. But a stout sentinel,
+who mounted guard with a Lochaber-axe at the door of his apartment, gave
+him to understand, by very significant signs, that he was in a sort of
+honourable captivity.
+
+It is strange, thought the Ritt-master to himself, how well these
+salvages understand the rules and practique of war. Who should have
+pre-supposed their acquaintance with the maxim of the great and godlike
+Gustavus Adolphus, that a flag of truce should be half a messenger half
+a spy?--And, having finished burnishing his arms, he sate down patiently
+to compute how much half a dollar per diem would amount to at the end of
+a six-months' campaign; and, when he had settled that problem, proceeded
+to the more abstruse calculations necessary for drawing up a brigade of
+two thousand men on the principle of extracting the square root.
+
+From his musings, he was roused by the joyful sound of the dinner bell,
+on which the Highlander, lately his guard, became his gentleman-usher,
+and marshalled him to the hall, where a table with four covers bore
+ample proofs of Highland hospitality. Sir Duncan entered, conducting his
+lady, a tall, faded, melancholy female, dressed in deep mourning. They
+were followed by a Presbyterian clergyman, in his Geneva cloak, and
+wearing a black silk skull-cap, covering his short hair so closely, that
+it could scarce be seen at all, so that the unrestricted ears had an
+undue predominance in the general aspect. This ungraceful fashion was
+universal at the time, and partly led to the nicknames of roundheads,
+prick-eared curs, and so forth, which the insolence of the cavaliers
+liberally bestowed on their political enemies.
+
+Sir Duncan presented his military guest to his lady, who received his
+technical salutation with a stiff and silent reverence, in which it
+could scarce be judged whether pride or melancholy had the greater
+share. The churchman, to whom he was next presented, eyed him with a
+glance of mingled dislike and curiosity.
+
+The Captain, well accustomed to worse looks from more dangerous persons,
+cared very little either for those of the lady or of the divine, but
+bent his whole soul upon assaulting a huge piece of beef, which smoked
+at the nether end of the table. But the onslaught, as he would have
+termed it, was delayed, until the conclusion of a very long grace,
+betwixt every section of which Dalgetty handled his knife and fork, as
+he might have done his musket or pike when going upon action, and as
+often resigned them unwillingly when the prolix chaplain commenced
+another clause of his benediction. Sir Duncan listened with decency,
+though he was supposed rather to have joined the Covenanters out of
+devotion to his chief, than real respect for the cause either of liberty
+or of Presbytery. His lady alone attended to the blessing, with symptoms
+of deep acquiescence.
+
+The meal was performed almost in Carthusian silence; for it was none of
+Captain Dalgetty's habits to employ his mouth in talking, while it could
+be more profitably occupied. Sir Duncan was absolutely silent, and the
+lady and churchman only occasionally exchanged a few words, spoken low,
+and indistinctly.
+
+But, when the dishes were removed, and their place supplied by liquors
+of various sorts, Captain Dalgetty no longer had, himself, the same
+weighty reasons for silence, and began to tire of that of the rest
+of the company. He commenced a new attack upon his landlord, upon the
+former ground.
+
+"Touching that round monticle, or hill, or eminence, termed Drumsnab, I
+would be proud to hold some dialogue with you, Sir Duncan, on the nature
+of the sconce to be there constructed; and whether the angles
+thereof should be acute or obtuse--anent whilk I have heard the great
+Velt-Mareschal Bannier hold a learned argument with General Tiefenbach
+during a still-stand of arms."
+
+"Captain Dalgetty," answered Sir Duncan very dryly, "it is not our
+Highland usage to debate military points with strangers. This castle
+is like to hold out against a stronger enemy than any force which the
+unfortunate gentlemen we left at Darnlinvarach are able to bring against
+it."
+
+A deep sigh from the lady accompanied the conclusion of her husband's
+speech, which seemed to remind her of some painful circumstance.
+
+"He who gave," said the clergyman, addressing her in a solemn tone,
+"hath taken away. May you, honourable lady, be long enabled to say,
+Blessed be his name!"
+
+To this exhortation, which seemed intended for her sole behoof, the
+lady answered by an inclination of her head, more humble than Captain
+Dalgetty had yet observed her make. Supposing he should now find her in
+a more conversible humour, he proceeded to accost her.
+
+"It is indubitably very natural that your ladyship should be downcast
+at the mention of military preparations, whilk I have observed to spread
+perturbation among women of all nations, and almost all conditions.
+Nevertheless, Penthesilea, in ancient times, and also Joan of Arc,
+and others, were of a different kidney. And, as I have learned while
+I served the Spaniard, the Duke of Alva in former times had the
+leaguer-lasses who followed his camp marshalled into TERTIAS (whilk
+me call regiments), and officered and commanded by those of their own
+feminine gender, and regulated by a commander-in chief, called in German
+Hureweibler, or, as we would say vernacularly, Captain of the Queans.
+True it is, they were persons not to be named as parallel to your
+ladyship, being such QUAE QUAESTUM CORPORIBUS FACIEBANT, as we said
+of Jean Drochiels at Mareschal-College; the same whom the French term
+CURTISANNES, and we in Scottish--"
+
+"The lady will spare you the trouble of further exposition, Captain
+Dalgetty," said his host, somewhat sternly; to which the clergyman
+added, "that such discourse better befitted a watch-tower guarded
+by profane soldiery than the board of an honourable person, and the
+presence of a lady of quality."
+
+"Craving your pardon, Dominie, or Doctor, AUT QUOCUNQUE ALIO NOMINE
+GAUDES, for I would have you to know I have studied polite letters,"
+said the unabashed envoy, filling a great cup of wine, "I see no ground
+for your reproof, seeing I did not speak of those TURPES PERSONAE, as if
+their occupation or character was a proper subject of conversation
+for this lady's presence, but simply PAR ACCIDENS, as illustrating
+the matter in hand, namely, their natural courage and audacity, much
+enhanced, doubtless, by the desperate circumstances of their condition."
+
+"Captain Dalgetty," said Sir Duncan Campbell, "to break short this
+discourse, I must acquaint you, that I have some business to dispatch
+to-night, in order to enable me to ride with you to-morrow towards
+Inverary; and therefore--"
+
+"To ride with this person to-morrow!" exclaimed his lady; "such cannot
+be your purpose, Sir Duncan, unless you have forgotten that the morrow
+is a sad anniversary, and dedicated to as sad a solemnity."
+
+"I had not forgotten," answered Sir Duncan; "how is it possible I can
+ever forget? but the necessity of the times requires I should send this
+officer onward to Inverary, without loss of time."
+
+"Yet, surely, not that you should accompany him in person?" enquired the
+lady.
+
+"It were better I did," said Sir Duncan; "yet I can write to the
+Marquis, and follow on the subsequent day.--Captain Dalgetty, I will
+dispatch a letter for you, explaining to the Marquis of Argyle your
+character and commission, with which you will please to prepare to
+travel to Inverary early to-morrow morning."
+
+"Sir Duncan Campbell," said Dalgetty, "I am doubtless at your
+discretionary disposal in this matter; not the less, I pray you to
+remember the blot which will fall upon your own escutcheon, if you do
+in any way suffer me, being a commissionate flag of truce, to be
+circumvented in this matter, whether CLAM, VI, VEL PRECARIO; I do not
+say by your assent to any wrong done to me, but even through absence of
+any due care on your part to prevent the same."
+
+"You are under the safeguard of my honour, sir," answered Sir Duncan
+Campbell, "and that is more than a sufficient security. And now,"
+continued he, rising, "I must set the example of retiring."
+
+Dalgetty saw himself under the necessity of following the hint, though
+the hour was early; but, like a skilful general, he availed himself of
+every instant of delay which circumstances permitted. "Trusting to
+your honourable parole," said he, filling his cup, "I drink to you, Sir
+Duncan, and to the continuance of your honourable-house." A sigh
+from Sir Duncan was the only reply. "Also, madam," said the soldier,
+replenishing the quaigh with all possible dispatch, "I drink to your
+honourable health, and fulfilment of all your virtuous desires--and,
+reverend sir" (not forgetting to fit the action to the words), "I fill
+this cup to the drowning of all unkindness betwixt you and Captain
+Dalgetty--I should say Major--and, in respect the flagon contains but
+one cup more, I drink to the health of all honourable cavaliers and
+brave soldados--and, the flask being empty, I am ready, Sir Duncan, to
+attend your functionary or sentinel to my place of private repose."
+
+He received a formal permission to retire, and an assurance, that as
+the wine seemed to be to his taste, another measure of the same vintage
+should attend him presently, in order to soothe the hours of his
+solitude.
+
+No sooner had the Captain reached the apartment than this promise was
+fulfilled; and, in a short time afterwards, the added comforts of a
+pasty of red-deer venison rendered him very tolerant both of confinement
+and want of society. The same domestic, a sort of chamberlain, who
+placed this good cheer in his apartment, delivered to Dalgetty a packet,
+sealed and tied up with a silken thread, according to the custom of
+the time, addressed with many forms of respect to the High and Mighty
+Prince, Archibald, Marquis of Argyle, Lord of Lorne, and so forth. The
+chamberlain at the same time apprized the Ritt-master, that he must
+take horse at an early hour for Inverary, where the packet of Sir Duncan
+would be at once his introduction and his passport. Not forgetting that
+it was his object to collect information as well as to act as an envoy,
+and desirous, for his own sake, to ascertain Sir Duncan's reasons for
+sending him onward without his personal attendance, the Ritt-master
+enquired the domestic, with all the precaution that his experience
+suggested, what were the reasons which detained Sir Duncan at home on
+the succeeding day. The man, who was from the Lowlands, replied, "that
+it was the habit of Sir Duncan and his lady to observe as a day of
+solemn fast and humiliation the anniversary on which their castle had
+been taken by surprise, and their children, to the number of four,
+destroyed cruelly by a band of Highland freebooters during Sir Duncan's
+absence upon an expedition which the Marquis of Argyle had undertaken
+against the Macleans of the Isle of Mull."
+
+"Truly," said the soldier, "your lord and lady have some cause for fast
+and humiliation. Nevertheless, I will venture to pronounce, that if he
+had taken the advice of any experienced soldier, having skill in the
+practiques of defending places of advantage, he would have built a
+sconce upon the small hill which is to the left of the draw-brigg. And
+this I can easily prove to you, mine honest friend; for, holding that
+pasty to be the castle--What's your name, friend?"
+
+"Lorimer, sir," replied the man.
+
+"Here is to your health, honest Lorimer.--I say, Lorimer--holding that
+pasty to be the main body or citadel of the place to be defended, and
+taking the marrow-bone for the sconce to be erected--"
+
+"I am sorry, sir," said Lorimer, interrupting him, "that I cannot stay
+to hear the rest of your demonstration; but the bell will presently
+ring. As worthy Mr. Graneangowl, the Marquis's own chaplain, does family
+worship, and only seven of our household out of sixty persons understand
+the Scottish tongue, it would misbecome any one of them to be absent,
+and greatly prejudice me in the opinion of my lady. There are pipes and
+tobacco, sir, if you please to drink a whiff of smoke, and if you want
+anything else, it shall be forthcoming two hours hence, when prayers are
+over." So saying, he left the apartment.
+
+No sooner was he gone, than the heavy toll of the castle-bell summoned
+its inhabitants together; and was answered by the shrill clamour of the
+females, mixed with the deeper tones of the men, as, talking Earse at
+the top of their throats, they hurried from different quarters by a long
+but narrow gallery, which served as a communication to many rooms, and,
+among others, to that in which Captain Dalgetty was stationed. There
+they go as if they were beating to the roll-call, thought the soldier to
+himself; if they all attend the parade, I will look out, take a mouthful
+of fresh air, and make mine own observations on the practicabilities of
+this place.
+
+Accordingly, when all was quiet, he opened his chamber door, and
+prepared to leave it, when he saw his friend with the axe advancing
+towards him from the distant end of the gallery, half whistling, a
+Gaelic tune. To have shown any want of confidence, would have been at
+once impolitic, and unbecoming his military character; so the Captain,
+putting the best face upon his situation he could, whistled a Swedish
+retreat, in a tone still louder than the notes of his sentinel; and
+retreating pace by pace, with an air of indifference, as if his only
+purpose had been to breathe a little fresh air, he shut the door in the
+face of his guard, when the fellow had approached within a few paces of
+him.
+
+It is very well, thought the Ritt-master to himself; he annuls my parole
+by putting guards upon me, for, as we used to say at Mareschal-College,
+FIDES ET FIDUCIA SUNT RELATIVA [See Note I]; and if he does not trust my
+word, I do not see how I am bound to keep it, if any motive should occur
+for my desiring to depart from it. Surely the moral obligation of the
+parole is relaxed, in as far as physical force is substituted instead
+thereof.
+
+Thus comforting himself in the metaphysical immunities which he deduced
+from the vigilance of his sentinel, Ritt-master Dalgetty retired to his
+apartment, where, amid the theoretical calculations of tactics, and the
+occasional more practical attacks on the flask and pasty, he consumed
+the evening until it was time to go to repose. He was summoned by
+Lorimer at break of day, who gave him to understand, that, when he had
+broken his fast, for which he produced ample materials, his guide and
+horse were in attendance for his journey to Inverary. After complying
+with the hospitable hint of the chamberlain, the soldier proceeded
+to take horse. In passing through the apartments, he observed that
+domestics were busily employed in hanging the great hall with black
+cloth, a ceremony which, he said, he had seen practised when the
+immortal Gustavus Adolphus lay in state in the Castle of Wolgast, and
+which, therefore, he opined, was a testimonial of the strictest and
+deepest mourning.
+
+When Dalgetty mounted his steed, he found himself attended, or perhaps
+guarded, by five or six Campbells, well armed, commanded by one, who,
+from the target at his shoulder, and the short cock's feather in his
+bonnet, as well as from the state which he took upon himself, claimed
+the rank of a Dunniewassel, or clansman of superior rank; and indeed,
+from his dignity of deportment, could not stand in a more distant degree
+of relationship to Sir Duncan, than that of tenth or twelfth cousin at
+farthest. But it was impossible to extract positive information on this
+or any other subject, inasmuch as neither this commander nor any of
+his party spoke English. The Captain rode, and his military attendants
+walked; but such was their activity, and so numerous the impediments
+which the nature of the road presented to the equestrian mode of
+travelling, that far from being retarded by the slowness of their pace,
+his difficulty was rather in keeping up with his guides. He observed
+that they occasionally watched him with a sharp eye, as if they were
+jealous of some effort to escape; and once, as he lingered behind at
+crossing a brook, one of the gillies began to blow the match of his
+piece, giving him to understand that he would run some risk in case of
+an attempt to part company. Dalgetty did not augur much good from the
+close watch thus maintained upon his person; but there was no remedy,
+for an attempt to escape from his attendants in an impervious and
+unknown country, would have been little short of insanity. He therefore
+plodded patiently on through a waste and savage wilderness, treading
+paths which were only known to the shepherds and cattle-drivers, and
+passing with much more of discomfort than satisfaction many of those
+sublime combinations of mountainous scenery which now draw visitors from
+every corner of England, to feast their eyes upon Highland grandeur, and
+mortify their palates upon Highland fare.
+
+At length they arrived on the southern verge of that noble lake upon
+which Inverary is situated; and a bugle, which the Dunniewassel winded
+till rock and greenwood rang, served as a signal to a well-manned
+galley, which, starting from a creek where it lay concealed, received
+the party on board, including Gustavus; which sagacious quadruped, an
+experienced traveller both by water and land, walked in and out of the
+boat with the discretion of a Christian.
+
+Embarked on the bosom of Loch Fine, Captain Dalgetty might have admired
+one of the grandest scenes which nature affords. He might have noticed
+the rival rivers Aray and Shiray, which pay tribute to the lake, each
+issuing from its own dark and wooded retreat. He might have marked, on
+the soft and gentle slope that ascends from the shores, the noble old
+Gothic castle, with its varied outline, embattled walls, towers, and
+outer and inner courts, which, so far as the picturesque is concerned,
+presented an aspect much more striking than the present massive and
+uniform mansion. He might have admired those dark woods which for many
+a mile surrounded this strong and princely dwelling, and his eye might
+have dwelt on the picturesque peak of Duniquoich, starting abruptly from
+the lake, and raising its scathed brow into the mists of middle sky,
+while a solitary watch-tower, perched on its top like an eagle's nest,
+gave dignity to the scene by awakening a sense of possible danger.
+All these, and every other accompaniment of this noble scene, Captain
+Dalgetty might have marked, if he had been so minded. But, to confess
+the truth, the gallant Captain, who had eaten nothing since daybreak,
+was chiefly interested by the smoke which ascended from the castle
+chimneys, and the expectations which this seemed to warrant of his
+encountering an abundant stock of provant, as he was wont to call
+supplies of this nature.
+
+The boat soon approached the rugged pier, which abutted into the loch
+from the little town of Inverary, then a rude assemblage of huts, with a
+very few stone mansions interspersed, stretching upwards from the banks
+of Loch Fine to the principal gate of the castle, before which a scene
+presented itself that might easily have quelled a less stout heart,
+and turned a more delicate stomach, than those of Ritt-master Dugald
+Dalgetty, titular of Drumthwacket.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     For close designs and crooked counsels fit,
+     Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit,
+     Restless, unfix'd in principle and place,
+     In power unpleased, impatient in disgrace.
+     --ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL.
+
+The village of Inverary, now a neat country town, then partook of the
+rudeness of the seventeenth century, in the miserable appearance of the
+houses, and the irregularity of the unpaved street. But a stronger and
+more terrible characteristic of the period appeared in the market-place,
+which was a space of irregular width, half way betwixt the harbour, or
+pier, and the frowning castle-gate, which terminated with its gloomy
+archway, portcullis, and flankers, the upper end of the vista. Midway
+this space was erected a rude gibbet, on which hung five dead bodies,
+two of which from their dress seemed to have been Lowlanders, and the
+other three corpses were muffled in their Highland plaids. Two or three
+women sate under the gallows, who seemed to be mourning, and singing
+the coronach of the deceased in a low voice. But the spectacle was
+apparently of too ordinary occurrence to have much interest for the
+inhabitants at large, who, while they thronged to look at the military
+figure, the horse of an unusual size, and the burnished panoply of
+Captain Dalgetty, seemed to bestow no attention whatever on the piteous
+spectacle which their own market-place afforded.
+
+The envoy of Montrose was not quite so indifferent; and, hearing a word
+or two of English escape from a Highlander of decent appearance, he
+immediately halted Gustavus and addressed him, "The Provost-Marshal has
+been busy here, my friend. May I crave of you what these delinquents
+have been justified for?"
+
+He looked towards the gibbet as he spoke; and the Gael, comprehending
+his meaning rather by his action than his words, immediately replied,
+"Three gentlemen caterans,--God sain them," (crossing himself)--"twa
+Sassenach bits o' bodies, that wadna do something that M'Callum More
+bade them;" and turning from Dalgetty with an air of indifference, away
+he walked, staying no farther question.
+
+Dalgetty shrugged his shoulders and proceeded, for Sir Duncan Campbell's
+tenth or twelfth cousin had already shown some signs of impatience.
+
+At the gate of the castle another terrible spectacle of feudal power
+awaited him. Within a stockade or palisade, which seemed lately to have
+been added to the defences of the gate, and which was protected by two
+pieces of light artillery, was a small enclosure, where stood a huge
+block, on which lay an axe. Both were smeared with recent blood, and
+a quantity of saw-dust strewed around, partly retained and partly
+obliterated the marks of a very late execution.
+
+As Dalgetty looked on this new object of terror, his principal guide
+suddenly twitched him by the skirt of his jerkin, and having thus
+attracted his attention, winked and pointed with his finger to a
+pole fixed on the stockade, which supported a human head, being that,
+doubtless, of the late sufferer. There was a leer on the Highlander's
+face, as he pointed to this ghastly spectacle, which seemed to his
+fellow-traveller ominous of nothing good.
+
+Dalgetty dismounted from his horse at the gateway, and Gustavus was
+taken from him without his being permitted to attend him to the stable,
+according to his custom.
+
+This gave the soldier a pang which the apparatus of death had not
+conveyed.--"Poor Gustavus!" said he to himself, "if anything but good
+happens to me, I had better have left him at Darnlinvarach than brought
+him here among these Highland salvages, who scarce know the head of
+a horse from his tail. But duty must part a man from his nearest and
+dearest--
+
+     "When the cannons are roaring, lads, and the colours are flying,
+     The lads that seek honour must never fear dying;
+     Then, stout cavaliers, let us toil our brave trade in,
+     And fight for the Gospel and the bold King of Sweden."
+
+Thus silencing his apprehensions with the but-end of a military ballad,
+he followed his guide into a sort of guard-room filled with armed
+Highlanders. It was intimated to him that he must remain here until his
+arrival was communicated to the Marquis. To make this communication
+the more intelligible, the doughty Captain gave to the Dunniewassel Sir
+Duncan Campbell's packet, desiring, as well as he could, by signs, that
+it should be delivered into the Marquis's own hand. His guide nodded,
+and withdrew.
+
+The Captain was left about half an hour in this place, to endure with
+indifference, or return with scorn, the inquisitive, and, at the same
+time, the inimical glances of the armed Gael, to whom his exterior and
+equipage were as much subject of curiosity, as his person and country
+seemed matter of dislike. All this he bore with military nonchalance,
+until, at the expiration of the above period, a person dressed in black
+velvet, and wearing a gold chain like a modern magistrate of Edinburgh,
+but who was, in fact, steward of the household to the Marquis of Argyle,
+entered the apartment, and invited, with solemn gravity, the Captain to
+follow him to his master's presence.
+
+The suite of apartments through which he passed, were filled with
+attendants or visitors of various descriptions, disposed, perhaps, with
+some ostentation, in order to impress the envoy of Montrose with an idea
+of the superior power and magnificence belonging to the rival house of
+Argyle. One ante-room was filled with lacqueys, arrayed in brown and
+yellow, the colours of the family, who, ranged in double file, gazed in
+silence upon Captain Dalgetty as he passed betwixt their ranks. Another
+was occupied by Highland gentlemen and chiefs of small branches, who
+were amusing themselves with chess, backgammon, and other games, which
+they scarce intermitted to gaze with curiosity upon the stranger. A
+third was filled with Lowland gentlemen and officers, who seemed also
+in attendance; and, lastly, the presence-chamber of the Marquis himself
+showed him attended by a levee which marked his high importance.
+
+This apartment, the folding doors of which were opened for the reception
+of Captain Dalgetty, was a long gallery, decorated with tapestry and
+family portraits, and having a vaulted ceiling of open wood-work, the
+extreme projections of the beams being richly carved and gilded. The
+gallery was lighted by long lanceolated Gothic casements, divided
+by heavy shafts, and filled with painted glass, where the sunbeams
+glimmered dimly through boars'-heads, and galleys, and batons, and
+swords, armorial bearings of the powerful house of Argyle, and emblems
+of the high hereditary offices of Justiciary of Scotland, and Master of
+the Royal Household, which they long enjoyed. At the upper end of this
+magnificent gallery stood the Marquis himself, the centre of a splendid
+circle of Highland and Lowland gentlemen, all richly dressed, among whom
+were two or three of the clergy, called in, perhaps, to be witnesses of
+his lordship's zeal for the Covenant.
+
+The Marquis himself was dressed in the fashion of the period, which
+Vandyke has so often painted, but his habit was sober and uniform
+in colour, and rather rich than gay. His dark complexion, furrowed
+forehead, and downcast look, gave him the appearance of one frequently
+engaged in the consideration of important affairs, and who has acquired,
+by long habit, an air of gravity and mystery, which he cannot shake off
+even where there is nothing to be concealed. The cast with his eyes,
+which had procured him in the Highlands the nickname of Gillespie
+Grumach (or the grim), was less perceptible when he looked downward,
+which perhaps was one cause of his having adopted that habit. In person,
+he was tall and thin, but not without that dignity of deportment and
+manners, which became his high rank. Something there was cold in his
+address, and sinister in his look, although he spoke and behaved with
+the usual grace of a man of such quality. He was adored by his own clan,
+whose advancement he had greatly studied, although he was in proportion
+disliked by the Highlanders of other septs, some of whom he had already
+stripped of their possessions, while others conceived themselves in
+danger from his future schemes, and all dreaded the height to which he
+was elevated.
+
+We have already noticed, that in displaying himself amidst his
+councillors, his officers of the household, and his train of vassals,
+allies, and dependents, the Marquis of Argyle probably wished to make
+an impression on the nervous system of Captain Dugald Dalgetty. But that
+doughty person had fought his way, in one department or another, through
+the greater part of the Thirty Years' War in Germany, a period when a
+brave and successful soldier was a companion for princes. The King of
+Sweden, and, after his example, even the haughty Princes of the Empire,
+had found themselves fain, frequently to compound with their dignity,
+and silence, when they could not satisfy the pecuniary claims of their
+soldiers, by admitting them to unusual privileges and familiarity.
+Captain Dugald Dalgetty had it to boast, that he had sate with princes
+at feasts made for monarchs, and therefore was not a person to be
+brow-beat even by the dignity which surrounded M'Callum More. Indeed, he
+was naturally by no means the most modest man in the world, but, on the
+contrary, had so good an opinion of himself, that into whatever company
+he chanced to be thrown, he was always proportionally elevated in his
+own conceit; so that he felt as much at ease in the most exalted society
+as among his own ordinary companions. In this high opinion of his own
+rank, he was greatly fortified by his ideas of the military profession,
+which, in his phrase, made a valiant cavalier a camarade to an emperor.
+
+When introduced, therefore, into the Marquis's presence-chamber, he
+advanced to the upper end with an air of more confidence than grace, and
+would have gone close up to Argyle's person before speaking, had not
+the latter waved his hand, as a signal to him to stop short. Captain
+Dalgetty did so accordingly, and having made his military congee with
+easy confidence, he thus accosted the Marquis: "Give you good morrow, my
+lord--or rather I should say, good even; BESO A USTED LOS MANOS, as the
+Spaniard says."
+
+"Who are you, sir, and what is your business?" demanded the Marquis, in
+a tone which was intended to interrupt the offensive familiarity of the
+soldier.
+
+"That is a fair interrogative, my lord," answered Dalgetty, "which I
+shall forthwith answer as becomes a cavalier, and that PEREMPTORIE, as
+we used to say at Mareschal-College."
+
+"See who or what he is, Neal," said the Marquis sternly, to a gentleman
+who stood near him.
+
+"I will save the honourable gentleman the labour of investigation,"
+continued the Captain. "I am Dugald Dalgetty, of Drumthwacket, that
+should be, late Ritt-master in various services, and now Major of I
+know not what or whose regiment of Irishes; and I am come with a flag of
+truce from a high and powerful lord, James Earl of Montrose, and
+other noble persons now in arms for his Majesty. And so, God save King
+Charles!"
+
+"Do you know where you are, and the danger of dallying with us, sir,"
+again demanded the Marquis, "that you reply to me as if I were a child
+or a fool? The Earl of Montrose is with the English malignants; and I
+suspect you are one of those Irish runagates, who are come into this
+country to burn and slay, as they did under Sir Phelim O'Neale."
+
+"My lord," replied Captain Dalgetty, "I am no renegade, though a Major
+of Irishes, for which I might refer your lordship to the invincible
+Gustavus Adolphus the Lion of the North, to Bannier, to Oxenstiern, to
+the warlike Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Tilly, Wallenstein, Piccolomini, and
+other great captains, both dead and living; and touching the noble Earl
+of Montrose, I pray your lordship to peruse these my full powers for
+treating with you in the name of that right honourable commander."
+
+The Marquis looked slightingly at the signed and sealed paper which
+Captain Dalgetty handed to him, and, throwing it with contempt upon a
+table, asked those around him what he deserved who came as the avowed
+envoy and agent of malignant traitors, in arms against the state?
+
+"A high gallows and a short shrift," was the ready answer of one of the
+bystanders.
+
+"I will crave of that honourable cavalier who hath last spoken," said
+Dalgetty, "to be less hasty in forming his conclusions, and also of your
+lordship to be cautelous in adopting the same, in respect such threats
+are to be held out only to base bisognos, and not to men of spirit and
+action, who are bound to peril themselves as freely in services of this
+nature, as upon sieges, battles, or onslaughts of any sort. And albeit I
+have not with me a trumpet, or a white flag, in respect our army is not
+yet equipped with its full appointments, yet the honourable cavaliers
+and your lordship must concede unto me, that the sanctity of an envoy
+who cometh on matter of truth or parle, consisteth not in the fanfare of
+a trumpet, whilk is but a sound, or in the flap of a white flag, whilk
+is but an old rag in itself, but in the confidence reposed by the party
+sending, and the party sent, in the honour of those to whom the message
+is to be carried, and their full reliance that they will respect the
+JUS GENTIUM, as weel as the law of arms, in the person of the
+commissionate."
+
+"You are not come hither to lecture us upon the law of arms, sir," said
+the Marquis, "which neither does nor can apply to rebels and insurgents;
+but to suffer the penalty of your insolence and folly for bringing a
+traitorous message to the Lord Justice General of Scotland, whose duty
+calls upon him to punish such an offence with death."
+
+"Gentlemen," said the Captain, who began much to dislike the turn which
+his mission seemed about to take, "I pray you to remember, that the
+Earl of Montrose will hold you and your possessions liable for
+whatever injury my person, or my horse, shall sustain by these unseemly
+proceedings, and that he will be justified in executing retributive
+vengeance on your persons and possessions."
+
+This menace was received with a scornful laugh, while one of the
+Campbells replied, "It is a far cry to Lochow;" proverbial expression of
+the tribe, meaning that their ancient hereditary domains lay beyond
+the reach of an invading enemy. "But, gentlemen," further urged the
+unfortunate Captain, who was unwilling to be condemned, without at least
+the benefit of a full hearing, "although it is not for me to say how
+far it may be to Lochow, in respect I am a stranger to these parts,
+yet, what is more to the purpose, I trust you will admit that I have
+the guarantee of an honourable gentleman of your own name, Sir Duncan
+Campbell of Ardenvohr, for my safety on this mission; and I pray you
+to observe, that in breaking the truce towards me, you will highly
+prejudicate his honour and fair fame."
+
+This seemed to be new information to many of the gentlemen, for they
+spoke aside with each other, and the Marquis's face, notwithstanding
+his power of suppressing all external signs of his passions, showed
+impatience and vexation.
+
+"Does Sir Duncan of Ardenvohr pledge his honour for this person's
+safety, my lord?" said one of the company, addressing the Marquis.
+
+"I do not believe it," answered the Marquis; "but I have not yet had
+time to read his letter."
+
+"We will pray your lordship to do so," said another of the Campbells;
+"our name must not suffer discredit through the means of such a fellow
+as this."
+
+"A dead fly," said a clergyman, "maketh the ointment of the apothecary
+to stink."
+
+"Reverend sir," said Captain Dalgetty, "in respect of the use to be
+derived, I forgive you the unsavouriness of your comparison; and also
+remit to the gentleman in the red bonnet, the disparaging epithet of
+FELLOW, which he has discourteously applied to me, who am no way to
+be distinguished by the same, unless in so far as I have been called
+fellow-soldier by the great Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North,
+and other choice commanders, both in Germany and the Low Countries. But,
+touching Sir Duncan Campbell's guarantee of my safety, I will gage my
+life upon his making my words good thereanent, when he comes hither
+to-morrow."
+
+"If Sir Duncan be soon expected, my Lord," said one of the intercessors,
+"it would be a pity to anticipate matters with this poor man."
+
+"Besides that," said another, "your lordship--I speak with
+reverence--should, at least, consult the Knight of Ardenvohr's letter,
+and learn the terms on which this Major Dalgetty, as he calls himself,
+has been sent hither by him."
+
+They closed around the Marquis, and conversed together in a low tone,
+both in Gaelic and English. The patriarchal power of the Chiefs was very
+great, and that of the Marquis of Argyle, armed with all his grants of
+hereditary jurisdiction, was particularly absolute. But there interferes
+some check of one kind or other even in the most despotic government.
+That which mitigated the power of the Celtic Chiefs, was the necessity
+which they lay under of conciliating the kinsmen who, under them, led
+out the lower orders to battle, and who formed a sort of council of the
+tribe in time of peace. The Marquis on this occasion thought himself
+under the necessity of attending to the remonstrances of this senate, or
+more properly COUROULTAI, of the name of Campbell, and, slipping out
+of the circle, gave orders for the prisoner to be removed to a place of
+security.
+
+"Prisoner!" exclaimed Dalgetty, exerting himself with such force as
+wellnigh to shake off two Highlanders, who for some minutes past had
+waited the signal to seize him, and kept for that purpose close at his
+back. Indeed the soldier had so nearly attained his liberty, that the
+Marquis of Argyle changed colour, and stepped back two paces, laying,
+however, his hand on his sword, while several of his clan, with ready
+devotion, threw themselves betwixt him and the apprehended vengeance of
+the prisoner. But the Highland guards were too strong to be shaken off,
+and the unlucky Captain, after having had his offensive weapons taken
+from him, was dragged off and conducted through several gloomy passages
+to a small side-door grated with iron, within which was another of wood.
+These were opened by a grim old Highlander with a long white beard, and
+displayed a very steep and narrow flight of steps leading downward. The
+Captain's guards pushed him down two or three steps, then, unloosing his
+arms, left him to grope his way to the bottom as he could; a task
+which became difficult and even dangerous, when the two doors being
+successively locked left the prisoner in total darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     Whatever stranger visits here,
+     We pity his sad case,
+     Unless to worship he draw near
+     The King of Kings--his Grace.
+     --BURNS'S  EPIGRAM ON A VISIT TO INVERARY.
+
+The Captain, finding himself deprived of light in the manner we have
+described, and placed in a very uncertain situation, proceeded to
+descend the narrow and broken stair with all the caution in his power,
+hoping that he might find at the bottom some place to repose himself.
+But with all his care he could not finally avoid making a false step,
+which brought him down the four or five last steps too hastily to
+preserve his equilibrium. At the bottom he stumbled over a bundle of
+something soft, which stirred and uttered a groan, so deranging the
+Captain's descent, that he floundered forward, and finally fell upon his
+hands and knees on the floor of a damp and stone-paved dungeon.
+
+When Dalgetty had recovered, his first demand was to know over whom he
+had stumbled.
+
+"He was a man a month since," answered a hollow and broken voice.
+
+"And what is he now, then," said Dalgetty, "that he thinks it fitting
+to lie upon the lowest step of the stairs, and clew'd up like a hurchin,
+that honourable cavaliers, who chance to be in trouble, may break their
+noses over him?"
+
+"What is he now?" replied the same voice; "he is a wretched trunk,
+from which the boughs have one by one been lopped away, and which cares
+little how soon it is torn up and hewed into billets for the furnace."
+
+"Friend," said Dalgetty, "I am sorry for you; but PATIENZA, as the
+Spaniard says. If you had but been as quiet as a log, as you call
+yourself, I should have saved some excoriations on my hands and knees."
+
+"You are a soldier," replied his fellow-prisoner; "do you complain on
+account of a fall for which a boy would not bemoan himself?"
+
+"A soldier?" said the Captain; "and how do you know, in this cursed dark
+cavern, that I am a soldier?"
+
+"I heard your armour clash as you fell," replied the prisoner, "and now
+I see it glimmer. When you have remained as long as I in this darkness,
+your eyes will distinguish the smallest eft that crawls on the floor."
+
+"I had rather the devil picked them out!" said Dalgetty; "if this be the
+case, I shall wish for a short turn of the rope, a soldier's prayer, and
+a leap from a ladder. But what sort of provant have you got here--what
+food, I mean, brother in affliction?"
+
+"Bread and water once a day," replied the voice.
+
+"Prithee, friend, let me taste your loaf," said Dalgetty; "I hope we
+shall play good comrades while we dwell together in this abominable
+pit."
+
+"The loaf and jar of water," answered the other prisoner, "stand in
+the corner, two steps to your right hand. Take them, and welcome. With
+earthly food I have wellnigh done."
+
+Dalgetty did not wait for a second invitation, but, groping out the
+provisions, began to munch at the stale black oaten loaf with as much
+heartiness as we have seen him play his part at better viands.
+
+"This bread," he said, muttering (with his mouth full at the same time),
+"is not very savoury; nevertheless, it is not much worse than that which
+we ate at the famous leaguer at Werben, where the valorous Gustavus
+foiled all the efforts of the celebrated Tilly, that terrible old hero,
+who had driven two kings out of the field--namely, Ferdinand of Bohemia
+and Christian of Denmark. And anent this water, which is none of the
+most sweet, I drink in the same to your speedy deliverance, comrade,
+not forgetting mine own, and devoutly wishing it were Rhenish wine, or
+humming Lubeck beer, at the least, were it but in honour of the pledge."
+
+While Dalgetty ran on in this way, his teeth kept time with his tongue,
+and he speedily finished the provisions which the benevolence or
+indifference of his companion in misfortune had abandoned to his
+voracity. When this task was accomplished, he wrapped himself in his
+cloak, and seating himself in a corner of the dungeon in which he could
+obtain a support on each side (for he had always been an admirer of
+elbow-chairs, he remarked, even from his youth upward), he began to
+question his fellow-captive.
+
+"Mine honest friend," said he, "you and I, being comrades at bed
+and board, should be better acquainted. I am Dugald Dalgetty of
+Drumthwacket, and so forth, Major in a regiment of loyal Irishes,
+and Envoy Extraordinary of a High and Mighty Lord, James Earl of
+Montrose.--Pray, what may your name be?"
+
+"It will avail you little to know," replied his more taciturn companion.
+
+"Let me judge of that matter," answered the soldier.
+
+"Well, then--Ranald MacEagh is my name--that is, Ranald Son of the
+Mist."
+
+"Son of the Mist!" ejaculated Dalgetty. "Son of utter darkness, say I.
+But, Ranald, since that is your name, how came you in possession of the
+provost's court of guard? what the devil brought you here, that is to
+say?"
+
+"My misfortunes and my crimes," answered Ranald. "Know ye the Knight of
+Ardenvohr?"
+
+"I do know that honourable person," replied Dalgetty.
+
+"But know ye where he now is?" replied Ranald.
+
+"Fasting this day at Ardenvohr," answered the Envoy, "that he may feast
+to-morrow at Inverary; in which last purpose if he chance to fail, my
+lease of human service will be something precarious."
+
+"Then let him know, one claims his intercession, who is his worst foe
+and his best friend," answered Ranald.
+
+"Truly I shall desire to carry a less questionable message," answered
+Dalgetty, "Sir Duncan is not a person to play at reading riddles with."
+
+"Craven Saxon," said the prisoner, "tell him I am the raven that,
+fifteen years since, stooped on his tower of strength and the pledges
+he had left there--I am the hunter that found out the wolfs den on the
+rock, and destroyed his offspring--I am the leader of the band which
+surprised Ardenvohr yesterday was fifteen years, and gave his four
+children to the sword."
+
+"Truly, my honest friend," said Dalgetty, "if that is your best
+recommendation to Sir Duncan's favour, I would pretermit my pleading
+thereupon, in respect I have observed that even the animal creation are
+incensed against those who intromit with their offspring forcibly, much
+more any rational and Christian creatures, who have had violence done
+upon their small family. But I pray you in courtesy to tell me, whether
+you assailed the castle from the hillock called Drumsnab, whilk I uphold
+to be the true point of attack, unless it were to be protected by a
+sconce."
+
+"We ascended the cliff by ladders of withies or saplings," said the
+prisoner, "drawn up by an accomplice and clansman, who had served six
+months in the castle to enjoy that one night of unlimited vengeance.
+The owl whooped around us as we hung betwixt heaven and earth; the tide
+roared against the foot of the rock, and dashed asunder our skiff, yet
+no man's heart failed him. In the morning there was blood and ashes,
+where there had been peace and joy at the sunset."
+
+"It was a pretty camisade, I doubt not, Ranald MacEagh, a very
+sufficient onslaught, and not unworthily discharged. Nevertheless, I
+would have pressed the house from that little hillock called Drumsnab.
+But yours is a pretty irregular Scythian fashion of warfare, Ranald,
+much resembling that of Turks, Tartars, and other Asiatic people.--But
+the reason, my friend, the cause of this war--the TETERRIMA CAUSA, as I
+may say? Deliver me that, Ranald."
+
+"We had been pushed at by the M'Aulays, and other western tribes," said
+Ranald, "till our possessions became unsafe for us."
+
+"Ah ha!" said Dalgetty; "I have faint remembrance of having heard of
+that matter. Did you not put bread and cheese into a man's mouth, when
+he had never a stomach whereunto to transmit the same?"
+
+"You have heard, then," said Ranald, "the tale of our revenge on the
+haughty forester?"
+
+"I bethink me that I have," said Dalgetty, "and that not of an old date.
+It was a merry jest that, of cramming the bread into the dead man's
+mouth, but somewhat too wild and salvage for civilized acceptation,
+besides wasting the good victuals. I have seen when at a siege or a
+leaguer, Ranald, a living soldier would have been the better, Ranald,
+for that crust of bread, whilk you threw away on a dead pow."
+
+"We were attacked by Sir Duncan," continued MacEagh, "and my brother
+was slain--his head was withering on the battlements which we scaled--I
+vowed revenge, and it is a vow I have never broken."
+
+"It may be so," said Dalgetty; "and every thorough-bred soldier will
+confess that revenge is a sweet morsel; but in what manner this story
+will interest Sir Duncan in your justification, unless it should move
+him to intercede with the Marquis to change the manner thereof from
+hanging, or simple suspension, to breaking your limbs on the roue or
+wheel, with the coulter of a plough, or otherwise putting you to death
+by torture, surpasses my comprehension. Were I you, Ranald, I would be
+for miskenning Sir Duncan, keeping my own secret, and departing quietly
+by suffocation, like your ancestors before you."
+
+"Yet hearken, stranger," said the Highlander. "Sir Duncan of Ardenvohr
+had four children. Three died under our dirks, but the fourth survives;
+and more would he give to dandle on his knee the fourth child which
+remains, than to rack these old bones, which care little for the utmost
+indulgence of his wrath. One word, if I list to speak it, could turn his
+day of humiliation and fasting into a day of thankfulness and rejoicing,
+and breaking of bread. O, I know it by my own heart? Dearer to me is the
+child Kenneth, who chaseth the butterfly on the banks of the Aven, than
+ten sons who are mouldering in earth, or are preyed on by the fowls of
+the air."
+
+"I presume, Ranald," continued Dalgetty, "that the three pretty fellows
+whom I saw yonder in the market-place, strung up by the head like
+rizzer'd haddocks, claimed some interest in you?"
+
+There was a brief pause ere the Highlander replied, in a tone of strong
+emotion,--"They were my sons, stranger--they were my sons!--blood of my
+blood--bone of my bone!--fleet of foot--unerring in aim--unvanquished by
+foemen till the sons of Diarmid overcame them by numbers! Why do I wish
+to survive them? The old trunk will less feel the rending up of its
+roots, than it has felt the lopping off of its graceful boughs. But
+Kenneth must be trained to revenge--the young eagle must learn from the
+old how to stoop on his foes. I will purchase for his sake my life and
+my freedom, by discovering my secret to the Knight of Ardenvohr."
+
+"You may attain your end more easily," said a third voice, mingling in
+the conference, "by entrusting it to me."
+
+All Highlanders are superstitious. "The Enemy of Mankind is among us!"
+said Ranald MacEagh, springing to his feet. His chains clattered as he
+rose, while he drew himself as far as they permitted from the
+quarter whence the voice appeared to proceed. His fear in some degree
+communicated itself to Captain Dalgetty, who began to repeat, in a sort
+of polyglot gibberish, all the exorcisms he had ever heard of, without
+being able to remember more than a word or two of each.
+
+"IN NOMINE DOMINI, as we said at Mareschal-College--SANTISSMA MADRE DI
+DIOS, as the Spaniard has it--ALLE GUTEN GEISTER LOBEN DEN HERRN, saith
+the blessed Psalmist, in Dr. Luther's translation--"
+
+"A truce with your exorcisms," said the voice they had heard before;
+"though I come strangely among you, I am mortal like yourselves, and my
+assistance may avail you in your present streight, if you are not too
+proud to be counselled."
+
+While the stranger thus spoke, he withdrew the shade of a dark lantern,
+by whose feeble light Dalgetty could only discern that the speaker who
+had thus mysteriously united himself to their company, and mixed in
+their conversation, was a tall man, dressed in a livery cloak of the
+Marquis. His first glance was to his feet, but he saw neither the cloven
+foot which Scottish legends assign to the foul fiend, nor the horse's
+hoof by which he is distinguished in Germany. His first enquiry was, how
+the stranger had come among them?
+
+"For," said he, "the creak of these rusty bars would have been heard had
+the door been made patent; and if you passed through the keyhole, truly,
+sir, put what face you will on it, you are not fit to be enrolled in a
+regiment of living men."
+
+"I reserve my secret," answered the stranger, "until you shall merit the
+discovery by communicating to me some of yours. It may be that I shall
+be moved to let you out where I myself came in."
+
+"It cannot be through the keyhole, then," said Captain Dalgetty, "for my
+corslet would stick in the passage, were it possible that my head-piece
+could get through. As for secrets, I have none of my own, and but few
+appertaining to others. But impart to us what secrets you desire
+to know; or, as Professor Snufflegreek used to say at the
+Mareschal-College, Aberdeen, speak that I may know thee."
+
+"It is not with you I have first to do," replied the stranger, turning
+his light full on the mild and wasted features, and the large limbs of
+the Highlander, Ranald MacEagh, who, close drawn up against the walls of
+the dungeon, seemed yet uncertain whether his guest was a living being.
+
+"I have brought you something, my friend," said the stranger, in a more
+soothing tone, "to mend your fare; if you are to die to-morrow, it is no
+reason wherefore you should not live to-night."
+
+"None at all--no reason in the creation," replied the ready Captain
+Dalgetty, who forthwith began to unpack the contents of a small basket
+which the stranger had brought under his cloak, while the Highlander,
+either in suspicion or disdain, paid no attention to the good cheer.
+
+"Here's to thee, my friend," said the Captain, who, having already
+dispatched a huge piece of roasted kid, was now taking a pull at the
+wine-flask. "What is thy name, my good friend?"
+
+"Murdoch Campbell, sir," answered the servant, "a lackey of the Marquis
+of Argyle, and occasionally acting as under-warden."
+
+"Then here is to thee once more, Murdoch," said Dalgetty, "drinking to
+you by your proper name for the better luck sake. This wine I take to be
+Calcavella. Well, honest Murdoch, I take it on me to say, thou deservest
+to be upper-warden, since thou showest thyself twenty times better
+acquainted with the way of victualling honest gentlemen that are under
+misfortune, than thy principal. Bread and water? out upon him! It was
+enough, Murdoch, to destroy the credit of the Marquis's dungeon. But I
+see you would converse with my friend, Ranald MacEagh here. Never mind
+my presence; I'll get me into this corner with the basket, and I will
+warrant my jaws make noise enough to prevent my ears from hearing you."
+
+Notwithstanding this promise, however, the veteran listened with all
+the attention he could to gather their discourse, or, as he described it
+himself, "laid his ears back in his neck, like Gustavus, when he heard
+the key turn in the girnell-kist." He could, therefore, owing to the
+narrowness of the dungeon, easily overhear the following dialogue.
+
+"Are you aware, Son of the Mist," said the Campbell, "that you will
+never leave this place excepting for the gibbet?"
+
+"Those who are dearest to me," answered MacEagh, "have trode that path
+before me."
+
+"Then you would do nothing," asked the visitor, "to shun following
+them?"
+
+The prisoner writhed himself in his chains before returning an answer.
+
+"I would do much," at length he said; "not for my own life, but for the
+sake of the pledge in the glen of Strath-Aven."
+
+"And what would you do to turn away the bitterness of the hour?" again
+demanded Murdoch; "I care not for what cause ye mean to shun it."
+
+"I would do what a man might do, and still call himself a man."
+
+"Do you call yourself a man," said the interrogator, "who have done the
+deeds of a wolf?"
+
+"I do," answered the outlaw; "I am a man like my forefathers--while
+wrapt in the mantle of peace, we were lambs--it was rent from us, and ye
+now call us wolves. Give us the huts ye have burned, our children whom
+ye have murdered, our widows whom ye have starved--collect from the
+gibbet and the pole the mangled carcasses, and whitened skulls of our
+kinsmen--bid them live and bless us, and we will be your vassals and
+brothers--till then, let death, and blood, and mutual wrong, draw a dark
+veil of division between us."
+
+"You will then do nothing for your liberty," said the Campbell.
+
+"Anything--but call myself the friend of your tribe," answered MacEagh.
+
+"We scorn the friendship of banditti and caterans," retorted Murdoch,
+"and would not stoop to accept it.--What I demand to know from you, in
+exchange for your liberty, is, where the daughter and heiress of the
+Knight of Ardenvohr is now to be found?"
+
+"That you may wed her to some beggarly kinsman of your great master,"
+said Ranald, "after the fashion of the Children of Diarmid! Does not
+the valley of Glenorquhy, to this very hour, cry shame on the violence
+offered to a helpless infant whom her kinsmen were conveying to the
+court of the Sovereign? Were not her escort compelled to hide her
+beneath a cauldron, round which they fought till not one remained to
+tell the tale? and was not the girl brought to this fatal castle, and
+afterwards wedded to the brother of M'Callum More, and all for the sake
+of her broad lands?" [Such a story is told of the heiress of the clan
+of Calder, who was made prisoner in the manner described, and afterwards
+wedded to Sir Duncan Campbell, from which union the Campbells of Cawdor
+have their descent.]
+
+"And if the tale be true," said Murdoch, "she had a preferment beyond
+what the King of Scots would have conferred on her. But this is far
+from the purpose. The daughter of Sir Duncan of Ardenvohr is of our own
+blood, not a stranger; and who has so good a right to know her fate as
+M'Callum More, the chief of her clan?"
+
+"It is on his part, then, that you demand it!" said the outlaw. The
+domestic of the Marquis assented.
+
+"And you will practise no evil against the maiden?--I have done her
+wrong enough already."
+
+"No evil, upon the word of a Christian man," replied Murdoch.
+
+"And my guerdon is to be life and liberty?" said the Child of the Mist.
+
+"Such is our paction," replied the Campbell.
+
+"Then know, that the child whom I saved our of compassion at the
+spoiling of her father's tower of strength, was bred as an adopted
+daughter of our tribe, until we were worsted at the pass of
+Ballenduthil, by the fiend incarnate and mortal enemy of our tribe,
+Allan M'Aulay of the Bloody hand, and by the horsemen of Lennox, under
+the heir of Menteith."
+
+"Fell she into the power of Allan of the Bloody hand," said Murdoch,
+"and she a reputed daughter of thy tribe? Then her blood has gilded the
+dirk, and thou hast said nothing to rescue thine own forfeited life."
+
+"If my life rest on hers," answered the outlaw, "it is secure, for she
+still survives; but it has a more insecure reliance--the frail promise
+of a son of Diarmid."
+
+"That promise shall not fail you," said the Campbell, "if you can assure
+me that she survives, and where she is to be found."
+
+"In the Castle of Darlinvarach," said Ranald MacEagh, "under the name
+of Annot Lyle. I have often heard of her from my kinsmen, who have again
+approached their native woods, and it is not long since mine old eyes
+beheld her."
+
+"You!" said Murdoch, in astonishment, "you, a chief among the Children
+of the Mist, and ventured so near your mortal foe?"
+
+"Son of Diarmid, I did more," replied the outlaw; "I was in the hall of
+the castle, disguised as a harper from the wild shores of Skianach. My
+purpose was to have plunged my dirk in the body of the M'Aulay with the
+Bloody hand, before whom our race trembles, and to have taken thereafter
+what fate God should send me. But I saw Annot Lyle, even when my hand
+was on the hilt of my dagger. She touched her clairshach [Harp] to
+a song of the Children of the Mist, which she had learned when her
+dwelling was amongst us. The woods in which we had dwelt pleasantly,
+rustled their green leaves in the song, and our streams were there with
+the sound of all their waters. My hand forsook the dagger; the fountains
+of mine eyes were opened, and the hour of revenge passed away.--And now,
+Son of Diarmid, have I not paid the ransom of my head?"
+
+"Ay," replied Murdoch, "if your tale be true; but what proof can you
+assign for it?"
+
+"Bear witness, heaven and earth," exclaimed the outlaw, "he already
+looks how he may step over his word!"
+
+"Not so," replied Murdoch; "every promise shall be kept to you when I am
+assured you have told me the truth.--But I must speak a few words with
+your companion in captivity."
+
+"Fair and false--ever fair and false," muttered the prisoner, as he
+threw himself once more on the floor of his dungeon.
+
+Meanwhile, Captain Dalgetty, who had attended to every word of this
+dialogue, was making his own remarks on it in private. "What the HENKER
+can this sly fellow have to say to me? I have no child, either of my
+own, so far as I know, or of any other person, to tell him a tale about.
+But let him come on--he will have some manoeuvring ere he turn the flank
+of the old soldier."
+
+Accordingly, as if he had stood pike in hand to defend a breach, he
+waited with caution, but without fear, the commencement of the attack.
+
+"You are a citizen of the world, Captain Dalgetty," said Murdoch
+Campbell, "and cannot be ignorant of our old Scotch proverb, GIF-GAF,
+[In old English, KA ME KA THEE, i.e. mutually serving each other.] which
+goes through all nations and all services."
+
+"Then I should know something of it," said Dalgetty; "for, except the
+Turks, there are few powers in Europe whom I have not served; and I have
+sometimes thought of taking a turn either with Bethlem Gabor, or with
+the Janizaries."
+
+"A man of your experience and unprejudiced ideas, then, will understand
+me at once," said Murdoch, "when I say, I mean that your freedom shall
+depend on your true and up right answer to a few trifling questions
+respecting the gentlemen you have left; their state of preparation; the
+number of their men, and nature of their appointments; and as much as
+you chance to know about their plan of operations."
+
+"Just to satisfy your curiosity," said Dalgetty, "and without any
+farther purpose?"
+
+"None in the world," replied Murdoch; "what interest should a poor devil
+like me take in their operations?"
+
+"Make your interrogations, then," said the Captain, "and I will answer
+them PREREMTORIE."
+
+"How many Irish may be on their march to join James Graham the
+delinquent?"
+
+"Probably ten thousand," said Captain Dalgetty.
+
+"Ten thousand!" replied Murdoch angrily; "we know that scarce two
+thousand landed at Ardnamurchan."
+
+"Then you know more about them than I do," answered Captain Dalgetty,
+with great composure. "I never saw them mustered yet, or even under
+arms."
+
+"And how many men of the clans may be expected?" demanded Murdoch.
+
+"As many as they can make," replied the Captain.
+
+"You are answering from the purpose, sir," said Murdoch "speak plainly,
+will there be five thousand men?"
+
+"There and thereabouts," answered Dalgetty.
+
+"You are playing with your life, sir, if you trifle with me," replied
+the catechist; "one whistle of mine, and in less than ten minutes your
+head hangs on the drawbridge."
+
+"But to speak candidly, Mr. Murdoch," replied the Captain "do you think
+it is a reasonable thing to ask me after the secrets of our army, and I
+engaged to serve for the whole campaign? If I taught you how to defeat
+Montrose, what becomes of my pay, arrears, and chance of booty?"
+
+"I tell you," said Campbell, "that if you be stubborn, your campaign
+shall begin and end in a march to the block at the castle-gate, which
+stands ready for such land-laufers; but if you answer my questions
+faithfully, I will receive you into my--into the service of M'Callum
+More."
+
+"Does the service afford good pay?" said Captain Dalgetty.
+
+"He will double yours, if you will return to Montrose and act under his
+direction."
+
+"I wish I had seen you, sir, before taking on with him," said Dalgetty,
+appearing to meditate.
+
+"On the contrary, I can afford you more advantageous terms now," said
+the Campbell; "always supposing that you are faithful."
+
+"Faithful, that is, to you, and a traitor to Montrose," answered the
+Captain.
+
+"Faithful to the cause of religion and good order," answered Murdoch,
+"which sanctifies any deception you may employ to serve it."
+
+"And the Marquis of Argyle--should I incline to enter his service, is he
+a kind master?" demanded Dalgetty.
+
+"Never man kinder," quoth Campbell.
+
+"And bountiful to his officers?" pursued the Captain.
+
+"The most open hand in Scotland," replied Murdoch.
+
+"True and faithful to his engagements?" continued Dalgetty.
+
+"As honourable a nobleman as breathes," said the clansman.
+
+"I never heard so much good of him before," said Dalgetty; "you must
+know the Marquis well,--or rather you must be the Marquis himself!--Lord
+of Argyle," he added, throwing himself suddenly on the disguised
+nobleman, "I arrest you in the name of King Charles, as a traitor. If
+you venture to call for assistance, I will wrench round your neck."
+
+The attack which Dalgetty made upon Argyle's person was so sudden and
+unexpected, that he easily prostrated him on the floor of the dungeon,
+and held him down with one hand, while his right, grasping the Marquis's
+throat, was ready to strangle him on the slightest attempt to call for
+assistance.
+
+"Lord of Argyle," he said, "it is now my turn to lay down the terms
+of capitulation. If you list to show me the private way by which you
+entered the dungeon, you shall escape, on condition of being my LOCUM
+TENENS, as we said at the Mareschal-College, until your warder visits
+his prisoners. But if not, I will first strangle you--I learned the
+art from a Polonian heyduck, who had been a slave in the Ottoman
+seraglio--and then seek out a mode of retreat."
+
+"Villain! you would not murder me for my kindness," murmured Argyle.
+
+"Not for your kindness, my lord," replied Dalgetty: "but first, to teach
+your lordship the JUS GENTIUM towards cavaliers who come to you under
+safe-conduct; and secondly, to warn you of the danger of proposing
+dishonourable terms to any worthy soldado, in order to tempt him to
+become false to his standard during the term of his service."
+
+"Spare my life," said Argyle, "and I will do as you require."
+
+Dalgetty maintained his gripe upon the Marquis's throat, compressing it
+a little while he asked questions, and relaxing it so far as to give him
+the power of answering them.
+
+"Where is the secret door into the dungeon?" he demanded.
+
+"Hold up the lantern to the corner on your right hand, you will discern
+the iron which covers the spring," replied the Marquis.
+
+"So far so good.--Where does the passage lead to?"
+
+"To my private apartment behind the tapestry," answered the prostrate
+nobleman.
+
+"From thence how shall I reach the gateway?"
+
+"Through the grand gallery, the anteroom, the lackeys' waiting hall, the
+grand guardroom--"
+
+"All crowded with soldiers, factionaries, and attendants?--that will
+never do for me, my lord;--have you no secret passage to the gate, as
+you have to your dungeons? I have seen such in Germany."
+
+"There is a passage through the chapel," said the Marquis, "opening from
+my apartment."
+
+"And what is the pass-word at the gate?"
+
+"The sword of Levi," replied the Marquis; "but if you will receive my
+pledge of honour, I will go with you, escort you through every guard,
+and set you at full liberty with a passport."
+
+"I might trust you, my lord, were your throat not already black with the
+grasp of my fingers--as it is, BESO LOS MANOS A USTED, as the Spaniard
+says. Yet you may grant me a passport;--are there writing materials in
+your apartment?"
+
+"Surely; and blank passports ready to be signed. I will attend you
+there," said the Marquis, "instantly."
+
+"It were too much honour for the like of me," said Dalgetty; "your
+lordship shall remain under charge of mine honest friend Ranald MacEagh;
+therefore, prithee let me drag you within reach of his chain.--Honest
+Ranald, you see how matters stand with us. I shall find the means, I
+doubt not, of setting you at freedom. Meantime, do as you see me do;
+clap your hand thus on the weasand of this high and mighty prince, under
+his ruff, and if he offer to struggle or cry out, fail not, my worthy
+Ranald, to squeeze doughtily; and if it be AD DELIQUIUM, Ranald, that
+is, till he swoon, there is no great matter, seeing he designed your
+gullet and mine to still harder usage."
+
+"If he offer at speech or struggle," said Ranald, "he dies by my hand."
+
+"That is right, Ranald--very spirited:--A thorough-going friend that
+understands a hint is worth a million!"
+
+Thus resigning the charge of the Marquis to his new confederate,
+Dalgetty pressed the spring, by which the secret door flew open,
+though so well were its hinges polished and oiled, that it made not the
+slightest noise in revolving. The opposite side of the door was secured
+by very strong bolts and bars, beside which hung one or two keys,
+designed apparently to undo fetterlocks. A narrow staircase, ascending
+up through the thickness of the castle-wall, landed, as the Marquis had
+truly informed him, behind the tapestry of his private apartment. Such
+communications were frequent in old feudal castles, as they gave the
+lord of the fortress, like a second Dionysius, the means of hearing the
+conversation of his prisoners, or, if he pleased, of visiting them in
+disguise, an experiment which had terminated so unpleasantly on the
+present occasion for Gillespie Grumach. Having examined previously
+whether there was any one in the apartment, and finding the coast clear,
+the Captain entered, and hastily possessing himself of a blank passport,
+several of which lay on the table, and of writing materials, securing,
+at the same time, the Marquis's dagger, and a silk cord from the
+hangings, he again descended into the cavern, where, listening a moment
+at the door, he could hear the half-stifled voice of the Marquis making
+great proffers to MacEagh, on condition he would suffer him to give an
+alarm.
+
+"Not for a forest of deer--not for a thousand head of cattle," answered
+the freebooter; "not for all the lands that ever called a son of
+Diarmid master, will I break the troth I have plighted to him of the
+iron-garment!"
+
+"He of the iron-garment," said Dalgetty, entering, "is bounden unto you,
+MacEagh, and this noble lord shall be bounden also; but first he must
+fill up this passport with the names of Major Dugald Dalgetty and his
+guide, or he is like to have a passport to another world."
+
+The Marquis subscribed, and wrote, by the light of the dark lantern, as
+the soldier prescribed to him.
+
+"And now, Ranald," said Dalgetty, "strip thy upper garment--thy plaid
+I mean, Ranald, and in it will I muffle the M'Callum More, and make of
+him, for the time, a Child of the Mist;--Nay, I must bring it over your
+head, my lord, so as to secure us against your mistimed clamour.--So,
+now he is sufficiently muffled;--hold down your hands, or, by Heaven,
+I will stab you to the heart with your own dagger!--nay, you shall be
+bound with nothing less than silk, as your quality deserves.--So, now
+he is secure till some one comes to relieve him. If he ordered us a late
+dinner, Ranald, he is like to be the sufferer;--at what hour, my good
+Ranald, did the jailor usually appear?"
+
+"Never till the sun was beneath the western wave," said MacEagh. "Then,
+my friend, we shall have three hours good," said the cautious Captain.
+"In the meantime, let us labour for your liberation."
+
+To examine Ranald's chain was the next occupation. It was undone by
+means of one of the keys which hung behind the private door, probably
+deposited there, that the Marquis might, if he pleased, dismiss a
+prisoner, or remove him elsewhere without the necessity of summoning
+the warden. The outlaw stretched his benumbed arms, and bounded from the
+floor of the dungeon in all the ecstasy of recovered freedom.
+
+"Take the livery-coat of that noble prisoner," said Captain Dalgetty;
+"put it on, and follow close at my heels."
+
+The outlaw obeyed. They ascended the private stair, having first secured
+the door behind them, and thus safely reached the apartment of the
+Marquis.
+
+[The precarious state of the feudal nobles introduced a great deal of
+espionage into their castles. Sir Robert Carey mentions his having put
+on the cloak of one of his own wardens to obtain a confession from the
+mouth of Geordie Bourne, his prisoner, whom he caused presently to be
+hanged in return for the frankness of his communication. The fine old
+Border castle of Naworth contains a private stair from the apartment
+of the Lord William Howard, by which he could visit the dungeon, as is
+alleged in the preceding chapter to have been practised by the Marquis
+of Argyle.]
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+     This was the entry then, these stairs--but whither after?
+     Yet he that's sure to perish on the land
+     May quit the nicety of card and compass,
+     And trust the open sea without a pilot.--TRAGEDY OF BENNOVALT.
+
+"Look out for the private way through the chapel, Ranald," said the
+Captain, "while I give a hasty regard to these matters."
+
+Thus speaking, he seized with one hand a bundle of Argyle's most private
+papers, and with the other a purse of gold, both of which lay in a
+drawer of a rich cabinet, which stood invitingly open. Neither did he
+neglect to possess himself of a sword and pistols, with powder-flask and
+balls, which hung in the apartment. "Intelligence and booty," said the
+veteran, as he pouched the spoils, "each honourable cavalier should
+look to, the one on his general's behalf, and the other on his own. This
+sword is an Andrew Ferrara, and the pistols better than mine own. But
+a fair exchange is no robbery. Soldados are not to be endangered, and
+endangered gratuitously, my Lord of Argyle.--But soft, soft, Ranald;
+wise Man of the Mist, whither art thou bound?"
+
+It was indeed full time to stop MacEagh's proceedings; for, not finding
+the private passage readily, and impatient, it would seem, of farther
+delay, he had caught down a sword and target, and was about to enter the
+great gallery, with the purpose, doubtless, of fighting his way through
+all opposition.
+
+"Hold, while you live," whispered Dalgetty, laying hold on him. "We
+must be perdue, if possible. So bar we this door, that it may be thought
+M'Callum More would be private--and now let me make a reconnaissance for
+the private passage."
+
+By looking behind the tapestry in various places, the Captain at length
+discovered a private door, and behind that a winding passage, terminated
+by another door, which doubtless entered the chapel. But what was his
+disagreeable surprise to hear, on the other side of this second door,
+the sonorous voice of a divine in the act of preaching.
+
+"This made the villain," he said, "recommend this to us as a private
+passage. I am strongly tempted to return and cut his throat."
+
+He then opened very gently the door, which led into a latticed gallery
+used by the Marquis himself, the curtains of which were drawn, perhaps
+with the purpose of having it supposed that he was engaged in attendance
+upon divine worship, when, in fact, he was absent upon his secular
+affairs. There was no other person in the seat; for the family of the
+Marquis,--such was the high state maintained in those days,--sate during
+service in another gallery, placed somewhat lower than that of the great
+man himself. This being the case, Captain Dalgetty ventured to ensconce
+himself in the gallery, of which he carefully secured the door.
+
+Never (although the expression be a bold one) was a sermon
+listened to with more impatience, and less edification,
+on the part of one, at least, of the audience. The Captain heard
+SIXTEENTHLY-SEVENTEENTHLY-EIGHTEENTHLY and TO CONCLUDE, with a sort of
+feeling like protracted despair. But no man can lecture (for the service
+was called a lecture) for ever; and the discourse was at length closed,
+the clergyman not failing to make a profound bow towards the latticed
+gallery, little suspecting whom he honoured by that reverence. To judge
+from the haste with which they dispersed, the domestics of the Marquis
+were scarce more pleased with their late occupation than the anxious
+Captain Dalgetty; indeed, many of them being Highlandmen, had the excuse
+of not understanding a single word which the clergyman spoke, although
+they gave their attendance on his doctrine by the special order of
+M'Callum More, and would have done so had the preacher been a Turkish
+Imaum.
+
+But although the congregation dispersed thus rapidly, the divine
+remained behind in the chapel, and, walking up and down its Gothic
+precincts, seemed either to be meditating on what he had just been
+delivering, or preparing a fresh discourse for the next opportunity.
+Bold as he was, Dalgetty hesitated what he ought to do. Time, however,
+pressed, and every moment increased the chance of their escape being
+discovered by the jailor visiting the dungeon perhaps before his wonted
+time, and discovering the exchange which had been made there. At length,
+whispering Ranald, who watched all his motions, to follow him and
+preserve his countenance, Captain Dalgetty, with a very composed air,
+descended a flight of steps which led from the gallery into the body of
+the chapel. A less experienced adventurer would have endeavoured to
+pass the worthy clergyman rapidly, in hopes to escape unnoticed. But the
+Captain, who foresaw the manifest danger of failing in such an attempt,
+walked gravely to meet the divine upon his walk in the midst of the
+chancel, and, pulling off his cap, was about to pass him after a formal
+reverence. But what was his surprise to view in the preacher the very
+same person with whom he had dined in the castle of Ardenvohr! Yet he
+speedily recovered his composure; and ere the clergyman could speak, was
+the first to address him. "I could not," he said, "leave this mansion
+without bequeathing to you, my very reverend sir, my humble thanks for
+the homily with which you have this evening favoured us."
+
+"I did not observe, sir," said the clergyman, "that you were in the
+chapel."
+
+"It pleased the honourable Marquis," said Dalgetty, modestly, "to
+grace me with a seat in his own gallery." The divine bowed low at this
+intimation, knowing that such an honour was only vouchsafed to persons
+of very high rank. "It has been my fate, sir," said the Captain, "in
+the sort of wandering life which I have led, to have heard different
+preachers of different religions--as for example, Lutheran, Evangelical,
+Reformed, Calvinistical, and so forth, but never have I listened to such
+a homily as yours."
+
+"Call it a lecture, worthy sir," said the divine, "such is the phrase of
+our church."
+
+"Lecture or homily," said Dalgetty, "it was, as the High Germans say,
+GANZ FORTRE FLICH; and I could not leave this place without testifying
+unto you what inward emotions I have undergone during your edifying
+prelection; and how I am touched to the quick, that I should yesterday,
+during the refection, have seemed to infringe on the respect due to such
+a person as yourself."
+
+"Alas! my worthy sir," said the clergyman, "we meet in this world as
+in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, not knowing against whom we
+may chance to encounter. In truth, it is no matter of marvel, if we
+sometimes jostle those, to whom, if known, we would yield all respect.
+Surely, sir, I would rather have taken you for a profane malignant than
+for such a devout person as you prove, who reverences the great Master
+even in the meanest of his servants."
+
+"It is always my custom to do so, learned sir," answered Dalgetty; "for
+in the service of the immortal Gustavus--but I detain you from your
+meditations,"--his desire to speak of the King of Sweden being for once
+overpowered by the necessity of his circumstances.
+
+"By no means, my worthy sir," said the clergyman. "What was, I pray
+you, the order of that great Prince, whose memory is so dear to every
+Protestant bosom?"
+
+"Sir, the drums beat to prayers morning and evening, as regularly as for
+parade; and if a soldier passed without saluting the chaplain, he had
+an hour's ride on the wooden mare for his pains. Sir, I wish you a very
+good evening--I am obliged to depart the castle under M'Callum More's
+passport."
+
+"Stay one instant, sir," said the preacher; "is there nothing I can
+do to testify my respect for the pupil of the great Gustavus, and so
+admirable a judge of preaching?"
+
+"Nothing, sir," said the Captain, "but to shew me the nearest way to
+the gate--and if you would have the kindness," he added, with great
+effrontery, "to let a servant bring my horse with him, the dark grey
+gelding--call him Gustavus, and he will prick up his ears--for I know
+not where the castle-stables are situated, and my guide," he added,
+looking at Ranald, "speaks no English."
+
+"I hasten to accommodate you," said the clergyman; "your way lies
+through that cloistered passage."
+
+"Now, Heaven's blessing upon your vanity!" said the Captain to himself.
+"I was afraid I would have had to march off without Gustavus."
+
+In fact, so effectually did the chaplain exert himself in behalf of so
+excellent a judge of composition, that while Dalgetty was parleying with
+the sentinels at the drawbridge, showing his passport, and giving
+the watchword, a servant brought him his horse, ready saddled for the
+journey. In another place, the Captain's sudden appearance at large
+after having been publicly sent to prison, might have excited suspicion
+and enquiry; but the officers and domestics of the Marquis were
+accustomed to the mysterious policy of their master, and never supposed
+aught else than that he had been liberated and intrusted with some
+private commission by their master. In this belief, and having received
+the parole, they gave him free passage.
+
+Dalgetty rode slowly through the town of Inverary, the outlaw attending
+upon him like a foot-page at his horse's shoulder. As they passed the
+gibbet, the old man looked on the bodies and wrung his hands. The look
+and gesture was momentary, but expressive of indescribable anguish.
+Instantly recovering himself, Ranald, in passing, whispered somewhat
+to one of the females, who, like Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, seemed
+engaged in watching and mourning the victims of feudal injustice and
+cruelty. The woman started at his voice, but immediately collected
+herself and returned for answer a slight inclination of the head.
+
+Dalgetty continued his way out of the town, uncertain whether he should
+try to seize or hire a boat and cross the lake, or plunge into the
+woods, and there conceal himself from pursuit. In the former event he
+was liable to be instantly pursued by the galleys of the Marquis, which
+lay ready for sailing, their long yard-arms pointing to the wind, and
+what hope could he have in an ordinary Highland fishing-boat to escape
+from them? If he made the latter choice, his chance either of supporting
+or concealing himself in those waste and unknown wildernesses, was in
+the highest degree precarious. The town lay now behind him, yet what
+hand to turn to for safety he was unable to determine, and began to be
+sensible, that in escaping from the dungeon at Inverary, desperate
+as the matter seemed, he had only accomplished the easiest part of a
+difficult task. If retaken, his fate was now certain; for the personal
+injury he had offered to a man so powerful and so vindictive, could be
+atoned for only by instant death. While he pondered these distressing
+reflections, and looked around with a countenance which plainly
+expressed indecision, Ranald MacEagh suddenly asked him, "which way he
+intended to journey?"
+
+"And that, honest comrade," answered Dalgetty, "is precisely the
+question which I cannot answer you. Truly I begin to hold the
+opinion, Ranald, that we had better have stuck by the brown loaf and
+water-pitcher until Sir Duncan arrived, who, for his own honour, must
+have made some fight for me."
+
+"Saxon," answered MacEagh, "do not regret having exchanged the foul
+breath of yonder dungeon for the free air of heaven. Above all, repent
+not that you have served a Son of the Mist. Put yourself under my
+guidance, and I will warrant your safety with my head."
+
+"Can you guide me safe through these mountains, and back to the army of
+Montrose?" said Dalgetty.
+
+"I can," answered MacEagh; "there lives not a man to whom the mountain
+passes, the caverns, the glens, the thickets, and the corries are known,
+as they are to the Children of the Mist. While others crawl on the level
+ground, by the sides of lakes and streams, ours are the steep hollows of
+the inaccessible mountains, the birth-place of the desert springs. Not
+all the bloodhounds of Argyle can trace the fastnesses through which I
+can guide you."
+
+"Say'st thou so, honest Ranald?" replied Dalgetty; "then have on with
+thee; for of a surety I shall never save the ship by my own pilotage."
+
+The outlaw accordingly led the way into the wood, by which the castle
+is surrounded for several miles, walking with so much dispatch as kept
+Gustavus at a round trot, and taking such a number of cross cuts and
+turns, that Captain Dalgetty speedily lost all idea where he might be,
+and all knowledge of the points of the compass. At length, the path,
+which had gradually become more difficult, altogether ended among
+thickets and underwood. The roaring of a torrent was heard in the
+neighbourhood, the ground became in some places broken, in others boggy,
+and everywhere unfit for riding.
+
+"What the foul fiend," said Dalgetty, "is to be done here? I must part
+with Gustavus, I fear."
+
+"Take no care for your horse," said the outlaw; "he shall soon be
+restored to you."
+
+As he spoke, he whistled in a low tune, and a lad, half-dressed in
+tartan, half naked, having only his own shaggy hair, tied with a thong
+of leather, to protect his head and face from sun and weather, lean,
+and half-starved in aspect, his wild grey eyes appearing to fill up ten
+times the proportion usually allotted to them in the human face, crept
+out, as a wild beast might have done, from a thicket of brambles and
+briars.
+
+"Give your horse to the gillie," said Ranald MacEagh; "your life depends
+upon it."
+
+"Och! och!" exclaimed the despairing veteran; "Eheu! as we used to say
+at Mareschal-College, must I leave Gustavus in such grooming!"
+
+"Are you frantic, to lose time thus!" said his guide; "do we stand on
+friends' ground, that you should part with your horse as if he were your
+brother? I tell you, you shall have him again; but if you never saw the
+animal, is not life better than the best colt ever mare foaled?"
+
+"And that is true too, mine honest friend," sighed Dalgetty; "yet if
+you knew but the value of Gustavus, and the things we two have done and
+suffered together--See, he turns back to look at me!--Be kind to him,
+my good breechless friend, and I will requite you well." So saying,
+and withal sniffling a little to swallow his grief, he turned from the
+heart-rending spectacle in order to follow his guide.
+
+To follow his guide was no easy matter, and soon required more agility
+than Captain Dalgetty could master. The very first plunge after he had
+parted from his charger, carried him, with little assistance from a few
+overhanging boughs, or projecting roots of trees, eight foot sheer down
+into the course of a torrent, up which the Son of the Mist led the way.
+Huge stones, over which they scrambled,--thickets of them and brambles,
+through which they had to drag themselves,--rocks which were to be
+climbed on the one side with much labour and pain, for the purpose of
+an equally precarious descent upon the other; all these, and many
+such interruptions, were surmounted by the light-footed and half-naked
+mountaineer with an ease and velocity which excited the surprise and
+envy of Captain Dalgetty, who, encumbered by his head-piece, corslet,
+and other armour, not to mention his ponderous jack-boots, found himself
+at length so much exhausted by fatigue, and the difficulties of the
+road, that he sate down upon a stone in order to recover his breath,
+while he explained to Ranald MacEagh the difference betwixt travelling
+EXPEDITUS and IMPEDITUS, as these two military phrases were understood
+at Mareschal-College, Aberdeen. The sole answer of the mountaineer
+was to lay his hand on the soldier's arm, and point backward in the
+direction of the wind. Dalgetty could spy nothing, for evening was
+closing fast, and they were at the bottom of a dark ravine. But at
+length he could distinctly hear at a distance the sullen toll of a large
+bell.
+
+"That," said he, "must be the alarm--the storm-clock, as the Germans
+call it."
+
+"It strikes the hour of your death," answered Ranald, "unless you can
+accompany me a little farther. For every toll of that bell a brave man
+has yielded up his soul."
+
+"Truly, Ranald, my trusty friend," said Dalgetty, "I will not deny
+that the case may be soon my own; for I am so forfoughen (being, as
+I explained to you, IMPEDITUS, for had I been EXPEDITUS, I mind not
+pedestrian exercise the flourish of a fife), that I think I had better
+ensconce myself in one of these bushes, and even lie quiet there to
+abide what fortune God shall send me. I entreat you, mine honest friend
+Ranald, to shift for yourself, and leave me to my fortune, as the Lion
+of the North, the immortal Gustavus Adolphus, my never-to-be-forgotten
+master (whom you must surely have heard of, Ranald, though you may have
+heard of no one else), said to Francis Albert, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburgh,
+when he was mortally wounded on the plains of Lutzen. Neither despair
+altogether of my safety, Ranald, seeing I have been in as great pinches
+as this in Germany--more especially, I remember me, that at the fatal
+battle of Nerlingen--after which I changed service--"
+
+"If you would save your father's son's breath to help his child out
+of trouble, instead of wasting it upon the tales of Seannachies," said
+Ranald, who now grew impatient of the Captain's loquacity, "or if your
+feet could travel as fast as your tongue, you might yet lay your head on
+an unbloody pillow to-night."
+
+"Something there is like military skill in that," replied the Captain,
+"although wantonly and irreverently spoken to an officer of rank. But
+I hold it good to pardon such freedoms on a march, in respect of the
+Saturnalian license indulged in such cases to the troops of all
+nations. And now, resume thine office, friend Ranald, in respect I am
+well-breathed; or, to be more plain, I PRAE, SEQUAR, as we used to say
+at Mareschal-College."
+
+Comprehending his meaning rather from his motions than his language,
+the Son of the Mist again led the way, with an unerring precision that
+looked like instinct, through a variety of ground the most difficult and
+broken that could well be imagined. Dragging along his ponderous boots,
+encumbered with thigh-pieces, gauntlets, corslet, and back-piece, not to
+mention the buff jerkin which he wore under all these arms, talking of
+his former exploits the whole way, though Ranald paid not the slightest
+attention to him, Captain Dalgetty contrived to follow his guide a
+considerable space farther, when the deep-mouthed baying of a hound was
+heard coming down the wind, as if opening on the scent of its prey.
+
+"Black hound," said Ranald, "whose throat never boded good to a Child of
+the Mist, ill fortune to her who littered thee! hast thou already found
+our trace? But thou art too late, swart hound of darkness, and the deer
+has gained the herd."
+
+So saying, he whistled very softly, and was answered in a tone equally
+low from the top of a pass, up which they had for some time been
+ascending. Mending their pace, they reached the top, where the moon,
+which had now risen bright and clear, showed to Dalgetty a party of ten
+or twelve Highlanders, and about as many women and children, by whom
+Ranald MacEagh was received with such transports of joy, as made his
+companion easily sensible that those by whom he was surrounded, must
+of course be Children of the Mist. The place which they occupied well
+suited their name and habits. It was a beetling crag, round which winded
+a very narrow and broken footpath, commanded in various places by the
+position which they held.
+
+Ranald spoke anxiously and hastily to the children of his tribe, and
+the men came one by one to shake hands with Dalgetty, while the women,
+clamorous in their gratitude, pressed round to kiss even the hem of his
+garment. "They plight their faith to you," said Ranald MacEagh, "for
+requital of the good deed you have done to the tribe this day."
+
+"Enough said, Ranald," answered the soldier, "enough said--tell them
+I love not this shaking of hands--it confuses ranks and degrees in
+military service; and as to kissing of gauntlets, puldrons, and the
+like, I remember that the immortal Gustavus, as he rode through the
+streets of Nuremberg, being thus worshipped by the poulace (being
+doubtless far more worthy of it than a poor though honourable cavalier
+like myself), did say unto them, in the way of rebuke, 'If you idolize
+me thus like a god, who shall assure you that the vengeance of Heaven
+will not soon prove me to be a mortal?'--And so here, I suppose you
+intend to make a stand against your followers, Ranald--VOTO A DIOS, as
+the Spaniard says?--a very pretty position--as pretty a position for
+a small peloton of men as I have seen in my service--no enemy can
+come towards it by the road without being at the mercy of cannon and
+musket.--But then, Ranald, my trusty comrade, you have no cannon, I dare
+to aver, and I do not see that any of these fellows have muskets either.
+So with what artillery you propose making good the pass, before you come
+to hand blows, truly, Ranald, it passeth my apprehension."
+
+"With the weapons and with the courage of our fathers," said MacEagh;
+and made the Captain observe, that the men of his party were armed with
+bows and arrows.
+
+"Bows and arrows!" exclaimed Dalgetty; "ha! ha! ha! have we Robin Hood
+and Little John back again? Bows and arrows! why, the sight has not been
+seen in civilized war for a hundred years. Bows and arrows! and why not
+weavers' beams, as in the days of Goliah? Ah! that Dugald Dalgetty, of
+Drumthwacket, should live to see men fight with bows and arrows!--The
+immortal Gustavus would never have believed it--nor Wallenstein--nor
+Butler--nor old Tilly,--Well, Ranald, a cat can have but its
+claws--since bows and arrows are the word, e'en let us make the best
+of it. Only, as I do not understand the scope and range of such
+old-fashioned artillery, you must make the best disposition you can out
+of your own head for MY taking the command, whilk I would have gladly
+done had you been to fight with any Christian weapons, is out of the
+question, when you are to combat like quivered Numidians. I will,
+however, play my part with my pistols in the approaching melley, in
+respect my carabine unhappily remains at Gustavus's saddle.--My service
+and thanks to you," he continued, addressing a mountaineer who offered
+him a bow; "Dugald Dalgetty may say of himself, as he learned at
+Mareschal-College,
+
+     "Non eget Mauri jaculis, neque arcu,
+     Nec venenatis gravida sagittis,
+     Fusce, pharetra;
+
+whilk is to say--"
+
+Ranald MacEagh a second time imposed silence on the talkative commander
+as before, by pulling his sleeve, and pointing down the pass. The bay
+of the bloodhound was now approaching nearer and nearer, and they could
+hear the voices of several persons who accompanied the animal, and
+hallooed to each other as they dispersed occasionally, either in the
+hurry of their advance, or in order to search more accurately the
+thickets as they came along. They were obviously drawing nearer and
+nearer every moment. MacEagh, in the meantime, proposed to Captain
+Dalgetty to disencumber himself of his armour, and gave him to
+understand that the women should transport it to a place of safety.
+
+"I crave your pardon, sir," said Dalgetty, "such is not the rule of
+our foreign service in respect I remember the regiment of Finland
+cuirassiers reprimanded, and their kettle-drums taken from them, by
+the immortal Gustavus, because they had assumed the permission to march
+without their corslets, and to leave them with the baggage. Neither did
+they strike kettle-drums again at the head of that famous regiment until
+they behaved themselves so notably at the field of Leipsic; a lesson
+whilk is not to be forgotten, any more than that exclamation of the
+immortal Gustavus, 'Now shall I know if my officers love me, by their
+putting on their armour; since, if my officers are slain, who shall lead
+my soldiers into victory?' Nevertheless, friend Ranald, this is without
+prejudice to my being rid of these somewhat heavy boots, providing I
+can obtain any other succedaneum; for I presume not to say that my bare
+soles are fortified so as to endure the flints and thorns, as seems to
+be the case with your followers."
+
+To rid the Captain of his cumbrous greaves, and case his feet in a pair
+of brogues made out of deerskin, which a Highlander stripped off for his
+accommodation, was the work of a minute, and Dalgetty found himself much
+lightened by the exchange. He was in the act of recommending to Ranald
+MacEagh, to send two or three of his followers a little lower to
+reconnoitre the pass, and, at the same time, somewhat to extend his
+front, placing two detached archers at each flank by way of posts of
+observation, when the near cry of the hound apprised them that the
+pursuers were at the bottom of the pass. All was then dead silence; for,
+loquacious as he was on other occasions, Captain Dalgetty knew well the
+necessity of an ambush keeping itself under covert.
+
+The moon gleamed on the broken pathway, and on the projecting cliffs of
+rock round which it winded, its light intercepted here and there by the
+branches of bushes and dwarf-trees, which, finding nourishment in the
+crevices of the rocks, in some places overshadowed the brow and ledge
+of the precipice. Below, a thick copse-wood lay in deep and dark shadow,
+somewhat resembling the billows of a half-seen ocean. From the bosom of
+that darkness, and close to the bottom of the precipice, the hound was
+heard at intervals baying fearfully, sounds which were redoubled by the
+echoes of the woods and rocks around. At intervals, these sunk into deep
+silence, interrupted only by the plashing noise of a small runnel of
+water, which partly fell from the rock, partly found a more silent
+passage to the bottom along its projecting surface. Voices of men were
+also heard in stifled converse below; it seemed as if the pursuers had
+not discovered the narrow path which led to the top of the rock, or
+that, having discovered it, the peril of the ascent, joined to the
+imperfect light, and the uncertainty whether it might not be defended,
+made them hesitate to attempt it.
+
+At length a shadowy figure was seen, which raised itself up from the
+abyss of darkness below, and, emerging into the pale moonlight, began
+cautiously and slowly to ascend the rocky path. The outline was so
+distinctly marked, that Captain Dalgetty could discover not only the
+person of a Highlander, but the long gun which he carried in his hand,
+and the plume of feathers which decorated his bonnet. "TAUSEND TEIFLEN!
+that I should say so, and so like to be near my latter end!" ejaculated
+the Captain, but under his breath, "what will become of us, now they
+have brought musketry to encounter our archers?"
+
+But just as the pursuer had attained a projecting piece of rock about
+half way up the ascent, and, pausing, made a signal for those who were
+still at the bottom to follow him, an arrow whistled from the bow of one
+of the Children of the Mist, and transfixed him with so fatal a wound,
+that, without a single effort to save himself, he lost his balance, and
+fell headlong from the cliff on which he stood, into the darkness below.
+The crash of the boughs which received him, and the heavy sound of his
+fall from thence to the ground, was followed by a cry of horror and
+surprise, which burst from his followers. The Children of the Mist,
+encouraged in proportion to the alarm this first success had caused
+among the pursuers, echoed back the clamour with a loud and shrill yell
+of exultation, and, showing themselves on the brow of the precipice,
+with wild cries and vindictive gestures, endeavoured to impress on their
+enemies a sense at once of their courage, their numbers, and their state
+of defence. Even Captain Dalgetty's military prudence did not prevent
+his rising up, and calling out to Ranald, more loud than prudence
+warranted, "CAROCCO, comrade, as the Spaniard says! The long-bow for
+ever! In my poor apprehension now, were you to order a file to advance
+and take position--"
+
+"The Sassenach!" cried a voice from beneath, "mark the Sassenach sidier!
+I see the glitter of his breastplate." At the same time three muskets
+were discharged; and while one ball rattled against the corslet of
+proof, to the strength of which our valiant Captain had been more than
+once indebted for his life, another penetrated the armour which covered
+the front of his left thigh, and stretched him on the ground. Ranald
+instantly seized him in his arms, and bore him back from the edge of the
+precipice, while he dolefully ejaculated, "I always told the immortal
+Gustavus, Wallenstein, Tilly, and other men of the sword, that, in my
+poor mind, taslets ought to be made musket-proof."
+
+With two or three earnest words in Gaelic, MacEagh commended the wounded
+man to the charge of the females, who were in the rear of his little
+party, and was then about to return to the contest. But Dalgetty
+detained him, grasping a firm hold of his plaid.--"I know not how this
+matter may end--but I request you will inform Montrose, that I died like
+a follower of the immortal Gustavus--and I pray you, take heed how you
+quit your present strength, even for the purpose of pursuing the enemy,
+if you gain any advantage--and--and--"
+
+Here Dalgetty's breath and eyesight began to fail him through loss of
+blood, and MacEagh, availing himself of this circumstance, extricated
+from his grasp the end of his own mantle, and substituted that of a
+female, by which the Captain held stoutly, thereby securing, as he
+conceived, the outlaw's attention to the military instructions which he
+continued to pour forth while he had any breath to utter them, though
+they became gradually more and more incoherent--"And, comrade, you
+will be sure to keep your musketeers in advance of your stand of pikes,
+Lochaber-axes, and two-handed swords--Stand fast, dragoons, on the left
+flank!--where was I?--Ay, and, Ranald, if ye be minded to retreat, leave
+some lighted matches burning on the branches of the trees--it shows as
+if they were lined with shot--But I forget--ye have no match-locks nor
+habergeons--only bows and arrows--bows and arrows! ha! ha! ha!"
+
+Here the Captain sunk back in an exhausted condition, altogether unable
+to resist the sense of the ludicrous which, as a modern man-at-arms, he
+connected with the idea of these ancient weapons of war. It was a long
+time ere he recovered his senses; and, in the meantime, we leave him in
+the care of the Daughters of the Mist; nurses as kind and attentive, in
+reality, as they were wild and uncouth in outward appearance.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     But if no faithless action stain
+     Thy true and constant word,
+     I'll make thee famous by my pen,
+     And glorious by my sword.
+
+     I'll serve thee in such noble ways
+     As ne'er were known before;
+     I'll deck and crown thy head with bays,
+     And love thee more and more.--MONTROSE'S LINES.
+
+We must now leave, with whatever regret, the valiant Captain Dalgetty,
+to recover of his wounds or otherwise as fate shall determine, in order
+briefly to trace the military operations of Montrose, worthy as they are
+of a more important page, and a better historian. By the assistance of
+the chieftains whom we have commemorated, and more especially by the
+junction of the Murrays, Stewarts, and other clans of Athole, which were
+peculiarly zealous in the royal cause, he soon assembled an army of two
+or three thousand Highlanders, to whom he successfully united the Irish
+under Colkitto. This last leader, who, to the great embarrassment of
+Milton's commentators, is commemorated in one of that great poet's
+sonnets, was properly named Alister, or Alexander M'Donnell, by birth a
+Scottish islesman, and related to the Earl of Antrim, to whose patronage
+he owed the command assigned him in the Irish troops. In many respects
+he merited this distinction. He was brave to intrepidity, and almost to
+insensibility; very strong and active in person, completely master of
+his weapons, and always ready to show the example in the extremity of
+danger. To counterbalance these good qualities, it must be recorded,
+that he was inexperienced in military tactics, and of a jealous and
+presumptuous disposition, which often lost to Montrose the fruits of
+Colkitto's gallantry. Yet such is the predominance of outward personal
+qualities in the eyes of a mild people, that the feats of strength and
+courage shown by this champion, seem to have made a stronger impression
+upon the minds of the Highlanders, than the military skill and
+chivalrous spirit of the great Marquis of Montrose. Numerous traditions
+are still preserved in the Highland glens concerning Alister M'Donnell,
+though the name of Montrose is rarely mentioned among them.
+
+[Milton's book, entitled TETRACHORDON, had been ridiculed, it would
+seem, by the divines assembled at Westminster, and others, on account of
+the hardness of the title; and Milton in his sonnet retaliates upon
+the barbarous Scottish names which the Civil War had made familiar to
+English ears:--
+
+     . . . . why is it harder, sirs, than Gordon,
+     COLKITTO or M'Donald, or Gallasp?
+     These rugged names to our like mouths grow sleek,
+     That would have made Quintillian stare and gasp.
+
+"We may suppose," says Bishop Newton, "that these were persons of note
+among the Scotch ministers, who were for pressing and enforcing the
+Covenant;" whereas Milton only intends to ridicule the barbarism
+of Scottish names in general, and quotes, indiscriminately, that of
+Gillespie, one of the Apostles of the Covenant, and those of Colkitto
+and M'Donnell (both belonging to one person), one of its bitterest
+enemies.]
+
+The point upon which Montrose finally assembled his little army, was in
+Strathearn, on the verge of the Highlands of Perthshire, so as to menace
+the principal town of that county.
+
+His enemies were not unprepared for his reception. Argyle, at the head
+of his Highlanders, was dogging the steps of the Irish from the west to
+the east, and by force, fear, or influence, had collected an army nearly
+sufficient to have given battle to that under Montrose. The Lowlands
+were also prepared, for reasons which we assigned at the beginning of
+this tale. A body of six thousand infantry, and six or seven thousand
+cavalry, which profanely assumed the title of God's army, had been
+hastily assembled from the shires of Fife, Angus, Perth, Stirling, and
+the neighbouring counties. A much less force in former times, nay, even
+in the preceding reign, would have been sufficient to have secured the
+Lowlands against a more formidable descent of Highlanders, than those
+united under Montrose; but times had changed strangely within the last
+half century. Before that period, the Lowlanders were as constantly
+engaged in war as the mountaineers, and were incomparably better
+disciplined and armed. The favourite Scottish order of battle somewhat
+resembled the Macedonian phalanx. Their infantry formed a compact body,
+armed with long spears, impenetrable even to the men-at-arms of the age,
+though well mounted, and arrayed in complete proof. It may easily
+be conceived, therefore, that their ranks could not be broken by the
+disorderly charge of Highland infantry armed for close combat only, with
+swords, and ill furnished with missile weapons, and having no artillery
+whatever.
+
+This habit of fight was in a great measure changed by the introduction
+of muskets into the Scottish Lowland service, which, not being as yet
+combined with the bayonet, was a formidable weapon at a distance, but
+gave no assurance against the enemy who rushed on to close quarters. The
+pike, indeed, was not wholly disused in the Scottish army; but it was no
+longer the favourite weapon, nor was it relied upon as formerly by those
+in whose hands it was placed; insomuch that Daniel Lupton, a tactician
+of the day, has written a book expressly upon the superiority of the
+musket. This change commenced as early as the wars of Gustavus Adolphus,
+whose marches were made with such rapidity, that the pike was very soon
+thrown aside in his army, and exchanged for fire-arms. A circumstance
+which necessarily accompanied this change, as well as the establishment
+of standing armies, whereby war became a trade, was the introduction of
+a laborious and complicated system of discipline, combining a variety
+of words of command with corresponding operations and manoeuvres, the
+neglect of any one of which was sure to throw the whole into confusion.
+War therefore, as practised among most nations of Europe, had assumed
+much more than formerly the character of a profession or mystery, to
+which previous practice and experience were indispensable requisites.
+Such was the natural consequence of standing armies, which had almost
+everywhere, and particularly in the long German wars, superseded what
+may be called the natural discipline of the feudal militia.
+
+The Scottish Lowland militia, therefore, laboured under a double
+disadvantage when opposed to Highlanders. They were divested of the
+spear, a weapon which, in the hands of their ancestors, had so often
+repelled the impetuous assaults of the mountaineer; and they were
+subjected to a new and complicated species of discipline, well adapted,
+perhaps, to the use of regular troops, who could be rendered completely
+masters of it, but tending only to confuse the ranks of citizen
+soldiers, by whom it was rarely practised, and imperfectly understood.
+So much has been done in our own time in bringing back tactics to their
+first principles, and in getting rid of the pedantry of war, that it
+is easy for us to estimate the disadvantages under which a half-trained
+militia laboured, who were taught to consider success as depending upon
+their exercising with precision a system of tactics, which they probably
+only so far comprehended as to find out when they were wrong, but
+without the power of getting right again. Neither can it be denied,
+that, in the material points of military habits and warlike spirit,
+the Lowlanders of the seventeenth century had sunk far beneath their
+Highland countrymen.
+
+From the earliest period down to the union of the crowns, the whole
+kingdom of Scotland, Lowlands as well as Highlands, had been the
+constant scene of war, foreign and domestic; and there was probably
+scarce one of its hardy inhabitants, between the age of sixteen and
+sixty, who was not as willing in point of fact as he was literally bound
+in law, to assume arms at the first call of his liege lord, or of a
+royal proclamation. The law remained the same in sixteen hundred and
+forty-five as a hundred years before, but the race of those subjected to
+it had been bred up under very different feelings. They had sat in quiet
+under their vine and under their fig-tree, and a call to battle involved
+a change of life as new as it was disagreeable. Such of them, also, who
+lived near unto the Highlands, were in continual and disadvantageous
+contact with the restless inhabitants of those mountains, by whom their
+cattle were driven off, their dwellings plundered, and their persons
+insulted, and who had acquired over them that sort of superiority
+arising from a constant system of aggression. The Lowlanders, who lay
+more remote, and out of reach of these depredations, were influenced by
+the exaggerated reports circulated concerning the Highlanders, whom,
+as totally differing in laws, language, and dress, they were induced
+to regard as a nation of savages, equally void of fear and of humanity.
+These various prepossessions, joined to the less warlike habits of the
+Lowlanders, and their imperfect knowledge of the new and complicated
+system of discipline for which they had exchanged their natural mode
+of fighting, placed them at great disadvantage when opposed to the
+Highlander in the field of battle. The mountaineers, on the contrary,
+with the arms and courage of their fathers, possessed also their simple
+and natural system of tactics, and bore down with the fullest confidence
+upon an enemy, to whom anything they had been taught of discipline was,
+like Saul's armour upon David, a hinderance rather than a help, "because
+they had not proved it."
+
+It was with such disadvantages on the one side, and such advantages on
+the other, to counterbalance the difference of superior numbers and the
+presence of artillery and cavalry, that Montrose encountered the army of
+Lord Elcho upon the field of Tippermuir. The Presbyterian clergy had not
+been wanting in their efforts to rouse the spirit of their followers,
+and one of them, who harangued the troops on the very day of battle,
+hesitated not to say, that if ever God spoke by his mouth, he promised
+them, in His name, that day, a great and assured victory. The cavalry
+and artillery were also reckoned sure warrants of success, as the
+novelty of their attack had upon former occasions been very discouraging
+to the Highlanders. The place of meeting was an open heath, and the
+ground afforded little advantage to either party, except that it allowed
+the horse of the Covenanters to act with effect.
+
+A battle upon which so much depended, was never more easily decided.
+The Lowland cavalry made a show of charging; but, whether thrown into
+disorder by the fire of musketry, or deterred by a disaffection to
+the service said to have prevailed among the gentlemen, they made no
+impression on the Highlanders whatever, and recoiled in disorder from
+ranks which had neither bayonets nor pikes to protect them. Montrose
+saw, and instantly availed himself of this advantage. He ordered his
+whole army to charge, which they performed with the wild and desperate
+valour peculiar to mountaineers. One officer of the Covenanters alone,
+trained in the Italian wars, made a desperate defence upon the right
+wing. In every other point their line was penetrated at the first onset;
+and this advantage once obtained, the Lowlanders were utterly unable to
+contend at close quarters with their more agile and athletic enemies.
+Many were slain on the held, and such a number in the pursuit, that
+above one-third of the Covenanters were reported to have fallen; in
+which number, however, must be computed a great many fat burgesses who
+broke their wind in the flight, and thus died without stroke of sword.
+[We choose to quote our authority for a fact so singular:--"A great many
+burgesses were killed--twenty-five householders in St. Andrews--many
+were bursten in the flight, and died without stroke."--See Baillie's
+Letters, vol. ii. page 92.]
+
+The victors obtained possession of Perth, and obtained considerable sums
+of money, as well as ample supplies of arms and ammunition. But
+those advantages were to be balanced against an almost insurmountable
+inconvenience that uniformly attended a Highland army. The clans could
+be in no respect induced to consider themselves as regular soldiers,
+or to act as such. Even so late as the year 1745-6, when the Chevalier
+Charles Edward, by way of making an example, caused a soldier to be shot
+for desertion, the Highlanders, who composed his army, were affected as
+much by indignation as by fear. They could not conceive any principle
+of justice upon which a man's life could be taken, for merely going home
+when it did not suit him to remain longer with the army. Such had been
+the uniform practice of their fathers. When a battle was over, the
+campaign was, in their opinion, ended; if it was lost, they sought
+safety in their mountains--if won, they returned there to secure their
+booty. At other times they had their cattle to look after, and their
+harvests to sow or reap, without which their families would have
+perished for want. In either case, there was an end of their services
+for the time; and though they were easily enough recalled by the
+prospect of fresh adventures and more plunder, yet the opportunity
+of success was, in the meantime, lost, and could not afterwards be
+recovered. This circumstance serves to show, even if history had not
+made us acquainted with the same fact, that the Highlanders had never
+been accustomed to make war with the view of permanent conquest, but
+only with the hope of deriving temporary advantage, or deciding some
+immediate quarrel. It also explains the reason why Montrose, with all
+his splendid successes, never obtained any secure or permanent footing
+in the Lowlands, and why even those Lowland noblemen and gentlemen, who
+were inclined to the royal cause, showed diffidence and reluctance to
+join an army of a character so desultory and irregular, as might lead
+them at all times to apprehend that the Highlanders securing themselves
+by a retreat to their mountains, would leave whatever Lowlanders might
+have joined them to the mercy of an offended and predominant enemy. The
+same consideration will also serve to account for the sudden marches
+which Montrose was obliged to undertake, in order to recruit his army in
+the mountains, and for the rapid changes of fortune, by which we often
+find him obliged to retreat from before those enemies over whom he had
+recently been victorious. If there should be any who read these tales
+for any further purpose than that of immediate amusement, they will find
+these remarks not unworthy of their recollection.
+
+It was owing to such causes, the slackness of the Lowland loyalists and
+the temporary desertion of his Highland followers, that Montrose found
+himself, even after the decisive victory of Tippermuir, in no condition
+to face the second army with which Argyle advanced upon him from the
+westward. In this emergency, supplying by velocity the want of strength,
+he moved suddenly from Perth to Dundee, and being refused admission into
+that town, fell northward upon Aberdeen, where he expected to be joined
+by the Gordons and other loyalists. But the zeal of these gentlemen
+was, for the time, effectually bridled by a large body of Covenanters,
+commanded by the Lord Burleigh, and supposed to amount to three thousand
+men. These Montrose boldly attacked with half their number. The battle
+was fought under the walls Of the city, and the resolute valour of
+Montrose's followers was again successful against every disadvantage.
+
+But it was the fate of this great commander, always to gain the glory,
+but seldom to reap the fruits of victory. He had scarcely time to repose
+his small army in Aberdeen, ere he found, on the one hand, that the
+Gordons were likely to be deterred from joining him, by the reasons we
+have mentioned, with some others peculiar to their chief, the Marquis
+of Huntly; on the other hand, Argyle, whose forces had been augmented by
+those of several Lowland noblemen, advanced towards Montrose at the head
+of an army much larger than he had yet had to cope with. These troops
+moved, indeed, with slowness, corresponding to the cautious character
+of their commander; but even that caution rendered Argyle's approach
+formidable, since his very advance implied, that he was at the head of
+an army irresistibly superior.
+
+There remained one mode of retreat open to Montrose, and he adopted
+it. He threw himself into the Highlands, where he could set pursuit
+at defiance, and where he was sure, in every glen, to recover those
+recruits who had left his standard to deposit their booty in their
+native fastnesses. It was thus that the singular character of the
+army which Montrose commanded, while, on the one hand, it rendered his
+victory in some degree nugatory, enabled him, on the other, under the
+most disadvantageous circumstances, to secure his retreat, recruit
+his forces, and render himself more formidable than ever to the enemy,
+before whom he had lately been unable to make a stand.
+
+On the present occasion he threw himself into Badenoch, and rapidly
+traversing that district, as well as the neighbouring country of Athole,
+he alarmed the Covenanters by successive attacks upon various unexpected
+points, and spread such general dismay, that repeated orders were
+dispatched by the Parliament to Argyle, their commander, to engage, and
+disperse Montrose at all rates.
+
+These commands from his superiors neither suited the haughty spirit, nor
+the temporizing and cautious policy, of the nobleman to whom they were
+addressed. He paid, accordingly, no regard to them, but limited his
+efforts to intrigues among Montrose's few Lowland followers, many of
+whom had become disgusted with the prospect of a Highland campaign,
+which exposed their persons to intolerable fatigue, and left their
+estates at the Covenanters' mercy. Accordingly, several of them left
+Montrose's camp at this period. He was joined, however, by a body of
+forces of more congenial spirit, and far better adapted to the situation
+in which he found himself. This reinforcement consisted of a large body
+of Highlanders, whom Colkitto, dispatched for that purpose, had levied
+in Argyleshire. Among the most distinguished was John of Moidart, called
+the Captain of Clan Ranald, with the Stewarts of Appin, the Clan Gregor,
+the Clan M'Nab, and other tribes of inferior distinction. By these
+means, Montrose's army was so formidably increased, that Argyle cared no
+longer to remain in the command of that opposed to him, but returned to
+Edinburgh, and there threw up his commission, under pretence that his
+army was not supplied with reinforcements and provisions in the manner
+in which they ought to have been. From thence the Marquis returned to
+Inverary, there, in full security, to govern his feudal vassals, and
+patriarchal followers, and to repose himself in safety on the faith of
+the Clan proverb already quoted--"It is a far cry to Lochow."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+     Such mountains steep, such craggy hills,
+     His army on one side enclose:
+     The other side, great griesly gills
+     Did fence with fenny mire and moss.
+
+     Which when the Earl understood,
+     He council craved of captains all,
+     Who bade set forth with mournful mood,
+     And take such fortune as would fall.
+     --FLODDEN FIELD, AN ANCIENT POEM.
+
+Montrose had now a splendid career in his view, provided he could obtain
+the consent of his gallant, but desultory troops, and their independent
+chieftains. The Lowlands lay open before him without an army adequate to
+check his career; for Argyle's followers had left the Covenanters' host
+when their master threw up his commission, and many other troops, tired
+of the war, had taken the same opportunity to disband themselves. By
+descending Strath-Tay, therefore, one of the most convenient passes from
+the Highlands, Montrose had only to present himself in the Lowlands, in
+order to rouse the slumbering spirit of chivalry and of loyalty which
+animated the gentlemen to the north of the Forth. The possession of
+these districts, with or without a victory, would give him the command
+of a wealthy and fertile part of the kingdom, and would enable him, by
+regular pay, to place his army on a permanent footing, to penetrate as
+far as the capital, perhaps from thence to the Border, where he deemed
+it possible to communicate with the yet unsubdued forces of King
+Charles.
+
+Such was the plan of operations by which the truest glory was to be
+acquired, and the most important success insured for the royal cause.
+Accordingly it did not escape the ambitious and daring spirit of him
+whose services had already acquired him the title of the Great Marquis.
+But other motives actuated many of his followers, and perhaps were not
+without their secret and unacknowledged influence upon his own feelings.
+
+The Western Chiefs in Montrose's army, almost to a man, regarded the
+Marquis of Argyle as the most direct and proper object of hostilities.
+Almost all of them had felt his power; almost all, in withdrawing their
+fencible men from their own glens, left their families and property
+exposed to his vengeance; all, without exception, were desirous
+of diminishing his sovereignty; and most of them lay so near his
+territories, that they might reasonably hope to be gratified by a share
+of his spoil. To these Chiefs the possession of Inverary and its castle
+was an event infinitely more important and desirable than the capture
+of Edinburgh. The latter event could only afford their clansmen a little
+transitory pay or plunder; the former insured to the Chiefs themselves
+indemnity for the past, and security for the future. Besides these
+personal reasons, the leaders, who favoured this opinion, plausibly
+urged, that though, at his first descent into the Lowlands, Montrose
+might be superior to the enemy, yet every day's march he made from the
+hills must diminish his own forces, and expose him to the accumulated
+superiority of any army which the Covenanters could collect from the
+Lowland levies and garrisons. On the other hand, by crushing Argyle
+effectually, he would not only permit his present western friends to
+bring out that proportion of their forces which they must otherwise
+leave at home for protection of their families; but farther, he would
+draw to his standard several tribes already friendly to his cause, but
+who were prevented from joining him by fear of M'Callum More.
+
+These arguments, as we have already hinted, found something responsive
+in Montrose's own bosom, not quite consonant with the general heroism
+of his character. The houses of Argyle and Montrose had been in former
+times, repeatedly opposed to each other in war and in politics, and the
+superior advantages acquired by the former, had made them the subject
+of envy and dislike to the neighbouring family, who, conscious of equal
+desert, had not been so richly rewarded. This was not all. The existing
+heads of these rival families had stood in the most marked opposition to
+each other since the commencement of the present troubles.
+
+Montrose, conscious of the superiority of his talents, and of having
+rendered great service to the Covenanters at the beginning of the war,
+had expected from that party the supereminence of council and command,
+which they judged it safer to intrust to the more limited faculties,
+and more extensive power, of his rival Argyle. The having awarded this
+preference, was an injury which Montrose never forgave the Covenanters;
+and he was still less likely to extend his pardon to Argyle, to whom
+he had been postponed. He was therefore stimulated by every feeling of
+hatred which could animate a fiery temper in a fierce age, to seek for
+revenge upon the enemy of his house and person; and it is probable that
+these private motives operated not a little upon his mind, when he found
+the principal part of his followers determined rather to undertake an
+expedition against the territories of Argyle, than to take the far more
+decisive step of descending at once into the Lowlands.
+
+Yet whatever temptation Montrose found to carry into effect his attack
+upon Argyleshire, he could not easily bring himself to renounce the
+splendid achievement of a descent upon the Lowlands. He held more than
+one council with the principal Chiefs, combating, perhaps, his own
+secret inclination as well as theirs. He laid before them the extreme
+difficulty of marching even a Highland army from the eastward into
+Argyleshire, through passes scarcely practicable for shepherds and
+deer-stalkers, and over mountains, with which even the clans lying
+nearest to them did not pretend to be thoroughly acquainted. These
+difficulties were greatly enhanced by the season of the year, which was
+now advancing towards December, when the mountain-passes, in themselves
+so difficult, might be expected to be rendered utterly impassable by
+snowstorms. These objections neither satisfied nor silenced the Chiefs,
+who insisted upon their ancient mode of making war, by driving the
+cattle, which, according to the Gaelic phrase, "fed upon the grass
+of their enemy." The council was dismissed late at night, and without
+coming to any decision, excepting that the Chiefs, who supported the
+opinion that Argyle should be invaded, promised to seek out among their
+followers those who might be most capable of undertaking the office of
+guides upon the expedition.
+
+Montrose had retired to the cabin which served him for a tent, and
+stretched himself upon a bed of dry fern, the only place of repose which
+it afforded. But he courted sleep in vain, for the visions of ambition
+excluded those of Morpheus. In one moment he imagined himself displaying
+the royal banner from the reconquered Castle of Edinburgh, detaching
+assistance to a monarch whose crown depended upon his success, and
+receiving in requital all the advantages and preferments which could be
+heaped upon him whom a king delighteth to honour. At another time
+this dream, splendid as it was, faded before the vision of gratified
+vengeance, and personal triumph over a personal enemy. To surprise
+Argyle in his stronghold of Inverary--to crush in him at once the rival
+of his own house and the chief support of the Presbyterians--to show
+the Covenanters the difference between the preferred Argyle and the
+postponed Montrose, was a picture too flattering to feudal vengeance to
+be easily relinquished.
+
+While he lay thus busied with contradictory thoughts and feelings, the
+soldier who stood sentinel upon his quarters announced to the Marquis
+that two persons desired to speak with his Excellency.
+
+"Their names?" answered Montrose, "and the cause of their urgency at
+such a late hour?"
+
+On these points, the sentinel, who was one of Colkitto's Irishmen, could
+afford his General little information; so that Montrose, who at such a
+period durst refuse access to no one, lest he might have been neglecting
+some important intelligence, gave directions, as a necessary precaution,
+to put the guard under arms, and then prepared to receive his untimely
+visitors. His groom of the chambers had scarce lighted a pair of
+torches, and Montrose himself had scarce risen from his couch, when two
+men entered, one wearing a Lowland dress, of shamoy leather worn almost
+to tatters; the other a tall upright old Highlander, of a complexion
+which might be termed iron-grey, wasted and worn by frost and tempest.
+
+"What may be your commands with me, my friends?" said the Marquis, his
+hand almost unconsciously seeking the but of one of his pistols; for
+the period, as well as the time of night, warranted suspicions which the
+good mien of his visitors was not by any means calculated to remove.
+
+"I pray leave to congratulate you," said the Lowlander, "my most noble
+General, and right honourable lord, upon the great battles which you
+have achieved since I had the fortune to be detached from you, It was
+a pretty affair that tuilzie at Tippermuir; nevertheless, if I might be
+permitted to counsel--"
+
+"Before doing so," said the Marquis, "will you be pleased to let me know
+who is so kind as to favour me with his opinion?"
+
+"Truly, my lord," replied the man, "I should have hoped that was
+unnecessary, seeing it is not so long since I took on in your service,
+under promise of a commission as Major, with half a dollar of daily pay
+and half a dollar of arrears; and I am to trust your lordship has nut
+forgotten my pay as well as my person?"
+
+"My good friend, Major Dalgetty," said Montrose, who by this time
+perfectly recollected his man, "you must consider what important things
+have happened to put my friends' faces out of my memory, besides this
+imperfect light; but all conditions shall be kept.--And what news from
+Argyleshire, my good Major? We have long given you up for lost, and I
+was now preparing to take the most signal vengeance upon the old fox who
+infringed the law of arms in your person."
+
+"Truly, my noble lord," said Dalgetty, "I have no desire that my return
+should put any stop to so proper and becoming an intention; verily it
+is in no shape in the Earl of Argyle's favour or mercy that I now stand
+before you, and I shall be no intercessor for him. But my escape
+is, under Heaven, and the excellent dexterity which, as an old and
+accomplished cavalier, I displayed in effecting the same,--I say, under
+these, it is owing to the assistance of this old Highlander, whom
+I venture to recommend to your lordship's special favour, as the
+instrument of saving your lordship's to command, Dugald Dalgetty of
+Drumthwacket."
+
+"A thankworthy service," said the Marquis, gravely, "which shall
+certainly be requited in the manner it deserves."
+
+"Kneel down, Ranald," said Major Dalgetty (as we must now call him),
+"kneel down, and kiss his Excellency's hand."
+
+The prescribed form of acknowledgment not being according to the custom
+of Ranald's country, he contented himself with folding his arms on his
+bosom, and making a low inclination of his head.
+
+"This poor man, my lord," said Major Dalgetty, continuing his speech
+with a dignified air of protection towards Ranald M'Eagh, "has strained
+all his slender means to defend my person from mine enemies, although
+having no better weapons of a missile sort than bows and arrows, whilk
+your lordship will hardly believe."
+
+"You will see a great many such weapons in my camp," said Montrose, "and
+we find them serviceable." [In fact, for the admirers of archery it may
+be stated, not only that many of the Highlanders in Montrose's army used
+these antique missiles, but even in England the bow and quiver, once the
+glory of the bold yeomen of that land, were occasionally used during the
+great civil wars.]
+
+"Serviceable, my lord!" said Dalgetty; "I trust your lordship will
+permit me to be surprised--bows and arrows!--I trust you will forgive
+my recommending the substitution of muskets, the first convenient
+opportunity. But besides defending me, this honest Highlander also was
+at the pains of curing me, in respect that I had got a touch of the
+wars in my retreat, which merits my best requital in this special
+introduction of him to your lordship's notice and protection."
+
+"What is your name, my friend?" said Montrose, turning to the
+Highlander.
+
+"It may not be spoken," answered the mountaineer.
+
+"That is to say," interpreted Major Dalgetty, "he desires to have his
+name concealed, in respect he hath in former days taken a castle, slain
+certain children, and done other things, whilk, as your good lordship
+knows, are often practised in war time, but excite no benevolence
+towards the perpetrator in the friends of those who sustain injury. I
+have known, in my military experience, many brave cavaliers put to death
+by the boors, simply for having used military license upon the country."
+
+"I understand," said Montrose: "This person is at feud with some of our
+followers. Let him retire to the court of guard, and we will think of
+the best mode of protecting him."
+
+"You hear, Ranald," said Major Dalgetty, with an air of superiority,
+"his Excellency wishes to hold privy council with me, you must go to the
+court of guard.--He does not know where that is, poor fellow!--he is
+a young soldier for so old a man; I will put him under the charge of
+a sentinel, and return to your lordship incontinent." He did so, and
+returned accordingly.
+
+Montrose's first enquiry respected the embassy to Inverary; and he
+listened with attention to Dalgetty's reply, notwithstanding the
+prolixity of the Major's narrative. It required an effort from the
+Marquis to maintain his attention; but no one better knew, that where
+information is to be derived from the report of such agents as Dalgetty,
+it can only be obtained by suffering them to tell their story in their
+own way. Accordingly the Marquis's patience was at length rewarded.
+Among other spoils which the Captain thought himself at liberty to take,
+was a packet of Argyle's private papers. These he consigned to the hands
+of his General; a humour of accounting, however, which went no farther,
+for I do not understand that he made any mention of the purse of gold
+which he had appropriated at the same time that he made seizure of the
+papers aforesaid. Snatching a torch from the wall, Montrose was in an
+instant deeply engaged in the perusal of these documents, in which it is
+probable he found something to animate his personal resentment against
+his rival Argyle.
+
+"Does he not fear me?" said he; "then he shall feel me. Will he fire my
+castle of Murdoch?--Inverary shall raise the first smoke.--O for a guide
+through the skirts of Strath-Fillan!"
+
+Whatever might be Dalgetty's personal conceit, he understood his
+business sufficiently to guess at Montrose's meaning. He instantly
+interrupted his own prolix narration of the skirmish which had taken
+place, and the wound he had received in his retreat, and began to speak
+to the point which he saw interested his General.
+
+"If," said he, "your Excellency wishes to make an infall into
+Argyleshire, this poor man, Ranald, of whom I told you, together with
+his children and companions, know every pass into that land, both
+leading from the east and from the north."
+
+"Indeed!" said Montrose; "what reason have you to believe their
+knowledge so extensive?"
+
+"So please your Excellency," answered Dalgetty, "during the weeks that I
+remained with them for cure of my wound, they were repeatedly obliged
+to shift their quarters, in respect of Argyle's repeated attempts to
+repossess himself of the person of an officer who was honoured with Your
+Excellency's confidence; so that I had occasion to admire the singular
+dexterity and knowledge of the face of the country with which they
+alternately achieved their retreat and their advance; and when, at
+length, I was able to repair to your Excellency's standard, this honest
+simple creature, Ranald MacEagh, guided me by paths which my steed
+Gustavus (which your lordship may remember) trode with perfect safety,
+so that I said to myself, that where guides, spies, or intelligencers,
+were required in a Highland campaign in that western country, more
+expert persons than he and his attendants could not possibly be
+desired."
+
+"And can you answer for this man's fidelity?" said Montrose; "what is
+his name and condition?"
+
+"He is an outlaw and robber by profession, something also of a homicide
+or murderer," answered Dalgetty; "and by name, called Ranald MacEagh;
+whilk signifies, Ranald, the Son of the Mist."
+
+"I should remember something of that name," said Montrose, pausing: "Did
+not these Children of the Mist perpetrate some act of cruelty upon the
+M'Aulays?"
+
+Major Dalgetty mentioned the circumstance of the murder of the forester,
+and Montrose's active memory at once recalled all the circumstances of
+the feud.
+
+"It is most unlucky," said Montrose, "this inexpiable quarrel between
+these men and the M'Aulays. Allan has borne himself bravely in these
+wars, and possesses, by the wild mystery of his behaviour and
+language, so much influence over the minds of his countrymen, that the
+consequences of disobliging him might be serious. At the same time,
+these men being so capable of rendering useful service, and being as you
+say, Major Dalgetty, perfectly trustworthy--"
+
+"I will pledge my pay and arrears, my horse and arms, my head and neck,
+upon their fidelity," said the Major; "and your Excellency knows, that a
+soldado could say no more for his own father."
+
+"True," said Montrose; "but as this is a matter of particular moment, I
+would willingly know the grounds of so positive an assurance."
+
+"Concisely then, my lord," said the Major, "not only did they disdain to
+profit by a handsome reward which Argyle did me the honour to place upon
+this poor head of mine, and not only did they abstain from pillaging
+my personal property, whilk was to an amount that would have tempted
+regular soldiers in any service of Europe; and not only did they restore
+me my horse, whilk your Excellency knows to be of value, but I could not
+prevail on them to accept one stiver, doit, or maravedi, for the trouble
+and expenses of my sick bed. They actually refused my coined money when
+freely offered,--a tale seldom to be told in a Christian land."
+
+"I admit," said Montrose, after a moment's reflection, "that their
+conduct towards you is good evidence of their fidelity; but how to
+secure against the breaking out of this feud?" He paused, and then
+suddenly added, "I had forgot I have supped, while you, Major, have been
+travelling by moonlight."
+
+He called to his attendants to fetch a stoup of wine and some
+refreshments. Major Dalgetty, who had the appetite of a convalescent
+returned from Highland quarters, needed not any pressing to partake of
+what was set before him, but proceeded to dispatch his food with such
+alacrity, that the Marquis, filling a cup of wine, and drinking to his
+health, could not help remarking, that coarse as the provisions of his
+camp were, he was afraid Major Dalgetty had fared much worse during his
+excursion into Argyleshire.
+
+"Your Excellency may take your corporal oath upon that," said the worthy
+Major, speaking with his mouth full; "for Argyle's bread and water are
+yet stale and mouldy in my recollection, and though they did their
+best, yet the viands that the Children of the Mist procured for me, poor
+helpless creatures as they were, were so unrefreshful to my body, that
+when enclosed in my armour, whilk I was fain to leave behind me for
+expedition's sake, I rattled therein like the shrivelled kernel in a nut
+that hath been kept on to a second Hallowe'en."
+
+"You must take the due means to repair these losses, Major Dalgetty."
+
+"In troth," answered the soldier, "I shall hardly be able to compass
+that, unless my arrears are to be exchanged for present pay; for I
+protest to your Excellency, that the three stone weight which I have
+lost were simply raised upon the regular accountings of the States of
+Holland."
+
+"In that case," said the Marquis, "you are only reduced to good marching
+order. As for the pay, let us once have victory--victory, Major, and
+your wishes, and all our wishes, shall be amply fulfilled. Meantime,
+help yourself to another cup of wine."
+
+"To your Excellency's health," said the Major, filling a cup to the
+brim, to show the zeal with which he drank the toast, "and victory over
+all our enemies, and particularly over Argyle! I hope to twitch another
+handful from his board myself--I have had one pluck at it already."
+
+"Very true," answered Montrose; "but to return to those men of the Mist.
+You understand, Dalgetty, that their presence here, and the purpose for
+which we employ them, is a secret between you and me?"
+
+Delighted, as Montrose had anticipated, with this mark of his
+General's confidence, the Major laid his hand upon his nose, and nodded
+intelligence.
+
+"How many may there be of Ranald's followers?" continued the Marquis.
+
+"They are reduced, so far as I know, to some eight or ten men," answered
+Major Dalgetty, "and a few women and children."
+
+"Where are they now?" demanded Montrose.
+
+"In a valley, at three miles' distance," answered the soldier, "awaiting
+your Excellency's command; I judged it not fit to bring them to your
+leaguer without your Excellency's orders."
+
+"You judged very well," said Montrose; "it would be proper that they
+remain where they are, or seek some more distant place of refuge. I will
+send them money, though it is a scarce article with me at present."
+
+"It is quite unnecessary," said Major Dalgetty; "your Excellency has
+only to hint that the M'Aulays are going in that direction, and my
+friends of the Mist will instantly make volte-face, and go to the right
+about."
+
+"That were scarce courteous," said the Marquis. "Better send them a few
+dollars to purchase them some cattle for the support of the women and
+children."
+
+"They know how to come by their cattle at a far cheaper rate," said the
+Major; "but let it be as your Excellency wills."
+
+"Let Ranald MacEagh," said Montrose, "select one or two of his
+followers, men whom he can trust, and who are capable of keeping their
+own secret and ours; these, with their chief for scout-master-general,
+shall serve for our guides. Let them be at my tent to-morrow at
+daybreak, and see, if possible, that they neither guess my purpose, nor
+hold any communication with each other in private.--This old man, has he
+any children?"
+
+"They have been killed or hanged," answered the Major, "to the number of
+a round dozen, as I believe--but he hath left one grand-child, a smart
+and hopeful youth, whom I have noted to be never without a pebble in
+his plaid-nook, to fling at whatsoever might come in his way; being
+a symbol, that, like David, who was accustomed to sling smooth stones
+taken from the brook, he may afterwards prove an adventurous warrior."
+
+"That boy, Major Dalgetty," said the Marquis, "I will have to attend
+upon my own person. I presume he will have sense enough to keep his name
+secret?"
+
+"Your Excellency need not fear that," answered Dalgetty; "these Highland
+imps, from the moment they chip the shell--"
+
+"Well," interrupted Montrose, "that boy shall be pledge for the fidelity
+of his parent, and if he prove faithful, the child's preferment shall be
+his reward.--And now, Major Dalgetty, I will license your departure for
+the night; tomorrow you will introduce this MacEagh, under any name or
+character he may please to assume. I presume his profession has rendered
+him sufficiently expert in all sort of disguises; or we may admit
+John of Moidart into our schemes, who has sense, practicability,
+and intelligence, and will probably allow this man for a time to be
+disguised as one of his followers. For you, Major, my groom of the
+chambers will be your quarter-master for this evening."
+
+Major Dalgetty took his leave with a joyful heart greatly elated with
+the reception he had met with, and much pleased with the personal
+manners of his new General, which, as he explained at great length to
+Ranald MacEagh, reminded him in many respects of the demeanour of the
+immortal Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and Bulwark of the
+Protestant Faith.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+     The march begins in military state,
+     And nations on his eyes suspended wait;
+     Stern famine guards the solitary coast,
+     And winter barricades the realms of frost.
+     He comes,--nor want, nor cold, his course delay.
+     --VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES.
+
+By break of day Montrose received in his cabin old MacEagh, and
+questioned him long and particularly as to the means of approaching the
+country of Argyle. He made a note of his answers, which he compared with
+those of two of his followers, whom he introduced as the most prudent
+and experienced. He found them to correspond in all respects; but, still
+unsatisfied where precaution was so necessary, the Marquis compared the
+information he had received with that he was able to collect from the
+Chiefs who lay most near to the destined scene of invasion, and being in
+all respects satisfied of its accuracy, he resolved to proceed in full
+reliance upon it.
+
+In one point Montrose changed his mind. Having judged it unfit to take
+the boy Kenneth into his own service, lest, in case of his birth being
+discovered, it should be resented as an offence by the numerous clans
+who entertained a feudal enmity to this devoted family, he requested the
+Major to take him in attendance upon himself; and as he accompanied
+this request with a handsome DOUCEUR, under pretence of clothing and
+equipping the lad, this change was agreeable to all parties.
+
+It was about breakfast-time, when Major Dalgetty, being dismissed by
+Montrose, went in quest of his old acquaintances, Lord Menteith and the
+M'Aulays, to whom he longed to communicate his own adventures, as
+well as to learn from them the particulars of the campaign. It may
+be imagined he was received with great glee by men to whom the late
+uniformity of their military life had rendered any change of society
+an interesting novelty. Allan M'Aulay alone seemed to recoil from his
+former acquaintance, although, when challenged by his brother, he could
+render no other reason than a reluctance to be familiar with one who
+had been so lately in the company of Argyle, and other enemies. Major
+Dalgetty was a little alarmed by this sort of instinctive consciousness
+which Allan seemed to entertain respecting the society he had been
+lately keeping; he was soon satisfied, however, that the perceptions of
+the seer in this particular were not infallible.
+
+As Ranald MacEagh was to be placed under Major Dalgetty's protection and
+superintendence, it was necessary he should present him to those persons
+with whom he was most likely to associate. The dress of the old man had,
+in the meantime, been changed from the tartan of his clan to a sort
+of clothing peculiar to the men of the distant Isles, resembling a
+waistcoat with sleeves, and a petticoat, all made in one piece. This
+dress was laced from top to bottom in front, and bore some resemblance
+to that called Polonaise, still worn by children in Scotland of the
+lower rank. The tartan hose and bonnet completed the dress, which old
+men of the last century remembered well to have seen worn by the distant
+Islesmen who came to the Earl of Mar's standard in the year 1715.
+
+Major Dalgetty, keeping his eye on Allan as he spoke, introduced Ranald
+MacEagh under the fictitious name of Ranald MacGillihuron in Benbecula,
+who had escaped with him out of Argyle's prison. He recommended him as
+a person skilful in the arts of the harper and the senachie, and by no
+means contemptible in the quality of a second-sighted person or seer.
+While making this exposition, Major Dalgetty stammered and hesitated in
+a way so unlike the usual glib forwardness of his manner, that he could
+not have failed to have given suspicion to Allan M'Aulay, had not that
+person's whole attention been engaged in steadily perusing the
+features of the person thus introduced to him. This steady gaze so much
+embarrassed Ranald MacEagh, that his hand was beginning to sink down
+towards his dagger, in expectation of a hostile assault, when Allan,
+suddenly crossing the floor of the hut, extended his hand to him in the
+way of friendly greeting. They sat down side by side, and conversed in
+a low mysterious tone of voice. Menteith and Angus M'Aulay were not
+surprised at this, for there prevailed among the Highlanders who
+pretended to the second-sight, a sort of Freemasonry, which generally
+induced them, upon meeting, to hold communication with each other on the
+nature and extent of their visionary experiences.
+
+"Does the sight come gloomy upon your spirits?" said Allan to his new
+acquaintance.
+
+"As dark as the shadow upon the moon," replied Ranald, "when she is
+darkened in her mid-course in heaven, and prophets foretell of evil
+times."
+
+"Come hither," said Allan, "come more this way, I would converse with
+you apart; for men say that in your distant islands the sight is poured
+forth with more clearness and power than upon us, who dwell near the
+Sassenach."
+
+While they were plunged into their mystic conference, the two English
+cavaliers entered the cabin in the highest possible spirits, and
+announced to Angus M'Aulay that orders had been issued that all should
+hold themselves in readiness for an immediate march to the westward.
+Having delivered themselves of their news with much glee, they paid
+their compliments to their old acquaintance Major Dalgetty, whom they
+instantly recognised, and enquired after the health of his charger,
+Gustavus.
+
+"I humbly thank you, gentlemen," answered the soldier, "Gustavas is
+well, though, like his master, somewhat barer on the ribs than when you
+offered to relieve me of him at Darnlinvarach; and let me assure you,
+that before you have made one or two of those marches which you seem to
+contemplate with so much satisfaction in prospect, you will leave, my
+good knights, some of your English beef, and probably an English horse
+or two, behind you."
+
+Both exclaimed that they cared very little what they found or what they
+left, provided the scene changed from dogging up and down Angus and
+Aberdeenshire, in pursuit of an enemy who would neither fight nor run
+away.
+
+"If such be the case," said Angus M'Aulay, "I must give orders to my
+followers, and make provision too for the safe conveyance of Annot Lyle;
+for an advance into M'Callum More's country will be a farther and fouler
+road than these pinks of Cumbrian knighthood are aware of." So saying,
+he left the cabin.
+
+"Annot Lyle!" repeated Dalgetty, "is she following the campaign?"
+
+"Surely," replied Sir Giles Musgrave, his eye glancing slightly from
+Lord Menteith to Allan M'Aulay; "we could neither march nor fight,
+advance nor retreat, without the influence of the Princess of Harps."
+
+"The Princess of Broadswords and Targets, I say," answered his
+companion; "for the Lady of Montrose herself could not be more
+courteously waited upon; she has four Highland maidens, and as many
+bare-legged gillies, to wait upon her orders."
+
+"And what would you have, gentlemen?" said Allan, turning suddenly from
+the Highlander with whom he was in conversation; "would you yourselves
+have left an innocent female, the companion of your infancy, to die by
+violence, or perish by famine? There is not, by this time, a roof upon
+the habitation of my fathers--our crops have been destroyed, and our
+cattle have been driven--and you, gentlemen, have to bless God, that,
+coming from a milder and more civilized country, you expose only your
+own lives in this remorseless war, without apprehension that your
+enemies will visit with their vengeance the defenceless pledges you may
+have left behind you."
+
+The Englishmen cordially agreed that they had the superiority in this
+respect; and the company, now dispersing, went each to his several
+charge or occupation.
+
+Allan lingered a moment behind, still questioning the reluctant Ranald
+MacEagh upon a point in his supposed visions, by which he was greatly
+perplexed. "Repeatedly," he said, "have I had the sight of a Gael, who
+seemed to plunge his weapon into the body of Menteith,--of that young
+nobleman in the scarlet laced cloak, who has just now left the bothy.
+But by no effort, though I have gazed till my eyes were almost fixed
+in the sockets, can I discover the face of this Highlander, or even
+conjecture who he may be, although his person and air seem familiar to
+me." [See Note II.--Wraiths.]
+
+"Have you reversed your own plaid," said Ranald, "according to the rule
+of the experienced Seers in such case?"
+
+"I have," answered Allan, speaking low, and shuddering as if with
+internal agony.
+
+"And in what guise did the phantom then appear to you?" said Ranald.
+
+"With his plaid also reversed," answered Allan, in the same low and
+convulsed tone.
+
+"Then be assured," said Ranald, "that your own hand, and none other,
+will do the deed of which you have witnessed the shadow."
+
+"So has my anxious soul a hundred times surmised," replied Allan. "But
+it is impossible! Were I to read the record in the eternal book of fate,
+I would declare it impossible--we are bound by the ties of blood, and by
+a hundred ties more intimate--we have stood side by side in battle,
+and our swords have reeked with the blood of the same enemies--it is
+IMPOSSIBLE I should harm him!"
+
+"That you WILL do so," answered Ranald, "is certain, though the cause be
+hid in the darkness of futurity. You say," he continued, suppressing his
+own emotions with difficulty, "that side by side you have pursued your
+prey like bloodhounds--have you never seen bloodhounds turn their fangs
+against each other, and fight over the body of a throttled deer?"
+
+"It is false!" said M'Aulay, starting up, "these are not the forebodings
+of fate, but the temptation of some evil spirit from the bottomless
+pit!" So saying, he strode out of the cabin.
+
+"Thou hast it!" said the Son of the Mist, looking after him with an
+air of exultation; "the barbed arrow is in thy side! Spirits of the
+slaughtered, rejoice! soon shall your murderers' swords be dyed in each
+other's blood."
+
+On the succeeding morning all was prepared, and Montrose advanced by
+rapid marches up the river Tay, and poured his desultory forces into the
+romantic vale around the lake of the same name, which lies at the head
+of that river. The inhabitants were Campbells, not indeed the vassals
+of Argyle, but of the allied and kindred house of Glenorchy, which
+now bears the name of Breadalbane. Being taken by surprise, they were
+totally unprepared for resistance, and were compelled to be passive
+witnesses of the ravages which took place among their flocks and herds.
+Advancing in this manner to the vale of Loch Dochart, and laying waste
+the country around him, Montrose reached the most difficult point of his
+enterprise.
+
+To a modern army, even with the assistance of the good military road
+which now leads up by Teinedrum to the head of Loch Awe, the passage of
+these extensive wilds would seem a task of some difficulty. But at this
+period, and for long afterwards, there was no road or path whatsoever;
+and to add to the difficulty, the mountains were already covered with
+snow. It was a sublime scene to look up to them, piled in great masses,
+one upon another, the front rank of dazzling whiteness, while those
+which arose behind them caught a rosy tint from the setting of a clear
+wintry sun. Ben Cruachan, superior in magnitude, and seeming the very
+citadel of the Genius of the Region, rose high above the others, showing
+his glimmering and scathed peak to the distance of many miles.
+
+The followers of Montrose were men not to be daunted by the sublime, yet
+terrible prospect before them. Many of them were of that ancient race
+of Highlanders, who not only willingly made their couch in the snow,
+but considered it as effeminate luxury to use a snowball for a pillow.
+Plunder and revenge lay beyond the frozen mountains which they beheld,
+and they did not permit themselves to be daunted by the difficulty of
+traversing them. Montrose did not allow their spirits time to subside.
+He ordered the pipes to play in the van the ancient pibroch entitled,
+"HOGGIL NAM BO," etc. (that is, We come through snow-drift to drive the
+prey), the shrilling sounds of which had often struck the vales of the
+Lennox with terror. [It is the family-march of the M'Farlanes, a warlike
+and predatory clan, who inhabited the western banks of Loch-Lomond.
+See WAVERLY, Note XV.] The troops advanced with the nimble alacrity
+of mountaineers, and were soon involved in the dangerous pass, through
+which Ranald acted as their guide, going before them with a select
+party, to track out the way.
+
+The power of man at no time appears more contemptible than when it
+is placed in contrast with scenes of natural terror and dignity. The
+victorious army of Montrose, whose exploits had struck terror into all
+Scotland, when ascending up this terrific pass, seemed a contemptible
+handful of stragglers, in the act of being devoured by the jaws of the
+mountain, which appeared ready to close upon them. Even Montrose half
+repented the boldness of his attempt, as he looked down from the summit
+of the first eminence which he attained, upon the scattered condition
+of his small army. The difficulty of getting forward was so great, that
+considerable gaps began to occur in the line of march, and the distance
+between the van, centre, and rear, was each moment increased in a degree
+equally incommodious and dangerous. It was with great apprehension that
+Montrose looked upon every point of advantage which the hill afforded,
+in dread it might be found occupied by an enemy prepared for defence;
+and he often afterwards was heard to express his conviction, that had
+the passes of Strath-Fillan been defended by two hundred resolute men,
+not only would his progress have been effectually stopped, but his army
+must have been in danger of being totally cut off. Security, however,
+the bane of many a strong country and many a fortress, betrayed, on this
+occasion, the district of Argyle to his enemies. The invaders had only
+to contend with the natural difficulties of the path, and with the snow,
+which, fortunately, had not fallen in any great quantity. The army no
+sooner reached the summit of the ridge of hills dividing Argyleshire
+from the district of Breadalbane, than they rushed down upon the devoted
+vales beneath them with a fury sufficiently expressive of the motives
+which had dictated a movement so difficult and hazardous.
+
+Montrose divided his army into three bodies, in order to produce a wider
+and more extensive terror, one of which was commanded by the Captain
+of Clan Ranald, one intrusted to the leading of Colkitto, and the third
+remained under his own direction. He was thus enabled to penetrate the
+country of Argyle at three different points. Resistance there was none.
+The flight of the shepherds from the hills had first announced in the
+peopled districts this formidable irruption, and wherever the clansmen
+were summoned out, they were killed, disarmed, and dispersed, by an
+enemy who had anticipated their motions. Major Dalgetty, who had been
+sent forward against Inverary with the few horse of the army that were
+fit for service, managed his matters so well, that he had very nearly
+surprised Argyle, as he expressed it, INTER POCULA; and it was only a
+rapid flight by water which saved that chief from death or captivity.
+But the punishment which Argyle himself escaped fell heavily upon his
+country and clan, and the ravages committed by Montrose on that devoted
+land, although too consistent with the genius of the country and times,
+have been repeatedly and justly quoted as a blot on his actions and
+character.
+
+Argyle in the meantime had fled to Edinburgh, to lay his complaints
+before the Convention of Estates. To meet the exigence of the moment,
+a considerable army was raised under General Baillie, a Presbyterian
+officer of skill and fidelity, with whom was joined in command the
+celebrated Sir John Urrie, a soldier of fortune like Dalgetty, who had
+already changed sides twice during the Civil War, and was destined to
+turn his coat a third time before it was ended. Argyle also, burning
+with indignation, proceeded to levy his own numerous forces, in order to
+avenge himself of his feudal enemy. He established his head-quarters at
+Dunbarton, where he was soon joined by a considerable force, consisting
+chiefly of his own clansmen and dependants. Being there joined by
+Baillie and Urrie, with a very considerable army of regular forces,
+he prepared to march into Argyleshire, and chastise the invader of his
+paternal territories.
+
+But Montrose, while these two formidable armies were forming a junction,
+had been recalled from that ravaged country by the approach of a third,
+collected in the north under the Earl of Seaforth, who, after some
+hesitation, having embraced the side of the Covenanters, had now,
+with the assistance of the veteran garrison of Inverness, formed
+a considerable army, with which he threatened Montrose from
+Inverness-shire. Enclosed in a wasted and unfriendly country, and
+menaced on each side by advancing enemies of superior force, it might
+have been supposed that Montrose's destruction was certain. But these
+were precisely the circumstances under which the active and enterprising
+genius of the Great Marquis was calculated to excite the wonder and
+admiration of his friends, the astonishment and terror of his enemies.
+As if by magic, he collected his scattered forces from the wasteful
+occupation in which they had been engaged; and scarce were they again
+united, ere Argyle and his associate generals were informed, that the
+royalists, having suddenly disappeared from Argyleshire, had retreated
+northwards among the dusky and impenetrable mountains of Lochaber.
+
+The sagacity of the generals opposed to Montrose immediately
+conjectured, that it was the purpose of their active antagonist to fight
+with, and, if possible, to destroy Seaforth, ere they could come to his
+assistance. This occasioned a corresponding change in their operations.
+Leaving this chieftain to make the best defence he could, Urrie and
+Baillie again separated their forces from those of Argyle; and, having
+chiefly horse and Lowland troops under their command, they kept the
+southern side of the Grampian ridge, moving along eastward into the
+county of Angus, resolving from thence to proceed into Aberdeenshire,
+in order to intercept Montrose, if he should attempt to escape in that
+direction.
+
+Argyle, with his own levies and other troops, undertook to follow
+Montrose's march; so that, in case he should come to action either with
+Seaforth, or with Baillie and Urrie, he might be placed between two
+fires by this third army, which, at a secure distance, was to hang upon
+his rear.
+
+For this purpose, Argyle once more moved towards Inverary, having an
+opportunity, at every step, to deplore the severities which the hostile
+clans had exercised on his dependants and country. Whatever noble
+qualities the Highlanders possessed, and they had many, clemency in
+treating a hostile country was not of the number; but even the ravages
+of hostile troops combined to swell the number of Argyle's followers.
+It is still a Highland proverb, He whose house is burnt must become a
+soldier; and hundreds of the inhabitants of these unfortunate valleys
+had now no means of maintenance, save by exercising upon others the
+severities they had themselves sustained, and no future prospect of
+happiness, excepting in the gratification of revenge. His bands were,
+therefore, augmented by the very circumstances which had desolated his
+country, and Argyle soon found himself at the head of three thousand
+determined men, distinguished for activity and courage, and commanded by
+gentlemen of his own name, who yielded to none in those qualities. Under
+himself, he conferred the principal command upon Sir Duncan Campbell of
+Ardenvohr, and another Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchenbreck, [This last
+character is historical] an experienced and veteran soldier, whom he had
+recalled from the wars of Ireland for this purpose. The cold spirit
+of Argyle himself, however, clogged the military councils of his
+more intrepid assistants; and it was resolved, notwithstanding their
+increased force, to observe the same plan of operations, and to follow
+Montrose cautiously, in whatever direction he should march, avoiding an
+engagement until an opportunity should occur of falling upon his rear,
+while he should be engaged with another enemy in front.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+     Piobracht au Donuil-dhu,
+     Piobrachet au Donuil,
+     Piobrachet agus S'breittach
+     Feacht an Innerlochy.
+
+     The war-tune of Donald the Black,
+     The war-tune of Black Donald,
+     The pipes and the banner
+     Are up in the rendezvous of Inverlochy.
+
+The military road connecting the chains of forts, as it is called, and
+running in the general line of the present Caledonian Canal, has now
+completely opened the great glen, or chasm, extending almost across
+the whole island, once doubtless filled by the sea, and still affording
+basins for that long line of lakes, by means of which modern art has
+united the German and Atlantic Oceans. The paths or tracks by which the
+natives traversed this extensive valley, were, in 1645-6, in the same
+situation as when they awaked the strain of an Irish engineer officer,
+who had been employed in converting them into practicable military
+roads, and whose eulogium begins, and, for aught I know, ends, as
+follows:
+
+Had you seen but these roads before they were made, You would have held
+up your hands and bless'd General Wade.
+
+But, bad as the ordinary paths were, Montrose avoided them, and led
+his army, like a herd of wild deer, from mountain to mountain, and from
+forest to forest, where his enemies could learn nothing of his motions,
+while he acquired the most perfect knowledge respecting theirs from the
+friendly clans of Cameron and M'Donnell, whose mountainous districts he
+now traversed. Strict orders had been given that Argyle's advance should
+be watched, and that all intelligence respecting his motions should be
+communicated instantly to the General himself.
+
+It was a moonlight night, and Montrose, worn out by the fatigues of
+the day, was laid down to sleep in a miserable shieling. He had only
+slumbered two hours, when some one touched his shoulder. He looked up,
+and, by the stately form and deep voice, easily recognised the Chief of
+the Camerons.
+
+"I have news for you," said that leader, "which is worth while to arise
+and listen to."
+
+"M'Ilduy [Mhich-Connel Dhu, the descendant of Black Donald.] can
+bring no other," said Montrose, addressing the Chief by his patronymic
+title--"are they good or bad?"
+
+"As you may take them," said the Chieftain.
+
+"Are they certain?" demanded Montrose.
+
+"Yes," answered M'Ilduy, "or another messenger should have brought them.
+Know that, tired with the task imposed upon me of accompanying that
+unhappy Dalgetty and his handful of horse, who detained me for hours
+on the march at the pace of a crippled badger, I made a stretch of four
+miles with six of my people in the direction of Inverlochy, and there
+met with Ian of Glenroy, who had been out for intelligence. Argyle is
+moving upon Inverlochy with three thousand chosen men, commanded by the
+flower of the sons of Diarmid.--These are my news--they are certain--it
+is for you to construe their purport."
+
+"Their purport must be good," answered Montrose, readily and cheerfully;
+"the voice of M'Ilduy is ever pleasant in the ears of Montrose, and most
+pleasant when it speaks of some brave enterprise at hand--What are our
+musters?"
+
+He then called for light, and easily ascertained that a great part of
+his followers having, as usual, dispersed to secure their booty, he had
+not with him above twelve or fourteen hundred men.
+
+"Not much above a third," said Montrose, pausing, "of Argyle's force,
+and Highlanders opposed to Highlanders.--With the blessing of God upon
+the royal cause, I would not hesitate were the odds but one to two."
+
+"Then do not hesitate," said Cameron; "for when your trumpets shall
+sound to attack M'Callum More, not a man of these glens will remain deaf
+to the summons. Glengarry--Keppoch--I myself--would destroy, with
+fire and sword, the wretch who should remain behind under any pretence
+whatsoever. To-morrow, or the next day, shall be a day of battle to all
+who bear the name of M'Donnell or Cameron, whatever be the event."
+
+"It is gallantly said, my noble friend," said Montrose, grasping his
+hand, "and I were worse than a coward did I not do justice to such
+followers, by entertaining the most indubitable hopes of success. We
+will turn back on this M'Callum More, who follows us like a raven to
+devour the relics of our army, should we meet braver men who may be able
+to break its strength! Let the Chiefs and leaders be called together as
+quickly as possible; and you, who have brought us the first news of this
+joyful event,--for such it shall be,--you, M'Ilduy, shall bring it to
+a joyful issue, by guiding us the best and nearest road against our
+enemy."
+
+"That will I willingly do," said M'Ilduy; "if I have shown you paths by
+which to retreat through these dusky wilds, with far more readiness will
+I teach you how to advance against your foe."
+
+A general bustle now prevailed, and the leaders were everywhere startled
+from the rude couches on which they had sought temporary repose.
+
+"I never thought," said Major Dalgetty, when summoned up from a handful
+of rugged heather roots, "to have parted from a bed as hard as a
+stable-broom with such bad will; but, indubitably, having but one man
+of military experience in his army, his Excellency the Marquis may be
+vindicated in putting him upon hard duty."
+
+So saying, he repaired to the council, where, notwithstanding his
+pedantry, Montrose seemed always to listen to him with considerable
+attention; partly because the Major really possessed military knowledge
+and experience, and often made suggestions which were found of
+advantage, and partly because it relieved the General from the necessity
+of deferring entirely to the opinion of the Highland Chiefs, and gave
+him additional ground for disputing it when it was not agreeable to
+his own. On the present occasion, Dalgetty joyfully acquiesced in the
+proposal of marching back and confronting Argyle, which he compared to
+the valiant resolution of the great Gustavus, who moved against the
+Duke of Bavaria, and enriched his troops by the plunder of that fertile
+country, although menaced from the northward by the large army which
+Wallenstein had assembled in Bohemia.
+
+The Chiefs of Glengarry, Keppoch, and Lochiel, whose clans, equal
+in courage and military fame to any in the Highlands, lay within the
+neighbourhood of the scene of action, dispatched the fiery cross through
+their vassals, to summon every one who could bear arms to meet the
+King's lieutenant, and to join the standards of their respective Chiefs,
+as they marched towards Inverlochy. As the order was emphatically given,
+it was speedily and willingly obeyed. Their natural love of war, their
+zeal for the royal cause,--for they viewed the King in the light of
+a chief whom his clansmen had deserted,--as well as their implicit
+obedience to their own patriarch, drew in to Montrose's army not only
+all in the neighbourhood who were able to bear arms, but some who, in
+age at least, might have been esteemed past the use of them. During the
+next day's march, which, being directed straight through the mountains
+of Lochaber, was unsuspected by the enemy, his forces were augmented by
+handfuls of men issuing from each glen, and ranging themselves under
+the banners of their respective Chiefs. This was a circumstance highly
+inspiriting to the rest of the army, who, by the time they approached
+the enemy, found their strength increased considerably more than
+one-fourth, as had been prophesied by the valiant leader of the
+Camerons.
+
+While Montrose executed this counter-march, Argyle had, at the head of
+his gallant army, advanced up the southern side of Loch-Eil, and reached
+the river Lochy, which combines that lake with Loch-Lochy. The ancient
+Castle of Inverlochy, once, as it is said, a royal fortress, and still,
+although dismantled, a place of some strength and consideration, offered
+convenient head-quarters, and there was ample room for Argyle's army to
+encamp around him in the valley, where the Lochy joins Loch-Eil. Several
+barges had attended, loaded with provisions, so that they were in every
+respect as well accommodated as such an army wished or expected to be.
+Argyle, in council with Auchenbreck and Ardenvohr, expressed his full
+confidence that Montrose was now on the brink of destruction; that his
+troops must gradually diminish as he moved eastward through such uncouth
+paths; that if he went westward, he must encounter Urrie and Baillie;
+if northward, fall into the hands of Seaforth; or should he choose any
+halting-place, he would expose himself to be attacked by three armies at
+once.
+
+"I cannot rejoice in the prospect, my lord," said Auchebreck, "that
+James Grahame will be crushed with little assistance of ours. He has
+left a heavy account in Argyleshire against him, and I long to reckon
+with him drop of blood for drop of blood. I love not the payment of such
+debts by third hands."
+
+"You are too scrupulous," said Argyle; "what signifies it by whose
+hands the blood of the Grahames is spilt? It is time that of the sons of
+Diarmid should cease to flow.--What say you, Ardenvohr?"
+
+"I say, my lord," replied Sir Duncan, "that I think Auchenbreck will
+be gratified, and will himself have a personal opportunity of settling
+accounts with Montrose for his depredations. Reports have reached our
+outposts that the Camerons are assembling their full strength on the
+skirts of Ben-Nevis; this must be to join the advance of Montrose, and
+not to cover his retreat."
+
+"It must be some scheme of harassing and depredation," said Argyle,
+"devised by the inveterate malignity of M'Ilduy, which he terms
+loyalty. They can intend no more than an attack on our outposts, or some
+annoyance to to-morrow's march."
+
+"I have sent out scouts," said Sir Duncan, "in every direction, to
+procure intelligence; and we must soon hear whether they really do
+assemble any force, upon what point, or with what purpose."
+
+It was late ere any tidings were received; but when the moon had arisen,
+a considerable bustle in the camp, and a noise immediately after heard
+in the castle, announced the arrival of important intelligence. Of the
+scouts first dispersed by Ardenvohr, some had returned without being
+able to collect anything, save uncertain rumours concerning movements
+in the country of the Camerons. It seemed as if the skirts of Ben-Nevis
+were sending forth those unaccountable and portentous sounds with which
+they sometimes announce the near approach of a storm. Others, whose zeal
+carried them farther upon their mission, were entrapped and slain, or
+made prisoners, by the inhabitants of the fastnesses into which they
+endeavoured to penetrate. At length, on the rapid advance of Montrose's
+army, his advanced guard and the outposts of Argyle became aware of each
+other's presence, and after exchanging a few musket-shots and arrows,
+fell back to their respective main bodies, to convey intelligence and
+receive orders.
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell, and Auchenbreck, instantly threw themselves on
+horseback, in order to visit the state of the outposts; and Argyle
+maintained his character of commander-in-chief with reputation, by
+making a respectable arrangement of his forces in the plain, as it was
+evident that they might now expect a night alarm, or an attack in the
+morning at farthest. Montrose had kept his forces so cautiously within
+the defiles of the mountain, that no effort which Auchenbreck or
+Ardenvohr thought it prudent to attempt, could ascertain his probable
+strength. They were aware, however, that, at the utmost computation, it
+must be inferior to their own, and they returned to Argyle to inform
+him of the amount of their observations; but that nobleman refused to
+believe that Montrose could be in presence himself. He said, "It was
+a madness, of which even James Grahame, in his height of presumptuous
+frenzy, was incapable; and he doubted not that their march was only
+impeded by their ancient enemies, Glencoe, Keppoch, and Glengarry; and
+perhaps M'Vourigh, with his M'Phersons, might have assembled a force,
+which he knew must be greatly inferior in numbers to his own, and
+whom, therefore, he doubted not to disperse by force, or by terms of
+capitulation."
+
+The spirit of Argyle's followers was high, breathing vengeance for the
+disasters which their country had so lately undergone; and the
+night passed in anxious hopes that the morning might dawn upon their
+vengeance. The outposts of either army kept a careful watch, and the
+soldiers of Argyle slept in the order of battle which they were next day
+to occupy.
+
+A pale dawn had scarce begun to tinge the tops of these immense
+mountains, when the leaders of both armies prepared for the business of
+the day. It was the second of February, 1645-6. The clansmen of Argyle
+were arranged in two lines, not far from the angle between the river
+and the lake, and made an appearance equally resolute and formidable.
+Auchenbreck would willingly have commenced the battle by an attack
+on the outposts of the enemy, but Argyle, with more cautious policy,
+preferred receiving to making the onset. Signals were soon heard,
+that they would not long wait for it in vain. The Campbells could
+distinguish, in the gorge of the mountains, the war-tunes of various
+clans as they advanced to the onset. That of the Camerons, which bears
+the ominous words, addressed to the wolves and ravens, "Come to me, and
+I will give you flesh," was loudly re-echoed from their native glens. In
+the language of the Highland bards, the war voice of Glengarry was
+not silent; and the gathering tunes of other tribes could be plainly
+distinguished, as they successively came up to the extremity of the
+passes from which they were to descend into the plain.
+
+"You see," said Argyle to his kinsmen, "it is as I said, we have only to
+deal with our neighbours; James Grahame has not ventured to show us his
+banner."
+
+At this moment there resounded from the gorge of the pass a lively
+flourish of trumpets, in that note with which it was the ancient
+Scottish fashion to salute the royal standard.
+
+"You may hear, my lord, from yonder signal," said Sir Duncan Campbell,
+"that he who pretends to be the King's Lieutenant, must be in person
+among these men."
+
+"And has probably horse with him," said Auchenbreck, "which I could not
+have anticipated. But shall we look pale for that, my lord, when we have
+foes to fight, and wrongs to revenge?"
+
+Argyle was silent, and looked upon his arm, which hung in a sash, owing
+to a fall which he had sustained in a preceding march.
+
+"It is true," interrupted Ardenvohr, eagerly, "my Lord of Argyle, you
+are disabled from using either sword or pistol; you must retire on board
+the galleys--your life is precious to us as a head--your hand cannot be
+useful to us as a soldier."
+
+"No," said Argyle, pride contending with irresolution, "it shall never
+be said that I fled before Montrose; if I cannot fight, I will at least
+die in the midst of my children."
+
+Several other principal Chiefs of the Campbells, with one voice,
+conjured and obtested their Chieftain to leave them for that day to the
+leading of Ardenvohr and Auchenbreck, and to behold the conflict from a
+distance and in safety.--We dare not stigmatize Argyle with poltroonery;
+for, though his life was marked by no action of bravery, yet he behaved
+with so much composure and dignity in the final and closing scene, that
+his conduct upon the present and similar occasions, should be rather
+imputed to indecision than to want of courage. But when the small still
+voice within a man's own breast, which tells him that his life is of
+consequence to himself, is seconded by that of numbers around him, who
+assure him that it is of equal advantage to the public, history affords
+many examples of men more habitually daring than Argyle, who have
+consulted self-preservation when the temptations to it were so
+powerfully increased.
+
+"See him on board, if you will, Sir Duncan," said Auchenbreck to his
+kinsman; "It must be my duty to prevent this spirit from spreading
+farther among us."
+
+So saying, he threw himself among the ranks, entreating, commanding, and
+conjuring the soldiers, to remember their ancient fame and their present
+superiority; the wrongs they had to revenge, if successful, and the fate
+they had to dread, if vanquished; and imparting to every bosom a portion
+of the fire which glowed in his own. Slowly, meanwhile, and apparently
+with reluctance, Argyle suffered himself to be forced by his officious
+kinsmen to the verge of the lake, and was transported on board of a
+galley, from the deck of which he surveyed with more safety than credit
+the scene which ensued.
+
+Sir Duncan Campbell of Ardenvohr, notwithstanding the urgency of
+the occasion, stood with his eyes riveted on the boat which bore his
+Chieftain from the field of battle. There were feelings in his bosom
+which could not be expressed; for the character of a Chief was that of
+a father, and the heart of a clansman durst not dwell upon his failings
+with critical severity as upon those of other men. Argyle, too, harsh
+and severe to others, was generous and liberal among his kinsmen, and
+the noble heart of, Ardenvohr was wrung with bitter anguish, when he
+reflected to what interpretation his present conduct might subject him.
+
+"It is better it should be so," said he to himself, devouring his own
+emotion; "but--of his line of a hundred sires, I know not one who would
+have retired while the banner of Diarmid waved in the wind, in the face
+of its most inveterate foes!"
+
+A loud shout now compelled him to turn, and to hasten with all dispatch
+to his post, which was on the right flank of Argyle's little army.
+
+The retreat of Argyle had not passed unobserved by his watchful enemy,
+who, occupying the superior ground, could mark every circumstance which
+passed below. The movement of three or four horsemen to the rear showed
+that those who retreated were men of rank.
+
+"They are going," said Dalgetty, "to put their horses out of danger,
+like prudent cavaliers. Yonder goes Sir Duncan Campbell, riding a brown
+bay gelding, which I had marked for my own second charger."
+
+"You are wrong, Major," said Montrose, with a bitter smile, "they are
+saving their precious Chief--Give the signal for assault instantly--send
+the word through the ranks.--Gentlemen, noble Chiefs, Glengarry,
+Keppoch, M'Vourigh, upon them instantly!--Ride to M'Ilduy, Major
+Dalgetty, and tell him to charge as he loves Lochaber--return and bring
+our handful of horse to my standard. They shall be placed with the Irish
+as a reserve."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+     As meets a rock a thousand waves, so Inisfail met Lochlin.
+     --OSSIAN.
+
+The trumpets and bagpipes, those clamorous harbingers of blood and
+death, at once united in the signal for onset, which was replied to
+by the cry of more than two thousand warriors, and the echoes of the
+mountain glens behind them. Divided into three bodies, or columns,
+the Highland followers of Montrose poured from the defiles which had
+hitherto concealed them from their enemies, and rushed with the utmost
+determination upon the Campbells, who waited their charge with the
+greatest firmness. Behind these charging columns marched in line the
+Irish, under Colkitto, intended to form the reserve. With them was the
+royal standard, and Montrose himself; and on the flanks were about fifty
+horse, under Dalgetty, which by wonderful exertions had been kept in
+some sort fit for service.
+
+The right column of Royalists was led by Glengarry, the left by Lochiel,
+and the centre by the Earl of Menteith, who preferred fighting on foot
+in a Highland dress to remaining with the cavalry.
+
+The Highlanders poured on with the proverbial fury of their country,
+firing their guns, and discharging their arrows, at a little distance
+from the enemy, who received the assault with the most determined
+gallantry. Better provided with musketry than their enemies, stationary
+also, and therefore taking the more decisive aim, the fire of Argyle's
+followers was more destructive than that which they sustained. The royal
+clans, perceiving this, rushed to close quarters, and succeeded on two
+points in throwing their enemies into disorder. With regular troops
+this must have achieved a victory; but here Highlanders were opposed to
+Highlanders, and the nature of the weapons, as well as the agility of
+those who wielded them, was equal on both sides.
+
+Their strife was accordingly desperate; and the clash of the swords
+and axes, as they encountered each other, or rung upon the targets, was
+mingled with the short, wild, animating shrieks with which Highlanders
+accompany the battle, the dance, or indeed violent exertion of any kind.
+Many of the foes opposed were personally acquainted, and sought to match
+themselves with each other from motives of hatred, or a more generous
+emulation of valour. Neither party would retreat an inch, while the
+place of those who fell (and they fell fast on both sides) was eagerly
+supplied by others, who thronged to the front of danger. A steam, like
+that which arises from a seething cauldron, rose into the thin, cold,
+frosty air, and hovered above the combatants.
+
+So stood the fight on the right and the centre, with no immediate
+consequence, except mutual wounds and death.
+
+On the right of the Campbells, the Knight of Ardenvohr obtained some
+advantage, through his military skill and by strength of numbers. He had
+moved forward obliquely the extreme flank of his line at the instant the
+Royalists were about to close, so that they sustained a fire at once
+on front and in flank, and, despite the utmost efforts of their leader,
+were thrown into some confusion. At this instant, Sir Duncan Campbell
+gave the word to charge, and thus unexpectedly made the attack at
+the very moment he seemed about to receive it. Such a change of
+circumstances is always discouraging, and often fatal. But the disorder
+was remedied by the advance of the Irish reserve, whose heavy and
+sustained fire compelled the Knight of Ardenvohr to forego his
+advantage, and content himself with repulsing the enemy. The Marquis
+of Montrose, in the meanwhile, availing himself of some scattered birch
+trees, as well as of the smoke produced by the close fire of the Irish
+musketry, which concealed the operation, called upon Dalgetty to follow
+him with the horse, and wheeling round so as to gain the right flank and
+even the rear of the enemy, he commanded his six trumpets to sound
+the charge. The clang of the cavalry trumpets, and the noise of the
+galloping of the horse, produced an effect upon Argyle's right wing
+which no other sounds could have impressed them with. The mountaineers
+of that period had a superstitious dread of the war-horse, like that
+entertained by the Peruvians, and had many strange ideas respecting the
+manner in which that animal was trained to combat. When, therefore, they
+found their ranks unexpectedly broken, and that the objects of their
+greatest terror were suddenly in the midst of them, the panic, in spite
+of Sir Duncan's attempts to stop it, became universal. Indeed, the
+figure of Major Dalgetty alone, sheathed in impenetrable armour, and
+making his horse caracole and bound, so as to give weight to every
+blow which he struck, would have been a novelty in itself sufficient to
+terrify those who had never seen anything more nearly resembling such
+a cavalier, than a SHELTY waddling under a Highlander far bigger than
+itself. The repulsed Royalists returned to the charge; the Irish,
+keeping their ranks, maintained a fire equally close and destructive.
+There was no sustaining the fight longer. Argyle's followers began
+to break and fly, most towards the lake, the remainder in different
+directions. The defeat of the right wing, of itself decisive, was
+rendered irreparable by the death of Auchenbreck, who fell while
+endeavouring to restore order.
+
+The Knight of Ardenvohr, with two or three hundred men, all gentlemen of
+descent and distinguished gallantry,--for the Campbells are supposed to
+have had more gentlemen in their ranks than any of the Highland clans,
+endeavoured, with unavailing heroism, to cover the tumultuary retreat
+of the common file. Their resolution only proved fatal to themselves,
+as they were charged again and again by fresh adversaries, and forced to
+separate from each other, until at length their aim seemed only to be to
+purchase an honourable death by resisting to the very last.
+
+"Good quarter, Sir Duncan," called out Major Dalgetty, when he
+discovered his late host, with one or two others, defending himself
+against several Highlanders; and, to enforce his offer, he rode up to
+him with his sword uplifted. Sir Duncan's reply was the discharge of a
+reserved pistol, which took effect not on the person of the rider, but
+on that of his gallant horse, which, shot through the heart, fell dead
+under him. Ranald MacEagh, who was one of those who had been pressing
+Sir Duncan hard, took the opportunity to cut him down with his
+broadsword, as he turned from him in the act of firing the pistol.
+
+Allan M'Aulay came up at this moment. They were, excepting Ranald,
+followers of his brother who were engaged on that part of the field,
+"Villains!" he said, "which of you has dared to do this, when it was my
+positive order that the Knight of Ardenvohr should be taken alive?"
+
+Half-a-dozen of busy hands, which were emulously employed in plundering
+the fallen knight, whose arms and accoutrements were of a magnificence
+befitting his quality, instantly forbore the occupation, and half the
+number of voices exculpated themselves, by laying the blame on the
+Skyeman, as they called Ranald MacEagh.
+
+"Dog of an Islander!" said Allan, forgetting, in his wrath, their
+prophetic brotherhood, "follow the chase, and harm him no farther,
+unless you mean to die by my hand." They were at this moment left almost
+alone; for Allan's threats had forced his own clan from the spot, and
+all around had pressed onwards toward the lake, carrying before them
+noise, terror, and confusion, and leaving behind only the dead and
+dying. The moment was tempting to MacEagh's vengeful spirit.--"That I
+should die by your hand, red as it is with the blood of my kindred,"
+said he, answering the threat of Allan in a tone as menacing as his own,
+"is not more likely than that you should fall by mine." With that, he
+struck at M'Aulay with such unexpected readiness, that he had scarce
+time to intercept the blow with his target.
+
+"Villain!" said Allan, in astonishment, "what means this?"
+
+"I am Ranald of the Mist!" answered the Islesman, repeating the blow;
+and with that word, they engaged in close and furious conflict. It
+seemed to be decreed, that in Allan M'Aulay had arisen the avenger of
+his mother's wrongs upon this wild tribe, as was proved by the issue of
+the present, as well as of former combats. After exchanging a few blows,
+Ranald MacEagh was prostrated by a deep wound on the skull; and M'Aulay,
+setting his foot on him, was about to pass the broadsword through his
+body, when the point of the weapon was struck up by a third party,
+who suddenly interposed. This was no other than Major Dalgetty, who,
+stunned by the fall, and encumbered by the dead body of his horse, had
+now recovered his legs and his understanding. "Hold up your sword," said
+he to M'Aulay, "and prejudice this person no farther, in respect that
+he is here in my safeconduct, and in his Excellency's service; and in
+regard that no honourable cavalier is at liberty, by the law martial, to
+avenge his own private injuries, FLAGRANTE BELLO, MULTO MAJUS FLAGRANTE
+PRAELIO."
+
+"Fool!" said Allan, "stand aside, and dare not to come between the tiger
+and his prey!"
+
+But, far from quitting his point, Dalgetty stept across the fallen body
+of MacEagh, and gave Allan to understand, that if he called himself
+a tiger, he was likely, at present, to find a lion in his path. There
+required no more than the gesture and tone of defiance to turn the whole
+rage of the military Seer against the person who was opposing the course
+of his vengeance, and blows were instantly exchanged without farther
+ceremony.
+
+The strife betwixt Allan and MacEagh had been unnoticed by the
+stragglers around, for the person of the latter was known to few of
+Montrose's followers; but the scuffle betwixt Dalgetty and him, both so
+well known, attracted instant attention; and fortunately, among others,
+that of Montrose himself, who had come for the purpose of gathering
+together his small body of horse, and following the pursuit down
+Loch-Eil. Aware of the fatal consequences of dissension in his little
+army, he pushed his horse up to the spot, and seeing MacEagh on the
+ground, and Dalgetty in the attitude of protecting him against M'Aulay,
+his quick apprehension instantly caught the cause of quarrel, and as
+instantly devised means to stop it. "For shame," he said, "gentlemen
+cavaliers, brawling together in so glorious a field of victory!--Are you
+mad? Or are you intoxicated with the glory which you have both this day
+gained?"
+
+"It is not my fault, so please your Excellency," said Dalgetty. "I
+have been known a BONUS SOCIUS, A BON CAMARADO, in all the services of
+Europe; but he that touches a man under my safeguard--"
+
+"And he," said Allan, speaking at the same time, "who dares to bar the
+course of my just vengeance--"
+
+"For shame, gentlemen!" again repeated Montrose; "I have other business
+for you both,--business of deeper importance than any private quarrel,
+which you may easily find a more fitting time to settle. For you, Major
+Dalgetty, kneel down."
+
+"Kneel!" said Dalgetty; "I have not learned to obey that word of
+command, saving when it is given from the pulpit. In the Swedish
+discipline, the front rank do indeed kneel, but only when the regiment
+is drawn up six file deep."
+
+"Nevertheless," repeated Montrose,--"kneel down, in the name of King
+Charles and of his representative."
+
+When Dalgetty reluctantly obeyed, Montrose struck him lightly on the
+neck with the flat of his sword, saying,--"In reward of the gallant
+service of this day, and in the name and authority of our Sovereign,
+King Charles, I dub thee knight; be brave, loyal, and fortunate. And
+now, Sir Dugald Dalgetty, to your duty. Collect what horsemen you can,
+and pursue such of the enemy as are flying down the side of the lake. Do
+not disperse your force, nor venture too far; but take heed to prevent
+their rallying, which very little exertion may do. Mount, then, Sir
+Dugald, and do your duty."
+
+"But what shall I mount?" said the new-made chevalier. "Poor Gustavus
+sleeps in the bed of honour, like his immortal namesake! and I am made a
+knight, a rider, as the High Dutch have it, just when I have not a horse
+left to ride upon." [In German, as in Latin, the original meaning of the
+word Ritter, corresponding to Eques, is merely a horseman.]
+
+"That shall not be said," answered Montrose, dismounting; "I make you a
+present of my own, which has been thought a good one; only, I pray you,
+resume the duty you discharge so well."
+
+With many acknowledgments, Sir Dugald mounted the steed so liberally
+bestowed upon him; and only beseeching his Excellency to remember that
+MacEagh was under his safe-conduct, immediately began to execute the
+orders assigned to him, with great zeal and alacrity.
+
+"And you, Allan M'Aulay," said Montrose, addressing the Highlander, who,
+leaning his sword-point on the ground, had regarded the ceremony of his
+antagonist's knighthood with a sneer of sullen scorn,--"you, who are
+superior to the ordinary men led by the paltry motives of plunder, and
+pay, and personal distinction,--you, whose deep knowledge renders you so
+valuable a counsellor,--is it YOU whom I find striving with a man like
+Dalgetty, for the privilege of trampling the remains of life out of so
+contemptible an enemy as lies there? Come, my friend, I have other work
+for you. This victory, skilfully improved, shall win Seaforth to our
+party. It is not disloyalty, but despair of the good cause, that has
+induced him to take arms against us. These arms, in this moment of
+better augury, he may be brought to unite with ours. I shall send my
+gallant friend, Colonel Hay, to him, from this very field of battle,
+but he must be united in commission with a Highland gentleman of rank,
+befitting that of Seaforth, and of talents and of influence such as
+may make an impression upon him. You are not only in every respect
+the fittest for this most important mission, but, having no immediate
+command, your presence may be more easily spared than that of a Chief
+whose following is in the field. You know every pass and glen in
+the Highlands, as well as the manners and customs of every tribe. Go
+therefore to Hay, on the right wing; he has instructions, and expects
+you. You will find him with Glenmorrison's men; be his guide, his
+interpreter, and his colleague."
+
+Allan M'Aulay bent on the Marquis a dark and penetrating glance, as
+if to ascertain whether this sudden mission was not conferred for some
+latent and unexplained purpose. But Montrose, skilful in searching
+the motives of others, was an equal adept in concealing his own. He
+considered it as of the last consequence, in this moment of enthusiasm
+and exalted passion, to remove Allan from the camp for a few days, that
+he might provide, as his honour required, for the safety of those
+who had acted as his guides, when he trusted the Seer's quarrel with
+Dalgetty might be easily made up. Allan, at parting, only recommended
+to the Marquis the care of Sir Duncan Campbell, whom Montrose instantly
+directed to be conveyed to a place of safety. He took the same
+precaution for MacEagh, committing the latter, however, to a party of
+the Irish, with directions that he should be taken care of, but that no
+Highlander, of any clan, should have access to him.
+
+The Marquis then mounted a led horse, which was held by one of his
+attendants, and rode on to view the scene of his victory, which was more
+decisive than even his ardent hopes had anticipated. Of Argyle's gallant
+army of three thousand men, fully one-half fell in the battle, or in the
+flight. They had been chiefly driven back upon that part of the plain
+where the river forms an angle with the lake, so that there was no free
+opening either for retreat or escape. Several hundreds were forced
+into the lake and drowned. Of the survivors, about one-half escaped by
+swimming the river, or by an early flight along the left bank of the
+lake. The remainder threw themselves into the old Castle of Inverlochy;
+but being without either provisions or hopes of relief, they were
+obliged to surrender, on condition of being suffered to return to their
+homes in peace. Arms, ammunition, standards, and baggage, all became the
+prey of the conquerors.
+
+This was the greatest disaster that ever befell the race of Diarmid, as
+the Campbells were called in the Highlands; it being generally remarked
+that they were as fortunate in the issue of their undertakings, as they
+were sagacious in planning, and courageous in executing them. Of the
+number slain, nearly five hundred were dunniwassels, or gentlemen
+claiming descent from known and respected houses. And, in the opinion
+of many of the clan, even this heavy loss was exceeded by the disgrace
+arising from the inglorious conduct of their Chief, whose galley weighed
+anchor when the day was lost, and sailed down the lake with all the
+speed to which sails and oars could impel her.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+     Faint the din of battle bray'd,
+     Distant down the hollow wind;
+     War and terror fled before,
+     Wounds and death remain'd behind.--PENROSE.
+
+Montrose's splendid success over his powerful rival was not attained
+without some loss, though not amounting to the tenth of what he
+inflicted. The obstinate valour of the Campbells cost the lives of many
+brave men of the opposite party; and more were wounded, the Chief of
+whom was the brave young Earl of Menteith, who had commanded the centre.
+He was but slightly touched, however, and made rather a graceful than
+a terrible appearance when he presented to his general the standard of
+Argyle, which he had taken from the standard-bearer with his own hand,
+and slain him in single combat. Montrose dearly loved his noble kinsman,
+in whom there was conspicuous a flash of the generous, romantic,
+disinterested chivalry of the old heroic times, entirely different from
+the sordid, calculating, and selfish character, which the practice of
+entertaining mercenary troops had introduced into most parts of Europe,
+and of which degeneracy Scotland, which furnished soldiers of fortune
+for the service of almost every nation, had been contaminated with a
+more than usual share. Montrose, whose native spirit was congenial,
+although experience had taught him how to avail himself of the motives
+of others, used to Menteith neither the language of praise nor of
+promise, but clasped him to his bosom as he exclaimed, "My gallant
+kinsman!" And by this burst of heartfelt applause was Menteith thrilled
+with a warmer glow of delight, than if his praises had been recorded in
+a report of the action sent directly to the throne of his sovereign.
+
+"Nothing," he said, "my lord, now seems to remain in which I can render
+any assistance; permit me to look after a duty of humanity--the Knight
+of Ardenvohr, as I am told, is our prisoner, and severely wounded."
+
+"And well he deserves to be so," said Sir Dugald Dalgetty, who came
+up to them at that moment with a prodigious addition of acquired
+importance, "since he shot my good horse at the time that I was offering
+him honourable quarter, which, I must needs say, was done more like an
+ignorant Highland cateran, who has not sense enough to erect a sconce
+for the protection of his old hurley-house of a castle, than like a
+soldier of worth and quality."
+
+"Are we to condole with you then," said Lord Menteith, "upon the loss of
+the famed Gustavus?"
+
+"Even so, my lord," answered the soldier, with a deep sigh, "DIEM
+CLAUSIT SUPREMUM, as we said at the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen.
+Better so than be smothered like a cadger's pony in some flow-moss,
+or snow-wreath, which was like to be his fate if this winter campaign
+lasted longer. But it has pleased his Excellency" (making an inclination
+to Montrose) "to supply his place by the gift of a noble steed, whom
+I have taken the freedom to name 'LOYALTY'S REWARD,' in memory of this
+celebrated occasion."
+
+"I hope," said the Marquis, "you'll find Loyalty's Reward, since you
+call him so, practised in all the duties of the field,--but I must just
+hint to you, that at this time, in Scotland, loyalty is more frequently
+rewarded with a halter than with a horse."
+
+"Ahem! your Excellency is pleased to be facetious. Loyalty's Reward is
+as perfect as Gustavus in all his exercises, and of a far finer figure.
+Marry! his social qualities are less cultivated, in respect he has kept
+till now inferior company."
+
+"Not meaning his Excellency the General, I hope," said Lord Menteith.
+"For shame, Sir Dugald!"
+
+"My lord," answered the knight gravely, "I am incapable to mean anything
+so utterly unbecoming. What I asseverate is, that his Excellency, having
+the same intercourse with his horse during his exercise, that he hath
+with his soldiers when training them, may form and break either to every
+feat of war which he chooses to practise, and accordingly that this
+noble charger is admirably managed. But as it is the intercourse of
+private life that formeth the social character, so I do not apprehend
+that of the single soldier to be much polished by the conversation of
+the corporal or the sergeant, or that of Loyalty's Reward to have been
+much dulcified, or ameliorated, by the society of his Excellency's
+grooms, who bestow more oaths, and kicks, and thumps, than kindness or
+caresses, upon the animals intrusted to their charge; whereby many a
+generous quadruped, rendered as it were misanthropic, manifests during
+the rest of his life a greater desire to kick and bite his master, than
+to love and to honour him."
+
+"Spoken like an oracle," said Montrose. "Were there an academy for the
+education of horses to be annexed to the Mareschal-College of Aberdeen,
+Sir Dugald Dalgetty alone should fill the chair."
+
+"Because, being an ass," said Menteith, aside to the General, "there
+would be some distant relation between the professor and the students."
+
+"And now, with your Excellency's permission," said the new-made knight,
+"I am going to pay my last visit to the remains of my old companion in
+arms."
+
+"Not with the purpose of going through the ceremonial of interment?"
+said the Marquis, who did not know how far Sir Dugald's enthusiasm might
+lead him; "consider our brave fellows themselves will have but a hasty
+burial."
+
+"Your Excellency will pardon me," said Dalgetty; "my purpose is less
+romantic. I go to divide poor Gustavus's legacy with the fowls of
+heaven, leaving the flesh to them, and reserving to myself his hide;
+which, in token of affectionate remembrance, I purpose to form into
+a cassock and trowsers, after the Tartar fashion, to be worn under my
+armour, in respect my nether garments are at present shamefully the
+worse of the wear.--Alas! poor Gustavus, why didst thou not live at
+least one hour more, to have borne the honoured weight of knighthood
+upon thy loins!"
+
+He was now turning away, when the Marquis called after him,--"As you
+are not likely to be anticipated in this act of kindness, Sir Dugald,
+to your old friend and companion, I trust," said the Marquis, "you will
+first assist me, and our principal friends, to discuss some of Argyle's
+good cheer, of which we have found abundance in the Castle."
+
+"Most willingly, please your Excellency," said Sir Dugald; "as meat
+and mass never hinder work. Nor, indeed, am I afraid that the wolves or
+eagles will begin an onslaught on Gustavus to-night, in regard there is
+so much better cheer lying all around. But," added he, "as I am to meet
+two honourable knights of England, with others of the knightly degree in
+your lordship's army, I pray it may be explained to them, that now, and
+in future, I claim precedence over them all, in respect of my rank as a
+Banneret, dubbed in a field of stricken battle."
+
+"The devil confound him!" said Montrose, speaking aside; "he has
+contrived to set the kiln on fire as fast as I put it out.--'This is
+a point, Sir Dugald," said he, gravely addressing him, "which I shall
+reserve for his Majesty's express consideration; in my camp, all must
+be upon equality, like the Knights of the Round Table; and take their
+places as soldiers should, upon the principle of,--first come, first
+served."
+
+"Then I shall take care," said Menteith, apart to the Marquis, "that Don
+Dugald is not first in place to-day.--Sir Dugald," added he, raising his
+voice, "as you say your wardrobe is out of repair, had you not better go
+to the enemy's baggage yonder, over which there is a guard placed? I saw
+them take out an excellent buff suit, embroidered in front in silk and
+silver."
+
+"VOTO A DIOS! as the Spaniard says," exclaimed the Major, "and some
+beggarly gilly may get it while I stand prating here!"
+
+The prospect of booty having at once driven out of his head both
+Gustavus and the provant, he set spurs to Loyalty's Reward, and rode off
+through the field of battle.
+
+"There goes the hound," said Menteith, "breaking the face, and trampling
+on the body, of many a better man than himself; and as eager on his
+sordid spoil as a vulture that stoops upon carrion. Yet this man the
+world calls a soldier--and you, my lord, select him as worthy of the
+honours of chivalry, if such they can at this day be termed. You have
+made the collar of knighthood the decoration of a mere bloodhound."
+
+"What could I do?" said Montrose. "I had no half-picked bones to give
+him, and bribed in some manner he must be,--I cannot follow the chase
+alone. Besides, the dog has good qualities."
+
+"If nature has given him such," said Menteith, "habit has converted them
+into feelings of intense selfishness. He may be punctilious concerning
+his reputation, and brave in the execution of his duty, but it is only
+because without these qualities he cannot rise in the service;--nay, his
+very benevolence is selfish; he may defend his companion while he can
+keep his feet, but the instant he is down, Sir Dugald will be as ready
+to ease him of his purse, as he is to convert the skin of Gustavus into
+a buff jerkin."
+
+"And yet, if all this were true, cousin," answered Montrose, "there is
+something convenient in commanding a soldier, upon whose motives and
+springs of action you can calculate to a mathematical certainty. A fine
+spirit like yours, my cousin, alive to a thousand sensations to which
+this man's is as impervious as his corslet,--it is for such that thy
+friend must feel, while he gives his advice." Then, suddenly changing
+his tone, he asked Menteith when he had seen Annot Lyle.
+
+The young Earl coloured deeply, and answered, "Not since last
+evening,--excepting," he added, with hesitation, "for one moment, about
+half an hour before the battle began."
+
+"My dear Menteith," said Montrose, very kindly, "were you one of the gay
+cavaliers of Whitehall, who are, in their way, as great self-seekers
+as our friend Dalgetty, should I need to plague you with enquiring into
+such an amourette as this? it would be an intrigue only to be laughed
+at. But this is the land of enchantment, where nets strong as steel are
+wrought out of ladies' tresses, and you are exactly the destined knight
+to be so fettered. This poor girl is exquisitely beautiful, and has
+talents formed to captivate your romantic temper. You cannot think of
+injuring her--you cannot think of marrying her?"
+
+"My lord," replied Menteith, "you have repeatedly urged this jest, for
+so I trust it is meant, somewhat beyond bounds. Annot Lyle is of unknown
+birth,--a captive,--the daughter, probably, of some obscure outlaw; a
+dependant on the hospitality of the M'Aulays."
+
+"Do not be angry, Menteith," said the Marquis, interrupting him; "you
+love the classics, though not educated at Mareschal-College; and you may
+remember how many gallant hearts captive beauty has subdued:--
+
+     Movit Ajacem, Telamone natum,
+     Forma captivae dominum Tecmessae.
+
+In a word, I am seriously anxious about this--I should not have time,
+perhaps," he added very gravely, "to trouble you with my lectures on the
+subject, were your feelings, and those of Annot, alone interested; but
+you have a dangerous rival in Allan M'Aulay; and there is no knowing to
+what extent he may carry his resentment. It is my duty to tell you that
+the King's service may be much prejudiced by dissensions betwixt you."
+
+"My lord," said Menteith, "I know what you mean is kind and friendly; I
+hope you will be satisfied when I assure you, that Allan M'Aulay and I
+have discussed this circumstance; and that I have explained to him, that
+it is utterly remote from my character to entertain dishonourable views
+concerning this unprotected female; so, on the other hand, the obscurity
+of her birth prevents my thinking of her upon other terms. I will
+not disguise from your lordship, what I have not disguised from
+M'Aulay,--that if Annot Lyle were born a lady, she should share my name
+and rank; as matters stand, it is impossible. This explanation, I
+trust, will satisfy your lordship, as it has satisfied a less reasonable
+person."
+
+Montrose shrugged his shoulders. "And, like true champions in romance,"
+he said, "you have agreed, that you are both to worship the same
+mistress, as idolaters do the same image, and that neither shall extend
+his pretensions farther?"
+
+"I did not go so far, my lord," answered Menteith--"I only said in
+the present circumstances--and there is no prospect of their being
+changed,--I could, in duty to myself and family, stand in no relation
+to Annot Lyle, but as that of friend or brother--But your lordship must
+excuse me; I have," said he, looking at his arm, round which he had tied
+his handkerchief, "a slight hurt to attend to."
+
+"A wound?" said Montrose, anxiously; "let me see it.--Alas!" he said, "I
+should have heard nothing of this, had I not ventured to tent and sound
+another more secret and more rankling one, Menteith; I am sorry for
+you--I too have known--But what avails it to awake sorrows which have
+long slumbered!"
+
+So saying, he shook hands with his noble kinsman, and walked into the
+castle.
+
+Annot Lyle, as was not unusual for females in the Highlands, was
+possessed of a slight degree of medical and even surgical skill. It may
+readily be believed, that the profession of surgery, or medicine, as a
+separate art, was unknown; and the few rude rules which they observed
+were intrusted to women, or to the aged, whom constant casualties
+afforded too much opportunity of acquiring experience. The care and
+attention, accordingly, of Annot Lyle, her attendants, and others acting
+under her direction, had made her services extremely useful during this
+wild campaign. And most readily had these services been rendered to
+friend and foe, wherever they could be most useful. She was now in an
+apartment of the castle, anxiously superintending the preparation of
+vulnerary herbs, to be applied to the wounded; receiving reports from
+different females respecting those under their separate charge, and
+distributing what means she had for their relief, when Allan M'Aulay
+suddenly entered the apartment. She started, for she had heard that he
+had left the camp upon a distant mission; and, however accustomed she
+was to the gloom of his countenance, it seemed at present to have even
+a darker shade than usual. He stood before her perfectly silent, and she
+felt the necessity of being the first to speak.
+
+"I thought," she said, with some effort, "you had already set out."
+
+"My companion awaits me," said Allan; "I go instantly." Yet still he
+stood before her, and held her by the arm, with a pressure which, though
+insufficient to give her pain, made her sensible of his great personal
+strength, his hand closing on her like the gripe of a manacle.
+
+"Shall I take the harp?" she said, in a timid voice; "is--is the shadow
+falling upon you?"
+
+Instead of replying, he led her to the window of the apartment, which
+commanded a view of the field of the slain, with all its horrors. It was
+thick spread with dead and wounded, and the spoilers were busy tearing
+the clothes from the victims of war and feudal ambition, with as much
+indifference as if they had not been of the same species, and themselves
+exposed, perhaps to-morrow, to the same fate.
+
+"Does the sight please you?" said M'Aulay.
+
+"It is hideous!" said Annot, covering her eyes with her hands; "how can
+you bid me look upon it?"
+
+"You must be inured to it," said he, "if you remain with this destined
+host--you will soon have to search such a field for my brother's
+corpse--for Menteith's--for mine---but that will be a more indifferent
+task--You do not love me!"
+
+"This is the first time you have taxed me with unkindness," said Annot,
+weeping. "You are my brother--my preserver--my protector--and can I then
+BUT love you?--But your hour of darkness is approaching, let me fetch my
+harp--"
+
+"Remain," said Allan, still holding her fast; "be my visions from heaven
+or hell, or from the middle sphere of disembodied spirits--or be they,
+as the Saxons hold, but the delusions of an over-heated fancy, they
+do not now influence me; I speak the language of the natural, of the
+visible world.--You love not me, Annot--you love Menteith--by him you
+are beloved again, and Allan is no more to you than one of the corpses
+which encumber yonder heath."
+
+It cannot be supposed that this strange speech conveyed any new
+information to her who was thus addressed. No woman ever lived who could
+not, in the same circumstances, have discerned long since the state of
+her lover's mind. But by thus suddenly tearing off the veil, thin as it
+was, Allan prepared her to expect consequences violent in proportion to
+the enthusiasm of his character. She made an effort to repel the charge
+he had stated.
+
+"You forget," she said, "your own worth and nobleness when you insult so
+very helpless a being, and one whom fate has thrown so totally into
+your power. You know who and what I am, and how impossible it is that
+Menteith or you can use language of affection to me, beyond that of
+friendship. You know from what unhappy race I have too probably derived
+my existence."
+
+"I will not believe it," said Allan, impetuously; "never flowed crystal
+drop from a polluted spring."
+
+"Yet the very doubt," pleaded Annot, "should make you forbear to use
+this language to me."
+
+"I know," said M'Aulay, "it places a bar between us--but I know also
+that it divides you not so inseparably from Menteith.--Hear me, my
+beloved Annot!--leave this scene of terrors and danger--go with me to
+Kintail--I will place you in the house of the noble Lady of Seaforth--or
+you shall be removed in safety to Icolmkill, where some women yet devote
+themselves to the worship of God, after the custom of our ancestors."
+
+"You consider not what you ask of me," replied Annot; "to undertake such
+a journey under your sole guardianship, were to show me less scrupulous
+than maiden ought. I will remain here, Allan--here under the protection
+of the noble Montrose; and when his motions next approach the Lowlands,
+I will contrive some proper means to relieve you of one, who has, she
+knows not how, become an object of dislike to you."
+
+Allan stood as if uncertain whether to give way to sympathy with her
+distress, or to anger at her resistance.
+
+"Annot," he said, "you know too well how little your words apply to
+my feelings towards you--but you avail yourself of your power, and you
+rejoice in my departure, as removing a spy upon your intercourse with
+Menteith. But beware both of you," he added, in a stern tone; "for when
+was it ever heard that an injury was offered to Allan M'Aulay, for which
+he exacted not tenfold vengeance?"
+
+So saying, he pressed her arm forcibly, pulled the bonnet over his
+brows, and strode out of the apartment.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+     --After you're gone,
+     I grew acquainted with my heart, and search'd,
+     What stirr'd it so.--Alas!  I found it love.
+     Yet far from lust, for could I but have lived
+     In presence of you, I had had my end.--PHILASTER.
+
+Annot Lyle had now to contemplate the terrible gulf which Allan
+M'Aulay's declaration of love and jealousy had made to open around her.
+It seemed as if she was tottering on the very brink of destruction, and
+was at once deprived of every refuge, and of all human assistance. She
+had long been conscious that she loved Menteith dearer than a brother;
+indeed, how could it be otherwise, considering their early intimacy, the
+personal merit of the young nobleman, his assiduous attentions,--and his
+infinite superiority in gentleness of disposition, and grace of manners,
+over the race of rude warriors with whom she lived? But her affection
+was of that quiet, timid, meditative character, which sought rather a
+reflected share in the happiness of the beloved object, than formed
+more presumptuous or daring hopes. A little Gaelic song, in which she
+expressed her feelings, has been translated by the ingenious and unhappy
+Andrew M'Donald; and we willingly transcribe the lines:--
+
+     Wert thou, like me, in life's low vale,
+     With thee how blest, that lot I'd share;
+     With thee I'd fly wherever gale
+     Could waft, or bounding galley bear.
+     But parted by severe decree,
+     Far different must our fortunes prove;
+     May thine be joy--enough for me
+     To weep and pray for him I love.
+
+     The pangs this foolish heart must feel,
+     When hope shall be forever flown,
+     No sullen murmur shall reveal,
+     No selfish murmurs ever own.
+     Nor will I through life's weary years,
+     Like a pale drooping mourner move,
+     While I can think my secret tears
+     May wound the heart of him I love.
+
+The furious declaration of Allan had destroyed the romantic plan which
+she had formed, of nursing in secret her pensive tenderness, without
+seeking any other requital. Long before this, she had dreaded Allan, as
+much as gratitude, and a sense that he softened towards her a temper so
+haughty and so violent, could permit her to do; but now she regarded him
+with unalloyed terror, which a perfect knowledge of his disposition, and
+of his preceding history, too well authorised her to entertain. Whatever
+was in other respects the nobleness of his disposition, he had never
+been known to resist the wilfulness of passion,--he walked in the house,
+and in the country of his fathers, like a tamed lion, whom no one dared
+to contradict, lest they should awaken his natural vehemence of passion.
+So many years had elapsed since he had experienced contradiction, or
+even expostulation, that probably nothing but the strong good sense,
+which, on all points, his mysticism excepted, formed the ground of his
+character, prevented his proving an annoyance and terror to the whole
+neighbourhood. But Annot had no time to dwell upon her fears, being
+interrupted by the entrance of Sir Dugald Dalgetty.
+
+It may well be supposed, that the scenes in which this person had passed
+his former life, had not much qualified him to shine in female society.
+He himself felt a sort of consciousness that the language of the
+barrack, guard-room, and parade, was not proper to entertain ladies.
+The only peaceful part of his life had been spent at Mareschal-College,
+Aberdeen; and he had forgot the little he had learned there, except the
+arts of darning his own hose, and dispatching his commons with unusual
+celerity, both which had since been kept in good exercise by the
+necessity of frequent practice. Still it was from an imperfect
+recollection of what he had acquired during this pacific period, that
+he drew his sources of conversation when in company with women; in other
+words, his language became pedantic when it ceased to be military.
+
+"Mistress Annot Lyle," said he, upon the present occasion, "I am just
+now like the half-pike, or spontoon of Achilles, one end of which could
+wound and the other cure--a property belonging neither to Spanish pike,
+brown-bill, partizan, halberd, Lochaber-axe, or indeed any other modern
+staff-weapon whatever." This compliment he repeated twice; but as Annot
+scarce heard him the first time, and did not comprehend him the second,
+he was obliged to explain.
+
+"I mean," he said, "Mistress Annot Lyle, that having been the means
+of an honourable knight receiving a severe wound in this day's
+conflict,--he having pistolled, somewhat against the law of arms, my
+horse, which was named after the immortal King of Sweden,--I am desirous
+of procuring him such solacement as you, madam, can supply, you being
+like the heathen god Esculapius" (meaning possibly Apollo), "skilful
+not only in song and in music, but in the more noble art of
+chirurgery-OPIFERQUE PER ORBEM DICOR."
+
+"If you would have the goodness to explain," said Annot, too sick at
+heart to be amused by Sir Dugald's airs of pedantic gallantry.
+
+"That, madam," replied the Knight, "may not be so easy, as I am out
+of the habit of construing--but we shall try. DICOR, supply EGO--I
+am called,--OPIFER? OPIFER?--I remember SIGNIFER and FURCIFER--but
+I believe OPIFER stands in this place for M.D., that is, Doctor of
+Physic."
+
+"This is a busy day with us all," said Annot; "will you say at once what
+you want with me?"
+
+"Merely," replied Sir Dugald, "that you will visit my brother knight,
+and let your maiden bring some medicaments for his wound, which
+threatens to be what the learned call a DAMNUM FATALE."
+
+Annot Lyle never lingered in the cause of humanity. She informed herself
+hastily of the nature of the injury, and interesting herself for the
+dignified old Chief whom she had seen at Darnlinvarach, and whose
+presence had so much struck her, she hastened to lose the sense of her
+own sorrow for a time, in the attempt to be useful to another.
+
+Sir Dugald with great form ushered Annot Lyle to the chamber of her
+patient, in which, to her surprise, she found Lord Menteith. She could
+not help blushing deeply at the meeting, but, to hide her confusion,
+proceeded instantly to examine the wound of the Knight of Ardenvohr, and
+easily satisfied herself that it was beyond her skill to cure it. As
+for Sir Dugald, he returned to a large outhouse, on the floor of which,
+among other wounded men, was deposited the person of Ranald of the Mist.
+
+"Mine old friend," said the Knight, "as I told you before, I would
+willingly do anything to pleasure you, in return for the wound you have
+received while under my safe-conduct. I have, therefore, according to
+your earnest request, sent Mrs. Annot Lyle to attend upon the wound of
+the knight of Ardenvohr, though wherein her doing so should benefit you,
+I cannot imagine.--I think you once spoke of some blood relationship
+between them; but a soldado, in command and charge like me, has other
+things to trouble his head with than Highland genealogies."
+
+And indeed, to do the worthy Major justice, he never enquired after,
+listened to, or recollected, the business of other people, unless it
+either related to the art military, or was somehow or other connected
+with his own interest, in either of which cases his memory was very
+tenacious.
+
+"And now, my good friend of the Mist," said he, "can you tell me what
+has become of your hopeful grandson, as I have not seen him since he
+assisted me to disarm after the action, a negligence which deserveth the
+strapado?"
+
+"He is not far from hence," said the wounded outlaw--"lift not your hand
+upon him, for he is man enough to pay a yard of leathern scourge with a
+foot of tempered steel."
+
+"A most improper vaunt," said Sir Dugald; "but I owe you some favours,
+Ranald, and therefore shall let it pass."
+
+"And if you think you owe me anything," said the outlaw, "it is in your
+power to requite me by granting me a boon."
+
+"Friend Ranald," answered Dalgetty, "I have read of these boons in silly
+story-books, whereby simple knights were drawn into engagements to their
+great prejudice; wherefore, Ranald, the more prudent knights of this
+day never promise anything until they know that they may keep their
+word anent the premises, without any displeasure or incommodement to
+themselves. It may be, you would have me engage the female chirurgeon
+to visit your wound; though you ought to consider, Ranald, that the
+uncleanness of the place where you are deposited may somewhat soil the
+gaiety of her garments, concerning the preservation of which, you may
+have observed, women are apt to be inordinately solicitous. I lost the
+favour of the lady of the Grand Pensionary of Amsterdam, by touching
+with the sole of my boot the train of her black velvet gown, which
+I mistook for a foot-cloth, it being half the room distant from her
+person."
+
+"It is not to bring Annot Lyle hither," answered MacEagh, "but to
+transport me into the room where she is in attendance upon the Knight of
+Ardenvohr. Somewhat I have to say of the last consequence to them both."
+
+"It is something out of the order of due precedence," said Dalgetty, "to
+carry a wounded outlaw into the presence of a knight; knighthood having
+been of yore, and being, in some respects, still, the highest military
+grade, independent always of commissioned officers, who rank according
+to their patents; nevertheless, as your boon, as you call it, is so
+slight, I shall not deny compliance with the same." So saying, he
+ordered three files of men to transport MacEagh on their shoulders
+to Sir Duncan Campbell's apartment, and he himself hastened before
+to announce the cause of his being brought thither. But such was the
+activity of the soldiers employed, that they followed him close at the
+heels, and, entering with their ghastly burden, laid MacEagh on the
+floor of the apartment. His features, naturally wild, were now distorted
+by pain; his hands and scanty garments stained with his own blood, and
+those of others, which no kind hand had wiped away, although the wound
+in his side had been secured by a bandage.
+
+"Are you," he said, raising his head painfully towards the couch where
+lay stretched his late antagonist, "he whom men call the Knight of
+Ardenvohr?"
+
+"The same," answered Sir Duncan,--"what would you with one whose hours
+are now numbered?"
+
+"My hours are reduced to minutes," said the outlaw; "the more grace, if
+I bestow them in the service of one, whose hand has ever been against
+me, as mine has been raised higher against him."
+
+"Thine higher against me!--Crushed worm!" said the Knight, looking down
+on his miserable adversary.
+
+"Yes," answered the outlaw, in a firm voice, "my arm hath been highest.
+In the deadly contest betwixt us, the wounds I have dealt have been
+deepest, though thine have neither been idle nor unfelt.--I am Ranald
+MacEagh--I am Ranald of the Mist--the night that I gave thy castle to
+the winds in one huge blaze of fire, is now matched with the day in
+which you have fallen under the sword of my fathers.--Remember the
+injuries thou hast done our tribe--never were such inflicted, save
+by one, beside thee. HE, they say, is fated and secure against our
+vengeance--a short time will show."
+
+"My Lord Menteith," said Sir Duncan, raising himself out of his bed,
+"this is a proclaimed villain, at once the enemy of King and Parliament,
+of God and man--one of the outlawed banditti of the Mist; alike the
+enemy of your house, of the M'Aulays, and of mine. I trust you will
+not suffer moments, which are perhaps my last, to be embittered by his
+barbarous triumph."
+
+"He shall have the treatment he merits," said Menteith; "let him be
+instantly removed."
+
+Sir Dugald here interposed, and spoke of Ranald's services as a guide,
+and his own pledge for his safety; but the high harsh tones of the
+outlaw drowned his voice.
+
+"No," said he, "be rack and gibbet the word! let me wither between
+heaven and earth, and gorge the hawks and eagles of Ben-Nevis; and so
+shall this haughty Knight, and this triumphant Thane, never learn the
+secret I alone can impart; a secret which would make Ardenvohr's
+heart leap with joy, were he in the death agony, and which the Earl of
+Menteith would purchase at the price of his broad earldom.--Come hither,
+Annot Lyle," he said, raising himself with unexpected strength; "fear
+not the sight of him to whom thou hast clung in infancy. Tell these
+proud men, who disdain thee as the issue of mine ancient race, that thou
+art no blood of ours,--no daughter of the race of the Mist, but born in
+halls as lordly, and cradled on couch as soft, as ever soothed infancy
+in their proudest palaces."
+
+"In the name of God," said Menteith, trembling with emotion, "if you
+know aught of the birth of this lady, do thy conscience the justice to
+disburden it of the secret before departing from this world!"
+
+"And bless my enemies with my dying breath?" said MacEagh, looking at
+him malignantly.--"Such are the maxims your priests preach--but when,
+or towards whom, do you practise them? Let me know first the worth of my
+secret ere I part with it--What would you give, Knight of Ardenvohr, to
+know that your superstitious fasts have been vain, and that there still
+remains a descendant of your house?--I pause for an answer--without it,
+I speak not one word more.
+
+"I could," said Sir Duncan, his voice struggling between the emotions of
+doubt, hatred, and anxiety--"I could--but that I know thy race are like
+the Great Enemy, liars and murderers from the beginning--but could it be
+true thou tellest me, I could almost forgive thee the injuries thou hast
+done me."
+
+"Hear it!" said Ranald; "he hath wagered deeply for a son of
+Diarmid--And you, gentle Thane--the report of the camp says, that you
+would purchase with life and lands the tidings that Annot Lyle was no
+daughter of proscription, but of a race noble in your estimation as your
+own--Well--It is for no love I tell you--The time has been that I would
+have exchanged this secret against liberty; I am now bartering it for
+what is dearer than liberty or life.--Annot Lyle is the youngest, the
+sole surviving child of the Knight of Ardenvohr, who alone was saved
+when all in his halls besides was given to blood and ashes."
+
+"Can this man speak truth?" said Annot Lyle, scarce knowing what she
+said; "or is this some strange delusion?"
+
+"Maiden," replied Ranald, "hadst thou dwelt longer with us, thou wouldst
+have better learnt to know how to distinguish the accents of truth.
+To that Saxon lord, and to the Knight of Ardenvohr, I will yield such
+proofs of what I have spoken, that incredulity shall stand convinced.
+Meantime, withdraw--I loved thine infancy, I hate not thy youth--no eye
+hates the rose in its blossom, though it groweth upon a thorn, and for
+thee only do I something regret what is soon to follow. But he that
+would avenge him of his foe must not reck though the guiltless be
+engaged in the ruin."
+
+"He advises well, Annot," said Lord Menteith; "in God's name retire!
+if--if there be aught in this, your meeting with Sir Duncan must be more
+prepared for both your sakes."
+
+"I will not part from my father, if I have found one!" said Annot--"I
+will not part from him under circumstances so terrible."
+
+"And a father you shall ever find in me," murmured Sir Duncan.
+
+"Then," said Menteith, "I will have MacEagh removed into an adjacent
+apartment, and will collect the evidence of his tale myself. Sir Dugald
+Dalgetty will give me his attendance and assistance."
+
+"With pleasure, my lord," answered Sir Dugald.--"I will be your
+confessor, or assessor--either or both. No one can be so fit, for I had
+heard the whole story a month ago at Inverary castle--but onslaughts
+like that of Ardenvohr confuse each other in my memory, which is besides
+occupied with matters of more importance."
+
+Upon hearing this frank declaration, which was made as they left the
+apartment with the wounded man, Lord Menteith darted upon Dalgetty a
+look of extreme anger and disdain, to which the self-conceit of the
+worthy commander rendered him totally insensible.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+     I am as free as nature first made man,
+     Ere the base laws of servitude began,
+     When wild in woods the noble savage ran.
+     --CONQUEST OF GRANADA
+
+The Earl of Menteith, as he had undertaken, so he proceeded to
+investigate more closely the story told by Ranald of the Mist, which was
+corroborated by the examination of his two followers, who had assisted
+in the capacity of guides. These declarations he carefully compared with
+such circumstances concerning the destruction of his castle and family
+as Sir Duncan Campbell was able to supply; and it may be supposed he had
+forgotten nothing relating to an event of such terrific importance. It
+was of the last consequence to prove that this was no invention of
+the outlaw's, for the purpose of passing an impostor as the child and
+heiress of Ardenvohr.
+
+Perhaps Menteith, so much interested in believing the tale, was not
+altogether the fittest person to be intrusted with the investigation of
+its truth; but the examinations of the Children of the Mist were simple,
+accurate, and in all respects consistent with each other. A personal
+mark was referred to, which was known to have been borne by the infant
+child of Sir Duncan, and which appeared upon the left shoulder of Annot
+Lyle. It was also well remembered, that when the miserable relics of the
+other children had been collected, those of the infant had nowhere
+been found. Other circumstances of evidence, which it is unnecessary to
+quote, brought the fullest conviction not only to Menteith, but to the
+unprejudiced mind of Montrose, that in Annot Lyle, an humble dependant,
+distinguished only by beauty and talent, they were in future to respect
+the heiress of Ardenvohr.
+
+While Menteith hastened to communicate the result of these enquiries
+to the persons most interested, the outlaw demanded to speak with his
+grandchild, whom he usually called his son. "He would be found," he
+said, "in the outer apartment, in which he himself had been originally
+deposited."
+
+Accordingly, the young savage, after a close search, was found lurking
+in a corner, coiled up among some rotten straw, and brought to his
+grandsire.
+
+"Kenneth," said the old outlaw, "hear the last words of the sire of
+thy father. A Saxon soldier, and Allan of the Red-hand, left this camp
+within these few hours, to travel to the country to Caberfae. Pursue
+them as the bloodhound pursues the hurt deer--swim the lake-climb the
+mountain--thread the forest--tarry not until you join them;" and then
+the countenance of the lad darkened as his grandfather spoke, and he
+laid his hand upon a knife which stuck in the thong of leather that
+confined his scanty plaid. "No!" said the old man; "it is not by thy
+hand he must fall. They will ask the news from the camp--say to them
+that Annot Lyle of the Harp is discovered to be the daughter of Duncan
+of Ardenvohr; that the Thane of Menteith is to wed her before the
+priest; and that you are sent to bid guests to the bridal. Tarry
+not their answer, but vanish like the lightning when the black cloud
+swallows it.--And now depart, beloved son of my best beloved! I shall
+never more see thy face, nor hear the light sound of thy footstep--yet
+tarry an instant and hear my last charge. Remember the fate of our race,
+and quit not the ancient manners of the Children of the Mist. We are now
+a straggling handful, driven from every vale by the sword of every clan,
+who rule in the possessions where their forefathers hewed the wood, and
+drew the water for ours. But in the thicket of the wilderness, and in
+the mist of the mountain, Kenneth, son of Eracht, keep thou unsoiled the
+freedom which I leave thee as a birthright. Barter it not neither for
+the rich garment, nor for the stone-roof, nor for the covered board, nor
+for the couch of down--on the rock or in the valley, in abundance or in
+famine--in the leafy summer, and in the days of the iron winter--Son of
+the Mist! be free as thy forefathers. Own no lord--receive no law--take
+no hire--give no stipend--build no hut--enclose no pasture--sow no
+grain;--let the deer of the mountain be thy flocks and herds--if these
+fail thee, prey upon the goods of our oppressors--of the Saxons, and of
+such Gael as are Saxons in their souls, valuing herds and flocks more
+than honour and freedom. Well for us that they do so--it affords the
+broader scope for our revenge. Remember those who have done kindness to
+our race, and pay their services with thy blood, should the hour require
+it. If a MacIan shall come to thee with the head of the king's son
+in his hand, shelter him, though the avenging army of the father were
+behind him; for in Glencoe and Ardnamurchan, we have dwelt in peace
+in the years that have gone by. The sons of Diarmid--the race of
+Darnlinvarach--the riders of Menteith--my curse on thy head, Child of
+the Mist, if thou spare one of those names, when the time shall offer
+for cutting them off! and it will come anon, for their own swords shall
+devour each other, and those who are scattered shall fly to the Mist,
+and perish by its Children. Once more, begone--shake the dust from thy
+feet against the habitations of men, whether banded together for peace
+or for war. Farewell, beloved! and mayst thou die like thy
+forefathers, ere infirmity, disease, or age, shall break thy
+spirit--Begone!--begone!--live free--requite kindness--avenge the
+injuries of thy race!"
+
+The young savage stooped, and kissed the brow of his dying parent; but
+accustomed from infancy to suppress every exterior sign of emotion,
+he parted without tear or adieu, and was soon far beyond the limits of
+Montrose's camp.
+
+Sir Dugald Dalgetty, who was present during the latter part of this
+scene, was very little edified by the conduct of MacEagh upon the
+occasion. "I cannot think, my friend Ranald," said he, "that you are in
+the best possible road for a dying man. Storms, onslaughts, massacres,
+the burning of suburbs, are indeed a soldier's daily work, and are
+justified by the necessity of the case, seeing that they are done in the
+course of duty; for burning of suburbs, in particular, it may be said
+that they are traitors and cut-throats to all fortified towns. Hence it
+is plain, that a soldier is a profession peculiarly favoured by Heaven,
+seeing that we may hope for salvation, although we daily commit actions
+of so great violence. But then, Ranald, in all services of Europe, it is
+the custom of the dying soldier not to vaunt him of such doings, or
+to recommend them to his fellows; but, on the contrary, to express
+contrition for the same, and to repeat, or have repeated to him, some
+comfortable prayer; which, if you please, I will intercede with his
+Excellency's chaplain to prefer on your account. It is otherwise no
+point of my duty to put you in mind of those things; only it may be for
+the ease of your conscience to depart more like a Christian, and less
+like a Turk, than you seem to be in a fair way of doing."
+
+The only answer of the dying man--(for as such Ranald MacEagh might now
+be considered)--was a request to be raised to such a position that he
+might obtain a view from the window of the Castle. The deep frost mist,
+which had long settled upon the top of the mountains, was now rolling
+down each rugged glen and gully, where the craggy ridges showed their
+black and irregular outline, like desert islands rising above the ocean
+of vapour. "Spirit of the Mist!" said Ranald MacEagh, "called by our
+race our father, and our preserver--receive into thy tabernacle of
+clouds, when this pang is over, him whom in life thou hast so often
+sheltered." So saying, he sunk back into the arms of those who upheld
+him, spoke no further word, but turned his face to the wall for a short
+space.
+
+"I believe," said Dalgetty, "my friend Ranald will be found in his heart
+to be little better than a heathen." And he renewed his proposal
+to procure him the assistance of Dr. Wisheart, Montrose's military
+chaplain; "a man," said Sir Dugald, "very clever in his exercise, and
+who will do execution on your sins in less time than I could smoke a
+pipe of tobacco."
+
+"Saxon," said the dying man, "speak to me no more of thy priest--I die
+contented. Hadst thou ever an enemy against whom weapons were of no
+avail--whom the ball missed, and against whom the arrow shivered, and
+whose bare skin was as impenetrable to sword and dirk as thy steel
+garment--Heardst thou ever of such a foe?"
+
+"Very frequently, when I served in Germany," replied Sir Dugald. "There
+was such a fellow at Ingolstadt; he was proof both against lead and
+steel. The soldiers killed him with the buts of their muskets."
+
+"This impassible foe," said Ranald, without regarding the Major's
+interruption, "who has the blood dearest to me upon his hands--to this
+man I have now bequeathed agony of mind, jealousy, despair, and sudden
+death,--or a life more miserable than death itself. Such shall be the
+lot of Allan of the Red-hand, when he learns that Annot weds Menteith
+and I ask no more than the certainty that it is so, to sweeten my own
+bloody end by his hand."
+
+"If that be the case," said the Major, "there's no more to be said; but
+I shall take care as few people see you as possible, for I cannot
+think your mode of departure can be at all creditable or exemplary to
+a Christian army." So saying, he left the apartment, and the Son of the
+Mist soon after breathed his last.
+
+Menteith, in the meanwhile, leaving the new-found relations to their
+mutual feelings of mingled emotion, was eagerly discussing with Montrose
+the consequences of this discovery. "I should now see," said the
+Marquis, "even had I not before observed it, that your interest in
+this discovery, my dear Menteith, has no small reference to your own
+happiness. You love this new-found lady,--your affection is returned. In
+point of birth, no exceptions can be made; in every other respect,
+her advantages are equal to those which you yourself possess--think,
+however, a moment. Sir Duncan is a fanatic--Presbyterian, at least--in
+arms against the King; he is only with us in the quality of a prisoner,
+and we are, I fear, but at the commencement of a long civil war. Is this
+a time, think you, Menteith, for you to make proposals for his heiress?
+Or what chance is there that he will now listen to it?"
+
+Passion, an ingenious, as well as an eloquent advocate, supplied the
+young nobleman with a thousand answers to these objections. He reminded
+Montrose that the Knight of Ardenvohr was neither a bigot in politics
+nor religion. He urged his own known and proved zeal for the royal
+cause, and hinted that its influence might be extended and strengthened
+by his wedding the heiress of Ardenvohr. He pleaded the dangerous state
+of Sir Duncan's wound, the risk which must be run by suffering the young
+lady to be carried into the country of the Campbells, where, in case of
+her father's death, or continued indisposition, she must necessarily
+be placed under the guardianship of Argyle, an event fatal to his
+(Menteith's) hopes, unless he could stoop to purchase his favour by
+abandoning the King's party.
+
+Montrose allowed the force of these arguments, and owned, although the
+matter was attended with difficulty, yet it seemed consistent with the
+King's service that it should be concluded as speedily as possible.
+
+"I could wish," said he, "that it were all settled in one way or
+another, and that this fair Briseis were removed from our camp before
+the return of our Highland Achilles, Allan M'Aulay.--I fear some fatal
+feud in that quarter, Menteith--and I believe it would be best that Sir
+Duncan be dismissed on his parole, and that you accompany him and his
+daughter as his escort. The journey can be made chiefly by water, so
+will not greatly incommode his wound--and your own, my friend, will be
+an honourable excuse for the absence of some time from my camp."
+
+"Never!" said Menteith. "Were I to forfeit the very hope that has so
+lately dawned upon me, never will I leave your Excellency's camp while
+the royal standard is displayed. I should deserve that this trifling
+scratch should gangrene and consume my sword-arm, were I capable
+of holding it as an excuse for absence at this crisis of the King's
+affairs."
+
+"On this, then, you are determined?" said Montrose.
+
+"As fixed as Ben-Nevis," said the young nobleman.
+
+"You must, then," said Montrose, "lose no time in seeking an explanation
+with the Knight of Ardenvohr. If this prove favourable, I will talk
+myself with the elder M'Aulay, and we will devise means to employ his
+brother at a distance from the army until he shall be reconciled to his
+present disappointment. Would to God some vision would descend upon his
+imagination fair enough to obliterate all traces of Annot Lyle! That
+perhaps you think impossible, Menteith?--Well, each to his service; you
+to that of Cupid, and I to that of Mars."
+
+They parted, and in pursuance of the scheme arranged, Menteith, early on
+the ensuing morning, sought a private interview with the wounded Knight
+of Ardenvohr, and communicated to him his suit for the hand of his
+daughter. Of their mutual attachment Sir Duncan was aware, but he was
+not prepared for so early a declaration on the part of Menteith. He
+said, at first, that he had already, perhaps, indulged too much in
+feelings of personal happiness, at a time when his clan had sustained
+so great a loss and humiliation, and that he was unwilling, therefore,
+farther to consider the advancement of his own house at a period so
+calamitous. On the more urgent suit of the noble lover, he requested a
+few hours to deliberate and consult with his daughter, upon a question
+so highly important.
+
+The result of this interview and deliberation was favourable to
+Menteith. Sir Duncan Campbell became fully sensible that the happiness
+of his new-found daughter depended upon a union with her lover; and
+unless such were now formed, he saw that Argyle would throw a thousand
+obstacles in the way of a match in every respect acceptable to himself.
+Menteith's private character was so excellent, and such was the rank and
+consideration due to his fortune and family, that they outbalanced, in
+Sir Duncan's opinion, the difference in their political opinions. Nor
+could he have resolved, perhaps, had his own opinion of the match been
+less favourable, to decline an opportunity of indulging the new-found
+child of his hopes. There was, besides, a feeling of pride which
+dictated his determination. To produce the Heiress of Ardenvohr to the
+world as one who had been educated a poor dependant and musician in the
+family of Darnlinvarach, had something in it that was humiliating. To
+introduce her as the betrothed bride, or wedded wife, of the Earl of
+Menteith, upon an attachment formed during her obscurity, was a warrant
+to the world that she had at all times been worthy of the rank to which
+she was elevated.
+
+It was under the influence of these considerations that Sir Duncan
+Campbell announced to the lovers his consent that they should be married
+in the chapel of the Castle, by Montrose's chaplain, and as privately as
+possible. But when Montrose should break up from Inverlochy, for which
+orders were expected in the course of a very few days, it was agreed
+that the young Countess should depart with her father to his Castle, and
+remain there until the circumstances of the nation permitted Menteith to
+retire with honour from his present military employment. His resolution
+being once taken, Sir Duncan Campbell would not permit the maidenly
+scruples of his daughter to delay its execution; and it was therefore
+resolved that the bridal should take place the next evening, being the
+second after the battle.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+     My maid--my blue-eyed maid, he bore away,
+     Due to the toils of many a bloody day.--ILLIAD.
+
+It was necessary, for many reasons, that Angus M'Aulay, so long the kind
+protector of Annot Lyle, should be made acquainted with the change in
+the fortunes of his late protege; and Montrose, as he had undertaken,
+communicated to him these remarkable events. With the careless and
+cheerful indifference of his character, he expressed much more joy than
+wonder at Annot's good fortune; had no doubt whatever she would merit
+it, and as she had always been bred in loyal principles, would convey
+the whole estate of her grim fanatical father to some honest fellow who
+loved the king. "I should have no objection that my brother Allan should
+try his chance," added he, "notwithstanding that Sir Duncan Campbell was
+the only man who ever charged Darnlinvarach with inhospitality. Annot
+Lyle could always charm Allan out of the sullens, and who knows whether
+matrimony might not make him more a man of this world?" Montrose
+hastened to interrupt the progress of his castle-building, by informing
+him that the lady was already wooed and won, and, with her father's
+approbation, was almost immediately to be wedded to his kinsman, the
+Earl of Menteith; and that in testimony of the high respect due to
+M'Aulay, so long the lady's protector, he was now to request his
+presence at the ceremony. M'Aulay looked very grave at this intimation,
+and drew up his person with the air of one who thought that he had been
+neglected.
+
+"He contrived," he said, "that his uniform kind treatment of the young
+lady, while so many years under his roof, required something more upon
+such an occasion than a bare compliment of ceremony. He might," he
+thought, "without arrogance, have expected to have been consulted. He
+wished his kinsman of Menteith well, no man could wish him better;
+but he must say he thought he had been hasty in this matter. Allan's
+sentiments towards the young lady had been pretty well understood, and
+he, for one, could not see why the superior pretensions which he
+had upon her gratitude should have been set aside, without at least
+undergoing some previous discussion."
+
+Montrose, seeing too well where all this pointed, entreated M'Aulay
+to be reasonable, and to consider what probability there was that the
+Knight of Ardenvohr could be brought to confer the hand of his sole
+heiress upon Allan, whose undeniable excellent qualities were mingled
+with others, by which they were overclouded in a manner that made all
+tremble who approached him.
+
+"My lord," said Angus M'Aulay, "my brother Allan has, as God made us
+all, faults as well as merits; but he is the best and bravest man of
+your army, be the other who he may, and therefore ill deserved that his
+happiness should have been so little consulted by your Excellency--by
+his own near kinsman--and by a young person who owes all to him and to
+his family."
+
+Montrose in vain endeavoured to place the subject in a different view;
+this was the point in which Angus was determined to regard it, and he
+was a man of that calibre of understanding, who is incapable of being
+convinced when he has once adopted a prejudice. Montrose now assumed
+a higher tone, and called upon Angus to take care how he nourished
+any sentiments which might be prejudicial to his Majesty's service. He
+pointed out to him, that he was peculiarly desirous that Allan's efforts
+should not be interrupted in the course of his present mission; "a
+mission," he said, "highly honourable for himself, and likely to prove
+most advantageous to the King's cause. He expected his brother would
+hold no communication with him upon other subjects, nor stir up any
+cause of dissension, which might divert his mind from a matter of such
+importance."
+
+Angus answered somewhat sulkily, that "he was no makebate, or stirrer-up
+of quarrels; he would rather be a peacemaker. His brother knew as well
+as most men how to resent his own quarrels--as for Allan's mode of
+receiving information, it was generally believed he had other sources
+than those of ordinary couriers. He should not be surprised if they saw
+him sooner than they expected."
+
+A promise that he would not interfere, was the farthest to which
+Montrose could bring this man, thoroughly good-tempered as he was on all
+occasions, save when his pride, interest, or prejudices, were interfered
+with. And at this point the Marquis was fain to leave the matter for the
+present.
+
+A more willing guest at the bridal ceremony, certainly a more willing
+attendant at the marriage feast, was to be expected in Sir Dugald
+Dalgetty, whom Montrose resolved to invite, as having been a confidant
+to the circumstances which preceded it. But even Sir Dugald hesitated,
+looked on the elbows of his doublet, and the knees of his leather
+breeches, and mumbled out a sort of reluctant acquiescence in the
+invitation, providing he should find it possible, after consulting with
+the noble bridegroom. Montrose was somewhat surprised, but scorning to
+testify displeasure, he left Sir Dugald to pursue his own course.
+
+This carried him instantly to the chamber of the bride-groom, who,
+amidst the scanty wardrobe which his camp-equipage afforded, was
+seeking for such articles as might appear to the best advantage upon the
+approaching occasion. Sir Dugald entered, and paid his compliments, with
+a very grave face, upon his approaching happiness, which, he said, "he
+was very sorry he was prevented from witnessing."
+
+"In plain truth," said he, "I should but disgrace the ceremony, seeing
+that I lack a bridal garment. Rents, and open seams, and tatters
+at elbows in the apparel of the assistants, might presage a similar
+solution of continuity in your matrimonial happiness--and to say truth,
+my lord, you yourself must partly have the blame of this disappointment,
+in respect you sent me upon a fool's errand to get a buff-coat out of
+the booty taken by the Camerons, whereas you might as well have sent me
+to fetch a pound of fresh butter out of a black dog's throat. I had no
+answer, my lord, but brandished dirks and broadswords, and a sort of
+growling and jabbering in what they call their language. For my part, I
+believe these Highlanders to be no better than absolute pagans, and have
+been much scandalized by the manner in which my acquaintance, Ranald
+MacEagh, was pleased to beat his final march, a little while since."
+
+In Menteith's state of mind, disposed to be pleased with everything,
+and everybody, the grave complaint of Sir Dugald furnished additional
+amusement. He requested his acceptance of a very handsome buff-dress
+which was lying on the floor. "I had intended it," he said, "for my own
+bridal-garment, as being the least formidable of my warlike equipments,
+and I have here no peaceful dress."
+
+Sir Dugald made the necessary apologies--would not by any means
+deprive--and so forth, until it happily occurred to him that it was much
+more according to military rule that the Earl should be married in his
+back and breast pieces, which dress he had seen the bridegroom wear at
+the union of Prince Leo of Wittlesbach with the youngest daughter of old
+George Frederick, of Saxony, under the auspices of the gallant Gustavus
+Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and so forth. The good-natured young
+Earl laughed, and acquiesced; and thus having secured at least one merry
+face at his bridal, he put on a light and ornamented cuirass, concealed
+partly by a velvet coat, and partly by a broad blue silk scarf, which
+he wore over his shoulder, agreeably to his rank, and the fashion of the
+times.
+
+Everything was now arranged; and it had been settled that, according
+to the custom of the country, the bride and bridegroom should not again
+meet until they were before the altar. The hour had already struck that
+summoned the bridegroom thither, and he only waited in a small anteroom
+adjacent to the chapel, for the Marquis, who condescended to act as
+bride's-man upon the occasion. Business relating to the army having
+suddenly required the Marquis's instant attention, Menteith waited his
+return, it may be supposed, in some impatience; and when he heard
+the door of the apartment open, he said, laughing, "You are late upon
+parade."
+
+"You will find I am too early," said Allan M'Aulay, who burst into the
+apartment. "Draw, Menteith, and defend yourself like a man, or die like
+a dog!"
+
+"You are mad, Allan!" answered Menteith, astonished alike at his sudden
+appearance, and at the unutterable fury of his demeanour. His cheeks
+were livid--his eyes started from their sockets--his lips were covered
+with foam, and his gestures were those of a demoniac.
+
+"You lie, traitor!" was his frantic reply--"you lie in that, as you lie
+in all you have said to me. Your life is a lie!"
+
+"Did I not speak my thoughts when I called you mad," said Menteith,
+indignantly, "your own life were a brief one. In what do you charge me
+with deceiving you?"
+
+"You told me," answered M'Aulay, "that you would not marry Annot
+Lyle!--False traitor!--she now waits you at the altar."
+
+"It is you who speak false," retorted Menteith. "I told you the
+obscurity of her birth was the only bar to our union--that is now
+removed; and whom do you think yourself, that I should yield up my
+pretensions in your favour?"
+
+"Draw then," said M'Aulay; "we understand each other."
+
+"Not now," said Menteith, "and not here. Allan, you know me well--wait
+till to-morrow, and you shall have fighting enough."
+
+"This hour--this instant--or never," answered M'Aulay.
+
+"Your triumph shall not go farther than the hour which is stricken.
+Menteith, I entreat you by our relationship--by our joint conflicts and
+labours--draw your sword, and defend your life!" As he spoke, he seized
+the Earl's hand, and wrung it with such frantic earnestness, that his
+grasp forced the blood to start under the nails. Menteith threw him off
+with violence, exclaiming, "Begone, madman!"
+
+"Then, be the vision accomplished!" said Allan; and, drawing his dirk,
+struck with his whole gigantic force at the Earl's bosom. The temper of
+the corslet threw the point of the weapon upwards, but a deep wound
+took place between the neck and shoulder; and the force of the blow
+prostrated the bridegroom on the floor. Montrose entered at one side of
+the anteroom. The bridal company, alarmed at the noise, were in equal
+apprehension and surprise; but ere Montrose could almost see what had
+happened, Allan M'Aulay had rushed past him, and descended the
+castle stairs like lightning. "Guards, shut the gate!" exclaimed
+Montrose--"Seize him--kill him, if he resists!--He shall die, if he were
+my brother!"
+
+But Allan prostrated, with a second blow of his dagger, a sentinel who
+was upon duty---traversed the camp like a mountain-deer, though pursued
+by all who caught the alarm--threw himself into the river, and, swimming
+to the opposite side, was soon lost among the woods. In the course of
+the same evening, his brother Angus and his followers left Montrose's
+camp, and, taking the road homeward, never again rejoined him.
+
+Of Allan himself it is said, that, in a wonderfully short space after
+the deed was committed, he burst into a room in the Castle of Inverary,
+where Argyle was sitting in council, and flung on the table his bloody
+dirk.
+
+"Is it the blood of James Grahame?" said Argyle, a ghastly expression
+of hope mixing with the terror which the sudden apparition naturally
+excited.
+
+"It is the blood of his minion," answered M'Aulay--"It is the blood
+which I was predestined to shed, though I would rather have spilt my
+own."
+
+Having thus spoken, he turned and left the castle, and from that moment
+nothing certain is known of his fate. As the boy Kenneth, with three of
+the Children of the Mist, were seen soon afterwards to cross Lochfine,
+it is supposed they dogged his course, and that he perished by their
+hand in some obscure wilderness. Another opinion maintains, that Allan
+M'Aulay went abroad and died a monk of the Carthusian order. But nothing
+beyond bare presumption could ever be brought in support of either
+opinion.
+
+His vengeance was much less complete than he probably fancied; for
+Menteith, though so severely wounded as to remain long in a dangerous
+state, was, by having adopted Major Dalgetty's fortunate recommendation
+of a cuirass as a bridal-garment, happily secured from the worst
+consequences of the blow. But his services were lost to Montrose; and it
+was thought best, that he should be conveyed with his intended
+countess, now truly a mourning bride, and should accompany his wounded
+father-in-law to the castle of Sir Duncan at Ardenvohr. Dalgetty
+followed them to the water's edge, reminding Menteith of the necessity
+of erecting a sconce on Drumsnab to cover his lady's newly-acquired
+inheritance.
+
+They performed their voyage in safety, and Menteith was in a few weeks
+so well in health, as to be united to Annot in the castle of her father.
+
+The Highlanders were somewhat puzzled to reconcile Menteith's recovery
+with the visions of the second sight, and the more experienced Seers
+were displeased with him for not having died. But others thought the
+credit of the vision sufficiently fulfilled, by the wound inflicted by
+the hand, and with the weapon, foretold; and all were of opinion, that
+the incident of the ring, with the death's head, related to the death
+of the bride's father, who did not survive her marriage many months.
+The incredulous held, that all this was idle dreaming, and that Allan's
+supposed vision was but a consequence of the private suggestions of his
+own passion, which, having long seen in Menteith a rival more beloved
+than himself, struggled with his better nature, and impressed upon him,
+as it were involuntarily, the idea of killing his competitor.
+
+Menteith did not recover sufficiently to join Montrose during his brief
+and glorious career; and when that heroic general disbanded his army and
+retired from Scotland, Menteith resolved to adopt the life of privacy,
+which he led till the Restoration. After that happy event, he occupied
+a situation in the land befitting his rank, lived long, happy alike in
+public regard and in domestic affection, and died at a good old age.
+
+Our DRAMATIS PERSONAE have been so limited, that, excepting Montrose,
+whose exploits and fate are the theme of history, we have only to
+mention Sir Dugald Dalgetty. This gentleman continued, with the most
+rigorous punctuality, to discharge his duty, and to receive his pay,
+until he was made prisoner, among others, upon the field of Philiphaugh.
+He was condemned to share the fate of his fellow-officers upon that
+occasion, who were doomed to death rather by denunciations from the
+pulpit, than the sentence either of civil or military tribunal; their
+blood being considered as a sort of sin-offering to take away the guilt
+of the land, and the fate imposed upon the Canaanites, under a special
+dispensation, being impiously and cruelly applied to them.
+
+Several Lowland officers, in the service of the Covenanters, interceded
+for Dalgetty on this occasion, representing him as a person whose skill
+would be useful in their army, and who would be readily induced to
+change his service. But on this point they found Sir Dugald unexpectedly
+obstinate. He had engaged with the King for a certain term, and,
+till that was expired, his principles would not permit any shadow of
+changing. The Covenanters, again, understood no such nice distinction,
+and he was in the utmost danger of falling a martyr, not to this or that
+political principle, but merely to his own strict ideas of a military
+enlistment. Fortunately, his friends discovered, by computation, that
+there remained but a fortnight to elapse of the engagement he had
+formed, and to which, though certain it was never to be renewed, no
+power on earth could make him false. With some difficulty they procured
+a reprieve for this short space, after which they found him perfectly
+willing to come under any engagements they chose to dictate. He entered
+the service of the Estates accordingly, and wrought himself forward to
+be Major in Gilbert Ker's corps, commonly called the Kirk's Own Regiment
+of Horse. Of his farther history we know nothing, until we find him in
+possession of his paternal estate of Drumthwacket, which he acquired,
+not by the sword, but by a pacific intermarriage with Hannah Strachan,
+a matron somewhat stricken in years, the widow of the Aberdeenshire
+Covenanter.
+
+Sir Dugald is supposed to have survived the Revolution, as traditions
+of no very distant date represent him as cruising about in that country,
+very old, very deaf, and very full of interminable stories about the
+immortal Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and the bulwark of
+the Protestant Faith.
+
+*****
+
+READER! THE TALES OF MY LANDLORD ARE NOW FINALLY CLOSED, closed, and
+it was my purpose to have addressed thee in the vein of Jedediah
+Cleishbotham; but, like Horam the son of Asmar, and all other imaginary
+story-tellers, Jedediah has melted into thin air.
+
+Mr. Cleishbotham bore the same resemblance to Ariel, as he at whose
+voice he rose doth to the sage Prospero; and yet, so fond are we of the
+fictions of our own fancy, that I part with him, and all his imaginary
+localities, with idle reluctance. I am aware this is a feeling in which
+the reader will little sympathize; but he cannot be more sensible than
+I am, that sufficient varieties have now been exhibited of the Scottish
+character, to exhaust one individual's powers of observation, and that
+to persist would be useless and tedious. I have the vanity to suppose,
+that the popularity of these Novels has shown my countrymen, and their
+peculiarities, in lights which were new to the Southern reader; and that
+many, hitherto indifferent upon the subject, have been induced to read
+Scottish history, from the allusions to it in these works of fiction.
+
+I retire from the field, conscious that there remains behind not only a
+large harvest, but labourers capable of gathering it in. More than one
+writer has of late displayed talents of this description; and if the
+present author, himself a phantom, may be permitted to distinguish a
+brother, or perhaps a sister shadow, he would mention, in particular,
+the author of the very lively work entitled MARRIAGE.
+
+
+
+
+IV. APPENDIX.
+
+
+No. I
+
+The scarcity of my late friend's poem may be an excuse for adding the
+spirited conclusion of Clan Alpin's vow. The Clan Gregor has met in the
+ancient church of Balquidder. The head of Drummond-Ernoch is placed on
+the altar, covered for a time with the banner of the tribe. The Chief of
+the tribe advances to the altar:
+
+     And pausing, on the banner gazed;
+     Then cried in scorn, his finger raised,
+     "This was the boon of Scotland's king;"
+     And, with a quick and angry fling,
+     Tossing the pageant screen away,
+     The dead man's head before him lay.
+     Unmoved he scann'd the visage o'er,
+     The clotted locks were dark with gore,
+     The features with convulsion grim,
+     The eyes contorted, sunk, and dim.
+     But unappall'd, in angry mood,
+     With lowering brow, unmoved he stood.
+     Upon the head his bared right hand
+     He laid, the other grasp'd his brand:
+     Then kneeling, cried, "To Heaven I swear
+     This deed of death I own, and share;
+     As truly, fully mine, as though
+     This my right hand had dealt the blow:
+     Come then, our foeman, one, come all;
+     If to revenge this caitiffs fall
+     One blade is bared, one bow is drawn,
+     Mine everlasting peace I pawn,
+     To claim from them, or claim from him,
+     In retribution, limb for limb.
+     In sudden fray, or open strife,
+     This steel shall render life for life."
+     He ceased; and at his beckoning nod,
+     The clansmen to the altar trod;
+     And not a whisper breathed around,
+     And nought was heard of mortal sound,
+     Save from the clanking arms they bore,
+     That rattled on the marble floor;
+     And each, as he approach'd in haste,
+     Upon the scalp his right hand placed;
+     With livid lip, and gather'd brow,
+     Each uttered, in his turn, the vow.
+     Fierce Malcolm watch'd the passing scene,
+     And search'd them through with glances keen;
+     Then dash'd a tear-drop from his eye;
+     Unhid it came--he knew not why.
+     Exulting high, he towering stood:
+     "Kinsmen," he cried, "of Alpin's blood,
+     And worthy of Clan Alpin's name,
+     Unstain'd by cowardice and shame,
+     E'en do, spare nocht, in time of ill
+     Shall be Clan Alpin's legend still!"
+
+
+
+
+No. II.
+
+It has been disputed whether the Children of the Mist were actual
+MacGregors, or whether they were not outlaws named MacDonald, belonging
+to Ardnamurchan. The following act of the Privy Council seems to decide
+the question:--
+
+"Edinburgh, 4th February, 1589.
+
+"The same day, the Lords of Secret Council being crediblie informed of
+ye cruel and mischievous proceeding of ye wicked Clangrigor, so lang
+continueing in blood, slaughters, herships, manifest reifts, and stouths
+committed upon his Hieness' peaceable and good subjects; inhabiting ye
+countries ewest ye brays of ye Highlands, thir money years bybgone;
+but specially heir after ye cruel murder of umqll Jo. Drummond of
+Drummoneyryuch, his Majesties proper tennant and ane of his fosters of
+Glenartney, committed upon ye day of last bypast, be certain of ye said
+clan, be ye council and determination of ye haill, avow and to defend ye
+authors yrof qoever wald persew for revenge of ye same, qll ye said Jo.
+was occupied in seeking of venison to his Hieness, at command of
+Pat. Lord Drummond, stewart of Stratharne, and principal forrester of
+Clenartney; the Queen, his Majesties dearest spouse, being yn shortlie
+looked for to arrive in this realm. Likeas, after ye murder committed,
+ye authors yrof cutted off ye said umqll Jo. Drummond's head, and
+carried the same to the Laird of M'Grigor, who, and the haill surname of
+M'Grigors, purposely conveined upon the Sunday yrafter, at the Kirk of
+Buchquhidder; qr they caused ye said umqll John's head to be pnted to
+ym, and yr avowing ye sd murder to have been committed by yr communion,
+council, and determination, laid yr hands upon the pow, and in eithnik,
+and barbarous manner, swear to defend ye authors of ye sd murder, in
+maist proud contempt of our sovrn Lord and his authoritie, and in
+evil example to others wicked limmaris to do ye like, give ys sall be
+suffered to remain unpunished."
+
+Then follows a commission to the Earls of Huntly, Argyle, Athole,
+Montrose, Pat. Lord Drummond, Ja. Commendator of Incheffray, And.
+Campbel of Lochinnel, Duncan Campbel of Ardkinglas, Lauchlane M'Intosh
+of Dunnauchtane, Sir Jo. Murray of Tullibarden, knt., Geo. Buchanan of
+that Ilk, and And. M'Farlane of Ariquocher, to search for and apprehend
+Alaster M'Grigor of Glenstre (and a number of others nominatim), "and
+all others of the said Clangrigor, or ye assistars, culpable of the said
+odious murther, or of thift, reset of thift, herships, and sornings,
+qrever they may be apprehended. And if they refuse to be taken, or flees
+to strengths and houses, to pursue and assege them with fire and sword;
+and this commission to endure for the space of three years."
+
+Such was the system of police in 1589; and such the state of Scotland
+nearly thirty years after the Reformation.
+
+
+
+
+V. NOTES.
+
+
+
+
+Note I.--FIDES ET FIDUCIA SUNT RELATIVA.
+
+The military men of the times agreed upon dependencies of honour, as
+they called them, with all the metaphysical argumentation of civilians,
+or school divines.
+
+The English officer, to whom Sir James Turner was prisoner after the
+rout at Uttoxeter, demanded his parole of honour not to go beyond the
+wall of Hull without liberty. "He brought me the message himself,--I
+told him I was ready to do so, provided he removed his guards from
+me, for FIDES ET FIDUCIA SUNT RELATIVA; and, if he took my word for my
+fidelity, he was obliged to trust it, otherwise, it was needless for him
+to seek it, either to give trust to my word, which I would not break, or
+his own guards, who I supposed would not deceive him. In this manner I
+dealt with him, because I knew him to be a scholar."--TURNER'S MEMOIRS,
+p. 80. The English officer allowed the strength of the reasoning; but
+that concise reasoner, Cromwell, soon put an end to the dilemma: "Sir
+James Turner must give his parole, or be laid in irons."
+
+
+
+
+Note II.--WRAITHS.
+
+A species of apparition, similar to what the Germans call a
+Double-Ganger, was believed in by the Celtic tribes, and is still
+considered as an emblem of misfortune or death. Mr. Kirke (See Note to
+ROB ROY,), the minister of Aberfoil, who will no doubt be able to tell
+us more of the matter should he ever come back from Fairy-land, gives us
+the following:--
+
+"Some men of that exalted sight, either by art or nature, have told me
+they have seen at these meetings a double man, or the shape of some man
+in two places, that is, a superterranean and a subterranean
+inhabitant perfectly resembling one another in all points, whom he,
+notwithstanding, could easily distinguish one fro another by some secret
+tokens and operations, and so go speak to the man his neighbour and
+familiar, passing by the apparition or resemblance of him. They avouch
+that every element and different state of being have animals resembling
+those of another element, as there be fishes at sea resembling Monks of
+late order in all their hoods and dresses, so as the Roman invention
+of good and bad daemons and guardian angels particularly assigned, is
+called by them ane ignorant mistake, springing only from this originall.
+They call this reflex man a Co-Walker, every way like the man, as a
+twin-brother and companion haunting him as his shadow, as is that seen
+and known among men resembling the originall, both before and after the
+originall is dead, and was also often seen of old to enter a hous, by
+which the people knew that the person of that liknes was to visit them
+within a few days. This copy, echo, or living picture, goes at last to
+his own herd. It accompanied that person so long and frequently for ends
+best known to its selve, whether to guard him from the secret assaults
+of some of its own folks, or only as an sportfull ape to counterfeit all
+his actions."--KIRKE'S SECRET COMMOMWEALTH, p. 3.
+
+The two following apparitions, resembling the vision of Allan M'Aulay in
+the text, occur in Theophilus Insulanus (Rev. Mr. Fraser's Treatise on
+the Second Sight, Relations x. and xvii.):--
+
+"Barbara Macpherson, relict of the deceased Mr. Alexander MacLeod, late
+minister of St. Kilda, informed me the natives of that island had a
+particular kind of second sight, which is always a forerunner of their
+approaching end. Some months before they sicken, they are haunted with
+an apparition, resembling themselves in all respects as to their person,
+features, or clothing. This image, seemingly animated, walks with them
+in the field in broad daylight; and if they are employed in delving,
+harrowing, seed-sowing, or any other occupation, they are at the same
+time mimicked by this ghostly visitant. My informer added further that
+having visited a sick person of the inhabitants, she had the curiosity
+to enquire of him, if at any time he had seen any resemblance of himself
+as above described; he answered in the affirmative, and told her, that
+to make farther trial, as he was going out of his house of a morning, he
+put on straw-rope garters instead of those he formerly used, and
+having gone to the fields, his other self appeared in such garters. The
+conclusion was, the sick man died of that ailment, and she no longer
+questioned the truth of those remarkable presages."
+
+"Margaret MacLeod, an honest woman advanced in years, informed me, that
+when she was a young woman in the family of Grishornish, a dairy-maid,
+who daily used to herd the calves in a park close to the house,
+observed, at different times, a woman resembling herself in shape and
+attire, walking solitarily at no great distance from her, and being
+surprised at the apparition, to make further trial, she put the back
+part of her upper garment foremost, and anon the phantom was dressed
+in the same manner, which made her uneasy, believing it portended some
+fatal consequence to herself. In a short time thereafter she was seized
+with a fever, which brought her to her end, and before her sickness and
+on her deathbed, declared the second sight to several."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's A Legend of Montrose, by Sir Walter Scott
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